Reassessing Polybius’ account of the Battle of Aegates (241 BCE) using the underwater material culture found at the Egadi Islands

The discovery of the naval battlefield of the Battle of the Aegates (241 BCE) has provided archaeologists with information on battlefield deposition in the Hellenistic period. Ancient war-galleys were armed with a copper-alloy waterline naval ram, yet few have survived in the archaeological record. However, since 2004 twenty-five Roman and Carthaginian rams or rostra have been found at the Egadi Islands. Each ram was cast to fit a particular warship thus providing data on the warship’s nature. This short report will argue that the combatant warships were smaller than Polybius claimed, and evidence of head-on ramming may demonstrate defensive manoeuvres.