Olympias: A Trireme Rebuilt
The reconstructed Athenian trireme Olympias, built in the 1980s and rowed by 170 oarsmen on three levels.
Athens built its power on ships like this. A trireme was light, fast and effectively a ram with a crew, and it required 170 rowers who had to be paid — which made the fleet a political fact as much as a military one, because the men who pulled the oars were the men who voted. Olympias was built to test what the ancient sources claim, and sea trials confirmed speeds close to those recorded. Read the full story in our article on Innovation and Rivalry: Athens’ Naval Shipyards and the Birth of Maritime Power, 520–445 BC.
Attribution — source (Wikimedia Commons). Free to reuse under the stated licence.
