Ancient Greek Weapons Essay

Ancient Greek ships and weapons were modified to be of the utmost use to the Greek sailors and warriors. The Greeks’ earliest warship was a pentekontor which had twenty-five oarsmen on each extensive side. The ship was designed with a narrow width, so it went faster when it was attacking enemy ships. Ancient Greek carpenters managed to increase the speed even more by adding the improvement of more oars and oarsmen. Another addition to the original ship was a ram which was a pointed bronze portion on the front of the warship that was intended to strike and fracture enemy ships. They called these upgraded ships biremes because they contained two levels of oars on each side. The next step in the evolution of Ancient Greek ships was a trireme.

The trireme had now acquired a new total of 170 to 180 rowers and a length of 121 feet; Greek warships had been improved to a speed that they had not reached before which helped them during battles. Later on, carpenters also came up with the quadrireme, but it was not nearly as common as biremes and triremes. Most men on the ships and men in general back in Ancient Greece fought with spear and sword. For example, Greek foot soldiers who were also known as hoplites always had armor and a shield equipped and their dory ready. The dory was a long spear with a leaf shaped iron tip and a wooden shaft. These Ancient Greek weapons and warships allowed the Greeks to repeatedly fight and win battles against far more superior