A demonstration of this configuration was made using oar lengths of 10,12 and 13.5 feet and showed good results.
During the Golden Age of Athens, the trireme was the warship of choice. A dockyard record from 325 B.C, however, lists 360 triremes, 50 quadriremes, and 7 quinqueremes indicating an evolution in craft types.
By the First Punic War the Romans were using mainly quinqueremes as discussed in the previous article. With incomplete knowledge of how triremes were manned, we must throw up our hands as we contemplate how a quinquereme could be rowed using five groups of rowers. Most likely there was a group who moved their oars from a standing position, but this is a guess.