[pnpgm] Triremes etc

John Stowman johnstowman at gmail.com
Mon May 25 10:23:42 CEST 2009


Our discussion of the triremes led me to start reading up on trireme
development and It seems that they were so 400 BC.  By 31 BC Mark Antony was
using "eights" a large example of which had 1600 rowers and 1200 marines
(non Roman eight). Check this excerpt out.

Here's the link if your interested in more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#Quinquereme

Quinquereme

Perhaps the most famous of the Hellenistic-era warships, because of its
extensive use by the Carthaginians and Romans, the quinquereme
(Latin<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language>:
*quinqueremis*; Greek <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language>:
πεντήρης, *penteres*) was invented by Dionysius I of
Syracuse<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_I_of_Syracuse>(r.
405-367 BC) in 399 BC as part of a major naval armament program
directed
against the Carthaginians.[32]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-31>During
most of the 4th century, the "fives" were the heaviest type of ship,
and often used as flagships of fleets composed of triremes and quadriremes.[
33] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Galley69-32>
Sidon<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidon>had them by 351, and Athens
fielded some in 324.
[7] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Cam358-6>

In the East, they were superseded as the heaviest ships by the massive
polyremes that begun appearing in the last two decades of the 4th century,[7
] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Cam358-6> but in the
West, they remained the mainstay of the Carthaginian navy. When Rome, which
hitherto lacked a significant navy, was embroiled in the First Punic
War<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Punic_War>with Carthage, the
Roman
Senate <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Senate> set out to construct a
fleet of 100 quinqueremes and 20
triremes.[34]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-33>According
to
Polybius <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius>, the Romans seized a
shipwrecked Carthaginian quinquireme, and used it as a blueprint for their
own ships,[35] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-34> but
it is stated that the Roman copies were heavier than the Carthaginian
vessels, which were better
built.[33]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Galley69-32>The
quinquereme provided the workhorse of the Roman and Carthaginian fleets
throughout the conflicts, although "fours" and "threes" are also mentioned.
Indeed, so ubiquitous was the type that Polybius uses it as a shorthand for
"warship" in general.[36]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-35>

According to Polybius, the Roman quinqueremes carried a total crew of 300.[
37] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-36> Leaving aside a
deck crew of ca. 20, and accepting the 2-2-1 pattern of oarsmen, the
quinquereme would have 90 oars in each side, and 30-strong files of oarsmen.
[33] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Galley69-32> The
fully-decked quinquereme could also carry a marine detachment of 70 to 120,
giving a total complement of about
400.[13]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Coates138-12>A
"five" would be ca. 45 m long, displace around 100 tonnes, be some 5 m
wide at water level, with its deck standing ca. 3 m above the
sea.[13]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Coates138-12>Polybius
is explicit in calling the quinquereme superior as a warship to the
old trireme,[38]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-37>which was
retained in service in significant numbers by many smaller navies.
Accounts by Livy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy> and Diodorus Siculus
also show that the heavier "five" performed better than the triremes in
heavy weather.



<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquereme#cite_note-Galley69-32>
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