Article: Ask Calliope.

? What is a remora? Did it really play a role in the Battle of Actium?

--Brady, 10, Web Post

! The Roman writer Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23/24-79) claimed that, in 31 B.C., a remora held fast the Roman general Antony's ship at the Battle of Actium (the naval battle Antony and Cleopatra lost against the Roman leader Octavian). Remoras, from the Latin noun remora ("hindrance"), do exist. This type of fish has a suction dish on its head that it uses to cling to other fish and to ships. Many vessels have experienced its frightening consequences. In centuries past, oar and/or sail power were not enough to overcome the effect caused by remoras clinging to a ...

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