Timber: Concluding Remarks

Abstract

Naval warfare played a major role in the archaic and classical periods. Building and maintaining warships was a state prerogative. As Theophrastos notes, only a few areas were in possession of forested areas with the required timber types. The main producers were Macedon, the Strymon region in Thrace, Mount Ida, the hinterlands of Sinope and Amisos, and Latium, Corsica and Magna Graecia in Italy. Timber, like metal, was considered a resource of the country, thus, the reserves were owned by the polis or polity in control of them. Export was regulated by the producing poleis and polities as exemplified in the Macedonian treaties with Athens and the Chalcidian league. Turning to the importers, most of the great naval powers of the classical period, most importantly Athens, had need of foreign timber resources for their fleets.Keywords: archaic period; classical period; Macedonian treaties; naval warfare; shipbuilding timber; Theophrastos