Terracotta relief of a tugboat (14261; on the relief seems to have been painted 41261)

From the facade of tomb 78 of the Isola Sacra necropolis.
W. 0.575, h. 0.40.
Lionel Casson describes the boat (dory) as follows: "We see three oarsmen straining hard as they row a sturdy dory from the end of which a stout taut line runs outward and upward, a line that can only be a cable made fast to the prow of a lofty ship under tow. The dory has two special features. The first is a single oversize steering oar mounted on the sternpost instead of the customary pair of oars mounted on the quarters; this apparatus gave the steersman the leverage he needed to direct a clumsy tow. The second is a mast stepped so far up in the bows that it could only have carried some form of fore-and-aft sail, a versatile type that allows maximum mobility; this little tug, then, was equipped to sail out to meet a tow with a wind blowing from almost any quarter - the rowers' energies were to be conserved for the hard pull back".

Arachne 3618537. Casson 1965, 35. Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 156. Descoeudres 2001, cat. nr. VI.4. Photos: Lorenzatti 2007, 1, Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica, and American Academy Rome.