Lembos

A merchant galley with a single bank of oars and a stubby foremast carrying a dragonwing sail. Typically around 40m long with 50 rowers it is about as large a commercial vessel that is primarily rowed, larger "galleys" exist but they only have a handful of oars to suplement the sails.

Easy to convert to a warship, the mast is removed and a ram fitted to the sharp cutwater. Across the Inland Sea pirate or rebel fleets of military lembi spring up on a regular basis. Such ships are cheaper and lighter than triremes and almost as fast and manueverable. Given their cargo capacity they are also better suited to spending multiple days at sea without re-supply

As Merchant ship Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, Lionel Casson, as Warship/pirate The Ancient Mariners, Lionel Casson
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