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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2325 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 1, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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How long would it have taken the Persian fleet to sail from Marathon to Athens during the battle?

According to Google Maps, the sailing distance is around 80 miles.

According to GURPS Low-Tech Companion 2:

In the ancient world, galleys on long journeys relied mainly on their sails, attaining a speed of about 5–7 mi/h with favorable winds or 2–3 mi/h with unfavorable ones. Fleets were much slower—partly because they had to keep together and partly because galleys needed sailing ships to carry supplies. A fleet could make 2.5–3.5 mi/h with favorable winds or about 1.5 mi/h with unfavorable ones. In an emergency, a trireme could sustain a pace of 10 mi/h for a full day under oars; a penteconter, 8 mi/h. This meant extremely hard labor for the oarsmen, however. Normally, they would row in shifts, with 1/3 of the rowers being enough to achieve 2/3 of the speed.

So the travel time could be anywhere from eight hours to fifty hours, depending on what your assumptions are.

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