To meet the enormous expenses of maintaining its powerful navy, democratic Athens gave wealthy citizens responsibility for financing and commanding the fleet. Known as "trierarchs" - literally, ship commanders - they bore the expenses of maintaining and repairing the ships as well as recruiting and provisioning their crews. The trierarchy grew into a powerful social institution that was vital to Athens and primarily responsible for the city's naval prowess in the classical period. "Financing the Athenian Fleet" is a full ...
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To meet the enormous expenses of maintaining its powerful navy, democratic Athens gave wealthy citizens responsibility for financing and commanding the fleet. Known as "trierarchs" - literally, ship commanders - they bore the expenses of maintaining and repairing the ships as well as recruiting and provisioning their crews. The trierarchy grew into a powerful social institution that was vital to Athens and primarily responsible for the city's naval prowess in the classical period. "Financing the Athenian Fleet" is a full-length study of the financial, logistical and social organization of the Athenian navy. Using a variety of sources, particularly the enormous body of inscriptions that served as naval records, Vincent Gabrielsen examines the development and function of the Athenian trierarchy and revises our understanding of the social, political and ideological mechanisms of which that institution was a part. He concludes with a discussion of the broader implications of the relationship between Athens' democracy and its wealthiest citizens.
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