Description
It is thought that the Rhodians, a significant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean, developed the 'trihemiolia' or 'two-and-a-half' as a vessel for pirate hunting. Given that Rhodes is an island entirely reliant on the sea and shipping this is a believable theory. Pirates used the hemiola, a handy little vessel developed from the dieres or bireme, a ship with two rows of oars; it makes sense that pirate hunters would think of taking a trieres, or trireme, with three rows of oars and modifying it in a similar fashion. A trihemiolia still had three rows of oars on each side, but the top row was reduced to only half the number of oars, positioned midships. The result was a faster, handier vessel that provided a height advantage over a hemiola for any archers on board. There was also a strategic benefit to the Rhodians, who could only draw on the manpower of one island: they could have six trieres warships with full complements of rowers, or seven trihemiolias for the same number of men. The useful design was soon adopted by other maritime powers around the Mediterranean.
The javelin is among the oldest weapons in human hands. Equipped with javelins and little else, skirmishers harried their opposite numbers and peppered hoplite phalanxes before quickly retreating. This was the typical tactic of all unarmoured, javelin-armed troops: to engage at range and then fall back behind more heavily-armoured infantry, or continue attacks while trying to stay just out of reach of the enemy. Such harassment could be highly effective, in 391BC at the Battle of Lechaeum a force of Spartans, lacking the support of skirmishers or cavalry, were severely punished by javelin-armed Athenians who refused to meet them at close quarters. Over time, shields became common, such as those used by Thracian and Greek peltasts, but in turn these were rendered obsolescent by the Hellenic thureophoroi. Nevertheless, javelinmen and other irregulars continued to play a part in many armies throughout antiquity.
