Queen of the seas for centuries, the trieres or trireme (literally in Greek, "three-oar") was the backbone of most Mediterranean navies prior to the rise of Alexander the Great, and consisted of a warship propelled by three banks of oars, hence its name. Thought to have been first introduced by the Phoenicians of the Middle East, the trireme is often heavily associated with the Athenian Greeks, who under the leadership of Themistokles (524–429BCE) established a fleet of such warships for the Athenian republic, allowing Athens to embark on a journey towards commercial domination and glory.