Masts and sails. which he issued his commands, and behind it there was usually carved the image of the tutelar deity of the galley. From the flag-staff floated her ensign or private signal; and, sometimes, a large vane on the taffrail pointed to the direction of the wind. On the column of Trajan a lantern is shown suspended close to the stern in one of the galleys. Each trireme carried two wooden ladders and three "spreads," poles of different lengths. Although the oars were the chief means of propulsion, almost every vessel above the size of a trireme had either one or two masts, but one of them, from raking forward and being comparatively small, resembled in many respects a bowsprit, so that, practically, there was only one mast except in very large vessels, which, with the yard and square sail attached, usually completed their rig. The portion of the mast immediately above the yard formed a "top," or structure similar to a basin, serving for the purpose of a look-out or as a place from which arrows or other missiles could be discharged. All the Athenian galleys had square sails only, as may be seen in numerous illustrations; and it is very questionable if any of the Greek vessels used topsails of a triangular form, [Greek: D], though they were known to the Romans;[1] but, from their form, the wide part being attached to the yard and the point reaching the topmast head, they could, under any circumstances, have been of very little service, and none whatever when the wind was abeam or before the beam.
Oars. The oars varied in size according to the bank on which they were used, of course increasing in length
- ↑ As noticed in the Introduction to this work, these sails were called Suppara. Lucan, v. 429. Stat. Sylv. ii. 2, 27. Senec. Epist. c. 77.
