Tessarakonteres (Greek: τεσσαρακοντήρης, “forty-rowed”), or simply “forty”, was a very large catamaran galley reportedly built in the Hellenistic period by Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt. It was described by a number of ancient sources, including a lost work by Callixenus of Rhodes and surviving texts by Athenaeus and Plutarch. According to these descriptions, supported by modern research by Lionel Casson, the enormous size of the vessel made it impractical and it was built only as a prestige vessel, rather than an effective warship. The name “forty” refers not to the number of oars, but to the number of rowers on each vertical “column” of oars that propelled it, and at the size described it would have been the largest ship constructed in antiquity, and probably the largest human-powered vessel ever built.
Ptolemy Philopator built [a ship] of forty banks of oars, which had a length of two hundred and eighty cubits, and a height, to the top of her stern, of forty-eight; she was manned by four hundred sailors, who did no rowing, and by four thousand rowers, and besides these she had room, on her gangways and decks, for nearly three thousand men-at‑arms. But this ship was merely for show; and since she differed little from a stationary edifice on land, being meant for exhibition and not for use, she was moved only with difficulty and danger.
At the end though the Controversy section implies it was probably exaggerated. Even as a show vessel it would have been grossly impractical with the technology at the time. Still, it’s so fantastical, I love it!
The bireme and trireme were ancient Greek vessels defined by their numbers of rows of oarsmen - two for biremes, three for triremes. There were some less common variants with more, and more, and more rows of oarsmen, for bigger and more impressive ships. One gets the sense that it got a bit excessive after a point…
What the hell, 40 per column, just how many rowers did it have all together?!
Edit: Wow, 4000! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessarakonteres However the controversy section is well worth a read hah.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessarakonteres
Yes I’d just found that! That’s insane.
At the end though the Controversy section implies it was probably exaggerated. Even as a show vessel it would have been grossly impractical with the technology at the time. Still, it’s so fantastical, I love it!
*tessera means four, not forty
Name must be something like four-ten, because forty has a different word