Arve, and welcome to Emperor's of Rome, a Roman history podcast from Latribian University.

I'm your host, Matt Smith, and with me today is Dr. Gillian Sheppard, Director of the

Trendle Centre at Latribian University.

This is episode CXCIV, Seamonsters in Roman mythology.

Rome has always been a sea-faring power, relying on the ocean for food and trade.

What lies beneath the waves can chill the hearts of mortal men and tales of aquatic horror

were commonplace in antiquity.

Here's Gillian Sheppard.

So, Gillian, how important was the sea in antiquity?

Well, it was absolutely crucially important.

It was a resource in terms of food.

Fish were a significant part of the diet, and often quite a delicacy as well.

But it also provided access to other resources, particularly in the Roman Empire,

when you've got this vast empire surrounding the Mediterranean or Maurei Nostrum,

RSC, as the Romans called it, and freight and trade that was sea-borne was far

in a way the fastest and easiest way to move stuff around the ancient world.

But at the same time, it was hazardous.

You've got obviously bad weather, you've got shipwrecks, you've got ships that could be overloaded,

you have a certain period's piracy is a real problem,

and of course, you've got the sea-monsters.

So, as a result of this importance, sea monsters are going to be an important part of the mythology

because there's so much interaction with the waters around the Mediterranean, aren't they?

...