• PugJesus@piefed.socialM
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    25 days ago

    Nah, both Greeks and Romans preferred free men, freedmen, and citizens for rowers. Rowers in the Graeco-Roman period were professionals who needed to tightly coordinate during combat - slaves could not be relied upon to give that kind of peak-effort.

    Some medieval and early modern galleys would use rowing slaves chained to their benches but they were moving much heavier ships, and usually multiple men to a single oar, and needed more raw strength than coordination.