Bireme

Biremes were long vessels built for military purposes and could achieve relatively high speed.

The next development, the trireme, keeping the length of the bireme, added a tier to the height, the rowers being thus increased to 180.

The bireme was also recorded in ancient history on the 8th and early 7th-century BC Assyrian reliefs, where they were used to carry out an amphibious attack on the coast of Elam and the lagoons of the Persian Gulf during the reign of Sennacherib.

The terminology can lead to confusion, since the terms are also used for rowed warships of the Greco-Roman period built on entirely different design principles.

But the change to trireme produced more significant developments than a gain in tactical speed over short distances.

Greek bireme circa 500 BC, image from a Greek vase in the British Museum , which was found at Vulci in Etruria .
Phoenician warship [ 1 ] with two rows of oars, relief from Nineveh, ca. 700 BC
A Roman naval bireme depicted in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste ( Palastrina ), [ 2 ] which was built c. 120 BC; [ 3 ] exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum in the Vatican Museums .