Designed as an anti-pirate ship, the Trieremiolia is a fast and powerful warship.

Trieremioliai

Basileu! The pride of the Rhodioi is great! They claim that their ships and sailors are the best in the world! Recently our spies returned with information about a new ship called "three times one and a half". It is a strange design built on a hull slightly larger than a Triere, but with many more oarsmen. Additional men now occupy a "shared row" on each of the levels. This means that half of the oars on each side are manned by 2 oarsmen instead of one. With these changes the ship is faster and able to hit harder with its ram. The additional men may also be armed to serve as boarding crew. This ship is said to be used only against pirates lurking around the coasts of Mikra Asia, but we should not believe the Rhodioi!

Two types of Rhodian warships continue to confuse scientists: the Hemiolia and the Trieremiolia. The names mean "one and a half" and "three-one and a half" respectively. The problem is where the "half row" was placed. The reconstruction presented in the opening paragraph (above) is one of the more probable for the larger one. The ship probably was similar in size to Triere, but with a wider hull. The ram was its main weapon, but if additional oarsmen were armed, the size of the boarding crew was impressive for its size: 90 men. As with other ancient ships, Trihemiolai were probably equipped with two sails for longer voyages.