The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
1–10 of 29 posts
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#2Reminds me of a maneuver performed by Mehmed the Conqueror during the Siege of Constantinople:
"On 22 April, Mehmed transported his lighter warships overland, around the Genoese colony of Galata, and into the Golden Horn's northern shore; eighty galleys were transported from the Bosphorus after paving a route, little over one mile, with wood. Thus the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the walls." [1]
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#3Reminds me of a maneuver performed by Mehmed the Conqueror during the Siege of Constantinople: "On 22 April, Mehmed transported his lighter warships overland, around the Genoese colony of Galata, and into the Golden Horn's northern shore; eighty galleys were transported from the Bosphorus after paving a route, little over one mile, with wood. Thus the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the wal…
As this fascinating WW2 training film for US Combat Engineers demonstrates, improvised roads are still important for modern military operations:
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#4"Excavated letters and associated pottery found at the site indicate a construction date at the end of the 7th or beginning of the 6th century BC, that is around the time when Periander was tyrant of Corinth."
Those crafty tyrants, always up to something.
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#5Engineering in the ancient world has quite a few examples of "megaprojects" like this one.
Besides the well-known Egyptian Pyramids and Roman aqueducts, one interesting one I've recently learned about was about the columns in the Roman Pantheon were built: They were carved from single blocks of granite and then imported all the way from Egypt[0]:
"The grey granite columns that were actually used in the Pantheon's pronaos were quarried in Egypt at Mons Claudianus in the eastern mountains. Each was 39 feet (11.9 m) tall, 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 60 tons in weight.[43] These were dragged more than 100 km (62 miles) from the quarry to the river on wooden sledges. They were floated by barge down the Nile River when the water level was high during the spring floods, and then transferred to vessels to cross the Mediterranean Sea to the Roman port of Ostia. There, they were transferred back onto barges and pulled up the Tiber River to Rome.[44] After being unloaded near the Mausoleum of Augustus, the site of the Pantheon was still about 700 meters away.[45] Thus, it was necessary to either drag them or to move them on rollers to the construction site."
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#6Engineering in the ancient world has quite a few examples of "megaprojects" like this one. Besides the well-known Egyptian Pyramids and Roman aqueducts, one interesting one I've recently learned about was about the columns in the Roman Pantheon were built: They were carved from single blocks of granite and then imported all the way from Egypt[0]: " The grey granite columns that were actually used in the Pantheon's pr…
The Romans also had a passion for importing ancient Egyptian obelisks, which could be a hundred feet tall and weigh 450 tons. They were also made from single blocks.
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#7I'm reminded of the movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzcarraldo - based on a real story, the making of the movie was even more ambitious than the original event.
"The film production was an incredible ordeal,
and famously involved moving a 320-ton steamship
over a hill. This was filmed without the use of
special effects"Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#8"remaining in regular and frequent service for at least 650 years"
Amazing how long-lived many antique structures were. Apart from churches, I can't think of many 650 year old structures that are still used today.
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#9Engineering in the ancient world has quite a few examples of "megaprojects" like this one. Besides the well-known Egyptian Pyramids and Roman aqueducts, one interesting one I've recently learned about was about the columns in the Roman Pantheon were built: They were carved from single blocks of granite and then imported all the way from Egypt[0]: " The grey granite columns that were actually used in the Pantheon's pr…
Re: The Diolkos: an ancient Greek paved trackway enabling boats to be moved overland
#10TIL