Corbita – Roman trading shipTrade – especially by water – will become an important game element. The Romans traded by water whenever possible. It was possible to transport large quantities of goods quickly and with comparatively little effort.
In the future, other types of ships will follow, mainly merchant and transport ships. However, as I have found out, it is very time-intensive to model such a ship. It takes me almost double the time to build a trade or transport ship compared to a building.
Research
In 2019, on my way from Zurich to Saalburg in Germany [Saalburg click here], I stopped in Mainz because I wanted to look at the Roman Theater there. The theater is unfortunately partially under a train station building and the rest of the theater is not really impressive if you have seen Augusta Raurica or Orange.
Roman Theater in Mainz
So I spontaneously visited the Museum of Ancient Navigation of the RGMZ in Mainz [Museum click here].
The entrance is free and it was a bit hot in the building. Nevertheless, the museum is absolutely worth seeing. Personally, I found the exhibition to be one of the best I have ever seen. Very interesting information on shipping, crew, etc. Since I am not allowed to publish photos from the museum here, I can only recommend to visit the museum. It is worth it!
I have taken various photos of merchant ships there, which serve as a template for me.
For this Corbita [Wikipedia article click here] I used this photo [click here] or the sketch from here [click here. More interesting information about Roman shipping can be found here [click here].
Corbita with raised sail
Corbita on the move – sail open
Is it worth a visit?
In any case, a visit to the Museum of Ancient Navigation of the RGMZ in Mainz is worthwhile if you are as detail-oriented as I am. The museum focuses explicitly on shipping. This has the advantage that you get exciting and coherent information throughout.
Overview
| Location | Google Maps Link |
| Woth seeing | Yes |
| What to see | Large and small models, lots of information |
| Duration | 60-90 minutes |
| Parking | Conditionally available. The train station is right next door. |
| Website | https://web.rgzm.de/museen/museum-fuer-antike-schifffahrt-mainz/ |
| Admission | free of charge |
