Vast and Deadly Fleets May Yield Secrets at Last (Freedom Over Tyranny Alert)

New York Times ^ | April 20, 2004 | WILLIAM J. BROAD

[presidio9]

[dirtboy]

Peter the Great built triremes to battle the Swedish Navy in the shallows of the Baltic Sea, and they were quite effective - they would venture out when the winds were calm and wreak havoc upon the becalmed warships.

[jdege]

The big problem is that triremes don't sink.

They don't have keels, and they are built as lightly as possible.

When holed, they'd swamp, but they wouldn't sink to the bottom.

[Agnes Heep]

I'd hate to have been on of those oarsmen--especially when the captain got into the mood for some water skiing.

[EggsAckley]

Wow! This is fascinating. I love the color graphic. It's kind of poetic justice that there are treasures
on the ocean floor that could not have been accessed by previous civilizations. Without the deep-sea technology
available, these sites could not be pillaged as were the early land sites.

Thanks for this article.

[cogitator]

Cool; I hope they find one (or more). I just happened to have watched the trireme battle in "Ben Hur" last night! (it was on too late to stay up for the chariot race).

[Sam the Sham]

More Persian-bashing.

Hey, Persia lasted a damn sight longer than the Assyrians or Babylonians did so they must have been doing something right. And the subsequent Seleucid monarchy was practically the Persian Empire with Hellenistic Greeks on top.

In Esther, Nehemiah, Daniel, and Ezra the Persians come across as strict but fair and honorable and on occasion generous.

[Chewbacca]

Didn't the Persian Empire abide by the Rule of Law.
At least that is what I seem to remember when reading the Book of Daniel.

I believe Babylon abided by the rule of the king only.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Interesting article thanks for posting it.

[Sam the Sham]

Herodotus the Greek historian of the Persian Wars said of the Persians that they teach their sons three things.

To ride a horse.
To shoot a bow.
To tell the truth.

[uglybiker]

GGG List PING

[mindspy]

A persian I know once told me, "Persia was the hub of trade and technology(for that time) then the vild (wild) people (arabs) came and destroyed everything."

[farmfriend]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs
List for articles regarding early civilizations , life of all forms, - dinosaurs - etc.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.

[blam]

Good post, thanks.

[rightofrush]

ibid.

[Constitution Day]

Extremely interesting! Thanks for the post & ping.

[curmudgeonII]

Herodotus, known as the father of history...

Herodotus has also been called the father of liars.

[lizma]

A persian I know once told me, "Persia was the hub of trade and technology(for that time) then the vild (wild) people (arabs) came and destroyed everything."

I've heard that several times myself. They also make it a point to let you know their ancestors were Christians. Makes me think the Iranians have a good shot at this democracy stuff someday.

[classicalguy]

At what point were Persians Christian? Before the Muslim conquest they were quite devout Zoroastrians, rather dedicated to killing the Christian Romans. In the early 7th Century the Romans exhausted themselves driving the Persians out of Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities...and they have all but no history of democracy.

[Buggman]

Please add me to your list. Thanks, friend!