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Trireme (Greek Τριήρεις pl. (Τριήρης sing.)) refers to a class of warships used by the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans. In English, no differentiation is made between the Greek triērēs and the Latin triremes. This is sometimes a source of confusion, as in other languages these terms refer to different styles of ships.
The early type had three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar. They originated with the Phoenicians and are best known from the fleets of Ancient Greece. The early trireme was a development of the pentekonter, an ancient warship with a single row of 25 oars on each side, and of the bireme (Greek: διήρης), a warship with two banks of oars. The trireme's staggered seating permitted three benches per vertical section with an oarsman on each. The outrigger above the gunwale, projecting laterally beyond it, kept the third row of oars on deck out of the way of the first two under deck. Early triremes were the dominant warship in the Mediterranean from the 7th to the 4th century BC.
The Greek/Phoenician trireme was the mainstay of most navies until the arrival of the quinquiremes/penteres. Like these, all rowers were now protected under deck and battle was mainly fought by marines. A different system of classification was also used, referring to the men per vertical section, so that they did not necessarily have three rows of oars any more.
Light Roman triremes supplanted the liburnians in the late Roman navy. They were like the early triremes a light type of warship, but with 150 rowers under deck instead of 170, with little armor, but significantly more marines and less structural support for ramming. Later it developed into the heavier dromon.
History: Origin
According to Thucydides, the trireme was introduced by Ameinocles of Corinth in the late 8th century BC. However, we also know that triremes were not truly effectively used in naval combat until about 525 BC, when according to Herodotus, the tyrant Polycrates of Samos was able to contribute 40 triremes to a Persian invasion of Egypt. A trireme usually had a ram at its mast to puncture enemy ships and cause them to sink.To suppose that no improvements were made to the design of the trireme — as the 40 ships contributed by Polycrates were still relatively primitive — when, in ten years in the early 5th century BC the Athenians were able to make sufficient improvements to the design to ensure their naval ascendancy for 60 years, is something of a stretch of the imagination. Some historians argue, therefore, that the introduction of the trireme did not take place until during the reign of Polycrates of Samos, as he was known to have a fleet of pentekonters at the beginning of his rule, and yet had switched to triremes by 525 BC. This would make the revolution of the design by the Athenians, then, much more plausible.
Add to this the uncertainty over the terminology used in the ancient texts — essentially, there is no guarantee that when the ancient writers used the term "trieres" that they were, in fact, referring to the trireme, and not to just any "warship", and the introduction in the late 8th century BC becomes quite questionable.
However, there are some reinforcements for the suggestion of the earlier introduction. Herodotus mentions that the Egyptian pharaoh Necho (610–595 BC) built triremes on the Nile, for service in the Mediterranean, and in the Red Sea for service in the Indian Ocean. That Pharaoh had close ties with Greece, and especially with Corinth, where it is likely — if the Corinthians had indeed introduced the ship in the late 8th century BC — he acquired the design.
Additionally, there is a fragment of Attic pottery, dated to between 735 and 710 BC, which seems to show a ship with three levels of oarsmen, although the third level is unmanned in the illustration. It is thought that the image represents an early example, or even a stereotype, of a trireme, and the unmanned third level is explained, by proponents of the earlier introduction theory, as being quite natural, since the illustration is part of a relief depicting an evacuation, and oarsmen would surely have been in short supply.
It is still not certain which of the two theories is true, and much research is still being done into the questions which surround the introduction of this warship.
Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
The early 5th century BC saw a conflict between the cities of Greece and the expansionist Achaemenid Empire under Darius and Xerxes, who used ships from their Phoenician, Carian and Ionian subjects. Since these early craft were not heavily armored and did not carry a large compliment of marines the main tactic used by ancient navies was to quickly ram enemy ships with the prow of the vessel with the intention of either sinking the enemy ship, or to sail alongside it, breaking its oars, thus immobilizing it.
The Greeks defeated the first invasion force at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, but realized that pursuing land battles against the more numerous Persians could not hope to win in the long term. When news came that Xerxes was amassing an enormous invasion force in Asia Minor, the Greek cities expanded their navies: in 482 BC the Athenian statesman Themistocles realized that if Greece was to survive another Persian invasion then it must take control of the Aegean. Themistocles used his political skills and influence, along with the income of the newly discovered silver mines at Lavrion, and persuaded the Athenian assembly to start the construction of 200 triremes. The project was successful, and 150 Athenian triremes are reported at the beginning of the Persian Wars. The first clash with the Persian navy was at the Battle of Artemisium, where both sides suffered great casualties. However, the decisive naval clash occurred at Salamis, where which Xerxes' second invasion fleet was defeated.
After the Persian defeat, their strong fleet, composed of over 200 triremes manned by the poorer social classes, enabled the Athenians to establish control over the Aegean and many Greek cities joined in the Athenian-led Delian League. Athenian maritime power is the first example of thalassocracy in world history. In the subsequent Peloponnesian War, naval actions fought by triremes featured prominently, including the Battle of Aegospotami, which sealed the defeat of the Athenian Empire by Sparta and its allies.
Construction and crew
The information we have concerning the trireme's construction comes from both the written sources and archaeological evidence. Most of it concerns the "classical" type of the 5th century, especially as used by Athens. Much further information was provided by the trireme reconstruction project (see below).
Excavations of the ship sheds (neosoikoi) at Piraeus have provided us a with general outline of the Athenian trireme. It was about 36 meters in length, and just 6 m at its widest. The ship sat low in the water, permitting easy beaching. The ship's primary propulsion came from the ca. 170 oars. At tests conducted with the reconstructed Olympias, a steady speed of 4 knots per hour could be maintained, with half the crew resting at a time. The ship also had two masts, a main (istos megas) and a small foremast (istos akateios), with square sails, while steering was provided by two paddles at the bow.
The total crew (plērōma) of the ship was about 200. Of these 174 were rowers, divided into 62 thranites in the top row, 58 zeugites in the middle, and 54 thalamites in the lowest row. The ship's captain was the trierarchos, a wealthy Athenian citizen, responsible for manning and maintaining the ship. Actual command however often rested with the helmsman, the kybernētēs, who was always an experienced seaman. Other officers were the bow lookout (prōreus or prōratēs), the boatswain (keleustēs), the quartermaster (pentēkontarchos), the shipwright (naupēgos), the piper (aulētēs) who gave the rowers' rhythm and 2 toicharchoi, in charge of the rowers on each side of the ship. There were also about 17 sailors and a varying number of marines (epibatai).
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