Description
The waterline ram was first mounted on a vessel in around 850BC. Warships and naval tactics were transformed. Ships were no longer platforms for infantry battles on the water; the ship itself became the weapon. Galleys changed as the new reality sank in. Ramming at speed would hole and sink an enemy, therefore slimmer, faster, handier ships were required. More speed on demand obviously required more oars a fast ship with a single row of oars ended up being stupidly, impractically long. The solution, then, was to put in a second set of oars above the first, but slightly offset to allow for rowers' benches. These biremes, a Latin word meaning 'two oars', or dieres, the Greek equivalent, were no longer than previous designs but had twice the number of rowers. They were fast, manoeuvrable, and could carry a fighting contingent. Some nations also gave their bireme crews fire pots; these clay pots filled with oil and pitch were hurled at enemy ships in the entirely reasonable hope of setting them ablaze.
The ‘dwellers around’, the periokoi were a free, but non-citizen class of Sparta. As the Spartans themselves could pursue no profession other than that of the warrior, the periokoi fulfilled the roles of artisans and merchants in the Lacedaemonian state, eventually taking on the roles in the Spartan army considered unsuitable for true citizens, such as skirmishing and cavalry. Living along the coast and in the many hill towns surrounding the fertile valleys of Eurotas and Pamisos, they acted as a barrier between the Spartan citizens and the rest of Greece - a barrier that also kept in the helots, the Spartans' slaves that farmed the valleys below the city. Like other Greeks, the periokoi were expected to purchase and maintain their own arms and armour, each town contributing to the Spartan war machine when required. Even though they were allowed their own laws and customs, as non-citizens periokoi could not influence or vote on Spartan foreign or military policy.
