crew of the Olympias Archives - Adventures In Historyland

The “sly, apotropaic eyes” of Olympias at the Naval Tradition Park, Palaio Faliro. She is the only commissioned ship of her kind in the world. Ελληνικά: Φωτογράφηση εξ ιδίων Wikimedia commons.

Introduction.

My first sight of the Trireme Olympias was as I turned a page of an Osprey Book about the Greek and Persian Wars. Thrilling isn’t it? But if a picture can blow a fellow away, imagine what it must have been like to sail on her. If I’m honest I’ve never given much thought to who actually put Olympias through her paces. Luckily today’s guest post has been written by just such a man, who urged by an article written by journalist, essayist, historian and biographer Byron Rogers who is an “historian of the quirky and forgotten, of people and places other journalists don’t even know exist or ignore if they do”’embarked on an true adventure in a Historyland all his own, and shared by a select few. Olympias was built between 1985 and 1987 as an accurate replica of the ship that probably saved western civilisation. Designed by John F. Coates who consulted with many other learned people on the project, Olympias was built in Greece between 1985 and 1987. The information gathered during her many sea trials revolutionised the understanding of ancient seamanship and set a bar for all subsequent experimental archeologists. The author of the following story took part in the 1987 trials as one of “Happy few” who helped bring the Tireme back to life: Continue reading “A Memory of the Olympias or “THAT BLOODY BYRON ROGERS” by Nigel Hillpaul.”