COBI Roman Warship Set 20071

COBI's Roman Warship is the largest set in the Imperium Romanum range, built from 1,810 blocks, with fabric sails and rigging, a display base, the legionary standard with its golden eagle, and three figures: the emperor Marcus Aurelius, a senator and a general.

How Rome learned to fight at sea

Rome was a land power that had no fleet worth the name until the First Punic War forced the issue in 264 BC. The traditional account says the Romans salvaged a wrecked Carthaginian warship and copied it, and within months were building their own in numbers.

Copying the hull was the easy part. Carthaginian crews had generations of seamanship behind them and won by ramming and manoeuvre, which Rome could not match. So Rome changed the terms: the corvus, a hinged boarding bridge with a heavy spike under the nose, dropped onto an enemy deck and held it fast. Legionaries walked across. A sea battle became an infantry engagement, which was the one kind of fight Rome was certain to win — and the reason the Mediterranean ended up being called Mare Nostrum, our sea.

In the COBI range

The ship carries three figures. To crew it properly, the Romans set (20067) and Roman Auxilia (20073) add three each at the same scale.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,810 · Figures: 3, with accessories · Also included: sails, rigging, display base, legionary standard