| |
DISTANCE AND COMMUNICATION
in the Roman Empire
|
TRAVEL UNDER FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES, BY SEA |
|
From Ostia to |
Africa |
270 miles |
2 days |
|
Ostia |
Gibraltar |
935 mi. |
7 days |
|
Ostia |
Spain (northern) |
510 mi. |
4 days |
|
Ostia |
Marseille |
380 mi. |
3 days |
|
Messina (Sicily) |
Alexandria |
830 mi. |
6, 7 days |
|
Puteoli |
Alexandria |
1000 mi. |
9 days |
|
Corinth |
Puteoli |
670 mi. |
4.5 days |
|
Rhegium |
Puteoli |
175 mi. |
1.5 days |
|
Puteoli |
Tauromenium (Sicily) |
205 mi. |
2.5 days |
|
Alexandria |
Ephesus |
475 mi. |
4.5 days |
|
Carthage |
Syracuse |
260 mi. |
2.5 days |
|
Carthage |
Gibraltar |
820 mi. |
7 days |
|
Compare: Record Speeds, by sea, in the 16th century: |
|
Genoa |
Palamos, Spain |
. |
5 days |
|
Messina |
Palamos, Spain |
. |
6 days |
|
Rhodes |
Alexandria |
. |
3 days |
|
Nicosia, Cyprus |
Constantinople |
. |
14 days |
|
Lepanto |
Venice |
. |
11 days |
|
Lepanto |
Naples |
. |
17 days |
|
TRAVEL UNDER AVERAGE CIRCUMSTANCES, BY SEA |
|
Epidamnus (Dyrrachium) |
Rome |
600 miles |
4.5 days |
|
Crete |
Egypt |
310 mi. |
3, 4 days |
|
Rhodes |
Alexandria |
325 mi. |
3.5 days |
|
Sea of Azov |
Rhodes |
880 mi. |
9.5 days |
|
Byzantium |
Rhodes |
445 mi. |
5 days |
|
Byzantium |
Gaza |
855 mi. |
10 days |
|
Thessalonike |
Askalon |
800 mi. |
12 days |
|
Compare: Average Speeds, by sea, in the 16th century: |
|
Constantinople |
Alexandria |
770 mi. |
14 days |
|
Hellespont |
Chios |
. |
2 days |
|
Messina (Sicily) |
Alexandria |
830 mi. |
9 days |
|
TRAVEL UNDER UNFAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES, BY SEA |
|
Askalon |
Thessalonike |
800 mi. |
13 days |
|
Rhodes |
Gaza |
410 mi. |
7 days |
|
Rhodes |
Byzantium |
445 mi. |
10 days |
|
Gaza |
Byzantium |
855 mi. |
20 days |
|
Alexandria |
Marseille |
1500 mi. |
30 days |
|
Puteoli |
Ostia |
120 mi. |
2.5 days |
Sources:
- Lionel Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World (Princeton 1971) pp. 220 ff.
- Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean . . . in the Time of Philip II (NY 1972) I, pp. 358 ff.
|
© 09/09/2001 |
|
