neighbours that they inspire the Peloponnesian war. Overall their naval reputation and intimidation comes from the skill of the men who maneuver and command the ships, and the tool they use to wield their power, the Athenian trireme. By looking at the design of the trireme, and the work and numbers put both into the ship and the men that drive it, hopefully both the wealth and skill of the Athenian navy can be appropriately highlighted. In the end, it is this immense power and resources that allow
scariest of ancient times, was the trireme (see image below). The trireme was a huge ship, as long as 120 feet and as heavy as 40 tons. The unique trait of the trireme was it's prow, the tip of the boat. This was because it was covered in bronze. The Greeks made the prow like this so they could ram into other ships with the prow to damage them. Ramming rarely sank a boat, but it did do significant damage to enemy ships. Another battle strategy was to have multiple triremes surround an enemy ship so it
11 2.79 3.05 3.30 3.11 Minnow 4.62 4.45 5.72 5.74 5.74 5.25 Oak 6.73 7.11 4.88 5.87 7.39 6.40 Pike 2.39 2.67 2.57 3.12 2.21 2.59 Redwood 6.05 4.88 3.71 6.65 7.67 5.79 Salmon 2.79 3.35 3.48 2.44 2.82 2.98 Sloop 4.39 5.79 3.33 5.08 3.28 4.37 Trireme 2.69 2.62 4.88 2.41 1.73 2.87 Trout 2.82 2.95 2.41 2.79 5.03 3.20 Wildebeest 2.21 3.20 2.54 1.57 3.45 2.59 Willow 4.50 6.68 5.41 6.05 5.44 5.62 Zebra 9.80 6.63 10.08 8...
Herodotus was born in 484 BCE in Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. Halicarnassus is located in modern day Turkey and was under Persian rule until Alexander the Great captured in in 334 BCE at the siege of Halicarnassus. Throughout of his youth, he devoted himself to reading and traveling due to the political restrictions the Persians had in his homeland. He traveled through Asia Minor and through parts of European Greece. After one of his relatives was executed by the tyrant of Halicarnassus, Lygdamis
What causes a military to become great, bond together, and win a significant battle in war? In ancient times, the Greek people, along with their culture, were threatened by the Persian Empire that sought to conquer the Western world. If the Greeks had lost the Persian wars, their way of life and the basis for western civilizations to come would have been lost. The Battle of Salamis was a combination of leadership, technology, and strategy which gave the Greeks an edge on their Persian opponents
the oncoming days. It turns out that the Persians were retreating for good, and the battle had concluded. The late September seas were too rough, the sailing season was coming to an end, and Xerxes did not want to take the risk of losing any more triremes, and, or, troops. The Greek underdogs had done it. Although they did not understand the significance of that day at the time, it was one of the most important days in history, and significantly changed the course of the world we live in today. The
There was once an era when Greece was one of the most powerful empires intellectually and physically. Ancient Sparta and Athens, being two of the most popular city-states in Greece, were rivals. These two powerful states had different trademarks; “. . .Athenians boasted of their art and culture, Spartans valued strength and simplicity” (Frey 260). One contrast between the two city-states was the way they treated slaves. In Constitution of the Athenians, Pseudo-Xenophon wrote, “. . . they let the
than the open bay at Phalerum. Bradley also identifies how Themistocles persuaded the Athenian assembly to use the surplus wealth generated from the recently discovered silver mines at Larium to build more trireme ships to expand the Athenian navy. According to Herodotus, 200 trireme ships w... ... middle of paper ... ...o knew the Persians would be eager to secure a victory at Salamis to avoid the fast approaching winter. It is clear then, the Greek strategist and archon Themistocles
advancements. From the fast and efficient triremes of Athens to the catapults of Sicilian Greeks to the massive siege engines of Alexander the Great, the Greeks were very creative in inventing advanced military technology.1 They did not merely create advanced versions of existing technology; they invented new weapons altogether. There is some debate over the origin of the catapult but most historians agree that it was invented in Greece. 1 Additionally, the triremes of Greece were considered the superlative
the highly-trained Greeks would allow themselves to become encircled. At the first blow of the signal horn, the triremes would form a ‘close circle – bows outward, sterns to the centre.’ From this position, they had no mobility; the only direction in which they could move was forward, and that is exactly what they did. On the second signal blast, these lighter and faster Greek triremes rammed the Persian ships, and with their bronze-sheathed battering rams on the bow of the ships, caused great damage
While Persian financial support undeniably contributed to the Spartan’s victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War, modern historians have over-emphasized the importance of that assistance to their eventual victory. Persian money allowed the Peloponnesian forces to stay in the fight, which had quickly dissolved into a war of attrition after the Athenian’s defeat at Syracuse. However, there were several negative aspects of the Persian/Peloponnesian alliance which detrimentally affected Sparta’s
Other reasons can be given for their loss, such as the narrow straights and shallow waters, and the Greeks’ metal bows on their triremes. It can be said that the Persians’ decision of fighting there caused their loss because if they had avoided that battle and went straight to the Peloponnese they may have had more victory. Queen Artemisia warned Xerxes about fighting at Salamis but
The Peloponnesian war Sources, A War Like No Other by Victor Davis Hanson. Athens and Sparta fought the Peloponnesian war in Attica mostly, northeast of Peloponnesia, a peninsula named Attica. Athen's had territory in Attica, North of them, Beoetia and Thebes, allied with Sparta, and West of Attica, Corinth, North of Sparta. Due to Athen's aggressiveness, Sparta raided along the Athen's borders as a preemptive strike to antagonize them to start a war. They thought that Athens would then send an
Nadja Brunson HIS 101 Primary Source Essay “An Analysis of “Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories” The analysis of past events began in Greece. Herodotus the author of Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories, was a historian who traveled for information. However, even though he maintained a serious attitude
Some say Themistocles was the most successful general in ancient and some say he was just another one of those successful public figures. All in all he had many, many successful events in his life. Now you might be wondering who this Themistocles really is? Well let’s start with his background. Themistocles was a man like any other man in ancient Greece, power hungry, strong, and a lover of life. Themistocles was a powerful general and politician who fought in the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae
I personally disagree with the statement that the fifth-century B.C.E. city-state of Attica does not indeed deserve the title “golden age”. A “golden age” can be simply defined as a period of great happiness, prosperity, and achievement. Attica should be considered a “golden age” in this time period for three distinct reasons. The three reasons Attica is so glorious are freedom of trade, a balanced democracy, and a rich landscape environment. With the help of these three social advantages the citizens
Ancient Africa and ancient Greece hold many similarities and differences. Now of course all of these things can differ between the two civilizations. For example, religion in Africa is fairly different from religion in Greece. However, they both have a god or deity that they believe in. Despite their differences, they both have trade, religion, warfare, and a form government. Trade is one of the main concepts that civilizations are built on. A trade route can connect multiple societies together
Battle The next few years saw minor conflicts between the two bodies, during which both commanders built their navies. Octavian sent his admiral, Marcus Agrippa, to summon Roman fleets across the Mediterranean. These fleets were mostly composed of Triremes, the standard naval vessel of the time, and were equipped ... ... middle of paper ... ...hip failures on the part of Mark Antony. These decisions allowed an outnumbered and outclassed fleet to win an extremely decisive victory. It is truly a
Herodotus was an interesting historian. His way of displaying a historical event such as the Persian War is different from how I expect a modern day historian to write it. He does not try to focus only on the Persian war but he goes into detail some times of the lineage of the rulers of the city-states even though that serves little relevance to the actual war. The accounts of history I am used to reading are more focused on the bigger issue and the historians do not deviate on long trains of side
Using triremes (ships with three bank of rowers) they were outmatched by the Carthaginians quinquiremes (ships with five bank of rowers). Sometime in B.C. 261 luck gave them a wrecked Carthaginian vessel, which they quickly copied and built into a new navy of a