L’aplustre. Simbolo di potenza della nave da guerra nell’antichità

The ancient ships had always been equipped with ornaments, both in the bow and in the stern. The purpose of these ornaments was to flaunt power, and also to intimidate and ward off both evil spirits and enemies. At the bow, in addition to the animal-shaped rostrum, there was a decoration on the top of the bow, the acrostolium, and above the rostrum, where the bow “sees” the sea, the apotropaic eyes. In the stern, the element, which anticipates the symbol par excellence of ancient ships, flanked internally by the chêniscus goose-shaped ornament or more generally a bird’s head, was the aplustre, the ornament we want to deal with in this short note.