monoremes

Updated: January 23, 2026

The ships of the ancient Greeks and Romans were divided into various classes, according to the number of "ranks" or "banks," that is, rows, of oars. Monoremes contained one bank of oars; biremes, two banks; triremes, three; quadriremes, four; quinqueremes, five; and so on.

R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne - Man on the Ocean: A Book about Boats and Ships