Trireme

The trireme is an ancient Mediterranean galley propelled by three vertically stacked banks of oars on each side, developed primarily by Phoenician and Greek shipbuilders and used as the dominant warship of the classical Mediterranean world from roughly the seventh through the fourth century BC. Built long and narrow for speed and maneuverability, with a bronze-sheathed ram mounted at the bow as its principal weapon for disabling or sinking enemy vessels, the trireme required a large, trained crew of rowers working in close coordination, and its construction and operation reflected significant investment by the city-states that fielded fleets of them. The trireme fleets of Athens were central to the city's naval power during the fifth century BC, most famously at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, where a Greek fleet built substantially around triremes defeated a larger Persian invasion force.