Editing Trireme (section)

===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&nbsp;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&nbsp;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.