A trierarchy ( gr, τριηραρχία, trierarchia) was a type of obligation called a

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

, a debt similar to a

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

on the very wealthy in

Ancient Athens Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achieve ...

. The person (or persons) up on whom the duty fell is called a

trierarch Trierarch ( gr, τριήραρχος, triērarchos) was the title of officers who commanded a trireme (''triēres'') in the classical Greek world. In Classical Athens, the title was associated with the trierarchy (τριηραρχία, ''triēr ...

. The trierarch was responsible for the outfitting, maintenance, operation and leadership of a warship known as a

trireme A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...

, the hull and mast of the ship being provided by the State. The responsibility might fall on one person or be shared, in which case it was known as a syntrierarchy. The cost of a whole trierarchy was not less than forty

minas Minas or MINAS may refer to: People with the given name Minas * Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563) * Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309) * Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250) * Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler * Minas Avetisyan (1928� ...

nor more than a talent with the average being 50 minas. The burden of the trierarchy was so great that during some years no other liturgy could be assessed in the same or the following year.

Four eras of trierarchy

The trierarchy's can be divided into four distinct eras, each having a distinct time period and obligation and implementation.

First trierarchy

The beginning of the trierarchy dates from before the time of

Hippias Hippias of Elis (; el, Ἱππίας ὁ Ἠλεῖος; late 5th century BC) was a Greek sophist, and a contemporary of Socrates. With an assurance characteristic of the later sophists, he claimed to be regarded as an authority on all subjects, ...

(460 BCE). Starting with the 48

naucrarias The Naucrary ( grc, ναυκραρία, naukraria) was a subdivision of the people of Attica, among the most ancient in the Athenian state. Each was led by an official called a naucrarus ( grc, ναύκραρος, naukraros) All sources for the inst ...

Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων; BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...

(638–558 BCE) and the 50 naucrarias of

Cleisthenes Cleisthenes ( ; grc-gre, Κλεισθένης), or Clisthenes (c. 570c. 508 BC), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC. For these accomplishm ...

each naucraria was obliged to equip a ship. When the naval force was gradually increased to 200 vessels which was the number at sea at the time of the

Battle of Salamis The Battle of Salamis ( ) was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was ...

the trierarchs also became more numerous.

Second trierarchy

The second form began in 409 BCE. It was during this time the trierarchy began being shared by more than one trierarch, this arrangement known as a syntrierarchy may have been because there were not enough citizens of sufficient wealth to support the 400 triremes in use every year. The command of the ship would be as worked out between the two, amongst themselves. The ships improvements that had been funded by a previous trierarch were often left with the ship with the new trierarch(s) being responsible to reimburse the previous trierarch for the improvements.

Third trierarchy

The third form was established by

Periander Periander (; el, Περίανδρος; died c. 585 BC) was the Second Tyrant of the Cypselid dynasty that ruled over ancient Corinth. Periander's rule brought about a prosperous time in Corinth's history, as his administrative skill made Corinth o ...

and lasted from 357 to 341 BCE. During this period up to 16 individuals might form a trierarchy known as a ''

symmoria The ''symmoria'' ( el, συμμορία, pl. συμμορίαι, ''symmoriai'') was a group of wealthy citizens in Classical Athens during the 4th century BC, assessed together for the purposes of taxation. Fiscal ''symmoriai'' The ''symmoriai'' ...

''. They would share the burden in equal shares regardless of their actual wealth. The supervision of the whole business would be left to the wealthiest individual, who would often contract a commander for the whole sum from their colleagues so that many in reality paid nothing and yet were exempted by the trierarchy from all other liturgies.

Fourth trierarchy

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prow ...

, well aware of the defects of the third form or ''symmoria'', brought forward a new law in 340 BCE that improved the funding and operation of the trierarchy. The trierarchy were rated for a trireme according to their property as stated in the register in such a manner that one

was required from 10 talents. If their wealth was valued at a higher than 10 talents they would be assigned up to three triremes and one auxiliary vessel. Those who had less than 10 talents were to unite in ''syntelia'' until they made up that sum.

References

External links

"T" Classic Technology Center
(includes a ''Hear it'' wav of "trierarchy") {{Authority control Navy of ancient Athens Taxation in ancient Athens