The lemb, ''lembus'' or ''lembos'' ( grc, λέμβος, ''lembos''; la, lembus) was an ancient wide term covering a range of small ships, which were used for different purposes, both civilian and military.
It was small and light, with a low
freeboard
In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard
is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...
. It was a fast and maneuverable warship, capable of carrying 50 men in addition to the rowers. It was the galley used by Illyrian pirates. Illyrians used them at
Medion
Medion AG is a German consumer electronics company, and a subsidiary of Chinese multinational technology company Lenovo. The company operates in Europe, Turkey, Asia-Pacific, United States and Australia regions. The company's main products are c ...
under
Agron, and at Elis, Messene, Phoenice, Issa, Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra and Paxus under
Teuta
Teuta (Illyrian languages, Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC.
Following the death ...
.
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...
used lembi during the
First Macedonian War
The First Macedonian War (214–205 BC) was fought by Rome, allied (after 211 BC) with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon, contemporaneously with the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) against Carthage. The ...
.
[Walbank]
p. 69
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
5.109
The lemb was more common among the Illyrians of the southern
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
, while in the northern Adriatic the more common ship was the
liburna
A liburna was a type of small galley used for raiding and patrols. It was originally used by the Liburnians, a pirate tribe from Dalmatia, and later used by the Roman navy..
History
A stone tablet (''Stele di Novilara'') found near ancient Pis ...
which originated from the
Liburnians
The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croatia ...
. The lemb appears in several Illyrian coins of the southern Adriatic communities, which were politically connected with the Illyrian kingdom, like the
Labeatae
The Labeatae, Labeatai or Labeates ( grc, Λαβεᾶται; la, Labeatae) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria, between modern Albania and Montenegro, around Lake Scodra (the ancient ''Lacus Labeatis'') ...
, the
Daorsi
Daorson (Ancient Greek: Δαορσών) was the capital of the Illyrian tribe of the Daorsi (Ancient Greek Δαόριζοι, Δαούρσιοι; Latin ''Daorsei''). The Daorsi lived in the valley of the Neretva River between 300 BC and 50 BC. The ...
, and the cities of
Scodra and
Lissus Lissus or Lissos ( el, Λίσσος) could be:
* Lissus (Crete), an ancient Greek city in Crete
* Lissos (Illyria), an ancient city in Illyria, the present day city of Lezhë in Albania
* Lissus, a river in Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη ...
.
Name
The term λέμβος, ''lembos'' has been recorded in Classical sources since the 4th century BC onwards. The
Illyric-
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
term λέμβος was later
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
ized as ''lembus''. The ultimate source of the term is obscure. An Illyrian origin have been suggested.
Usage
The lembi were small ships used originally for civilian purposes, and thereafter adapted to warfare usages, with at least three sub-types:
*small ship used in the
Aegean as towing boat, ship's boat, transportation boat, and platform for the catapults;
*southern
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
(Illyrian) lemb for
naval warfare
Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...
, piracy (also attacking unarmed ships), trade, and swift transport of the troops: the southern Adriatic shipbuilders most likely adopted and developed an already existing small and fast Aegean type of ship;
*upgraded Macedonian fighting lemb: a
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
ian prototype of the Illyrian lemb was built at the behest of king
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...
, who ordered one hundred lembs to be built by Illyrian shipbuilders, in order to transport his toops in 216 BC. Philip's shipbuilders further developed in 214 BC this ship type by enlarging it into a bireme warship. Those warships were even fitted with rams.
Notes
References
*
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
''Histories'' Evelyn S. Shuckburgh (translator); London, New York. Macmillan (1889); Reprint Bloomington (1962).
*
*
*
*
*
Walbank, F. W., ''Philip V of Macedon'' Cambridge University Press, 2013. .
*Wilkes, John, ''The Illyrians (Peoples of Europe)'', Blackwell Publishers, (December 1, 1995)
Ship types
Ancient piracy
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