Λιβυρνικαί
Liburnics, Liburnians
Translated by David Whitehead12 Sep 2001Vetting: high3 revisions
Translation
Ships [which] did not have the form of a trireme but were instead rather piratical: brazen-beaked and strong and armoured, and unreliable in respect of speed.
Greek original · Adler’s text
Λιβυρνικαί· νῆες ἦσαν οὐ κατὰ τὸν τριηρικὸν ἐσχηματισμέναι τύπον, ἀλλὰ λῃστρικώτεραι χαλκέμβολοί τε καὶ ἰσχυραὶ καὶ κατάφρακτοι, καὶ τὸ τάχος ἄπιστον.
Betacode
*liburnikai/: nh=es h)=san ou) kata\ to\n trihriko\n e)sxhmatisme/nai tu/pon, a)lla\ lh|strikw/terai xalke/mboloi/ te kai\ i)sxurai\ kai\ kata/fraktoi, kai\ to\ ta/xos a)/piston.
Notes
- Named after the Liburnian people of the northern Adriatic coast (present-day Croatia). LSJ s.v. characterizes the ship-type as "a lift, swift vessel, felucca"; and cf. L. Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World (Baltimore & London 1995) 141-2, "a fast, two banked galley adapted from from a craft developed among the Liburnians, piratically-minded dwellers of the Dalmatian coast and its offshore islands". Adopted by the Roman navy at least as early as the C3 BCE. See further in Casson, General Index s.v. It therefore looks as though this Suda entry, after starting plausibly enough, switches to a description of an altogether different type of ship.
See also lambda 490 (under a commoner form of the headword).
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Revision history3 revisions · last 18 Apr 2013
- Revised — David Whitehead
- typo; other cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Added italics; set status — Elizabeth Vandiver
- Translated — David Whitehead