e number of "ranks" or "banks," that is, _rows_,
of oars. _Monoremes_ contained one bank of oars; _biremes_, two banks;
_triremes_, three; _quadriremes_, four; _quinqueremes_, five; and so on.
But the two latter were seldom used, being unwieldy, and the oars in
the upper rank almost unmanageable from their great length and weight.

Ptolemy Philopator of Egypt is said to have built a gigantic ship with
no less than forty tiers of oars, one above the other! She was managed
by 4000 men, besides whom there were 2850 combatants; she had four
rudders and a double prow. Her stern was decorated with splendid
paintings of ferocious and fantastic animals; her oars protruded through
masses of foliage; and her hold was filled with grain!

That this account is exaggerated and fanciful is abundantly evident; but
it is highly probable that Ptolemy did construct one ship, if not more,
of uncommon size.

The sails used in these ships were usually square; and when there was
more than one mast, that nearest the stern was the largest. The rigging
was of the simplest description, consisting sometimes of only two ropes
from the mast to the bow and stern. There was usually a deck at the bow
and stern, but never in the centre of the vessel. Steering was managed
by means of a huge broad oar, sometimes a couple, at the stern. A
formidable "beak" was affixed to the fore-part of the ships of war, with
which the crew charged the enemy. The vessels were painted black, with
red ornaments on the bows; to which latter Homer is supposed to refer
when he writes of red-cheeked ships.

Ships built by the Greeks and Romans for war were sharper and more
elegant than those used in commerce; the latter being round bottomed,
and broad, in order to contain cargo.

The Corinthians were the first to introduce _triremes_ into their navy
(about 700 years B.C.), and they were also the first who had any navy of
importance. The Athenians soon began to emulate them, and ere long
constructed a large fleet of vessels both for war and commerce. That
these ancient ships were light compared with ours, is proved by the fact
that when the Greeks landed to commence the siege of Troy they _drew up
their ships on the shore_. We are also told that ancient mariners, when
they came to a long narrow promontory of land, were sometimes wont to
land, draw their ships bodily across the narrowest part of the isthmus,
and launch them on the other side.

Moreover, they had