A DALGETY BAY man has published a book on the Ancient Roman navy.
John Richardson has lived in the West Fife town for over 25 years and has just had his book, Handbook of the Roman Imperial Navy, published.
Now retired, he has had a lifelong interest in ancient history.
He commented: “My father was in the Royal Navy, and I suppose over the years that generated an interest in the seas and the navy to an extent.
“I also always had an interest in ancient history and in particular Ancient Rome.
“I have always liked the classical periods of Greece, Ancient Egypt and Rome.”
About 10 years ago, John discovered that there was a company in Holland who build replicas of Ancient Roman ships.
He contacted the man behind it and was lucky enough to be invited over to see a ship being built for himself.
He said that this experience was “completely out of the blue and different”.
This book is not John’s first. He has previously published children’s books on ancient cultures, and he spent a couple of years working on this one.
The first time it was known that Britain was an island was when the Romans sailed around it, and they even noted the Shetland Islands.
John commented: “When you think what they achieved in those times and under the power of the wind and sales and people at the oars.
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“There was no engines in those days, just manpower and the power of the wind. It’s quite remarkable.”
The novel is available from Amazon, Waterstones and other bookshops.
“I am more than pleased to see my efforts, it came out as well as I hoped it would.
“I wrote it in the style of writing to appeal to anyone with an interest in ships of all sizes from small boats, yachts, upward and give them a bit of a history of the past and shipbuilding and ships.
“I wrote this in one sense, not too academic, and available to the person who is interested as a working yachtsman.”
John also sees similarities between the Ancient Roman navy and navies nowadays.
“Everybody if they want to be a world power has to control part of the sea,” he explained.
Handbook of the Roman Imperial Navy is available to purchase now.
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