Syracusia
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.4|Syracusia as imagined in 1671. Syracusia (, syrakousía, literally "of Syracuse") was an ancient Greek ship sometimes claimed to be the largest transport ship of antiquity. She was reportedly too big for any port in Sicily, and thus only sailed once from Syracuse in Sicily to Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, whereupon she was given as a present to Ptolemy III Euergetes. The exact dimension of Syracusia is unknown; Historian Michael Lahanas put it at long, 14 m wide, and 13 m high.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- General characteristics
- Appearance
- Amenities
- Legacy
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.4|Syracusia as imagined in 1671. Syracusia (, syrakousía, literally "of Syracuse") was an ancient Greek ship sometimes claimed to be the largest transport ship of antiquity. She was reportedly too big for any port in Sicily, and thus only sailed once from Syracuse in Sicily to Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, whereupon she was given as a present to Ptolemy III Euergetes. The exact dimension of Syracusia is unknown; Historian Michael Lahanas put it at long, 14 m wide, and 13 m high.
==General characteristics== left|thumb|273x273px|A small in size replica of Syracusia by Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology in Athens, Greece. Syracusia was designed by Archimedes and built around 240 BC by Archias of Corinth on the orders of Hieron II of Syracuse. The historian Moschion of Phaselis said that Syracusia could carry a cargo of some 1600 to 1800 tons and a capacity of 1,942 passengers. She reputedly bore more than 200 soldiers, as well as a catapult. She sailed only once to berth in Alexandria, where she was later given to Ptolemy (Ptolemaios) III Euergetes of Egypt and renamed Alexandreia (, literally "of Alexandria").