It is not, however, within the province of this book to discuss wars and battles on the sea. The person interested in that important subject should read Admiral A. T. Mahan’s “The Influence of Sea Power upon History” in order to gain a clear picture of the great phases of that subject. But all of this is outside the range of this book, which deals only with the types of ships and their development. The first warships of which history gives any account were those of the Egyptians. They differed little from the other ships of the time except in having affixed to their bows a metal ram. This, however, was well above water. When these ships were in action the sail was rolled up and made fast by loops of line to the upper yard. They were driven by large paddles, and were steered, as well, by paddles, many being required. Egyptologists tell us that the Egyptians, between 3000 and 1000 B. C., fought occasional naval battles with people as far distant as those of Sicily, for Egypt seemed to have a fascination for all the Mediterranean peoples even of this early day, and occasional forays were made against the Egyptian coast. [Illustration: AN ENGLISH WARSHIP OF THE TIME OF HENRY V _By the time this ship was built hulls had grown considerably in size over what they had been at the time of William the Conqueror, and the era of lavish decoration was well under way. The numerous decks of this ship were not unusual for the time._ ] The Phœnicians came next as a sea-going people, and it was they who so greatly developed ships. So little, however, is known of Phœnician ships that it is necessary, in this hurried account, to pass them by in order to take up the Greek ships of which many records are still extant. In Chapter I, I have mentioned the galleys, but there are many things concerning them upon which it is interesting to enlarge. These ancient war vessels are divided into two major types—“aphract,” or those which had no protection for the topmost tier of rowers, and “cataphract,” or those that had a raised bulwark which shielded them from the sight and arrows of the enemy. These two words mean, literally, “unfenced” and “fenced.” In other words, the cataphract ships had a “fence” built up above their sides to shield the oarsmen, while on the aphract ships this “fence” was not installed. Both these types had upper and lower decks, although the cataphract type was higher than the other.