The closing comparison reaches back before the age of sail to explain why the same design logic changes across technologies. Roman quadriremes, triremes, and quinqueremes commonly moved in short stages from bay to bay, allowing their crews to obtain food ashore. They combined oars and sails but did not carry the mass of heavy artillery found on later gun-armed warships. Although they might mount a few specialized weapons, cannon, powder, shot, and large gun crews did not dominate their internal space and weight. The procurement problem became more tightly interconnected once ships carried whole batteries whose weapons and ammunition competed with provisions, structure, and range.
Notable Point · 42:32-43:44
Why ancient galleys faced a different endurance problem
Roman-era galleys made short coastal hops and carried little heavy artillery, so cannon-era battery trade-offs did not apply in the same way.