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Naval Archive of Massilia

Explore the protagonists, myths, places and complete chronology of the universe of "Massilia".


Marcus Aemilius Lepidus

Urban Praetor and Commander

Appointed by Caesar personally, he must oversee the urgent outfitting of the fleet at Ostia. He applies iron military discipline to the investigations and shipyard management.

Diodorus

Navalia Foreman

A robust man with hands marked by hard labor, respected by the shipwrights. He bears the weight of great professional responsibility and a deep family torment.

Decius

Optio of the Fleet

Lepidus' operational right hand. A rational soldier with direct command and unshakable loyalty, who rejects superstition in favor of tactical pragmatism.

Antonius

Naval Architect

The technician responsible for building the quinqueremes. Lives constantly under crushing performance anxiety and the fear of failing imposed deadlines.

Lydia

Daughter of Diodorus

A girl of about eight years old, suffering from a progressive and painful eye infection (trachoma). She represents the sweetest and most vulnerable side of the foreman's life.

Lucius

Shipyard Worker

Diodorus' pragmatic colleague and dear friend. He is the blunt voice of the gallery of maritime workers, loyal and respectful, but never subservient to authority.

Decimus Brutus

Propraetor and Admiral

Commander of the Roman fleet allied with Caesar. An able strategist on the high seas, he impatiently awaits the completion of the ships to break the enemy siege.

Nasidius

Enemy Admiral

The resolute commander of the Massaliote naval forces, ready to defend the independence and power of his proud city-state on the sea.

Gaius Julius Caesar

Dictator and General

Even acting from afar, his heavy shadow and iron will permeate every order and every wooden beam laid at the Navalia.

Publius

Centurion of the XI Legion

Fellow soldier and faithful military man in Lepidus' service. Acts as the tireless intermediary for delicate strategic and operational communications.

Young Baker Woman (Lucretia)

Pistrinum Worker

With her gentleness and honey bread, she represents humanity, hospitality and the warmth of normal civilian life amid the port's soot and toil.

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Young Apprentice

A very young and bright boy encountered near Castrum (Fort) Novum, whose lively intelligence already foreshadows a brilliant destiny linked to the sea.

Lucius Scribonius Libo

Pompeian Noble

A character of noble lineage moving through the fabric of Ostia, embodying the political tensions and dense networks of influence that still survive in the shadows.

Junia

Lepidus' Wife

Remaining in the City, she is the person the Praetor trusts most, recipient of his most intimate and careful correspondence.

The Greek

Physician

A wise and detached figure, a practitioner of the medical arts essential for treating those ills that escape the authority of the sword.

Titan (The Titans)

The Myth: Primordial figures of Greek mythology, children of Uranus and Gaia. Endowed with immeasurable strength, they ruled the world during the Golden Age before being confined to Tartarus by the gods of Olympus.

In History: Give their name to the class of gigantic quinqueremes under construction at the Navalia. They represent Rome's absolute military power, but also a titanically proud and arrogant human spirit that defies the ruthless forces of the sea.

Oceanus

The Myth: The Titan who personified the great cosmic river, an unstoppable and endless primordial water flow that surrounded the entire known world.

In History: It is the name of one of Caesar's mighty fleet ships. During the brutal Battle of Tauroenta, the Ocean carves its way through enemy vessels, embodying the implacable fury and lethal mass of the element it is named after.

Atlas

The Myth: The Titan condemned by Zeus to bear for eternity on his own shoulders the weight of the celestial vault, erected as a universal symbol of titanic resistance to cosmic labor.

In History: Another of the mighty Roman ships. In the bloody engagement at Tauroenta, it passively withstands the violent Massaliote ramming ("Atlas lurched") and undergoes a desperate tactical scuttling, sacrificing itself for the rest of the squadron.

Chronos

The Myth: King of the Titans, bound to the unstoppable passage of time that devours all to maintain his own power (to the Romans, Saturn).

In History: A flagship of the republican fleet. Its name is the perpetual reminder of that tyrannical "hourglass" of time imposed on them by Caesar, forcing the shipwrights inhuman and exhausting shifts.

Atreus

The Myth: King of Mycenae and central figure of an atrocious tragic cycle. To avenge himself on his brother Thyestes, who had seduced his wife, Atreus killed his children and served them at a wedding feast.

In History: His mask and fate serve as a theatrical mirror (chapters 11/12). Atreus's cruel revenge parallels the ruthlessness of the Ostia saboteurs and the brutality of the truth revealed in the shadows.

Thyestes

The Myth: Brother of Atreus. Unwittingly, he consumed the flesh of his own children. A tragic figure, condemned by ambition and the betrayal of the family's most sacred bonds of kinship.

In History: Like Atreus, he is evoked during the theatrical siege to echo the very essence of "brother war" (the Roman Civil War): an atrocious conflict in which citizens and relatives massacre and deceive each other without mercy.

Cerberus

The Myth: The colossal and monstrous three-headed dog (sometimes fifty) in charge of guarding the gates of the Underworld, blocking anyone who tried to leave Hades.

In History: It is the grim metaphorical appellation used to identify the "canes pugnaces," the enormous mastiffs that patrol the Ostia docks at night, turning the isolated shipyard into a hopeless infernal circle.

Avernus

The Myth: A lake of volcanic origin in Campania whose dark waters and mephitic vapors led the Romans to consider it the physical and tangible gateway to the world of the dead.

In History: Used as a constant spatial and psychological metaphor ("Avernus" or "Dite's threshold") to describe the shipyards at night. Dark places drenched in sweat, where the danger of death from sabotage is everywhere.

Tartarus

The Myth: The deepest and darkest abyss of the Greco-Roman Underworld. A dark and impregnable prison of eternal torture destined for the enemies of the gods (like the Titans) and the worst impious.

In History: Evocatively recalls the oppressive atmosphere that envelops the nighttime work at the Navalia. Slaves, legionaries and artisans wander like damned souls subjected to an alienating and destructive labor.

Jupiter (Jupiter Optimus Maximus)

The Myth: King of the Roman pantheon, lord of the skies and thunderbolt. Absolute and supreme guarantor of cosmic order, state authority and the sacredness of solemn pacts.

In History: The central divine figure to whom soldiers and prefects appeal in formal oaths ("The gods are with us!"). Invoking him means imposing the weight of Roman discipline and the justice of fate against chaos and insubordination.

Juno

The Myth: Queen of the gods, consort of Jupiter. Severe divine protector of the marital bond, childbirth and, as Iuno Moneta, also of Rome's economic stability.

In History: A fundamental member of the "Capitoline Triad." Her solemn invocation consolidates the moral power and incorruptibility of republican institutions, which Lepidus staunchly defends in the midst of civil bloodshed.

Minerva

The Myth: Goddess of strategic warfare, wisdom and artisanal genius. Legend has her born, already fully armed, directly from the brain of supreme Jupiter.

In History: Cited in the novel along with "Victory." She assists and protects in a translatable sense all the impressive engineering ingenuity, the perfect naval symmetries and the technical skill (rubrica fabrilis) of the master shipwrights.

Venus Genetrix

The Myth: Mother of Aeneas and progenitor of the Gens Iulia. Goddess of beauty and vital love, adopted by Julius Caesar as her protector and direct mythological ancestor.

In History: The Goddess's mark is impressed in the red wax of the Dictator's personal seal. More than a religious symbol, in the novel it is a threat: a signature that imposes Caesar's invincible, ruthless authority over the shipyards.

Neptune

The Myth: The stormy and vengeful lord of the oceans and earthquakes. He can unleash terrible storms with a blow of his trident, drowning the pride of sailors in an instant.

In History: Much more than an abstract god: at Massilia and Ostia, Neptune embodies the lethal force of the marine environment. The alleged accidents at the shipyards ("Neptune does not want") hide the eternal battle between the reason of Roman engineers and the fierce superstition of men of the sea.

Selene

The Myth: Ancient lunar deity. Every night she guides her frosty silver chariot across the firmament, offering a glimmer of pale light to travelers and creatures of darkness.

In History: The immutable and impassioned cosmic witness ("Selene pursued him"). During chaotic nighttime sabotage or the smoky naval engagements, her cold orbit constantly reminds soldiers of the universe's indifference to their blood and their transient misery.

Lares

The Myth: Ancient and eternal household guardian spirits. They rested in an inner shrine (the lararium) and ensured serenity, family unity and health to the home and its members.

In History: For the tormented builder Diodorus, the Lar shrine (associated with infant lunulae) is his only mental foothold. They function as a last desperate private bulwark against the political and military brutality that sweeps away every trace of humanity at Ostia.

Dis Pater

The Myth: Primordial Roman deity, custodian of treasures hidden deep within the earth. By its subterranean nature it was closely linked to the Underworld and to Pluto.

In History: The image of "ministers at Dite's threshold" decodes, in the tired eyes of the protagonists, the silhouettes of the saboteurs. Men who lose their civil status, reducing to dangerous infernal shadows springing from the darkness.

Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri)

The Myth: The inseparable twin heroes, patrons of cavalry and providential saviors in the ancient and desperate field battles of the Roman Republic.

In History: Their iconic temple rises as an architectural landmark in the Forum of Rome. Lepidus observes it before departing, serving as a stoic reminder of military valor, equestrian justice and fraternal heroism that should regulate every praetorian.

Harpy

The Myth: Cruel chimeric creatures with the face of a maiden and the claws and wings of a bird of prey, historically sent by the gods as implacable ministers of calamities, famines and storms.

In History: Cited in the novel (Ch8) to personify the inexorable bite of torment and bad luck. The Harpy embodies the ominous and invisible fate that constantly threatens those who work surrounded by the perils of the sea.

Vejovis (Veiovis)

The Myth: Cryptic and ancient divinity of Etruscan origin. An ambiguous god, perhaps the protector of dark healings and the youthful healing forces invoked against illness.

In History: The god is fleetingly recalled through a superstitious and desperate vow. It symbolizes the deep attachment of humble characters to ancient pietas in the face of the implacable blindness caused by trachoma or political darkness.

Civil War (Caesar vs Pompey)

The great fratricidal conflict that serves as the backdrop for the entire novel (49-45 BC). A draining war for control of the Republic, in which the conquest of Massilia becomes vital to securing the precious routes to Hispania (Iberia) and supplies.

Siege of Massilia

The central event of the narrative. In 49 BC, the powerful neutral city-state finds itself caught in Trebonius's land pincer and the naval blockade by the Caesarian admiral Decimus Brutus, becoming the theater of a ruthless war of attrition.

Pyrenees Campaign

Caesar's military "hourglass." A rapid military operation launched at the start of the civil war to secure strategic mountain passes. An advance that imposes on the Ostia shipyards a shipbuilding pace that is utterly suffocating and inhuman.

Hispania (Iberia) Campaign

The crucial maritime and terrestrial strategic chessboard. Control of the Iberian Peninsula and the neutralization of Afranius and Petreius' forces are Caesar's immediate objective; an objective achievable only by defeating the Massaliote fleet.

Battle of Tauroenta

The epic clash that marks the novel's climax. In the harsh waters off the Massaliote fortress, the mighty and unstable Roman quinqueremes (the "Titans") grapple hand-to-hand with the agile and deadly fleet commanded by Admiral Nasidius.

Ides of March

A dark shadow cast over the story's epilogue, set in 44 BC. The impending assassination of Julius Caesar marks the tragic end of an era and casts a prophetic and bitter light on the oaths made five years earlier at the Ostia Navalia.

Ostia Antica

A nerve center of the Roman Republic's maritime activity, vital for troop transit, supplying the City, and the massive shipbuilding effort for the civil war.

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Massilia (Marsiglia)

The powerful Phocaean city-state allied with Pompey, besieged by land and sea by Caesar's forces, whose resistance is the hub of the maritime conflict.

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Castrum (Fort) Novum

Roman coastal outpost and port along the Via Aurelia, fundamental for naval patrolling and the fleet's first open-sea trials.

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Genua (Genova)

Ancient Ligurian port, a strategic maritime hub in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea controlling movements before pushing westward toward Massilia.

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Porta Romana

The main eastern entrance of Ostia Antica, at the end of the busy Via Ostiense that connects it directly to the capital.

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Porta Marina

The ancient western access of Ostia, facing directly toward the ancient maritime shoreline and swept by strong coastal winds.

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Necropolis of the Via Ostiense

The sprawling burial ground that flanks the main artery to Rome. An intricate labyrinth of tombs marking the silent border between the world of the living and Eternity.

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Capitolium of Ostia

The religious hub of the colony. In 49 BC the temple had an archaic architectural layout, but already dominated the city Forum unchallenged.

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Roman Theatre

The area designated for gatherings and performances. At the time it was not the majestic stone structure of today, but an imposing and crowded temporary wooden structure.

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Horrea (Warehouses) of Ostia

The formidable commercial warehouses where the vast riches of the Mediterranean, and particularly the grain vital to feeding the City, were stored under close supervision.

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Salt Warehouse

A crucial storage facility for preserving port goods and the very precious salt (vital for military rations), located in the immediate vicinity of the port and shipyards.

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Navalia

The ancient shipyards of Ostia. An incessant and noisy construction site where formidable warships were laid down, completed and launched in record time by Caesar's order.

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Tauroenta

A fortified Massaliote coastal settlement. Its harsh waters serve as the theater for the epic and decisive naval battle of 49 BC against the Roman fleet.

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Boarding
Close naval assault maneuver, during which the enemy ship is hooked to fight hand-to-hand on the deck.
Aequitas
The sacred principle of fairness and justice. Fundamental value for a magistrate like Lepido in judging crimes and responsibilities.
Mainmast
The mighty and vertiginous central wooden pillar of the ship, on which rests the immense weight of the square sail and the shroud system.
Flagship
The main and most imposing ship of the fleet, from whose elevated position the commander directs the entire naval military operation.
Antesignani (Elite Troops)
Elite soldiers chosen from the legionary cohorts, free from heavy baggage and deployed on the front line for lightning assaults and harassment actions.
Archers
Deadly marksmen positioned strategically on the decks or wooden towers of ships to unleash attack volleys before boarding.
Winches and Pulleys
Essential machinery in the shipyards, powered by human strength to lift the immense mainmasts and move heavy materials.
Ballista
Deadly siege weapon mounted aboard, capable of hurling iron bolts or enormous projectiles at very long range to pierce enemy hulls.
Berm
The robust stone or brick structure of the Ostia port, vital for allowing safe mooring of ships and loading operations.
Caulkers
Naval craftsmen in charge of making the ship's hull waterproof, inserting hemp fibers soaked in pitch between the wooden planks.
Berth
The busy operational area of the military port, set up for complex mooring maneuvers and unloading of heavy equipment.
Caligae (Military Sandals)
The standard heavy nailed sandals, unmistakable footwear that set the rhythmic stride of Roman legionaries.
Channel
The dredged or natural passage that allowed the transit of quinqueremes from the shipyard or river directly into open sea.
Canes Pugnaces (Guard Dogs)
Fierce and massive guard dogs (often molossians) used to patrol sensitive areas, such as the vast horrea of Ostia.
Reed Bed
The dense and tangled marsh vegetation along river or maritime coasts, exploited by fugitives as shelter or a deceptive obstacle for pursuers.
Capitolium
The main temple dedicated to the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva), religious and political hub of Roman cities and colonies.
Shipwrights
The tireless craftsmen and masters of wood, whose calloused hands transform heavy trunks into the unbeatable floating fortresses of the Republic.
Castrum (Fort)
The fortified Roman camp, built following rigid geometric and defensive rules, the beating heart of logistics and military life.
Centurion
Commander of a century. Backbone of the Roman army, seasoned veteran who enforces order with rigor and rod (the vitis).
Keel
The main beam that runs along the bottom of the hull from bow to stern, the true "backbone" of the vessel.
Cingulum (Military Belt)
The decorated military leather belt, symbol of army membership, that held the gladius scabbard and dagger.
Classis (Fleet)
The Roman military fleet, an imposing array of warships and assault troops.
Commander
The position of maximum operational authority. Holds imperium and has the absolute duty to lead and protect the legions or fleet.
Fellow Soldier
Comrade-in-arms, a soldier who shares the same tent (contubernium), the same rations and the same risks in battle.
Contus Nauticus (Boat Hook)
Long and robust wooden pole used by sailors to maneuver in shallow waters, repel obstacles or push away enemy hulls during boarding.
Deck (nautical)
The upper walkable deck of the ship, exposed to the elements, from which sailors steer the sails and soldiers engage in furious close combat.
Rigging and Hawsers
The intricate and vital set of hemp-braided ropes, impregnated with pitch and sea salt, essential for managing every sail and for mooring.
Shipbuilders
The ingenious engineering and technical minds that design hulls capable of withstanding both the force of the sea and the impact of enemy rams.
Tenth (Legio X)
The legendary Legio X Equestris. The most lethal and beloved elite force of Caesar, composed of veterans with unshakable courage.
Helm (Galea)
The head armor, forged in bronze or iron. Essential for protecting the soldier from enemy slashes during close combat.
Blacksmiths
The artisans of iron and fire, operating day and night in the fiery forges of the Navalia to forge weapons, rams, nails and harpoons.
Fabrilis / Fabri (Military Engineers)
The body of engineers, shipwrights and smiths of the army or shipyards, indispensable for the rapid construction of warships and siege engines.
Carpenters
Masters of the plane and chisel, employed for hull finishes, oar shaping and shield manufacturing.
Furnace
The titanic furnaces for metal melting, where molten bronze is poured into molds to create the deadly combat rams.
Ditch
The defensive perimeter excavation (fossatum) of a Roman military camp, the first fundamental obstacle against any surprise assault.
Garum (Fish Sauce)
Liquid sauce made from fermented fish offal, with a pungent flavor, omnipresent in maritime military rations.
Gentes (Peoples)
Peoples, lineages or tribes. Often used in a military context to indicate subdued foreign populations or Rome's allies.
Gladius (Short Sword)
The lethal standard short sword, perfect for the deadly close combat even in confined spaces on a ship's deck.
Hispania (Iberia)
The Iberian Peninsula. Vital strategic chessboard of the civil wars, just pacified by Caesar but whose repercussions still agitate the City.
Horrea (Warehouses)
Vast storage complexes and warehouses, vital for preserving grain and goods that transited through the ports of the Republic.
Igilium (Island of Giglio)
Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a crucial reference point for Roman helmsmen before facing open sea or the northern coasts.
Interlocking Joints
The complex and millimetric naval carpentry technique (tenon and mortise) that guarantees the structural resistance of the hull under the waves.
Engineer
The military architect (praefectus fabrum) who designs bridges, ballistae and the formidable quinqueremes with rigorous mathematical calculations.
Insula (City Block)
The vast and crowded multi-story buildings where the Roman plebs lived, often made of wood and subject to frequent collapses and fires.
Legate
The general's trusted deputy and right hand, a senator to whom direct tactical command of an entire legion or an army wing is delegated.
Legionaries
The formidable heavy infantry of the Republic: professionals trained in iron discipline, capable of digging trenches and marching for hours.
Legion
The implacable Roman war machine. A unit composed of over four thousand armored infantry, a military city in constant movement.
Libertus (Freedman)
A freed slave who has earned or bought his freedom. Many craftsmen and merchants in the ports were freedmen.
Lorica Hamata
The mail chain armor, flexible but very heavy, issued to legionaries of the republican era.
Ludi Scaenici
Theatrical performances and public spectacles that entertained the plebs, often used by politicians seeking consensus and popularity.
War Machines
Dismantlable towers, scorpions and catapults. The formidable siege weapons that the Roman Classis (Fleet) mounts aboard to bombard enemy walls.
Magister Equitum
The Commander of the Cavalry, a title of exceptional political and military power, equivalent to a Vice-Dictator in times of emergency.
Tide
The alternating water level, a phenomenon whose careful reading is essential to safely launching a massive warship from the shipyard.
Sailors
Specialized nautical personnel, in charge of managing the immense sails and positioning the ship relative to the prevailing winds.
Molossi (Molossians)
See Canes Pugnaces (Guard Dogs). Massive dogs bred to defend camps or hunt down saboteurs and escaping prisoners.
Mutatio
Rest and horse change station along the consular roads, essential to ensure maximum speed to imperial and military couriers.
Nautici
Navigation experts, often Greeks or Massaliots, whose priceless knowledge of the sea makes them indispensable to Rome's fleet.
Navalia
The great shipyards and military basins, places of feverish work where warships were laid down, launched and repaired.
Navicella
A small and fast rowing boat used for rapid coastal shifts, secret reconnaissance or for shuttling between the flagship and line ships.
Oderint dum metuant
"Let them hate, as long as they fear." A famous and ruthless maxim of power, incarnation of an absolute authority that seeks not affection but blind respect.
Optio
The vice-centurion, an absolutely trusted non-commissioned officer in charge of keeping ranks tight from the rear of the formation during battle.
Standard Equipment
The standard and approved equipment that every legionary is obliged to keep impeccable, under penalty of very harsh physical punishments.
Mooring
The anchoring or delicate positioning of the ship at the quay, carried out through large hemp ropes and massive stone bollards.
Paenula
The thick wool bell-shaped cloak with hood, vital for protecting against the biting cold during watches or from the elements at sea.
Palo
Thick pointed tree trunks, embedded in the ground or on the seabed to build defensive palisades, port foundations or divert currents.
Paludamentum
The long cloak, dyed scarlet red or purple, worn exclusively by the highest commanders and Roman generals.
Patibulum
The heavy horizontal crossbeam of the cross, which the condemned (often a slave or saboteur) was forced to carry on their shoulders toward the place of execution.
Patrol
The armed detachment in charge of perimeter surveillance, fundamental at Ostia to defend the shipyards from spies and saboteurs.
Pitch (Pix)
Black, sticky resinous substance, boiled and spread on the hull and rigging to guarantee its absolute watertightness against salt water.
Pistrinum
The city mill-bakery, where exhausting millstones reduced grain into flour for bread-making.
Deck (Naval)
The upper deck of the quinqueremes. It is the true floating battlefield during a fierce close combat clash.
Portico
The long colonnaded gallery under which craftsmen, shipwrights and smiths find shelter from the scorching sun during their incessant work.
Praetor
A high magistrate of the City. Invested with imperium, he administers justice and, in exceptional cases, assumes neuralgic military commands.
Bow and Stern
The two ends of the ship. The bow (prow), armed with a ram, cuts through the waves; the stern, raised, houses the helmsman and the command position.
Pulpitum
The raised theatrical stage or, in the naval field, the stern platform used to issue orders to the crew.
Props
Solid and thick wooden trunks arranged at an angle to keep the enormous ship hull in perfect balance on the slipway during construction.
Quinquereme
The most powerful and massive heavy warship, a floating fortress powered by five banks of rowers on each side, born to ram.
Remiges
The rowers of the fleet. Unlike the slaves of later myths, in the republican Roman fleet they were very often free and paid men, trained to maintain exhausting rhythms.
Roll
The incessant and nauseating lateral oscillation of the ship on the waves, which tests the physical endurance of recruits during navigation.
Rostrum (Ram)
The fearsome solid bronze ram mounted on the bow below the waterline. Its function was to cleanly sever the enemy hull.
Course
The naval route to follow in open sea to reach Massilia or Rome, calculated by studying winds, stars and dangerous coastal currents.
Rubrica Fabrilis
Red clay used by shipwrights. Reduced to powder or paste, it was used to trace the marks and cutting lines on raw timber trunks.
Salute (Salutem)
The formal opening wish in official Roman letters, but also the physical care of troops and workers in the arduous shipyards.
Rigging
The complex and vital tangle of shrouds and lines that stabilizes the majestic mainmast and allows the management of large canvas sails.
Shrouds
The intricate system of thick lines (shrouds) pulled tightly to the sides of the mainmast to ensure its structural stability under storm winds.
Oarlock
The massive pin protruding from the edge of the hull, to which the oar is firmly tied to lever against the sea water.
Cliff
Dangerous cliff face on the sea. The terror of every commander who sails at night evading enemy patrols.
Scutum
The legionary shield, slightly curved and semi-cylindrical, capable of deflecting slashes and forming the impregnable assault tortoise.
Signalman
The soldier in charge of transmitting silent commands between ships, using colored flags by day and braziers or lanterns by night.
Below Deck (Naval)
The narrow and suffocating space below the main deck, saturated with the sweat of rowers and dominated by the constant rumble of rowing commands.
Sword (Gladius)
See Gladius (Short Sword). The iconic weapon of Rome: short, double-edged, forged to strike thrusts in the brutal and close infantry clash.
Road (Via)
The powerful stone-paved consular arteries (like the Via Ostiense), essential for forced marches, logistics and territorial control.
Taberna
The shop open at street level, the soul of the lively and noisy trade in the alleys of Ostia, Rome and Massilia.
Rudder
The directional organ of ancient ships: not a wheel, but two immense and extremely heavy side paddles immersed in the water at the sides of the stern.
Helmsman
The most experienced sailor (gubernator). His mastery in reading currents is the only thing that stands between the fleet and a disastrous shipwreck.
Towers
Impressive wooden defensive structures, fixed on the deck of large ships, from which elite troops target the enemy deck as from a castle.
Velarium
The immense covering of large retractable sails maneuvered by sailors, spread over theaters to shade spectators from the scorching sun.

Jupiter and Saturn

Stories by Marco Palaferri

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Battle of Tauroenta

Chapter XXI - Atlas. The battle comes alive on the map: follow the fleets, the maneuvers, and the naval clash at the heart of the novel.

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Navigate the treacherous waters of the western Mediterranean. From Ostia Antica to the siege of the formidable Massilia.

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Chronology of Events

Early July 49 BC
  • Cap. 1: Caesar's Order
  • Cap. 2: The Shadow on the Titans
  • Cap. 3: The Accident
  • Cap. 4: The Bridge
  • Cap. 5: The Necessity
  • Cap. 6: The Dawn
  • Cap. 7: The Bond of the Sky
  • Cap. 8: The Trial
  • Cap. 9: The Excuse
  • Cap. 10: The Dust
  • Cap. 11: The Theater
  • Cap. 12: Smoke in the Eyes
  • Cap. 13: The Cross
  • Cap. 14: The Lunula
  • Cap. 15: The Salt
  • Cap. 16: The Raven
  • Cap. 17: The Launching
Late July 49 BC
  • Cap. 18: Castrum (Fort) Novum
  • Cap. 19: Genoa Night
  • Cap. 20: Genoa Departure
Late July / Early August 49 BC
  • Cap. 21: Atlas
  • Cap. 22: Equal Danger
Late August 49 BC
  • Cap. 23: Ocean
September 49 BC
  • Cap. 24: Man of Honor