This ancient Greek warship ruled the Mediterranean

Fast, maneuverable, and dangerous, the trireme was the most feared ship in ancient Greece. With powerful bronze rams and the ability to turn on a dime, it would leave enemy ships dead in the water by punching holes in their sides or smashing their oars. In his Histories, Herodotus writes how Greek naval dominance owed so much to the brilliant use of triremes in battle.

In the fifth century B.C., Athenian shipyards had the capacity for over 300 triremes, the most famous warships of antiquity. The trireme—a term derived from the Greek trieres, “three rows of oars”—was the result of the continuous development of naval technology in the Greek world. The epic poem Iliad (attributed to Homer, and written in the eighth century B.C.) mentions ships called triaconters and penteconters, vessels that were crewed by 30 or 50 men, respectively. Biremes, with two rows of oarsmen, are recorded on eighth-century B.C. reliefs. At the beginning of the seventh century B.C., accumulated experience led to new technical advances, and the much more sophisticated trireme model appeared.

(Fonte: National Geographic - adaptado.)