Scientists believe that the ancient Greeks, who were the first to learn how to cover their boats with animal skin, most likely also invented the sail - the most important tool for controlling a ship after the oar. But nevertheless, Greek ships remained rowing for a long time, and their main “propulsion” was the muscular power of slaves sitting on the oars.

The Greeks relied not only on their own achievements in technology. They borrowed all the best from the designs of Phoenician and Aegean ships. The ancient Greek fleet was built primarily for war, so it was the Greeks who first clearly defined the differences between merchant and military ships.

The hulls of the ships had a keel, a stem and a sternpost. The skin had variable thickness, being thickest at the keel. The vessel was painted and greased, and below the waterline it was tarred or lined with lead sheets. Different types of wood were used in the construction of ships. The first Greek military rowing ships were equipped with a mast and a quadrangular sail.

A ram was installed on the bow of the ship under water or above water - the main weapon in sea battles of antiquity. The surface ram could have different shape: from the terrifying head of a mythical monster to the elegant hook made in the shape of a swan neck. The underwater ram was a pointed beam made of copper or iron, and sometimes wooden, bound with copper.

The first warships were relatively light vessels, no more than 35 m in length. Depending on the number of rows of oars, single-row unirems and two-tier biremes were first built. A 12-15 meter unireme usually had 25 rowing oars on each side. The ship was also equipped with a ram - a huge 10-meter spear. It was these ships, according to Homer, that the Greeks used during the siege of Troy.

The development of the navy did not stand still. Eventually, the main vessels of most Mediterranean fleets were triremes (the Greeks called them triremes). The ships received this name for their three tiers of oars. The total number of oars on such a ship could reach 170, and the crew now consisted of 200 people, where in addition to warriors and slave rowers there were also sailors to control the sails. Triremes reached a length of 40 m. Some of them even had several masts. The ship had a continuous combat deck, a conning tower for the commander and an impressive three-meter underwater ram. Sometimes a metal beam was installed above the ram, which broke the enemy's oars. Historians believe that the first triremes were built in Corinth - the same place where the first armored Greek warships - cataphracts - were built.

The fact that the Greek fleet was strong is evidenced by the outcome of the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. e. The Greeks, having only 380 triremes, defeated the Persians, who had 1200 ships. In addition to rams, the Greeks equipped their ships with boarding hooks - corvus and harpagus, as well as a device called a “dolphin”. It was a heavy load in the shape of a dolphin's body, suspended by a cable on a special beam that protruded over the side of the ship. When approaching an enemy ship, the “dolphin” was dropped, and it pierced the deck or bottom of the enemy ship.

On the threshold of a new era, the Greeks gradually began to move to the creation of large ships. The tesaracontera, the ancient ancestor of battleships, can be called a real floating fortress. The displacement of these ships reached 3000 tons, the upper deck of the ship protected the rowers from enemy arrows, and their own archers fired from several combat towers. Back in the 4th century. BC e. The Greeks began to equip their ships with throwing machines. These were ballistas and catapults.

The ballista, or eututon, was used to throw arrows 4-5 m long, which had an iron tip or were impregnated with an incendiary mixture. Catapults could hit targets with stones or metal projectiles at a distance of up to 200 meters.
As a rule, combat vehicles on ships were placed in special towers or behind protective walls. Huge ships with up to ten rows of oars were built by Alexander the Great.

The chronicles also mention icosers - ships with 20 rows of oars, but it is likely that this is fiction, since no evidence has been found for this.

The merchant ships of the Greeks - lembas, keletes and kerkours - improved much faster than military ones. They were often equipped with two masts, and the carrying capacity of these 25-meter ships reached a thousand tons. Sometimes the front mast had a significant slope towards the bow and was somewhat reminiscent of a bowsprit. The sail raised on it made it possible to sail even with a side wind. Merchant ships always had a spacious hold, where sand was used as ballast. It is interesting that back in the 5th century. BC e. the Greeks built special ships designed to transport horses.

In the archaic period (XII-VIII centuries BC), the most common types of Greek warships were triacontor And pentecontor(respectively, “thirty oars” and “fifty oars”). The triacontor was very close in design to Cretan ships (see) and does not deserve special attention.

The pentecontor was a single-tier rowing vessel driven by five dozen oars - 25 on each side. Based on the fact that the distance between the rowers cannot be less than 1 m, the length of the rowing section should be estimated at 25 m. To this it also makes sense to add approximately 3 m each to the bow and stern sections. Thus, the total length of the pentecontor can be estimated at 28-33 m. The width of the pentecontor is approximately 4 m, the maximum speed is approx. 9.5 knots (17.5 km/h).

Pentecontories were mostly undecked (Greek. afrakta), open ships. However, sometimes deck ones were also built (Greek. cataphract) pentecontories. The presence of a deck protected the rowers from the sun and from enemy missiles and, in addition, increased the cargo and passenger capacity of the ship. The deck could carry supplies, horses, war chariots and additional warriors, including archers and slingers, who could help in battle with an enemy ship.

Initially, the pentecontor was intended mainly for the “self-transportation” of troops. On the oars sat the same warriors who later, having gone ashore, fought the war for which they sailed to Troad or Crete (see “Iliad”, “Odyssey”, “Argonautics”). In other words, the pentecontor was not a ship specifically designed to destroy other ships, but rather a fast troop transport. (Just like drakars Vikings and boats Slavs, on the oars of which ordinary warriors sat.)

The appearance of a ram on pentecontores means that at a certain moment the opposing city-states and coalitions of the Aegean basin come to the idea that it would be good to sink enemy ships along with their troops before they land on the shore and begin to ravage their native fields.

For warships designed to conduct naval battles using a ram as the main anti-ship weapon, the following factors are critical:

- maneuverability, on which depends the quick exit on board an enemy ship and rapid escape from a retaliatory strike;

– maximum speed, on which the kinetic energy of the ship and, accordingly, the power of the ramming strike depend;

– protection from enemy ramming attacks.

To increase speed, you need to increase the number of rowers and improve the hydrodynamics of the vessel. However, on a single-tier ship, such as the pentecontor, an increase in the number of oarsmen by 2 (one on each side) leads to the fact that the length of the ship increases by 1 m. Each extra meter of length in the absence of high-quality materials leads to a sharp increase in the probability that the ship will break on the waves. Thus, according to calculations, a length of 35 m is very critical for ships built using the technologies that Mediterranean civilizations of the 12th-7th centuries could afford. BC

Thus, by lengthening the ship, it is necessary to strengthen its structure with more and more new elements, which makes it heavier and thereby negates the benefits of placing additional rowers. On the other hand, the longer the ship, the larger the radius of its circulation, that is, the lower the maneuverability. And finally, on the third side, the longer the ship in general, the longer, in particular, its underwater part, which is the most vulnerable place to be hit by enemy rams.

Greek and Phoenician shipbuilders made an elegant decision in such conditions. If the ship cannot be lengthened, then it must be make it higher and place a second tier of rowers above the first. Thanks to this, the number of rowers was doubled without significantly increasing the length of the vessel. This is how it appeared bireme.

Birema

Rice. 2. Early Greek bireme

A side effect of adding a second tier of oarsmen was to increase the ship's security. To ram the bireme, the enemy ship's stem had to overcome twice the resistance more cheerful than before.

Doubling the number of rowers has led to increased demands on the synchronization of oar movements. Each rower had to be able to very clearly maintain the rhythm of rowing, so that the bireme would not turn into a centipede, entangled in its own oar legs. That is why in Antiquity almost Not the notorious "galley slaves" were used. All oarsmen were civilians and, by the way, during the war they earned the same amount as professional soldiers - hoplites.

Only in the 3rd century. BC, when the Romans during Punic Wars Due to high losses, there was a shortage of rowers; they used slaves and criminals sentenced for debt (but not criminals!) on their large ships. However, firstly, they were used only after preliminary training. And, secondly, the Romans promised freedom to all slave rowers and honestly fulfilled their promise after the end of hostilities. By the way, there could be no talk of any whips or scourges at all.

We actually owe the appearance of the image of “galley slaves” to the Venetian, Genoese and Swedish galleys of the 15th-18th centuries. They had a different design, which made it possible to use only 12-15% of professional rowers in the team, and recruit the rest from convicts. But the Venetian galley technologies “a scalocio” and “a terzaruola” will be discussed later in another article.

The appearance of the first biremes among the Phoenicians is usually dated to the beginning, and among the Greeks - to the end of the 8th century. BC Birems were built in both decked and undecked versions.

Birema can be considered the first ship specifically designed and built to destroy enemy naval targets. The bireme rowers were almost never professional warriors (like hoplites), but they were quite professional sailors. In addition, during a boarding battle on board their ship, the rowers of the upper row could take part in the battle, while the rowers of the lower row had the opportunity to continue maneuvering.

It is easy to imagine that the meeting of the bireme of the 8th century. (with 12-20 hoplites, 10-12 sailors and a hundred oarsmen on board) with a pentecontor of times Trojan War(with 50 hoplite rowers) would be disastrous for the latter. Despite the fact that the pentecontor had 50 warriors on board versus 12-20, his crew in most cases would not be able to use their numerical superiority. The higher side of the bireme would have prevented boarding combat, and the ramming blow of the bireme -> pentecontor was 1.5-3 times more effective in terms of damaging effect than the blow of the pentecontor -> bireme.

In addition, if the pentecontor maneuvers with the aim of boarding the bireme, then it should be assumed that all his hoplites are busy at the oars. While at least 12-20 bireme hoplites can shower the enemy with projectiles.

Due to its obvious advantages, the bireme quickly became a very common type of ship in the Mediterranean and for many centuries firmly occupied its position light cruiser all large fleets (although at the time of its inception, the bireme was simply a super-dreadnought). Well, a niche heavy cruiser after two centuries it will take trireme– the most massive, most typical ship of classical Antiquity.

Trier

Since the first, fundamentally important step from monera (single-tier) to polyreme (multi-tier) had already been made during the transition from pentecontor to bireme, the transition from bireme to trireme turned out to be much easier.

According to Thucydides, the first trireme was built around 650 BC. In particular, we find from him: “The Hellenes began to build ships and turned to navigation. According to legend, the Corinthians were the first to begin building ships in a way very similar to the modern one, and the first triremes in Hellas were built in Corinth. The Corinthian shipbuilder Aminocles, who arrived to the Samians about three hundred years before the end of this war [meaning the Peloponnesian, 431-404 BC - A.Z.], he built four ships for them, as we know, and took place among the Corinthians. with the Corcyraeans (and from this battle to the same time about two hundred and sixty years passed)..."

The triere is a further development of the idea of ​​a multi-tiered rowing ship, has three tiers of oars and is up to 42 m long.

A length of 35-40 meters is quite critical even for advanced narrow wooden structures that lack a powerful longitudinal set (stringers). However, the logic of the arms race is to reach the most extreme, most dangerous values ​​of all technological parameters of military equipment. Therefore, the length of the trireme approached 40 m and fluctuated around this mark throughout its long history.

A typical Greek trireme had 27+32+31=90 (i.e., 180 in total) oarsmen, 12-30 warriors, and 10-12 sailors on each side. Managed the rowers and sailors celeist, the trireme as a whole was in command trierarch.

The rowers who were on the lowest tier of the trireme, that is, closest to the water, were called Thalamites. There were usually 27 on each side. The ports cut into the sides for their oars were very close to the water and even with a slight swell they were overwhelmed by the waves. In this case, the thalamites pulled the oars inward, and the ports were sealed with leather plasters (Greek: ascoma).

The rowers of the second tier were called zygits(32 on each side). And finally, the third tier - tranites. The oars of the zygits and tranites passed through the ports in parados- a special box-shaped extension of the hull above the waterline, which hung over the water. The rhythm of the rowers was set by a flute player, and not a drummer, as on the larger ships of the Roman fleet.

Contrary to appearances, the oars of all three tiers were the same length. The fact is that if we consider the vertical section of the trireme, it turns out that the thalamites, zygits and tranites are located not on the same vertical, but on a curve formed by the side of the trireme. Thus, the blades of the oars of all tiers reached the water, although they entered it at different angles.

The Trireme was a very narrow ship. At the waterline level, it had a width of about 5 m, which with a length of 35 m gives a length to width ratio of 7:1, and with a length of 40 m - 8:1. However, if you measure it by the width of the deck, or even more so by the width of the trireme together with the parados, that is, by the maximum size with the oars retracted, then this ratio drops to 5.5-6:1.

These ships were built without frames, using external templates, with the skin fastened with dowels. The Greeks began to use round dowels, both ends of which were sawed off. Small wooden wedges made from acacia, plum or thorn were driven into such a cut. The dowels were then inserted so that the wedges were positioned across the grain. Thus, the sheathing boards were closely fitted to each other.

The length of the oars is estimated at 4-4.5 m. (Which, for comparison, is 1.5-2 m shorter than the sarissas of the sixth rank of the Macedonian phalanx.) There are very different opinions regarding the speed of the trireme. Skeptics call 7-8 knots maximum. Optimists say that a well-built trireme with excellent oarsmen could maintain a cruising speed of 9 knots for 24 hours. (On the assumption, apparently, that every eight hours the oarsmen of one tier rest, and the other two row.) Science fiction writers invent incredible speeds of 18-20 knots, which is the ultimate dream for the battleship of the times Russo-Japanese War(1904-1905, 14-19 knots).

The modern reconstruction of the trireme ("Olympia") has not yet been able to squeeze out more than 7 knots, which is what the skeptics' arguments are based on. I really think that re a design is not yet a design. The fact that modern Englishmen used an electric hammer and a cyberchisel for their own pleasure is not at all the same as what the Greeks did a thousand times for the sake of the prosperity of the Athenian Arche. I am ready to admit that the trireme with the Piraeus serial number 1001 could achieve 10 knots with the active assistance of Neptune, and with the favor of all the Olympians and the non-interference of the malicious Hera, reach the divine 12.

One way or another, experiments with the Olympia showed: despite the low speed, the trireme was a fairly power-equipped ship. From a stationary state, it reaches half the maximum speed in 8 seconds, and the full maximum in 30. The same battleship of 1905 could breed pairs for 3-6 hours. And this is just to get moving!

Like later Roman ships, Greek triremes were equipped with a buffer ram-proembolon and a battle ram in the shape of a trident or a boar's head.

Triremes did not have fixed masts, but almost all were equipped with one or two (according to some sources, sometimes three) removable masts. With a fair wind, they were quickly installed by the efforts of the sailors. The central mast was installed vertically and stretched with cables for stability. Bow, designed for a small sail (Greek. artemon), was installed obliquely, supported on an acro-table. The third mast, as short as the bow one, also carried a small sail and was located at the very end of the deck in the stern.

Sometimes triremes were optimized not for naval battles, but for transport. Such triremes were called hoplitagagos(for infantry) and Hippagagos(for horses). Fundamentally, they were no different from ordinary ones, but had a reinforced deck and, in the case of the Hippagagos, a higher bulwark and additional wide gangways for horses.

Birems and triremes became the main and only universal ships of the classical period (IV-V centuries BC). Alone and as part of small squadrons, they could perform cruising functions, that is, conduct reconnaissance, intercept enemy merchant and transport ships, deliver especially important embassies and ravage the enemy coast. And in major battles of the main forces of the fleet (Salamin, Egospotami), triremes and biremes acted as battleships, that is, they were used in linear formations (2-4 lines of 15-100 ships) and fought against targets of similar class.

It was the biremes and triremes that played main role in the victory of the Hellenes over the huge Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis.

Messenger

“They obeyed the order as expected.
Dinner was prepared, and by the oarlocks
Each rower hurried to adjust the oars.
Then, when the last ray of sunshine has gone out
And the night came, all the rowers and warriors
With weapons, as one, they boarded the ships,
And the ships, having lined up, called to each other.
And so, adhering to the order that was indicated,
Goes out to sea and sleeplessly swims
The ship's people perform their service regularly.
And the night passed. But they didn’t do it anywhere
Attempts by the Greeks to secretly bypass the barrier.
When will the earth be white again?
The luminary of the day filled with bright radiance,
A jubilant noise was heard in the Greek camp,
Similar to a song. And they answered him
With the thundering echo of the island rock,
And immediately the fear of the confused barbarians
It failed. The Greeks did not think about escape,
Singing a solemn song,
And they went to battle with selfless courage,
And the roar of the trumpet set hearts on fire with courage.
The salty abyss was foamed together
The consonant strokes of the Greek oars,
And soon we saw everyone with our own eyes;
Went ahead, in excellent formation, right
Wing, and then proudly followed
The entire fleet. And from everywhere at the same time
A mighty cry rang out: “Children of the Hellenes,
To fight for the freedom of the motherland! Children and wives
Free your native gods at home too,
And great-grandfathers' graves! The fight is on for everything!"
Our Persian speech is a monotonous hum
He answered the call. There was no time to hesitate here,
The ship's copper-clad bow immediately
It hit the ship. The Greeks began the attack,
Having broken the stern of the Phoenician with a ram,
And then the ships attacked each other.
At first the Persians managed to hold back
Pressure When in a narrow place there are many
The ships have accumulated, no one can help
I couldn’t and my copper beaks pointed,
Their own in their own, the oars and rowers are destroyed.
And the Greeks used ships, as they planned,
We were surrounded. The sea was not visible
Because of the wreckage, because of the overturned
Ships and lifeless bodies and corpses
The shallows and the coast were completely covered.
Find salvation in a disorderly flight
The entire surviving barbarian fleet tried,
But the Greeks of the Persians are like tuna fishermen,
Anything, boards, debris
The ships and oars were beaten. Screams of horror
And the screams filled the salty distance,
Until the eye of night hid us.
All troubles, even if I lead ten days in a row
The story is sad, I can’t list it, no.
I'll tell you one thing: never before
So many people on earth have never died in one day."

Aeschylus, "Persians"

At the same time, single-tier galleys (unirems), the heirs of the archaic triakontor and pentecontor, continued to be used as auxiliary ships, advice ships (messenger ships) and raiders.

Rice. 5. Late Greek pentecontor

The largest ship built in Antiquity is considered to be the semi-mythical tesseracontera (sometimes simply “tessera”), which was created in Egypt by order of Ptolemy Philopator. Allegedly, it reached 122 m in length and 15 m in width, and carried 4,000 oarsmen and 3,000 warriors. Some researchers believe that it was most likely a huge double-hulled catamaran, between the hulls of which a grandiose platform was built for throwing machines and warriors. As for the rowers, then, most likely, there were 10 people for each grandiose oar of this floating fortress.

Publication:
XLegio © 1999, 2001

The Greeks are already in I X century BC They learned from the Phoenicians to build ships that were remarkable for that time and began colonizing the surrounding territories early. V III–V I centuries BC The Greeks achieved serious success in shipbuilding. B V III -V I centuries BC the area of ​​their penetration covered the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the entire Pont Euxine (Black Sea).

Later they made a series of trips across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The journey of Petheus to I 5th century BC Nearchus in 325–324 BC on 800 ships along the coasts of India and Persia to Mesopotamia.

Greek ship Pytheas

Greek ships were complex structures and their builders had to solve numerous problems related to ship strength, stability, seaworthiness, location, transmission and perception of significant concentrated loads.

The beginning of Greek shipbuilding dates back to I X–V II centuries BC The Greeks adopted these skills from the Phoenicians.

The Greeks kept their technology for assembling ships from ready-made components and parts secret.

Greek ship on a vase.

Greek ships had a keel, frames, stems - the main structural elements of the current ship hull. The following materials were used for construction: oak for the keel, acacia for the frames, pine for the spar, beech for the sheathing. The skin was made of variable thickness: the thickest strips were at the keel, along the cheekbones and at deck level. Deadwood was filled with wooden blocks. The hull below the waterline was tarred or covered with lead sheets. It was painted and greased.

Sand was used as ballast. A canvas bulwark was used to protect the crew from waves.

1-2 masts with a quadrangular sail were installed, topenants went to the ends of the yard from the top, and the yard was fixed with a cable. A small sail was placed in the space between the yard and the topenants. The front mast was made inclined towards the bow, and it was the predecessor of the bowsprit. The shape of the sail was rectangular or trapezoidal.

At the deck level, a powerful beam was installed - a parolos, on which two steering oars were attached. The Greeks were the first to build ships with a solid deck.

Early Greek trading ship. 2300 BC

Early Greek trading ship.. 2300 BC.

Merchant ships had holds. The length of the ships was 20-25 m, width 7-8 m, displacement 80-100 tons. There were several types of merchant ships: lemb, kelet, kerkur. The Greeks were the first to build a ship to transport horses. This event occurred in the 5th century. BC

Greek warships were named by the number of rows of oars: monera, diera, trireme, tetrera, pentera (era - oar). Diera (dikrota) had a narrow body. It was a fast ship with a length of 30 m, a width of 5 m, and a freeboard height of 0.5 m. Greek warships were built without frames according to external templates with fastening the skin with dowels (a dowel is a wooden nail).

Greek warship Argonauts

The distribution of oars on Greek ships was as follows: moners, diremes and triremes, respectively, with one, two and three tiers of oars, one rower per oar. With the increase in the size of the ships and due to the difficulty of placing additional tiers of oars, they returned to one row, but put five rowers at each oar.

This is how the pentera of the Syracusan ruler Dionysius arose, who introduced a new, more durable type of ship with the installation of heavy throwing machines (ballistas and catapults) on the deck. At first, the penters had a displacement of about 140 tons, a length of 30 m, a width of 6.5 m, and a waterline draft of 1.2 m. Subsequently, the displacement increased to 300 tons, the ships had 300 oarsmen and 120 warriors. Such penters had 30 oars on each side, five rowers per oar, for a total of 300 rowers on both sides.

The Greeks also built octerae (8 rowers in one half-section of the ship), tesseraconters (40 rowers in one half-section of the ship). For a two-tier octera, there are six oarsmen in the top row, two rowers per oar in the bottom row, for a total of eight.

There is information that ships with up to ten rows of oars were built by Alexander the Great. According to Pliny the Elder, in III century BC Ptolemy Philopator built a ship with four dozen rows of oars (tessaracontera) with a hull 124 m long, 17 m wide, with a freeboard height of 22 m, and with a displacement of 3000 tons.

A similar gigantic ship was built in Syracuse under the tyrant Hieron (displacement 4200 tons).

The bulk of the Greek fleet were triremes. The number of oars of the Greek trireme reached 170. The crew of the ship was about 200 people, in addition to the rowers (who were chained to the seats) and soldiers, there were also special sailors to control the sail. The length of the trireme reached 40 m, width - 6 m, displacement - about 90 tons. The trireme was a high-speed vessel and, according to experts, could reach a maximum speed of up to 11 knots, on short passages 7.8 knots, on long passages - 4-5 knots. On late triremes (IV century BC), to protect the oarsmen from arrows and darts, a light deck was installed - a catastroma, on which the warriors were located.

The oarsmen were usually slaves under the command of the gortator; the mode of movement was set by the flute maker. The trireme was commanded by a triarch, the senior officer was called cybernetos (navigator). It is from the Greek navigator that the name of the science of control - cybernetics, which is so important today, originates. The ship was steered by feeders, a pilot and sailors.

The anchors of ancient Greek ships were wooden with stone or lead rods. For the first time, an iron anchor was used on Greek ships.

A mandatory accessory of a warship of the ancient Greeks was a ram. It was attached to the keel and was made in the form of a trident or a boar's head. The purpose of a ram is to pierce the underwater part of an enemy ship. The stem at the top of the ram had a hawse, into which a strong cable was inserted to connect several ships in a joint attack on enemy ships. In the ancient Greek fleet, a type of ram “dolphin” became widespread, as well as boarding hooks, corvuses and harpagues. The dolphin was a heavy load on a rope, which was attached to a special beam protruding overboard and dropped onto the deck or bottom of an enemy ship, breaking through them. Dolphins were used especially successfully in the Battle of Lipari (260 BC). Corvus - a boarding bridge hinged at the bow of the ship; it was equipped with a sharp metal hook in the shape of a crow's beak. The corvus, raised on a rope, was lowered onto the deck of the enemy ship during boarding, and along it the attackers rushed to attack. Corvus is Latin for “raven”, so named because of the resemblance of the coupling device to a bird’s claw. This design was later used in medieval galleys.

Greek merchant ship. Reconstruction 300 BC II century BC

Back in the 4th century BC. Ancient Greek ships were armed with throwing machines: catapults and ballistas (oututons). The catapult threw large stones and metal shells over a distance of 200 m, the ballista fired spears 4.5 m long with iron tips (often the spears were impregnated with an incendiary mixture of sulfur, bitumen and resin). Throwing machines were placed behind special protective walls or rolled into towers. After many centuries, shipbuilding will repeat these design solutions on a new round of the development spiral - in the 19th century, barbette and turret battleships, the ram shape of the bow.

Greece is a country of seas. The inhabitants of this state have at all times been famous for their knowledge and skills in the field of shipbuilding and shipping. Greek navigators since the time ancient times have preserved all the best traditions. The ships of these navigators were rightfully considered and are considered the best in the world.

Capital and others major cities Greece were major trading points. Fleet in every locality, adjacent to the sea, was and is quite strong and powerful. To this day, researchers agree that the most famous, maneuverable and strong ship of the Greeks was the trireme. They talked about her, she was feared by her enemies, who more than once came face to face with her. The trireme's ram was superior in strength to all available enemy ships. There were other military and merchant ships that more than once surprised and captured the imagination of the conquerors who tried to penetrate the land of the Greeks.

Sail, oars and other achievements of shipbuilding

Scientists who examined ancient documents and drawings of Greek shipbuilders came to the conclusion that the invention of the sail belonged to the Greeks. But first they learned to drag their boats with the skin of buffaloes and cows, and they came up with oars.

Some researchers associate the invention of the sail with the story of the rescue of Daedalus (the myth of Daedalus and Icarus). Daedalus managed to escape from the island of Crete thanks to the sail he had. Supposedly it was he who first piled this important element to your ship.

For quite a long time, Greek ships moved only with the help of oars. For this they used slave labor. It was possible to raise the sail if the wind was favorable. The mainland Greeks adopted some experience in shipbuilding and warfare on water from the sailors of Phenicia and Aegean island Greece. It is no secret that representatives of the sea country used the fleet more for war purposes, conquests and for defensive purposes. Less Greek ships went to other countries for trade. Home distinctive feature the Greek fleet from all the others - a huge difference between military and merchant ships. The first ones were quite resilient, they could maneuver as much as they wanted, while the merchant ones took on board tons of cargo and at the same time remained reliable until the very finish.

What were Greek ships like? Basic principles of construction

The hull of the vessel was necessarily equipped with a keel and sheathed. The Greeks were the first to make paired seams for greater reliability. The thickest areas of the planking were under the keel and at deck level. For greater reliability, the fastenings were made not only of wood, but also of bronze. Huge metal pins tightly nailed the skin to the ship's hull.

The necessary protection from waves was also provided. For this purpose, a bulwark made of canvas was laid. The ship's hull was always kept clean, painted and refinished as needed. A mandatory procedure was rubbing the casing with fat. Above the waterline, the hull was further strengthened by tarring and covering it with sheets of lead.

The Greeks never skimped on the raw materials from which ships were built. They selected the best types of wood, made perfectly strong ropes and ropes, and the material for the sail was the most reliable.

The keel was made of oak, acacia was used for the frames, and the spars were made of pine. The variety of wood species was complemented by beech paneling. The sails were originally rectangular, but later Greek shipbuilders realized that it was much more practical to use a trapezoid shape to create sails.

The very first boats were very light. Their length was only 35-40 meters. In the middle of the hull the sides were lower than in the rest of the ship. The oars were supported by special beams. A control device resembling a rudder was made from oars mounted on the stern.

There were single-tier and double-tier ships. The lightweight unirema was about 15 meters long, and it could accommodate 25 rowers. It was these ships that made up the Greek fleet during the siege of Troy. Each ship was equipped with a ram made of metal in the form of a huge 8-10 meter spear.

Types of ships of the ancient Greeks

Pentecontories. These ships were invented and popular between the 12th and 8th centuries. BC The vessel was approximately 30-35 meters long, about 5 meters wide, with oars, and had 1 tier. The ship's speed reached a maximum of 10 knots.

Pentecontories were not deckless at all times. In a later period they were retrofitted. The deck protected the slaves well from direct sunlight and enemy shells. They placed everything necessary from provisions, drinking water, on the deck, they even drove horses along with chariots to fight, if necessary, on land. Archers and other warriors were easily accommodated on the Pentecontor.

More often, Pentecontors were used to move warriors from the scene of one event to another battle site. They actually became warships later, when the Greeks decided not only to deliver soldiers, but also to use Pentecontors to sink enemy ships by ramming them. Over time, these ships changed and became taller. Greek shipbuilders added another tier to accommodate more warriors. But such a ship began to be called differently.

Birema. This is a modified Pentecontora. The birema was better protected from the onslaught of the enemy during the conduct sea ​​battle. But at the same time, the number of rowers was increased, who were previously trained in synchronized actions during the trip. Slave labor was not used in this matter, since the outcome of the battle often depended on well-trained rowers. Only professional sailors were hired for such work. They received their salaries on the same basis as soldiers.

But later they began to use slave labor again, after first teaching them the skills of rowing. Often the team had only a small part of professional rowers. The rest were complete laymen in this matter.

The birema was intended specifically for combat on water. The rowers of the lower level maneuvered on the oars under the commands of the ship's captain, and the upper tier (warriors) fought under the leadership of the commander. This was very profitable, since everyone had enough to do, and everyone did their job.

Trier. This is the strongest and most powerful ship of the Ancient Greeks. The invention of this type of vessel is attributed to the Phoenicians, but it is believed that they borrowed the drawings from the Romans. But they called their ship a trireme. The name, apparently, was the only difference. The Greeks had entire flotillas consisting of triremes and biremes. Thanks to such strength, the Greeks began to dominate the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Trireme is a huge ship designed for 200 people. Most of them are rowers, the rest are archers. The ship's crew consisted of only 15-20 sailors and several assistants.

The oars on the ship were distributed proportionally into 3 tiers:

1. Upper.
2. Average.
3. Lower.

The Trireme was a very fast ship. In addition, she maneuvered exquisitely and easily rammed. Triremes were equipped with sails, but the Greeks preferred to fight when the ship was rowing. Huge Triers on oars accelerated to 8 knots, which could not be achieved with only a sail. Devices for ramming enemy ships were located both under water and above it. The Greeks gave the one on top a curved shape or made it in the form of a huge monster’s head. Underwater, the ram was created in the form of a standard sharpened copper spear. The warriors pinned their greatest hopes on the underwater ram during the battle.

The main goal is to break through the hull of the enemy ship so that it sinks to the bottom. The Greeks did this skillfully, and most of the conquering ships sank. The combat technique on Trier was as follows:

1. Try to attack from the rear while other ships take up a distracting position.
2. Before the collision itself, dodge, remove the oars and damage the side of the enemy ship.
3. Turn around as quickly as possible and completely ram the enemy.
4. Attack other enemy ships.

At the end of the 20th century, several scientists, representatives different countries world, recreated Trier according to ancient drawings and descriptions. Enthusiastic shipbuilders set sail on this ship. The journey helped researchers understand how movement took place on the waves, battles were carried out, etc. Nowadays this ship is in the museum of Greece, near Piraeus.

Herodotus and his role as a historian

He is called the "Father of History". Herodotus collected historical data, traveled a lot, and was considered an excellent geographer. But the thinker became most famous after writing the book “History”. It gave a description of ideas about the world. Of course, in a presentation that was relevant at the time when Herodotus lived.

Homer's Iliad

"The Iliad" is a poem about war. The poem is called “The Iliad” in honor of Ilion (i.e. Troy), the city where the events described in the poem take place. In the 12th century BC, Greek tribes captured and burned Troy, a powerful city located on the Asian shore of the Hellespont. The theme of the Iliad is Achilles' "wrath" against Agamemnon and its terrible consequences. All events in the Iliad take place over 52 days; the poem consists of 15,537 verses, which form 24 songs

Stavronikitsky Monastery. Stavronikita

The Stavronikitsky monastery, located on the north-eastern side of the Athos peninsula, between the Pantokrator and Iversky monasteries, occupies fifteenth place in the hierarchy of the twenty dominant monasteries of Athos. Its foundation dates back to the beginning of the 11th century, while different legends do not agree on the identity of the founder of the monastery.

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