A quinquereme needed roughly 280 oarsmen, twenty deck crew, officers, and at least forty marines. Roman ships often carried 120 marines, taking the described total toward 450 people per vessel. With roughly 330 Roman and 350 Carthaginian ships, estimates of 140,000 and 150,000 people become comprehensible. These totals include the human power needed to move the fleets as well as the men who fought aboard them.
Notable Point · 15:51-17:17
Fleet scale and the manpower of a quinquereme
Crew-heavy oared warships explain how roughly 330 Roman and 350 Carthaginian ships could put nearly 300,000 people into the campaign.