Figure 38 The Olympias, a full-scale reconstruction of an ancient trireme, built in 1985–7 to test the
properties of such a vessel under actual sailing conditions.
Source: Historical Archives of the Hellenic Navy.
TRIREME The standard warship of the Greeks during the Classical Period, which used sail for
long passages but was rowed into battle by oarsmen arranged in three rows, one above the other
(figure 38).During the spring and summer of 480 BC, Xerxes and his considerable army and navy made their
deliberate way along the north coast of the Aegean, accepting the surrender of the various Thracian,
Macedonian, and Greek peoples along the way. Only a small number of mainland Greek poleis were
determined to stand up to the invaders, including Sparta, Athens, Corinth, and about 30 other cities, many
quite insignificant in size and power, most of them located in the Peloponnese and under the influence of
Sparta. Because of this influence, and because the Spartan army was the most experienced and effective
military force in Greece, the Spartans assumed and were granted general command of the resistance to
Persia. The Greek poleis had had very little experience cooperating with one another and coordinating
their efforts, which made the planning of strategy against an already formidable opponent all the more
difficult. Greek strategy in 480 BC was, in fact, neither consistent nor unanimously endorsed by the
various contingents. Originally, the Greek forces moved as far north as the area around Mount Olympus,
intending to hold the narrow pass at the Gorge of Tempe near the coast, but that position had to be
abandoned even before the Persian army approached. The next place at which it seemed practicable to
forestall the enemy army was about 100 kilometers to the south, at Thermopylae, where there was only a