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Trireme
The trireme (Greek: triērēs) was the devastating warship of the ancient Mediterranean with three banks of oars. Fast, manoeuvrable, and with a bronze-sheathed ram on the prow to sink an enemy ship, the trireme permitted Athens to build its...
Definition
Roman Naval Warfare
Military supremacy of the seas could be a crucial factor in the success of any land campaign, and the Romans well knew that a powerful naval fleet could supply troops and equipment to where they were most needed in as short a time as possible...
Definition
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between Greek and Persian forces in the Saronic Gulf, Greece in September 480 BCE. The Greeks had recently lost the Battle of Thermopylae and drawn the naval Battle at Artemision, both in August 480...
Definition
Carthaginian Naval Warfare
The Carthaginians were famed in antiquity for their seafaring skills and innovation in ship design. The empire their navy protected stretched from Sicily to the Atlantic coast of Africa. Able to match the tyrants of Sicily and the Hellenistic...
Definition
Artemisia I of Caria
Artemisia I of Caria (l. 480 BCE) was the queen of the Anatolian region of Caria (south of ancient Lydia, in modern-day Turkey). She is most famous for her role in the naval Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE in which she fought for the Persians...
Definition
Syracusia
The Syracusia was an ancient sailing vessel designed by Archimedes in the 3rd century BCE. She was fabled as being one of the largest ships ever built in antiquity and as having a sumptuous decor of exotic woods and marble along with towers...
Definition
Lysander
Lysander (d. 395 BCE) was a Spartan statesman and general who famously defeated the Athenian navy at the Battle of Aigospotamoi in 405 BCE, which finally won the Peloponnesian War. Lysander gained a reputation for a fiery personality, daring...
Definition
Piraeus
Piraeus (or Peiraieus) was the ancient port of Athens throughout the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods and in fact consisted of three separate harbours - Kantharos, Zea, and Munichia. The first was the largest and used for commercial...
Article
Roman Shipbuilding & Navigation
Unlike today, where shipbuilding is based on science and where ships are built using computers and sophisticated tools, shipbuilding in ancient Rome was more of an art relying on rules of thumb, inherited techniques and personal experience...
Article
The Greek Strategy at the Battle of Salamis 480 BCE
The history of the second Persian war as presented in most of the modern literature is solely based on Herodotus' Histories. However, Herodotus' narration seems to contain several unrealistic elements which raise doubts about the actual strategy...