The Fire Galley is a short-range vessel used to defend against other ships. Fire Galleys are superior to Triremes in one-on-one combat. Fire Galleys take additional damage from Ballistas, Helepolises, Stone Throwers, Catapults, Heavy Catapults, Catapult Triremes, and Juggernaughts, whose heavy artillery can shatter the Fire Galley's burning fire pots and set fire to the ship.

Fire Galleys benefit from Alchemy which adds +6 to Damage.

Note: You cannot build Fire Galleys if you select the Full Tech Tree option before starting a game.

Because ships were built primarily of combustible materials (wood, cloth, hemp, and pitch), fire was a devastating weapon against them. Ancient mariners devised several ways to set enemy ships on fire. The simplest was to fire flaming arrows or ballista bolts on an enemy ship. Next most useful were flaming grenades, something like modern Molotov cocktails, filled with a combustible liquid like oil.

Most intricate were flaming firepots suspended from the bow of a ship by a pole. When the pole was positioned over the deck of an enemy ship, the pot was dropped. The shattering of the pot spread burning liquid over the deck.