Ships of ancient Greece

thumb|Fleet of triremes made up of photographs of the modern full-sized replica Olympias (trireme)|Olympias A trireme ( ; ; cf. ) was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean Sea, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.

A bireme (, ) is an ancient oared warship (galley) with two superimposed rows of oars on each side. Biremes were long vessels built for military purposes and could achieve relatively high speed. They were invented well before the 6th century BC and were used by the Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Greeks. thumb|right|250px|Greek bireme circa 500 BC, image from a Greek vase in the British Museum, which was found at [[Vulci in Etruria.]] thumb|Phoenician warship with two rows of oars, relief from Nineveh, ca. 700 BC

thumb thumb|Coinage of Tennes, king of [[Sidon, dated 351/0 BC. Phoenician pentekonter sailing left. Date above (here faint), waves below. King of Persia standing right, holding up lion by lock of mane; Aramaic T’ between.]] The penteconter (alt. spelling pentekonter, pentaconter, pentecontor or pentekontor; , pentēkónteros, "fifty-oared"), plural penteconters, was an ancient Greek galley in use since the archaic period.

ancient Athenian sacred ship

state triremes with religious functions in Athens

The Salaminia () was, along with Paralos, one of the two sacred triremes of the Athenian navy during the late 5th century BC. Frequently employed as a messenger ship, it played a notable role in several episodes of the Peloponnesian War.

modern reconstruction of an ancient Greek rowing warship