M.'s monograph could be considered – for reasons related to the contents but also to the overall layout of the publication – as a new edition of De Rebus Nauticis. L'arte della navigazione nel mondo antico (openly admitted by M., p. 9), the book M. published in 2004 within the same editorial series (Studia Archaeologica). Nevertheless, eighteen years of advances in scholarship, the wide and positive reception of the previous volume and the addition of new topics completely justify the publication of this renewed and graphically fresh version of this piece of scholarly work.
Nautica Antica consists of seven chapters (vs the five chapters included in the previous book), dedicated to a specific aspect of seafaring in antiquity in each. In every chapter M. takes the opportunity to revisit, expand and update certain issues previously discussed in De Rebus Nauticis as well as occasionally adding new material and data, and proposing novel themes.
In the first chapter, ‘Poca teoria e tanta pratica’, M. recalls an idea that he previously expressed in the earlier book, but that he now enriches with considerations and comparisons inferred from medieval, modern and contemporary seafaring practice: in antiquity as well as until quite recent times the fundamentals of seafaring were acquired and transmitted through onboard experience. Mariners did not receive formal training (except for a few specific contexts, i.e. the commanders of the fleet); rather, their knowledge drew mostly from what they could learn when at sea. In other words, it was empirical experience that provided ‘marine sense’ (i.e. the capacity to interpret signals and smells, and read the environment), which was otherwise impossible to obtain through a conventional (and formal) learning path.
Already from Chapter 1 onwards one of the distinguishing features of M.'s scholarship begins to emerge, that is his facility for connecting and interpreting archaeological data with the extant literature on the topic (regardless of whether they are ancient sources or nautical information on other periods) and his ethnographic comparisons. It is not by chance that the subtitle of the book is ‘Itinerari tra storia, archaeologia ed etnografia’.
The experience at sea acts as a fil rouge to introduce the second chapter, ‘Gente di mare’. Here M. touches on several aspects of the human relationship with the sea. He notes the importance of the familiarity that seafarers developed with both the environment (the sea) and the vehicle (the ship). This relationship was intense to the point that in antiquity ships were considered almost as living entities, as if they possessed their own will and personality. The section devoted to the bond between seafarers and their ships as well as the following one (on navigation in inner waters) represent significative additions to the previous version of the book, introducing new food for thought. On the other hand, the parts dealing with the contribution that ancient temples (and their personnel) and geographers could have made with regard to the record and transmission of sea routes have already been published – although partially revised here.
As disclosed by its title, Chapter 3, ‘Le vele’, concerns the sails. This is undoubtedly one of the most noteworthy and updated sections of the book, especially because M. thoroughly discusses the major pros and cons related to the use of the different kinds of sails documented in antiquity. What makes this chapter particularly relevant is M.'s first-hand experience and know-how of sailing practice: an element that is often missing in similar publications on the same topic. Moreover, the chapter is conveniently enhanced with graphic aids and reproductions of graffiti, paintings and mosaics. More than the other sections of the book, reading this chapter could be difficult for those who are not familiar with Italian nautical jargon; however, the glossary at the end of the book (pp. 179–83) will help to mitigate this issue.
Chapter 4, ‘Orientarsi in mare’, is in part built on the section labelled ‘Navigazione astronomica e astronomia nautica’ in De Rebus Nauticis. It deals with a thorny – yet frequently overlooked – aspect of ancient seafaring, that is its lack of scientific precision and high level of approximation. As underlined by M., ancient seafaring mainly made use of winds, stars and of the observation of the coastline and of the bottom of the sea to place the ship within the maritime space. This system, even when it allowed for an approximate estimation of the ship's position, was not accurate enough to provide mariners with flawless data on the direction that they were following.
Chapters 5 and 6 are respectively focused on seasonality and weather (‘Il tempo giusto per navigare’) and on how to deal with bad conditions at sea (‘Affrontare la tempesta’). After having examined the seaworthiness of the ships (with the chapter on sails), M. thus centres his attention on the environment in which the ships moved.
The last chapter, ‘Peripli, portolani e cartografia’, briefly analyses what kind of relationship (if any) those ancient texts traditionally identified as peripli and portolans had with nautical knowledge. Here M. revisits an idea he already expressed elsewhere: the beginning of the production of literary works known as peripli in the sixth century bce could be considered indicative of the existence of some kind of written registration of nautical data as early as in the late archaic period. His opinion is, in this sense, in contrast with P. Janni's 1984 hypothesis, according to which the scarce importance of seafaring during antiquity would not have motivated the necessity to create proper nautical literature (P. Janni, La mappa e il periplo: cartografia antica e spazio odologico [1984]).
This book is a worthy successor of De Rebus Nauticis: it resumes and expands on already published topics, but – at the same time – it presents new data, incorporates recent scholarship and proposes some novel sections. Nautica Antica is not – it should be noted – the typical academic monograph, in the sense that it unconventionally combines elements from archaeology, ancient history, ethnography, the author's first-hand experience and nautical knowledge in general. Yet, it is this unique combination that defines its scientific value and gives substance to it, making its reading helpful not just for an audience involved in antiquity-related studies, but also for those who have an interest in maritime history, maritime practice, geography or – more generally – the history of science.
