in Grecian Antiquity, the name given to soldiers whose duty it was to fight on board ship. They corresponded almost exactly with the marines of modern naval warfare. They were employed more extensively by the Athenians than by the other maritime powers of ancient Greece. The number of epibate allotted to each trireme appears to have been originally ten; but the number was afterwards reduced to seven. They were commonly selected from among the Thetes or fourth class of the Athenian citizens. The term is sometimes found in Roman authors to denote the same class of soldiers, but the general phrase adopted by them is milites classiariorum, or socii nivularum.