This volume represents the final publication of the Olympias project, which saw the building of a full-scale reconstruction of a 170-oared Athenian trireme of the 4th century BC and its operation in five series of sea-trials in the Aegean Sea. The first three sea-trials in 1987, 1988 and 1990 have already been published in separate volumes (the last two by Oxbow) and this completes the series with reports of the 1992 and 1994 trials. The 1992 report by Paul Lipke of Trireme Trust USA, which collaborated with the Trireme Trust in the operation of the ship, offers an alternative view of the project as a whole from that presented in previous reports. The rest of the volume is devoted to some twenty-six papers presenting more recent research on the trireme, some of them originally presented at a conference held in Oxford and Henley in 1998. One group of papers by Timothy Shaw and John Coates presents the argument for making relatively small adjustments to the hull and oar-system of Olympias , which would enable the crew to generate far more power and so match the performance under oar which is implied by the ancient sources. The papers, therefore show the detailed thinking behind the modifications proposed in the second edition of The Athenian Trireme (2000). Another set of papers offers further critiques of the project, some positive and some sceptical and hostile. A third group investigates aspects of operation and performance under both oar and sail, including slipping and launching, the ancient evidence for speed under oar and physiological aspects of the ship's "human engine". A fourth group looks at aspects of construction and maintenance and a final set of papers presents some of the latest research inspired by the project, including an investigation of the effects of ramming, a reconsideration of the evidence for the dimensions of the ancient trireme and the modelling of battle manoeuvres based on the data produced by the trials of Olympias .

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction and Summaries (Boris Rankov)
• Part 1. The 1992 and 1994 Sea Trials and Other Excursions
  • 1. Olympias 1992 Trials Report (Paul Lipke with John Howarth, Ford Weiskittel and Meph Wyeth)
    • 1.1. Introduction: salvaging value from a failed efort to publish a 1992 Olympias sea trials report
    • 1.2. Some results of Olympias' 1992 trials and log summary
    • 1.3. Training, section leading and crew leadership in the 1990 and 1992 sea trials
    • 1.4. Olympias 1992-3 repairs and modifications, with lessons for future reconstructions
    • 1.5. Different perspectives on some reported results
    • 1.6. Where the Trireme Project has gone wrong
    • 1.7. Suggestions for future research in the Trireme Project
    • 1.8. A final note: falling victim to our own success
  • 2. Olympias on the Tames, 1993 (Boris Rankov)
  • 3. Report of the 1994 Sea Trials of the Trireme Olympias (Timothy Shaw)
  • 4. The Slow Trireme Experience in Olympias in 1994 (Andrew Taylor)
  • 5. Olympias at the Olympics, 2004 (Boris Rankov)
• Part 2. Proposals for a Revised Design
  • 6. Preface to the Proposals for a Revised Design (Timothy Shaw)
  • 7. From the Golden Horn to Heraclea: duration of the passage in calm weather (Timothy Shaw)
  • 8. The Performance of Ancient Triremes in Wind and Waves (Timothy Shaw)
  • 9. Towards a Revised Design of a Greek Trireme of the Fourth Century BC: advantages of a long stroke (Timothy Shaw)
  • 10. The Proposed Design of any Second Reconstruction (John Coates)
• Part 3. Critiques of Olympias: For and Against
  • 11. As Seen by a Passer-by (René Burlet)
  • 12. Comments on Olympias (Edwin Gifford)
  • 13. Comments on Olympias (Seán McGrail)
  • 14. The Reconstructed Trireme Olympias and her Critics (Anthony J. Papalas)
  • 15. Beyond Olympias: an outsider's view (André W. Sleeswyk)
  • 16. An Unauthentic Reconstruction (Alec Tilley)
• Part 4. The Operation and Performance of Ancient Triremes
  • 17. On Slipping and Launching Triremes from the Peiraeus Shipsheds and from Beaches (John Coates)
  • 18. Olympias Under Sail, and other Performance Matters: a practical seaman's perspective (Douglas Lindsay)
  • 19. On the Speed of Ancient Oared Ships: the crossing of L. Aemilius Paullus from Brindisi to Corfu in 168 BC (Boris Rankov)
  • 20. Xenophon on the Speed of Triremes (Herman Wallinga)
  • 21. Triereis under Oar and Sail (Ian Whitehead)
  • 22. Human Mechanical Power Sustainable in Rowing a Ship for Long Periods of Time (John Coates)
  • 23. Paleo-bioenergetics: clues to the maximum sustainable speed of a trireme under oar (Harry Rossiter and Brian Whipp)
• Part 5. Aspects of Trireme Construction and Maintenance
  • 24. Uniformity or Multiplicity? On Vitruvius' interscalmium (Ronald Bockius)
  • 25. The Effect of Bilge Water on Displacement, Vertical Centre of Gravity and Metacentric Height of Olympias in the Trial Condition (John Coates)
  • 26. Trireme Life Span and Leakage: a wood technologist's perspective (Paul Lipke with John Coates)
  • 27. Triremes and Shipworm (Paul Lipke)
  • 28. Cordone, Contracordone and Hypozomata (André W. Sleeswyk)
• Part 6. Recent Research
  • 29. Collision Damage in Triremes (Robin Oldfield)
  • 30. The Dimensions of the Ancient Trireme: a reconsideration of the evidence (Boris Rankov)
  • 31. Battle Manoeuvres for Fast Triremes (Andrew Taylor)