Apology/Preface: This is very late, and I am very sorry. I will try to have another post ready on time tomorrow! But now, on the what you're really here for: Triremes!
Possibly one of the most iconic Greek war assets was the
Trireme: long, thin ships built for ramming. They had sails for cruising, but
were actually operated in battle by 170 oarsmen – you heard me, 170 oarsmen - in three tiers. They had
named ranks, with the thranites on top, zygians in the middle, and thalamians
at the bottom. They sat on small seats, not benches, and were packed in so
tightly that “Each seat was level with the shoulders of the oarsmen below” (31).
The ships were fast, maneuverable, and equipped with a bronze-covered ram at
the prow built specifically for breaching enemy hulls. The one pictured, on the
reconstructed ship the Olympias,
weighs 440lb (200kg).
As though that wasn’t a large number to accommodate already,
there were also around thirty other crewmen, including marine hoplites (those
fellows you see forming phalanxes, named for the shield they carry, which is
round and called either an
aspis or a
hoplon) and archers, as well as a
helmsman to work the tillers; there were two tillers, and they were normally
operated by the same person. On triremes “There was room to carry only a few
basic supplies and insufficient space for the whole crew to sleep on board”
(30), so the solution to fitting all those people was simply to overcrowd them.
However, all the oarsmen were free citizens, people who had
chosen the work and were compensated for it based on their seat. For example,
the thranites had the toughest job because of the angle their oars entered the
sea, so they enjoyed higher pay.
And it makes sense, in a way, for the free citizens of
Greece to want to row for a trireme – Greece was famous for its navy, and it’s
not difficult to understand why:
“In action, a trireme with a skilled helmsman and a
disciplined crew could ram an enemy vessel or ride over its oars, then reverse
and leave it crippled in the water. If its own hull was holed, a trireme would not sink because it was made
from buoyant wood such as pine, poplar, or fir.” (30, emphasis added)
In short, the Greeks had a navy that could mess
up your navy and sail away from it, even if they’d suffered what would, to
other ships, be considered serious damage. And that is pretty badass.
I am currently reading Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare,
with senior editor Gareth Jones and published by DK Publishing with the
cooperation of the Smithsonian, ISBN 978-0-7566-9838-6. In case you wondered
where this information was coming from.
Photos of the Olympias found through Google at http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/images/history/triiris/TRIHR005.jpg
http://www.abc.se/~pa/bld/img/olympram.jpg
