Derived from the Greek word trierês, meaning three-fitted and referring to its three banks of oars, came the trireme – the most successful warship of the Mediterranean. Most scholars give the Phoenicians credit for first inventing the trireme, while according to Thucydides, the Corinthians were the first of the Greeks to adopt triremes around seventh century B.C.E.. The trireme succeeded the pentekonter, a ship with a single bank of 50 rowers. They were owned by triearchs – rich men appointed annually by the state to pay for the maintenance of the ship. Often, these triearchs would appoint professional sailors to run the ships for them. In 483 B.C.E., under the threat of the Persians approaching to attack them, the Athenians made a “historic decision” to build up their navy by purchasing a fleet of triremes. They regarded their triremes as females and gave them names such as Artemis, Sea Horse, Equality, and Good Repute. Subsequently, the addition of triremes to their navy (which prior to this only had about fifty ships) enabled them to not only defeat the Persians at the naval Battle of Salamis, but also led them to acquire a maritime…show more content… The Athenians would not have succeeded without their triremes, and it was by the trireme’s effective rowing arrangement, size, structure, speed, and the battle tactics of the rowers on board, that the trireme could emerge as the most successful warship of the