Rome, Diadumenian Tyre mint AE 25 218 AD

Obv: Bare head cuirassed bust right

Rev:Phoenician pentekonter right; murex shell above

Metal: Bronze 8.55 Grams, 25 mm diameter. Condition: VF, black-green patina with dusty earthen overtones

The Phoenician Petekonter

9th-4th Century BC:

Sailing was the main method of transportation in the ancient world. The prototype for the famous Greek trireme was the pentekonter, a ship developed in the ninth century BC by the Phoenicians. The pentkonter was a long, shallow-draft vessel with a single row of twenty-five oars on each side. It had a bronze ram in front that was the standard for all future war ships. A line of shields placed along the sides, provided by the soldiers, who also manned the vessel, protected the oarsmen. These ships and the great naval capabilities of the sailors themselves made the Phoenician pentekonters the choice of the Persians for their imperial navy. This close relationship may have been the inspiration as a design type that continued in use on the coins of the Phoenician cities.