Ancient coastal communities along the mainland and on the numerous islands of ancient Greece grew into major port strongholds that operated independently of one another, becoming what are commonly referred to as city-states, separate territories governed by a single sovereign city. Throughout the Bronze Age, from 4000 to 750 B.C., many of these city-states grew to dominate the seas surrounding their territories and islands, and piracy against foreign vessels was generally regarded as a virtuous undertaking of seamanship and courage. Captured merchant ships and their cargo could be sailed into cooperative harbors, where goods were split with the city authorities and sold at open markets. Crewmembers were often taken and sold into slavery, while wealthy passengers would be held for ransom.

The Menace of Safe Sailing

Seafaring navigation for trade vessels in the ancient Mediterranean world was generally limited to sailing along the coastlines in calm weather, keeping land in clear view. To avoid losing their way in the dark, ships usually anchored close to land or even beached on the shore at nightfall, resuming their journey at daybreak. The coastlines that merchant ships followed were dotted with bays and inlets that presented perfect hideouts and camouflage from which pirates would sprint, in their light and highly maneuverable warships, to attack a potential victim.

Monoreme Pirate Galleys

Some of the earliest boats used by Grecian pirates were variations of war galleys known as monoremes that relied on oars for propulsion. The monoreme style of craft is still represented today by the modernized sweep boats used in Olympic rowing competitions. The Greek monoreme was built to accommodate oarsman situated in two rows along either side of a boat, each rower handling a single long oar. With as many as forty oarsman, these sleek boats were capable of rapid bursts of speed that could easily overtake wind-powered trading vessels. High fighting decks were built on the front of the boats, or bow, and the back of the boats, called the stern. Marauding monoremes allowed for quick boarding by well-armed pirates, who could jump directly down onto the decks of their intended victims. This was usually followed by the rapid capitulation of the merchant ship captains and their crews, who were not accustomed to or equipped for hand-to-hand combat.

By around 1000 B.C., war galleys of the city-state navies of Greece were outfitted with fortified bows and battering rams, devices that would quickly change the nature of battle on the open seas. These ships were essentially turned into huge seagoing weapons capable of ramming and debilitating enemy vessels during combat. Often the damage was enough to sink both craft and crew. Because the goal of a pirate is to capture his prey intact, ramming and destroying hapless merchant vessels was pointless. On the other hand, the threat of this new development to pirate fleets was very real, as pirate-hunting naval vessels from opposing city-states utilized the rams against them, destroying their ships.

Stacking the Decks

The monoreme was eventually updated to the bireme design, with two rows of oarsmen stacked one deck above the other. With this design, developed and utilized primarily by Greek city-states with relatively sophisticated shipyards, the length of the ship could be cut in half and still retain the same number of oarsmen, thus presenting a smaller target for ramming. With the success of the bireme, shipwrights continued the concept of stacking oarsmen by designing and building the trireme, which included three rows of oars on separate decks located on either side of the ship.

The trireme eventually became the classic Greek battle galley, with as many as 150 rowers handling oars up to 15 feet long. With an additional sailing crew of two dozen sailors and another two dozen armed warriors, the trireme proved to be a formidable weapon of war. Often used as escort ships for merchant convoys, only the most foolhardy pirates would dare challenge the size and speed of a trireme battle galley.