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.
Light Greek infantry, the thureophoroi developed around the early 4th century BC, and straddled the gap between the phalanx and the skirmishing peltasts. Named after the thureos, their large oval shields, they were more heavily armoured than the traditional Thracian and Greek peltast. Able to both skirmish and form up as a phalanx, they were used to guard the flanks and protect other light troops. Their shield, normally made from wood and covered with leather, had a central handgrip that was protected by a vertical spine and a metal boss-like strip, and may have been inspired by Celtic or Roman shields of the time. Like the longer sarissa, the spears used by the thureophoroi had a weighted butt-spike to provide balance, but this also allowed them to throw javelins, if so equipped, by jamming their spears into the ground. Able to fulfil a variety of roles, thureophoroi were common amongst both citizen and mercenary units of the Greek city-states until they were eclipsed by the Macedonian phalanxes of Phillip II and Alexander the Great.
