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A trireme was an ancient vessel and a type
of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the
Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans. The
trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars, manned with one man per
oar. The early trireme was a development of the penteconter, an ancient warship
with a single row of 25 oars on each side (i.e., a single-banked boat), and of
the bireme, a warship with two banks of oars, of Phoenician origin. As a ship
it was fast and agile, and it was the dominant warship in the Mediterranean
during the 7th to 4th centuries, after which it was largely superseded by the
larger quadriremes and quinqueremes. Triremes played a vital role in the
Persian Wars, the creation of the Athenian maritime empire, and its downfall in
the Peloponnesian War. The term is sometimes also used to refer to medieval and
early modern galleys with three files of oarsmen per side as triremes.
Herodotus mentions that the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II (610–595) built
triremes on the Nile, for service in the Mediterranean, and in the Red Sea, but
this reference is disputed by modern historians, and attributed to a confusion,
since "trieres" was by the 5th century used in the generic sense of
"warship", regardless its type.[14] The first definite reference to
the use of triremes in naval combat dates to ca. 525, when, according to
Herodotus, the tyrant Polycrates of Samos was able to contribute 40 triremes to
a Persian invasion of Egypt (Battle of Pelusium). Thucydides meanwhile clearly
states that in the time of the Persian Wars, the majority of the Greek navies
consisted of (probably two-tiered) penteconters and ("long ships").
In any case, by the early 5th century, the trireme was becoming the dominant
warship type of the eastern Mediterranean, with minor differences between the
"Greek" and "Phoenician" types, as literary references and
depictions of the ships on coins make clear. The first large-scale naval battle
where triremes participated was the Battle of
Lade during the
Ionian Revolt, where
the combined fleets of the Greek Ionian cities were defeated by the Persian
fleet, composed of squadrons from their Phoenician, Carian, Cypriot and
Egyptian subjects. Athens was at that time embroiled in a conflict with the
neighbouring island of Aegina, which possessed a formidable navy. In order to
counter this, and possibly with an eye already at the mounting Persian
preparations, in 483/2 the Athenian statesman
Themistocles used his
political skills and influence to persuade the Athenian assembly to start the
construction of 200 triremes, using the income of the newly discovered silver
mines at Laurion. 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 Xerxes' invasion fleet was
decisively defeated. After Salamis and another
Greek victory over the Persian fleet at
Mycale, the Ionian
cities were freed, and the
Delian League was
formed under the aegis of Athens. Gradually, the predominance of Athens turned
the League effectively into an Athenian Empire. The source and foundation of
Athens' power was her strong fleet, composed of over 200 triremes. It not only
secured control of the Aegean Sea and the loyalty of her allies, but also
safeguarded the trade routes and the grain shipments from the Black Sea, which
fed the city's burgeoning population. In addition, as it provided permanent
employment for the city's poorer citizens, the fleet played an important role
in maintaining and promoting the radical Athenian form of democracy. Athenian
maritime power is the first example of thalassocracy in world history.
Aside from Athens, other major naval powers of the era included Syracuse, Corfu
and Corinth. In the subsequent
Peloponnesian
War, naval battles fought by triremes were crucial in the power balance
between Athens and Sparta. Despite numerous land engagements, Athens was
finally defeated through the destruction of her fleet during the Sicilian Expedition,
and finally, at the Battle of
Aegospotami,
at the hands of Sparta and her allies.
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