The Trireme

A trireme was the warship that made Athens a power in the Mediterranean, not for its size, but for its structure. Three banks of oars, a hundred and seventy rowers, every bench pulling in time with every other. Take enough rowers out of one bank and the ship doesn’t row slower. It stops being a trireme. There’s a counterargument to this whole series that I keep hearing, and it’s a good one. One…