Triremes The Ancient Trireme, a ship that rests at the centre of ancient Greek history and lead to Athens supremacy at sea could make it possibly the most important vehicle from the 7th century to the 4th century BC. Originally used as a transport vessel to ferry colonists to all parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, could have very well been the most significant weapon in naval combat and gave the Ancient Greeks the defining edge in naval warfare to win battles such as Salamis (480 BC) against the much larger Persian fleet. But what was the Trireme and how did it contribute to Ancient Greek society?
Origin of the Trireme Although there is much dispute about the exact origin of the Trireme all available evidence comes from written sources and depictions in pottery fragments, which unfortunately are open to misinterpretations. The famous historian Herodotus makes mention to the ancient Egyptians being the first to build and use Triremes, however this reference is disputed by modern historians and attributed to confusion and conjecture. The Greek state of Corinth which lies to the south was at one time a great commercial centre which was primarily seaborne. It was around this period that Corinth possessed the largest Navy in Greece which was only rivalled by Aegina. Corinth had been the first to build the Trireme, after improving upon vessels seen in Egypt. After years of modification, this Mediterranean galley became the predominant warship from 500 to 300BC. Controversy arises in trying to describe these ancient ships because so little is known about them. Not many artefacts and no seafaring manuals have been found to teach the modern world about this part of civilization. Despite this fact, we do know that shipbuilding and seafaring were important parts of ancient Greek life.
Info and specs on the Trireme The Trireme was about 90-120 ft long and about 18ft wide. Originally made of heavier materials, it was later decided to construct the ships mostly of pine as this was the lightest wood available at the time. The historian Herodotus tells us although it did have 3 sails these were only used for long journeys, the trireme was powered by between 170-220 oarsmen. This allowed movement of the ship if there were no favourable winds of through shallow waters. The name Trireme is Latin for three-oared, it was named this as it was powered by 3 levels of oarsmen the upper rowers called the thranites, sat in two rows of 31, the middle rowers were called zygites, they sat in two rows of 27 and the bottom level of rowers were called thalamites, they also sat in two rows of 27. The Trireme’s main weapon however was a large battering ram at the bow of the ship, which was used to crush the sides of an opponent. What was the significance of this War ship? And how was it used? So what was the significance of this ship and how did it contribute to Athens supremacy at sea? Using this ship the Ancient Greeks revolutionised naval warfare tactics to give them total dominance of the Aegean and Black sea. Some of the main offensive tactics of the 5th century used by the Greeks were bow-to-bow advances (antiproroi), encirclement (periplous), and the breakthrough (diekplous). Naval combat was brutal and these tactics reflected as much, attacks were direct on the vessel and crew. The main form of attack was the antiproroi tactic which involved ramming head-on in an attempt to destroy the enemy vessel. A tactic was later developed by the Phoenicians which was even more destructive, it involved setting up as an antiproroi manoeuvrer but at the last moment turning and flanking the enemy vessel causing catastrophic damage to the ships side. The Periplous manoeuvrer the fleet lines up and sets up for a head on attack with enemy vessels. The ships in the centre of the line begin to start backing water slowly in front of the enemy keeping its rams facing the enemy until the outer ships can flank the opponent and ram their sides, while the enemy is being flanked the centre ships stop backing water and immediately advance and attack. It was this battle tactic that proved to be the key in victory at the Battle of Salamis. A much more brutal and direct form of attack was the diekplous tactic, also known as “breaking through the lines”. This tactic was more suited to the later modelled Triremes as it was ideally designed for lighter and faster ships. The fleet would line up with the lead 2 rows fairly close together and the first line would ram the enemy ships head on, the 2nd line would then come in and finish of the crippled ships by shearing its oars off or by ramming it a 2nd time. If one of the enemy vessels turned to help a crippled ship it would then expose its own flank for a direct killing blow from the enemy fleet. As effective as this strategy was a counter was discovered for it, by lining up deploying ships 2 or more lines deep it made it harder for the lead ship to ram through it, this would then trap the enemy lead ship within its own lines. A defensive tactic that proved to be most effective to the Athenian fleet was known as the Kyklos, this is where the ships would form a circle with the front of the ships pointing outwards and then in an aggressive outburst charge forward and attempt to break out of the enemy ships lines. By using these naval battle tactics and strategies the Greek fleet of Triremes was able to withstand such brutal battles such as the battle of Artemisium and the Battle of Salamis. The significance of the Battle of Salamis turned out to be the first major turning point in the Peloponnesian war, if not for the mighty Trireme events that followed would have likely turned out very different for the ancient Greeks.

Significant Battles
The Greek historian Herodotus describes the battle of the northern tip of Euboea in 480 BC, when the Greek fleet formed a close circle with their bows pointing outwards. After letting themselves be surrounded by the greatly superior Persian fleet, the Greeks suddenly went on the attack, this resulted in the Persians being thrown into confusion and 30 Persian ships were captured. One year later the Persian fleet again found themselves facing off against the trireme in perhaps the most significant battle of the Peloponnesian war. According to Herodotus, events leading to the battle of Salamis began when Xerxes (a Persian ruler) decided to invade Greece. The Persians vastly outnumbered the Greek states and Athens was the eventual target of Xerxes.
By 480 BC the Persian king Xerxes and his army had overrun much of Greece, and his navy of about 800 galleys bottled up the smaller Greek fleet of about 380 triremes in the Saronic Gulf After suffering a defeat and loss of 300 Spartans, 700 loyal Thespians and 400 Thebans at Thermopylae, leaders of the Greek states agreed to assemble their fleets at Salamis from where it would be well placed to counter any Persian naval offensive. The plan was to originally embark out from the narrow strait of Salamis and engage the Persian fleet of 1200 ships in open water, despite only having 380 Greek Triremes being slower and heavier which caused a major disadvantage in open water. From what Herodotus says it was an Athenian Commander named Themistocles who came up with the idea to remain in the narrow straits of Salamis to try and give them (rather than the Persians) the advantage, furthermore Themistocles suggested that the Persians be feed mis-information about a fake plan that the Greeks were planning on fleeing rather than fighting. This mis-information was successfully delivered to Xerxes who when found out about it convinced with his admirals and gave the order, in the words of Aeschyles to “range the main body of our fleet threefold, to guard the outlets and the choppy straits”. Once the Persian Fleet had been lured into the narrow straits the Greeks deployed the naval tactic known as the Periplous manoeuvrer, where the centre lines back paddled allowing the Persians ships to become flanked by the Athenian Triremes who then rammed and destroyed over 300 Persian vessels while only losing 40 of their own. Seeing this the remainder of the Persian fleet was forced to retreat causing Xerxes to postpone his planned land offensive for a year. It was this delay that gave the Greek city states time to rise up and unite against him. The battle of Salamis was the first great naval battle recorded in history and a crucial turning point in the Peloponnesian War.
Athens Use of the Trireme
It was decided after this major naval battle by Athens that it would concentrate on developing its naval power. As the leader of the Delian league Athens gained full control of the Aegean Sea, this made Greece the dominant force in all of the Mediterranean.
Because of this increase in area Athens had to control it was decided to start building the Trireme out of lighter material in an effort to make the ships faster, this would ensure a higher rate of productivity however it would make the trireme less effective when forced into a fight causing it to resort to ship-to-ship ramming.
The main priority of the Athenian navy became exclusion of movement; this quickly became a strategy adopted by all maritime empires. Possessing bases in the Aegean and at strategic spots elsewhere, the Athenian navy specialized in interception, harassment and hit-and-run operations against the enemy coasts. Although the main priority of the fleet was to protect home territories against enemy invasions, its other priorities included protecting trade routes for merchant ships and also for pre-emptive strikes or to put pressure on enemy ports. The Trireme became not only a battle weapon but also the means by which Athens deployed her military power quickly and for the most part effectively.
Herodotos claims that Athens needed more ships to maintain this dominance of the Mediterranean and the Trireme was a costly weapon. Athens was growing too powerful too fast and not only were its enemies taking notice so was it allies. Athens fleet was reaching its peak; the Triremes crew went unrivalled in experience and skill. By 433 BC Athens had developed a formidable naval over all other Greek states, in its exploitation of the offensive potentiality of the Triremes and it its crews skill. According to another famous historian, Thucydides it’s was in 427 BC the year following the series of Athenian Victories, civil war broke out in Corcyra. Athens and its fleet of Triremes came to aid Corcyra against a Corinthian fleet of 33 ships lead by Alcidas. The battle at Corcyra was a stepping stone towards the great Peloponnesian war as Athens had violated the 30 year peace treaty with Sparta by aligning with Corcyra. Herodotus claims that Sparta was eager to find any excuse to declare war on Athens at this time and seeing its opportunity seized it and thus began the second Peloponnesian war. The Athenian Trireme and its tactics was the apex of a natural development in naval warfare. Ships with increasing speed and manoeuvrability were essential to Athens and its empire rather than the slower and more stable Triremes at the battle of Salamis. Fighting an enemy in open water with quicker vessels away from land suited Athens due to its wealth and the ability to access provisions easier out at sea. After the era of the Athenian Trireme Naval warfare reverted to its conventional form, which involved mostly battles that were close to shore and decided more often by seagoing infantry than by manoeuvring or naval tactics. However we should remember that the Trireme was the key weapon for uniting Greece and maintaining its culture and preserving Greek language and religion. The versatile role of the Trireme protected Greek interests not only at home but also abroad, by means of communication, transportation of goods for the economy and to patrol the Mediterranean.

Bibliography

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[ 7 ]. Nigel Bagnall (2004) The Peloponnesian War p99
[ 8 ]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themistocles#Battle_of_Salamis
[ 9 ]. Nigel Bagnall (2004) The Peloponnesian War, Pimlico p 125