When quinquereme becomes a general word for warship

The quinquereme became so common that its name often functions as a general term for a warship in this reading of Polybius. Smaller vessels are more likely to require a specific description because they are unusual in the main fleet. A reference to a flagship can therefore leave open whether it was a quinquereme or a larger type. Numerical galley names count rowers within the rowing arrangement, avoiding the impractical reconstruction of ever more vertically stacked banks of oars.