A ship’s ram found near Sicily that had been used in the Punic wars
Peter Horree/Alamy
Ancient Greek and Roman warships were equipped with bronze rams to smash and sink enemy vessels – and a team of archaeologists has just recreated one. They plan to test the weapon on replica warships to assess how effective the rams were during naval battles.
“This research can help us understand the evolution of major warships, from the fleets of Alexander the Great’s successors to the vessels that secured Rome’s naval dominance,” says Stephen DeCasien at Dalian University of Technology in China,…