The lemb, ''lembus'' or ''lembos'' (, ''lembos''; ) was an ancient wide term covering a range of small ships, which were used for different purposes, both civilian and military. It was small and light, with a low

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

. It was a fast and maneuverable warship, capable of carrying 50 men in addition to the rowers. It was the galley used by Illyrian pirates. Illyrians used them at

Medion Medion AG is a German consumer electronics company and a subsidiary of Chinese multinational technology company Lenovo. The company operates in Europe, Turkey, Asia-Pacific, the United States and Australia. The company's main products are comp ...

under Agron, and at Elis, Messene, Phoenice, Issa, Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra and Paxus under

Teuta Teuta ( Illyrian: ''*Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; ; ) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agron in 231 BC, she assumed ...

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

used lembi during the First Macedonian War.Walbank
p. 69

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

5.109
The lemb was more common among the

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

of the southern

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

, while in the northern Adriatic, the more common ship was the

liburna A liburna was a type of small galley used for raiding and patrols. Originally utilized by the Liburnians, a pirate tribe from Dalmatia, it later became a staple of the Roman navy.. History A stone tablet (''Stele di Novilara'') discovered nea ...

which originated from the

Liburnians The Liburnians or Liburni () were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croatia. According to Strabo ...

. The lemb appears in several Illyrian coins of the southern Adriatic communities, which were politically connected with the

Illyrian kingdom The Illyrian kingdom was an Illyrian political entity that existed on the western part of the Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. Regardless of the number of the alternately ruling dynasties, of their tribal affiliation, and of the actual ex ...

, like the

Labeatae The Labeatae, Labeatai or Labeates (; ) were an Illyrian people that lived on the Adriatic coast of southern Illyria, between modern Albania and Montenegro, around Lake Scodra (the ancient ''Lacus Labeatis''). Their territory, which was called ...

, the

Daorsi Daorson was the capital of the Illyrian tribe of the Daorsi (Ancient Greek Δαόριζοι, Δαούρσιοι; Latin ''Daorsei''). The Daorsi lived in the valley of the Neretva River between 300 BC and 50 BC. They came very early into contact w ...

, and the cities of Scodra and Lissus.

Name

The term λέμβος, ''lembos'' has been recorded in Classical sources since the 4th century BC onwards. The Illyric-

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

term λέμβος was later

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ized as ''lembus''. The ultimate source of the term is obscure. An Illyrian origin has been suggested.

Usage

The lembi were small ships used originally for civilian purposes, and thereafter adapted to warfare usages, with at least three sub-types: *small ship used in the Aegean as towing boat, ship's boat, transportation boat, and platform for the catapults; *southern

(Illyrian) lemb for

naval warfare Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. The Military, armed forces branch designated for naval warfare is a navy. Naval operations can be ...

, piracy (also attacking unarmed ships), trade, and swift transport of the troops: the southern Adriatic shipbuilders most likely adopted and developed an already existing small and fast Aegean type of ship; *upgraded Macedonian fighting lemb: a

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

ian prototype of the Illyrian lemb was built at the behest of king

, who ordered one hundred lembs to be built by Illyrian shipbuilders, in order to transport his troops in 216 BC. Philip's shipbuilders further developed in 214 BC this ship type by enlarging it into a bireme warship. Those warships were even fitted with rams.

Notes

References

''Histories''

Evelyn S. Shuckburgh Evelyn Shirley Shuckburgh (12 July 1843 – 10 July 1906) was an English academic and schoolmaster, known as classical scholar and translator. Life Born at Aldborough, Norfolk on 12 July 1843, he was the third and eldest surviving son in the f ...

(translator); London, New York. Macmillan (1889); Reprint Bloomington (1962). * * * * * Walbank, F. W., ''Philip V of Macedon'' Cambridge University Press, 2013. . *Wilkes, John, ''The Illyrians (Peoples of Europe)'', Blackwell Publishers, (December 1, 1995) {{Illyrians Ship types Ancient piracy