Fire Pot Dieres, Levy Spearmen

Description

The waterline ram was first mounted on a vessel in around 850BC. Warships and naval tactics were transformed. Ships were no longer platforms for infantry battles on the water; the ship itself became the weapon. Galleys changed as the new reality sank in. Ramming at speed would hole and sink an enemy, therefore slimmer, faster, handier ships were required. More speed on demand obviously required more oars a fast ship with a single row of oars ended up being stupidly, impractically long. The solution, then, was to put in a second set of oars above the first, but slightly offset to allow for rowers' benches. These biremes, a Latin word meaning 'two oars', or dieres, the Greek equivalent, were no longer than previous designs but had twice the number of rowers. They were fast, manoeuvrable, and could carry a fighting contingent. Some nations also gave their bireme crews fire pots; these clay pots filled with oil and pitch were hurled at enemy ships in the entirely reasonable hope of setting them ablaze.

Throughout the civilised world, levies formed the backbone of many armies. Called to service from among citizens or subjects, levies followed a long tradition that began, in Greece at least, with hoplite warfare between the city-states. Equipped with spears, these levied phalanxes could present a formidable wall of spear points to other infantry and cavalry. What levies lacked in skill and discipline compared to professional soldiers and mercenaries they made up for in numbers and the advantage their weaponry provided. These troops, especially the citizen-levy of the Greek city-states, were at first expected to provide their own arms and equipment. As time passed the citizen army developed into a more formalised body in which arms and equipment were provided. Often, however, personal loyalty to a general or king replaced any sense of civic duty, although 'civic duty' might be grudging to say the least in men taken from their homes, families and livelihoods, and thrust into battle.