Navigation: Phoenicians (1400 BC)

It was 1400 BC, the time of Babylonians, Zanzibar and Ceylon. Solomon and David ruled in Biblical Israel. The Minoan civilisation was destroyed and Egypt (Queen Hatshepsut) in decline. The Mediteranean was open for a new sea power. The Greeks and the Phoenicians.
The Phoenicians were initially coastal traders. When storm came, they ran their ships aground. When the weather cleared they would float them again. They ventured beyond the coast navigating on the pole star and other reliable celestial reference points. The Phoenicians are credited with deviding the circle into 360 degrees!

Carthage, a Phoenician colony, was the power in 260 BC. The romans had no idea how to sail, and the Senate ordered 120 ships. During the 2 months it took to build them, Gaius Cornelius Scipio trained the crew and became the first Roman Naval commander.

[post scriptum: A Cornelius....hmmmm. At least we know where 'gaius' comes from. (Dutch for "scum o'the earth"). The famous Romans Julius Ceasar and Augustus were also called Gaius! but OK, that has nothing to do with Navigation]