Boats In Ancient Greece

Boats were one of the main sources of transportation in ancient times. Ancient Greeks used boats from as early as 9000 BCE to the end of their rule, in 146 BCE. These boats were crucial in helping Greeks dominate wars, travel fast, and trade goods.

TRADE AND TRAVEL Boats were the easiest way to get around fast and hold lots of goods. Trade was the main use of boats in Greece. Hundreds of different types of merchants voyaged to sell goods. Merchants are people who sell goods for a profit. Even artists like writers and actors would go out to sea. However, most sellers were either craftspeople or food merchants. The main products of Greece were olive oil, wine, and pottery. Many people traveled to Greece and out of Greece for these products.

The main warship, and by far the 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 couldn’t turn at all. After the the ship was surrounded, all of the triremes would ram and destroy the ship. One battle that the triremes took a big role in was the Battle of Arginusae, which took place in 406 BCE. The battle was against the Romans, and it lasted all day. Eventually, the Greeks won, but the battle still did tremendous damage to both sides. A total of 98 boats were destroyed, and thousands were dead or injured. Triremes were rarely used out of battle. When triremes were out of battle, they had their sails up. When the ship was not in use, the soldiers would put it onto the beach. They could do this because the trireme was light enough to carry it to shore, with all of the rowers. Triremes were fast and strong, which made the Greeks almost impossible to beat in

For example, trading boats had one big mast, or sail, that was made of linen. The boats’ round shape gave it better balance and more storage, so it could hold lots of weight and goods. Triremes also had specific parts for top performance. On the rowers' floor, Greeks used light wood such as pinewood, fir, and cypress for the hull. The hull is the main part of-of the boat including the sides, deck, and bottom. This made the boats exceptionally swift. A disadvantage of this is the wood would absorb water very quickly. As a result, the triremes would hardly ever be in water out of a battle. For the rowers, they had a fixed leather or wool seat. Their oars were attached to a peg with leather so the oars would not fall out of the boat. Oars were made out a young fir tree and were 13 feet. Triremes had 2 masts. The masts were made of linen, and had ropes connected to them for steering. The prow of the boat was covered in bronze and had an eye painted on it to resemble animals. Ancient Greeks believed this would give them good luck. Greek shipwrights, or people who built ships, had a precise way to make a trireme. They first made the hull. Shipwrights would line up beams and connect them with dowels along a “backbone” to make the bottom. They then covered it with an outer shell and waxed it to increase speed. Once they are done, they would add a deck with a hole to access the