Throughout the history of warfare, naval battles became more popular. The popularity of navies grew throughout the Persian and Peloponnesian wars and into the Hellenistic-era. During naval warfare in the Hellenistic-era, warships became bigger and stronger. There were two main categories of Hellenistic-era warships which were heavy and light warships. Theses types of warships were tactically used in different methods of deployment to better themselves while in battle.

In naval warfare the classical ship used was the trireme. Around the time of the fourth century in Greece, bigger ships were tested such as quadriremes and even quinqueremes. The heavy warships were even larger than the typical trireme such as the colossal Tessarakonteres. The effectiveness of these heavy warships, was that the size of the decks were much bigger than those of a smaller ship with increased ramming power and defensive strength. A larger deck could carry a larger brigade of fighting troops as well as hold room for more cavalry and artillery for transport. The heavy warships, however, sacrificed much of their mobility and speed for greater power. This resulted in success as well for the lighter style warships.

Light warships in the Hellenistic-era were just as important as the heavy warships. They were used in scouting and also were often found in battle. The trireme ship was very effective throughout the early history of naval warfare. Warships were very popular for ramming the enemy to disable and destroy the opposing ships. Another style of attack used in naval battles was boarding. The lighter warships were much more effective because of their greater speed and mobility. But as time went by and the popularity of naval battles grew, warships were developed larger and stronger. The Hellenistic-era had such a wide variety of warships used in battle, that many opposing enemies could not compete in battle against these warships. This made for the use of a navy in battle just as important as an army on land.