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==History== ===Origins=== [[File:AssyrianWarship.jpg|thumb|[[Phoenicia]]n warship<ref>[[Lionel Casson|Casson, Lionel]] (1995): "Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World", Johns Hopkins University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5130-8}}, fig. 76</ref> with two rows of oars, relief from Nineveh, {{circa|700 BC}}]] Depictions of two-banked ships ([[bireme]]s), with or without the ''parexeiresia'' (the [[outriggers]], see below), are common in 8th century BC and later vases and pottery fragments, and it is at the end of that century that the first references to three-banked ships are found. Fragments from an 8th-century relief at the [[Assyria]]n capital of [[Nineveh]] depicting the fleets of [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and [[Sidon]] show ships with [[ramming|rams]], and fitted with oars pivoted at two levels. They have been interpreted as two-decked warships, and also{{clarify|date=July 2014}} as triremes.<ref>Morrison 1995: 146</ref> Modern scholarship is divided on the provenance of the trireme, [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] or [[Phoenicia]], and the exact time it developed into the foremost ancient fighting ship.<ref>Anthony J. Papalas (1997): "The Development of the Trireme", ''[[The Mariner's Mirror]]'', Vol. 83, No. 3, pp. 259–271 (259f.)</ref> According to [[Thucydides]], the trireme was introduced to Greece by the [[Ancient Corinth|Corinthians]] in the late 8th century BC, and the Corinthian Ameinocles built four such ships for the [[Samos|Samians]].<ref>''[[Stromata|Thucydides I.13.2–5]]''</ref> This was interpreted by later writers, [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Diodorus]], to mean that triremes were ''invented'' in Corinth.<ref>Diodorus, ''Bibliotheca historica'', XIV.42.3</ref> [[Clement of Alexandria]] in the 2nd century, drawing on earlier works, explicitly attributes the invention of the trireme (''trikrotos naus'', "three-banked ship") to the [[Sidon]]ians<ref>Stromata, I 16.36</ref> the possibility remains that the earliest three-banked warships originated in [[Phoenicia]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} ===Early use and development=== [[File:ACMA Relief Lenormant.jpg|thumb|The Lenormant Relief, from the [[Athenian Acropolis]], depicting the rowers of an ''aphract'' Athenian trireme, {{circa|410 BC}}. Found in 1852, it is one of the main pictorial testaments to the layout of the trireme.]] [[Herodotus]] mentions that the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] pharaoh [[Necho II]] (610–595 BC) 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 "triērēs" was by the 5th century used in the generic sense of "warship", regardless its type.<ref>The Age of the Galley, pp. 45–46</ref> The first definite reference to the use of triremes in naval combat dates to {{circa|525 BC}}, when, according to [[Herodotus]], the [[tyrant]] [[Polycrates]] of [[Samos]] was able to contribute 40 triremes to a [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] invasion of [[Egypt]] ([[Battle of Pelusium (525 BC)|Battle of Pelusium]]).<ref>Herodotus, III.44</ref> The Persians were the first nation to use triremes in significant numbers.<ref>{{citation |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History |first=William M. |last=Murray |editor-first=John J. |editor-last=Hattendorf |entry=Ancient Navies, An Overview |entry-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195130751.001.0001/acref-9780195130751-e-0023 |year=2007 |isbn=9780195307405 |publisher=Oxford University Press |entry-url-access=subscription |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195130751.001.0001}}</ref> By 490 BC, triremes were the backbone of the Persian fleet.<ref>{{citation |first=Dennis L. |last=Fink |title=The Battle of Marathon in Scholarship: Research, Theories and Controversies Since 1850 |year=2014 |isbn=9780786479733 |publisher=McFarland |page=21}}</ref> Thucydides clearly states that in the time of the [[Persian Wars]], the majority of the Greek navies consisted of (probably two-tiered) penteconters and ''ploia makrá'' ("long ships").<ref>Thucydides I.14.1–3</ref> 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 [[Ionia]]n cities were defeated by the Persian fleet, composed of squadrons from their Phoenician, [[Caria]]n, and [[Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt|Egyptian]] subjects. ===The Persian Wars=== [[File:Trireme.jpg|thumb|A Greek trireme]] [[File:Trireme ugglan.gif|thumb|''Trireme'', illustration from book ''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'']] 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 BC the Athenian statesman [[Themistocles]] used his political skills and influence to persuade the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Athenian assembly]] to start the construction of 200 triremes, using the income of the newly discovered [[Mines of Laurion|silver mines at Laurion]]. The first clash with the [[Achaemenid navy|Persian navy]] was at the [[Battle of Artemisium]], where both sides suffered great casualties. However, the decisive naval clash occurred at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]], where Xerxes' invasion fleet was decisively defeated. After Salamis and another Greek victory over the Persian fleet at [[Battle of Mycale|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 democracy|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, Sicily|Syracuse]], [[Corfu]] and [[Ancient Corinth|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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