Description
An arms race in warship size developed between the various nations around the Mediterranean. Size, in terms of the number of rowers, ships length and bulk and above all majesty of the vessel became as much a tool of statecraft as of warfare. A people who could afford such ships were almost certainly rich enough to withstand the strains of any war. A 'four' or quadreme was still a handy warship, able to manoeuvre in battle. The same could not be said of some of the large polyremes, a word meaning many oars. Practical archaeology shows that too many banks of oars simply don't work, so polyreme probably referred to the number of rowers: a septireme is likely to have had some seven rowers per bank of three oars, arranged in three, three, and two to an oar going up from the waterline. King Demetius of Macedon led his fleet at the battle of Salamis in 306BC from the deck of a hepteres or 'seven', but his ambitions didn't stop there. Neither did those of other kingdoms, and later lumbering warships including 'elevens', 'thirteens' and larger. As bigger ships to carry more rowers such vessels could also carry big marine contingents, arrow towers and an array of useful artillery.
Although archery was not highly thought of as a military skill in Greece, Crete produced truly excellent archers who were able to sell their services to the highest bidder as mercenaries. Firing bronze-tipped arrows from their heavy self bows, Cretan archers tended to carry shields, indicative of some additional prowess in melee, which must’ve made them an even more enticing proposition for a general hiring mercenaries for campaign. Their finest hours came when Alexander the Great hired Cretans directly into his army to support its unbeatable phalanx. Commanded by Clearchus, 500 Cretans accompanied the Macedonian phalanx into battle at Granicus, off-setting the Persians' numerical superiority on the day and enabling Alexander’s subsequent victory. Whereas the Romans didn’t traditionally use archers in their forces, once they conquered Greece Cretan archers began to appear as auxiliary troops in their armies. Notably, they fought in Caesar’s campaign in Gaul against Vercingetorix, causing him to rally the best archers the tribes could provide to range against them.
