Rowing machine and ancient naval warfare

I was at the gym the other day, and I decided to mount the rowing machine.  I managed to row 2000 meters in about 12 minutes (not my best time, by any means), but while I was huffing and puffing away, I couldn’t help but think that being a rower used to be an instrumental part of ancient naval warfare (I know, I am a real history geek). I had a good workout after this short 2000 meter rowing, but I can’t imagine how much it would take to actually push an ancient warship to ramming speeds!  The ancient Athenian warship, called a trireme, had 3 banks of rowers with a full compliment of 170 rowers.  I decided to look into ancient rowing a bit, and I found out that there are a few ancient  literary references to a cushion, which aided the Athenian rowers.   I fould an article that discussed the advantages of this simple device, and I can say that after rowing for just a few minutes, having a cushion would have helped me endure the grueling workout.  Perhaps one of the most important battles between East and West was the Battle of Salamis, which took place in the narrow straits between the Greek Mainland and the island of Salamis. The maneuverable triremes defeated the Persian (combined Persian, Egyptian and Phoenician ships) fleet, and led to the Greek victory over the Persian invaders.

So the next time you sweat and toil on the rowing machine,  think about this centuries-old tradition of naval warfare!