Les navires de guerre antiques (trirème grecque)

The narrator visits the Piraeus in Athens to discover the Olympia, one of the rare replicas of an ancient Greek trireme. This visit is part of a shoot for the game Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which takes place during the Peloponnesian War.

The trireme is an ancient warship designed for naval combat. It is a key element of Athens' military power during the Peloponnesian War.

During the Peloponnesian War, Athens possessed an enormous fleet of triremes while Sparta had very few, conferring a significant advantage on the Athenians.

The goal is to explain how this type of ship was organized, how it functioned, and what combat tactics were used in ancient times.

The trireme could accommodate almost 200 crew members to ensure full operation.

• Approximately 170 rowers organized in three tiers • About fifteen people for combat (hoplites) • Around ten archers • A few members to maneuver the sail • 3 or 4 people to command the crew

The rowers were organized in three stacked tiers: the upper tier, the middle tier, and the lower tier below the hold. This arrangement allowed three rows of oars to row simultaneously without touching or colliding.

The three-tier organization was essential for obtaining power and coordination, preventing the oars from tangling during maneuvering.

The trireme could move in two ways: with sails and with rowers. The 170 rowers took turns rowing.

At maximum speed, the trireme could reach 7 to 8 knots. It was possible to combine propulsion by oars and sails, though rowing was often preferred for maneuverability.

• Despite its reputation, the trireme could navigate on the open sea without capsizing • Voyages were generally limited to a maximum of one day • Each rower needed one liter of water per hour of rowing • Insufficient storage of provisions and water is the real problem for long voyages • The trireme generally sailed along the coast to resupply

The ship had a flat bottom and shallow draft, making it suitable for coastal waters, but not really designed for very long transoceanic voyages.

At the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, before 434–432 BCE, triremes fought primarily through boarding. Crews attempted to board enemy ships and capture them by force with their infantry.

Over time, tactics evolved toward using the ram, a metal protrusion at the front of the ship. This ram was used to strike the enemy hull and sink the enemy vessel.

• Achieving the correct attack angle requires a precise maneuvering phase • Rowers can exert maximum effort for only a few dozen seconds before exhaustion • A poor attack angle risks damaging the combatant's own trireme • The goal is to strike the enemy and then be able to retreat

True naval battles involved multiple triremes, not singular duels. Sophisticated techniques, similar to World War II aerial tactics, allowed ships to outmaneuver enemy vessels to find an opening for attack.

For many years, there were few documentary sources for knowing what a trireme really looked like, which necessitated significant archaeological experimentation.

The Olympia was created in the 1990s after decades of research, study of iconography, and debates among scholars about the dimensions and internal organization of the trireme.

• On the central deck, air circulates well and rowers can breathe properly • At the rear of the ship, rowers quickly suffocate, creating a serious problem for the crew • Modern oars are too large for spaces designed for 5th-century men measuring about 20 cm shorter • Positioning and striking difficulties make achieving real historical speeds challenging

The practical reconstruction of the Olympia revealed details about life aboard that were not found in written sources, allowing a more complete understanding of the ancient ship.

Rowers very often brought a cushion that supported their buttocks for more comfortable rowing. The feet positioned themselves just behind the body of the person in front, creating a compact and efficient organization.

Musicians, notably a drummer, marked the cadence so that the 170 rowers rowed in synchronization and produced maximum force.

The three tiers of rowers allowed a very compact organization where each person had limited space, with each person's feet placed directly behind the rower in the previous row.

Although practical, this organization made the space aboard very cramped, and modern rowers discover that significant adaptation is needed to function effectively in these reconstructed ancient ships.

• Athens led the Delian League with many allied cities • Sparta led the Peloponnesian League with cities like Corinth and other allies • These two rival coalitions fought each other during the Peloponnesian War

The Persians, defeated in the Greco-Persian Wars in 480 BCE, saw an opportunity for revenge by financing Spartan and Corinthian triremes to combat Athens' powerful fleet.

Over the course of the Peloponnesian War, the situation reversed. Sparta succeeded in developing a fleet thanks to Persian financing and coastal shipyards like that of Epidaurus. The Peloponnesian League gradually gained the maritime advantage over the Delian League.

Triremes deteriorated very quickly and required constant investment. In Athens, wealthy citizens were responsible for maintaining triremes, which sometimes created situations where some posed as poorer than they were to avoid these costly obligations.