Description
The 'five', called a quinquereme in Latin and a penteres in Greek, was a ship first used by the Syracusans against the Carthaginians sometime around 398BC. Like other polyremes, a term meaning many-oared, the chances were that it did not have five banks of oars but that the word 'oar' was used to mean 'rower'. In such a case, the arrangement of rowers would be two-two-one going up from the waterline. It makes sense to keep as much weight as possible low in the vessel to help its stability; a high centre of gravity makes any ship liable to capsize if struck from the side. The quinquereme, then, would be a formidable vessel both in terms of appearance and combat value. With a large fighting contingent aboard and plenty of deck space, this heavy vessel could cope with most enemies and threats.
Named after the wild ass with a dangerous kick, the onager catapult had a mighty kick all of its own, as crews quickly discovered. Although not accurate, it could hurl extremely heavy missiles over significant distances. Its throwing arm was pushed through a twisted bundle of animal sinew, held in a solid wooden frame. Pulled back, the tension in the sinew held an incredible amount of power until the arm snapped forwards and the deadly cargo was launched. The arm smacked into the frame, and it was this impact on every shot that made the entire machine lurch about unpredictably. An area-attack weapon, the onager was best suited to siege work, but it could be fired against tightly packed units of troops as well. The missiles launched could be as varied as rocks, clay pots filled with incendiary mixtures, and even dead bodies to spread disease and despair. Severed heads were gruesomely fired into besieged towns from time to time, as a warning of what was to come. Easily constructed from timber, the onager was used throughout the ancient world.
