The Romans, though it may be inferred from treaties with Carthage and with Tarentum that they had some kind of fleet in the time even of the kings, yet did not apply themselves readily to maritime pursuits, and made no serious effort to become masters of the Mediterranean till the first Punic War. We hear then of their copying a quinquereme which had fallen into their hands by accident. A fleet was constructed in sixty days from the time that the trees were first cut down, and meantime crews were practised diligently in rowing on dry land in a framework of timber which represented the interior of the vessels that were building. This first essay at extemporising a fleet does not seem to have been very successful. But nothing daunted they persevered, and the second venture under the Admiral Duillius took with it to sea a new invention called the 'corvus,' a sort of boarding bridge by which, when it once fell on the enemy's vessel, the Roman infantry soon found its way on to his deck, and made short work with the swarthy African crew. This revolutionised the maritime struggle, and gave unexpectedly the naval superiority to Rome. The large vessels of war (_alta navium propugnacula_) continued to be built until the time of Actium, when the light Liburnian galleys, which were biremes, were found to be more than a match for the leviathans, whose doom from that moment was sealed. From that time, with the exception of the accounts of _naumachiae_, there is very little of interest about galleys to be gathered. The coins and the paintings of Pompeii show us craft degenerating in type. The column of Trajan exhibits biremes as still in vogue. Later on there is a light thrown upon the subject by the _Tactica_ of the Byzantine Emperor Leo about 800 A.D., who gives directions as to the building and composition of his fleet, which is to consist of biremes, or dromones as he calls them, and light galleys with one bank of oars. From these latter eventually sprang the mediaeval galley, which however differed from the ancient galley in the arrangement of its oars by the use of the 'apostis,' a projecting framework which took the place of the ancient 'parodus,' and upon which the thowls were placed, against which the long sweeps could be plied by two or three men attached to each. For full and accurate descriptions of these mediaeval vessels the reader who has any curiosity on the subject should consult the ample works of M. Jal. His _Archeologie Navale_ and _Glossaire Nautique_ contain the fullest information as regards the build, and fittings, and crews of the mediaeval galley. The sorrows and sufferings of 'la Chiourme' were enough to give rowing a bad name, as an employment too cruel even for slaves and fit to be reserved for criminals of the worst description.