The Oneraria
The Romans had a great deal of merchant ships, called oneraria from the Latin word onus ( which means loading).These ships had a roundish shape and   were pushed only by their large sail. In fact they had no rowers so as to leave the loading a larger space.The sail was square and it was made of linen, byssus or papyrus. It was usually white.The hull was made of pinewood.The Romans covered the keel with tarred wool and after that, with a lead plate,inorder to make it stronger and
waterproof. Astern there was usually an ornament representing a swam’s neck, called chenisco.The Romans used this kind of ship for their trades in the Mediterranean Sea. They carried olive oil, wine, wheat, fruit and cattle.When the Romans had a military fleet, the Oneraria ships were used to transport troops, horses and war machines like catapults and battery rams.

 

 

The Trireme
The warship most largely used by the Romans was the trireme, so named because it had three orders of oars.The trireme was 35 to 38 metre long and almost 6 metre wide. The mast supported a large rectangular sail with the name of the ship and the emblem of command embroidered in gold. The hull of this and other warships was made of cedar wood. The interior, instead, was made of pinewood. The prow was reserved to the soldiers; the central part of the ship was occupied by the sailors and
rowers;   on the poop deck were the Captain, the officers and the steersmen. The rudder was constituted by two long oars, fish shaped, placed on both sides astern. The crew was of 250 men, including rowers, sailors and soldiers. These were the fighters, destined to board the enemy ships. The Trireme weighed about 50 tons and could reach a speed of 5 knots (9.260 km per hour). The quinquereme (five orders of oars) was 70 metre long and 8 metre wide. The crew included 310 rowers, 47 sailors and 120 soldiers. But since she was too heavy and slow, the Romans did not use this ship much.