In order to make up for this hard necessity, they resolved to land in

Sicily on their return, and, if possible, reduce some cities which the

Carthaginians still retained in that island. Such was the plan of the

consuls, but it was vehemently opposed by the pilots of the fleet, who

represented to them, that as the season was far advanced, the most prudent

measure would be to sail directly for Italy, and not go round the northern

coast of Sicily, as the consuls wished. The latter, however, persisted in

their resolution; the consequences were extremely fatal; a most violent

storm arose, during which the greater part of the fleet was destroyed or

rendered completely useless, either foundering, or being driven on shore.

All the sea coast from Camarina to Pachynum, was covered with dead bodies

of men and horses, as well as with the wrecks of the ships. The exact

number of ships that were lost is differently represented by different

authors, but according to the most accurate account, out of 370 which

composed the fleet, only eighty escaped. Besides the destruction of these

vessels, a numerous army was lost, with all the riches of Africa, which had

been amassed and deposited in Clupea, by Regulus, and which was in the act

of being conveyed to Rome.

The Carthaginians, animated by the news of this event, resolved to attempt

the subjugation of Sicily, Africa being now liberated from the enemy. But

the Romans, by incredible efforts, fitted out a new fleet in the short

space of three months, consisting of 120 ships; which, with the old vessels

which had escaped, made up a fleet of 250 sail. With these, they passed

over to Sicily, where they were successful in reducing the Carthaginian

capital in that island.

The next year they sent to sea a fleet of 260 ships to attempt the

reduction of Lilibæum, but this place being found too strong, the consuls

directed their course to the eastern coast of Africa, on which they carried

on a predatory warfare. Having filled their ships with the spoils, they

were returning to Italy, when they narrowly escaped shipwreck. On the coast

of Africa, there were two sand-banks, called the Greater and Lesser Syrtes,

which were very much dreaded by the ancients, on account of their

frequently changing places; sometimes being easily visible, and at other

times considerably below the water. On the Lesser Syrtes the Roman fleet

grounded; fortunately it was low water, and moderate weather at the time,

so that on the return of flood tide, the vessels floated off, with little

or no damage, but the consuls were dreadfully alarmed.

This, however, was only a prelude to real disaster: the fleet arrived safe

at Panormus, where they remained a short time. On their departure for

Italy, the wind and weather were favourable till they reached Cape

Palinurus; here a dreadful storm arose, in which 160 galleys, and a

considerable number of transports, were lost. This second storm seems to

have so dispirited the Roman senate, that they resolved to confine their

efforts to land, and accordingly a decree was issued, that, as it seemed

the will of the gods that the Romans should not succeed against their enemy

by sea, no more than fifty vessels should in future be equipped; and that

these should be employed exclusively in protecting the coasts of Italy, and

in transporting troops to Sicily.

This decree, however, was not long acted upon; for the Carthaginians,

perceiving that the Romans no longer dared to meet them at sea, made such

formidable preparations for invading Sicily, by equipping a fleet of 200

sail, and raising an army of 30,000 men, besides 140 elephants, that the

Romans, being reduced to the alternative of either losing that valuable

island, or of again encountering their enemy at sea, resolved on the latter

measure. Accordingly a new fleet was built, consisting of 240 galleys, and

sixty smaller vessels, and Lilibæum was besieged by sea and land. This city

was deemed impregnable, and as it was the only place of retreat for the

Carthaginian armies in Sicily, it was defended with the utmost obstinacy.

During this siege, two bold and successful enterprises were undertaken for

the purpose of supplying the garrison with provisions. The Romans had shut

up the port so closely, that the governor could have no communication with

Carthage: nevertheless, Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, resolved to enter it

with a supply of provisions. With this intention, he anchored with a few

vessels under an island near the coast, and as soon as a strong south wind

arose, he set all sail, and plied his oars with so much vigour and

alacrity, that he passed safely through the midst of the Roman fleet, and

landed 10,000 men and a considerable quantity of provisions. Having

succeeded thus far, and being convinced that the Romans would be on the

alert to prevent his sudden escape, he resolved to intimidate them, if

possible, by the open boldness of the attempt; and in this also he

succeeded.

Shortly afterwards the harbour was again so closely blockaded, that the

senate of Carthage were quite uninformed of the state and resources of the

garrison. In this emergency, a Rhodian, of the name of Hannibal, undertook

to enter the harbour, and to come back to Carthage with the requisite and

desired intelligence. The Roman fleet lay at anchor, stretched across the

mouth of the harbour. Hannibal, following the example of his namesake, with

a very light galley of his own, concealed himself near one of the islands

which lie opposite to Lilibæum. Very early in the morning, before it was

light, with a favourable wind blowing rather strong, he succeeded in

getting through the Roman fleet, and entered the port. The consul,

mortified at this second enterprise, ordered ten of his lightest vessels to

lie as close as possible to each other, across the mouth of the harbour;

and that they might not be taken by surprise and unprepared, he further

directed that the men should constantly have their oars in their hands,

stretched out, so as to be ready to plunge them into the water at a

moment's warning. The skill and experience of the Rhodian, however, and the

extreme lightness and celerity of his vessel, rendered all these

precautions unavailing; for, not content with securing his escape, he

mocked the Romans, by often lying to till they came near him, and then

rowing round them. The Carthaginian senate were now able to have frequent

communication with the garrison by means of this Rhodian: his success, and

the recompence which rewarded it, induced several Carthaginians to make the

same attempt. They were all successful except one, who, not knowing the

force and direction of the currents, was carried by them ashore, and fell

into the power of the Romans. The Rhodian still continued to pass between

the besieged and Carthage; but his good fortune was near an end. The Romans

had fitted out the Carthaginian galley which they had captured, and "waited

with impatience for a fresh insult from the Rhodian: it was not long before

he entered the port in the night time, according to custom, and was

preparing to sail out in broad day, not knowing that the Romans were now

masters of a galley which was as good a sailer as his own. He weighed

anchor with great confidence, and sailed out of the port in sight of the

enemy's fleet, but was greatly surprized to see the Romans pursue him

close, and at length come up with him, notwithstanding the lightness of his

vessel. He had now no way left but to engage them, which he did with an

undaunted bravery; but the Romans, who were all chosen men, soon put an end

to the dispute. The Rhodian vessel was boarded and taken with all her crew.

The Romans being now in possession of two light galleys, shut up the port

so effectually, that no Carthaginian ever after attempted to enter it."

The following year the Romans were obliged to convert the siege into a

blockade, in consequence of the Carthaginians having succeeded in

destroying all their works. One of the consuls was P. Claudius Pulcher, an

obstinate and ambitious man, who, contrary to the advice of those who were

better skilled in maritime affairs, and better acquainted with the

Carthaginians than he was, determined to surprize Drepanon, where the

Carthaginian admiral was posted. Claudius had under his command a fine and

formidable fleet of 120 galleys; with these he sailed from before Lilibæum

in the night time, having taken on board a great number of the best troops

employed in the blockade of that place. At break of day, Asdrubal, the

Carthaginian admiral, was surprized to perceive the hostile fleet

approaching Drepanon: he formed his plan immediately, preferring an

immediate engagement to the certainty of being shut up in the harbour.

Accordingly, with ninety ships, he sailed out, and drew them up behind some

rocks which lay near the harbour. As the Romans had not perceived him come

out, they continued to sail on without forming themselves into line of

battle, when as they were about to enter the harbour, the Carthaginians

attacked them, with such celerity and vigour, that, being taken quite

unprepared, they were thrown into confusion. Claudius might still have

saved his fleet by immediate flight, but this he absolutely refused to do,

notwithstanding the strong and urgent remonstrances of his officers. By

great exertions the Roman fleet was formed into line of battle, on a lee

shore, and close to rocks and shoals. It was on this occasion, that the

Romans' veneration for auguries was so dreadfully shocked, by Claudius

exclaiming, when the sacred chickens refused to feed, "If they will not

feed, let them drink," at the same time ordering them to be thrown into the

sea. The bad omen, and the sacrilegious insult, added to the situation in

which they were placed, and their want of confidence in Claudius, seemed to

have paralysed the efforts of the Romans: they fought feebly: the enemy

boarded their ships without difficulty or resistance; so that ninety

vessels were either taken or driven ashore, 8,000 of their seamen and

soldiers were killed, and 20,000 taken prisoners. As soon as Claudius

perceived the probable result of the battle, he fled precipitately with

thirty vessels. The Carthaginians did not lose a single ship or man on this

occasion. This was the most signal and disastrous defeat which the Romans

had suffered at sea since the commencement of the war. According to

Polybius, Claudius was tried, condemned, and very severely punished.

The other consul, Lucius Pullus, was not more successful, though his want

of success did not, as in the case of Claudius, arise from ignorance and

obstinacy. He was ordered to sail from Syracuse with a fleet of 120

galleys, and 800 transports, the latter laden with provisions and stores

for the army before Lilibaeum. As the army was much pressed for

necessaries, and the consul himself was not ready to put to sea directly,

he sent the quaestors before him with a small squadron. The Carthaginians,

who were very watchful, and had the best intelligence of all the Romans

were doing, having learnt that the consul was at sea with a large fleet,

sent 100 galleys to cruize off Heraclea. As soon as the squadron under the

quaestors came in sight, the Carthaginian admiral, though he mistook it for

the consular fleet, yet resolved to engage it: but the quaestors, having

received orders not to hazard a battle if they could possibly avoid, took

refuge behind some rocks, where they were attacked by the enemy. The Romans

defended themselves so well with balistae and other engines, which they had

erected on the rocks, that the Carthaginian admiral, after having captured

a few transports, was obliged to draw off his fleet.

In the mean time, the light vessels, employed on the lookout, informed him

that the whole consular fleet were directing their course for Lilibaeum:

his obvious plan was to engage this fleet before it could join that of the

quæstors; he therefore steered his course to meet them. But the consul was

equally averse with the quaestors to hazard the supply of the army by a

battle, and he, therefore, also took shelter near some rocks. The

Carthaginian admiral was afraid to attack him in this position, but

resolved to watch him: while thus employed his pilots observed certain

indications of an approaching storm, which induced him to take shelter on

the other side of Cape Pachynum. He had scarcely doubled the cape, when the

storm arose with such violence that the whole Roman fleet was destroyed.

According to Polybius, not one vessel, not even a plank, was saved out of a

fleet which consisted of 120 galleys and 800 transports.

Two such losses occurring during the same consulate, induced the Romans

again to resolve to desist from all naval enterprizes and preparations, so

that for some time no public fleet was equipped. This resolution, however,

yielded to the conviction that they could not hope even to retain their

possessions in Sicily, or even to secure their commerce on the coasts of

Italy, if they did not endeavour to cope with the Carthaginians by sea. But

as the senate thought it would appear derogatory to their dignity and

consistency to equip a public fleet, after they had a second time resolved

solemnly and officially not to do so, they passed a decree, by which all

the Roman citizens who were able and so disposed, were permitted to build,

equip, and arm vessels at their own expence; with these ships they were

directed to land on the coast of Africa, for the purpose of pillage, the

fruit of which was to be their own private gain. The senate even went

further to evade, by a pitiful subterfuge their own decree, for they lent

the few ships which still remained to the republic, to private citizens, on

condition that they should keep them in repair, and make them good if they

were lost. By these measures a very considerable fleet was equipped, which

committed great depredations on the coast of Africa. Emboldened by their

predatory warfare, they resolved to attempt a more arduous enterprize. One

of the most celebrated of the Carthaginian harbours was that of Hippo;

besides the port there was a citadel, and large arsenals for naval stores,

&c. As the inhabitants were much engaged in commerce, there were in the

town always a considerable quantity of merchandize. This port the privateer

squadron determined to enter. The inhabitants, aware of their design,

stretched a very strong chain across the harbour mouth; but it did not

avail; for the Roman ships broke through it, took possession of the town

and ships, burnt most of them, and returned safe with an immense booty.

This success was quickly followed by another, for as they were re-entering

Panormus, they fell in with a Carthaginian fleet loaded with provisions for

Hamilcar, who commanded in Sicily, and captured several of the transports.

These advantages began to inspire the Romans with renewed confidence and

hopes that their naval disasters were at an end, and that the gods had at

length permitted them to become masters of the sea, when the privateer

fleet, after having gained a considerable victory over a Carthaginian

squadron, near the coast of Africa, was almost totally destroyed in a

storm.

For a few years afterwards, the Romans seem to have desisted entirely from

maritime enterprizes; but in the year of the city 516, they changed their

plan, as it was indeed evident that unless they were masters at sea, they

must be content to lose the island of Sicily. In order, however, that the

Roman armies might not suffer by their losses at sea, it was decreed that

the new fleet should be manned with hired troops. There was still another

difficulty to overcome; the protracted war with Carthage, and the heavy and

repeated losses which they had suffered during it, had nearly exhausted the

Roman treasury; from it therefore could not possibly be drawn the sums

requisite for the proper and effective equipment of such a fleet as would

be adequate to meet that of the enemy. This difficulty was removed by the

patriotism of all ranks and classes of the citizens. The senators set the

example; the most wealthy of whom built, each at his own cost, a

quinquereme: those who were not so wealthy joined together, three or four

of them fitting out a single galley. By these means a fleet of 200 large

vessels was made ready for any expedition, the state having bound

themselves to repay the individuals whenever her finances were adequate to

such an expence. This fleet was not only very numerous and well equipped,

but most of the vessels which composed it were built on an entirely new

model, which combined an extraordinary degree of celerity with strength.

The model was taken from that light Rhodian galley, which we have already

mentioned, as having been employed by its owner, Hannibal, in conveying

intelligence between Carthage and Lilibæum, and which was afterwards

captured by the Romans. The command of this fleet was given to the consul

Lutatius: and the great object to be accomplished was the reduction of

Lilibæum, which still held out. The first step of the consul was to occupy

all the sea-ports near this place: the town of Drepanon, however, resisting

his efforts, he resolved rather to decide its fate, and that of Sicily in

general, by a sea battle, than to undertake a regular siege.

The Carthaginians soon gave him an opportunity of acting in this manner,

for they sent to sea a fleet of 400 vessels, under the command of Hanno. In

the building and equipment of this fleet, the senate of Carthage had nearly

exhausted all their means; but though their fleet was numerically much

greater than that of Rome, in some essential respects it was inferior to

it. Most of the seamen and troops on board it were inexperienced and

undisciplined; and the ships themselves were not to be compared, with

regard to the union of lightness and strength, with the Roman vessels, as

they were now built. Besides, the Romans trusted entirely to themselves--

the Carthaginians, in some measure, to their allies or to hired seamen. The

Romans, though firm and determined, were not rashly confident; whereas the

Carthaginians even yet regarded their adversaries with feelings of

contempt.

The hostile fleets met off Hiera, one of the Aeolian islands. The

Carthaginian admiral's first object was to reach Eryx, a city which had

lately been taken by Hamilcar, there to unload his vessels, and after

having taken on board Hamilcar and the best of his troops, to sail again in

quest of the Roman fleet. But the consul prevented this design from being

carried into execution, by coming up with the Carthaginians, as we have

just stated, off Hiera, while they were steering for Eryx. As the wind was

favourable for the Romans, they were extremely anxious to commence the

engagement immediately; but before they had formed into order of battle, it

changed, blew hard, and a heavy sea arose. The determination of the consul

to engage was for a short time shaken by this circumstance, but he

reflected that though the sea was rough, the enemy's ships were heavily

laden, and therefore would suffer more from it than his ships would; while

if, on the other hand, he delayed the engagement till the Carthaginians

reached Eryx, they would then have lighter vessels, as well as a greater

number of experienced seamen and soldiers on board of them. These

considerations determined him to fight immediately, and accordingly he gave

orders for the line of battle to be formed. The battle was of very short

duration, and terminated decidedly in favour of the Romans. The loss of the

Carthaginians is variously stated, but, according to Polybius, who is the

best authority for every thing relating to the Punic wars, the Romans sunk

fifty of their vessels, and captured seventy, with all their crews. The

remainder would probably have been either captured or destroyed, had not

the wind again changed, and enabled them to save themselves by flight.

The consequences of this defeat, in the capitulation of Hamilcar, which, in

a manner, determined the fate of Sicily, were so disheartening to the

Carthaginians, that they were obliged to submit to a disadvantageous and

dishonorable peace. Among other terms, it was stipulated that they should

evacuate all the places they held in Sicily, and entirely quit that island;

that they should also abandon all the small islands that lie between Italy

and Sicily; and that they should not approach with their ships of war,

either the coasts of Italy or any of the territories belonging to the

Romans or their allies.

Soon after the conclusion of the first Punic war, a circumstance occurred

which nearly renewed the hostilities. The Carthaginians were engaged in a

bloody and arduous contest with their Mercenaries, and the Roman merchants

supplied the latter with military stores and provisions. While engaged in

this unlawful enterprize, several of them were captured by the

Carthaginians, and their crews detained as prisoners of war. The senate of

Carthage, however, were not then in a condition to offend the Romans; they

therefore restored both the ships and their crews. During this war between

the Carthaginians and the Mercenaries, the latter having obtained

possession of Sardinia, (which though formerly conquered by the Romans, had

been restored to the Carthaginians,) offered to put the Romans in

possession of it. At first the senate refused to occupy it; but they soon

changed their mind, and accepted the offer, and moreover obliged the

Carthaginians to pay the expence of the armament by which it was occupied,

and the further sum of 1200 talents.

Sicily, which immediately after the conclusion of the Punic war, was made a

Roman province, and Sardinia, were the first territories which the Romans

possessed out of Italy. In conformity with our plan, we shall enquire into

the advantages they brought to the commerce of the Romans, before we

proceed to the naval occurrences of the second Punic war.

Sicily was anciently called Sicania, Trinâcria, and Triquetra; its three

promontories are particularly celebrated in the classic authors; viz.

Lilibæum on the side of Africa; Pachynum on the side of Greece, and Pelorum

towards Italy. Its vicinity to the continent of Italy, and the resemblance

of their opposite shores, gave rise to an opinion among the ancients that

it was originally joined to Italy. Pliny particularly mentions their

separation, as a circumstance beyond all doubt. The dangers which were

supposed to beset mariners in their passage through the narrow strait which

divides it from Italy, on one side of which was Sylla, and on the other

Charybdis, sufficiently point out the ignorance and inexperience of the

ancients in the construction and management of their ships.

The principal town on the eastern coast of Sicily, opposite Greece, was

Messana, now called Messina: it was the first which the Romans possessed in

the island: it was one of the most wealthy and powerful cities in ancient

Sicily. Taurominium stood near Mount Taurus, on the river Taurominius; the

coast in its vicinity was anciently called Coproea, because the sea was

supposed to throw up there the wrecks of such vessels as were swallowed up

by Charybdis. The hills near this city were famous for the excellent grapes

they produced. On a gulph in the Ionian Sea, called Catana, stood a city of

the same name; it was one of the richest and most powerful cities in the

island.

But by far the most celebrated city in this island for its advantageous

situation, the magnificence of its buildings, its commerce, and the wealth

of its inhabitants, was Syracuse. According to Thucydides, in his time it

might justly be compared to Athens, even when that city was at the height

of its glory; and Cicero describes it as the greatest and most wealthy of

all the cities possessed by the Greeks. Its walls were eighteen miles in

circumference, and within them were in fact four cities united into one. It

seems also to have possessed three harbours: the great harbour was nearly

five thousand yards in circumference, and the entrance to it five hundred

yards across; it was formed on one side by a point of the island Ortygia,

and on the other by another small island, on each of which were forts. The

second harbour was divided from the greater by an island of inconsiderable

extent; both these were surrounded with warehouses, arsenals, and other

buildings of great magnificence. The river Anapis emptied itself into the

great harbour; at the mouth of this river was the castle of Olympia. The

third harbour stood a little above the division of the city called

Acradina. The island of Ortygia, which formed one of the divisions, was

joined to the others by a bridge.

The other maritime towns of consequence were Agrigentum, Lilibaeum, and

Drepanum; though the first stood at a short distance from the sea, yet

being situated between and near two rivers, it conveniently imported all

sorts of provisions and merchandize. Lilibaeum was famous for its port,

which was deemed a safe retreat for ships, either in case of a storm, or to

escape from an enemy. During the wars between the Romans and Carthaginians,

the former repeatedly attempted to render it inaccessible and useless by

throwing large stones into it, but they were always washed away by the

violence of the sea, and the rapidity of the current. Drepanum, which had

an excellent harbour, was much resorted to by foreign ships, and possessed

a very considerable commerce.

The Greeks were the first who colonized Sicily; and they founded Syracuse

and other towns. About the same period the Phoenicians settled on the coast

for the purposes of commerce; but they seem to have retired soon after the

Greek colonies began to flourish and extend themselves. The Carthaginians,

who generally pushed their commerce into all the countries with which their

parent state had traded, seem to have visited Italy as merchants or

conquerors at a very early period; but when their first visit took place in

either character is not known. The treaty between them and the Romans, (to

which we have had occasion to refer more than once,) which was formed in

the year after the expulsion of the Tarquins, expressly stipulated that the

Romans, who should touch at Sardinia, or that part of Sicily which belonged

to the Carthaginians, should be received there in the same manner as the

Carthaginians themselves. They must, however, soon afterwards have been

driven out of the island; for at the time of the invasion of Greece by

Xerxes, (which happened about thirty years after the expulsion of the

Tarquins,) Gelon, the king of Syracuse, expressly states that they no

longer possessed any territory there, in a speech which he made to the

ambassadors of Athens and Sparta, the Cathaginians having united with

Xerxes, and he having offered to ally himself with the Greeks. The

circumstances and even the very nature of the victory which Gelon gained

over the Carthaginians, which ended in their expulsion from Sicily, cannot

accurately be ascertained: but from a comparison of the principal

authorities on this point, it would, appear that it was a naval victory; or

at least that the Carthaginian fleet was defeated as well as their army.

Their loss by sea was enormous, amounting to nearly the whole of their

ships of war and transports, the former consisting of 2000 and the latter

of 3000.

Such is a short sketch of the island of Sicily, so far as its commercial

facilities and its history are concerned previously to its conquest by the

Romans. It was peculiarly valuable to them on account of its extreme

fertility in corn; and by this circumstance it seems to have been

distinguished in very early times; for there can be no doubt that by its

being represented by the poets as the favourite residence of the goddess

Ceres, the fertility of the island in corn, as well as its knowledge of

agriculture, were intended to be represented. When Gelon offered to unite

with the Greeks in their war with Xerxes, one of his proposals was that he

would furnish the whole Greek army with corn, during all the time of

hostilities, if they would appoint him commander of their forces. In the

latter period of the Roman republic, it became their principal dependence

for a regular supply of corn.

Sardinia seems to have been as little explored by and known to the

ancients, as it is to the moderns. The treaty between the Carthaginians and

Romans, the year after the expulsion of the Tarquins, proves that the

former nation possessed it at that time. Calaris, the present Cagliari, was

the principal town in it. From the epithet applied to it by Horace, in one

of his odes, _Opima_, it must have been much more fertile in former times

than it is at present; and Varro expressly calls it one of the granaries of

Rome. Its air, then, as at present, was in most parts very unwholsome; and

it is a remarkable circumstance that the character of the Sardi, who, after

the complete reduction of the island by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, were

brought to Rome in great numbers, and sold as slaves, and who were

proverbial for their worthlessness, is still to be traced in the present

inhabitants; for they are represented as extremely barbarous, and so

treacherous, and inhospitable, that they have been called the Malays of the

Mediterranean. The island of Corsica, which, indeed, generally followed the

fate of Sardinia, was another of the fruits of the first Punic war which

the Romans reaped, in some degree favourable to their commerce. It

possessed a large and convenient harbour, called Syracusium. The

Carthaginians must have reduced it at an early period, since, according to

Herodotus, the Cyrnians (the ancient name for the inhabitants), were one of

the nations that composed the vast army, with which they invaded Sicily in

the time of Gelon.

During the interval between the first and second Punic wars, the Roman

commerce seems to have been gradually, but slowly extending itself,

particularly in the Adriatic: we do not possess, however, any details on

the subject, except a decisive proof of the attention and protection which

the republic bestowed upon it, in repressing and punishing the piracies of

the Illyrians and Istrians. These people, who were very expert and

undaunted seamen, enriched themselves and their country by seizing and

plundering the merchant vessels which frequented the Adriatic and adjacent

Mediterranean sea; and their piracies were encouraged, rather than

restrained by their sovereigns. At the period to which we allude, they were

governed by a queen, named Teuta, who was a woman of a bold and

enterprising spirit: the Roman merchants, who traded, in the Adriatic, had

frequently been plundered and cruelly treated by her subjects; upon this,

the Roman senate sent two ambassadors to her, to insist that she should put

a stop to these measures. The Romans had also other grounds of complaint

against her and her subjects; for the latter extended their piracies to the

allies of Rome, as well as to the Romans themselves, and the former was at

that time besieging the island of Issa, in the Adriatic, which was under

the protection of the republic. The inhabitants of this island seem to have

been rather extensively engaged in commerce, and were celebrated for

building a kind of light ships, thence called _Issaei lembi_.

Teuta received and treated the Roman ambassadors with great scorn and

haughtiness; she promised, indeed, that she would no longer authorise the

piracies of her subjects; but, with regard to restraining them, she would

not do it, as they enjoyed a perfect and full right to benefit themselves

as much as possible, and in every way they could, by their skill and

superiority in maritime affairs. On the ambassadors' replying in rather

threatening language, she ordered one of them to be put to death.

For a short time Teuta was alarmed at the probable consequences of her

conduct, and endeavoured to avert them by submission; but, the Romans being

otherwise engaged, and she having experienced some successes over the

Acheans, her haughtiness and confidence revived, and she sent a fleet to

assist in the reduction of Issa. Upon this, the Romans resolved to act with

immediate vigour; and they had little difficulty in compelling Teuta to sue

for peace. It was granted to her, on condition that not more than three

ships of war should at any one time sail beyond Lyssus, on the frontier of

Macedonia, and that the islands of Corcyra, Issa, and Pharos, together with

Dyrrhachium should be given up to the Romans.

It was not, however, to be supposed that the Illyrians and Istrians, who

had been so long accustomed to piracy, and who in fact derived nearly all

their wealth from this source, would totally abstain from it. A few years

after this treaty of peace, they resumed their depredations, which they

carried on with so much audacity and disregard to the power of Rome, that

they even seized the ships that were laden with corn for Rome. As this

commerce was one of the greatest consequence to the Romans, in which the

Roman government, as well as individuals, principally embarked, and on the

regularity and safety of which the subsistence and tranquillity of the city

itself depended, the senate resolved to punish them more effectually; and

this resolution was strengthened by the Illyrians having broken the terms

of the peace by sending no fewer than 50 vessels of war beyond the

prescribed limits, as far as the Cyclades. The consequence of the new war

which the Romans waged against them, was the reduction of Istria and of

Illyricum Proper.

The destruction of Saguntum by the Carthaginians was the cause of the

second Punic war. At what period the Carthaginians first established

themselves in Spain, is not known. Their principal object in colonizing and

retaining it, undoubtedly may be found in the richness of its mines, and

the fertility of its soil. According to Diodorus Siculus, they were

principally enabled to equip and support their numerous, and frequently

renewed fleets, by the silver which they drew from these mines. And Strabo

expressly informs us, that when the Carthaginians first colonized Spain,

silver was in such abundance, and so easily obtained, that their most

common utensils, and even the mangers for their horses, were made of it.

One mine of extreme richness is particularly described by Pliny: according

to him, it yielded 300 pounds of silver in a day. There are other

circumstances which point out the extreme value of Spain to whoever

possessed it, and lead us to the motives which induced the Romans to use

all their efforts to wrest it from the Carthaginians. It cannot be doubted

that the Carthaginians drew from it all the wealth, in various shapes,

which it could possibly supply; and yet we know that in the short space of

nine years, 111,542 pounds weight of silver, 4095 of gold, besides coin,

were brought out of it by the Roman praetors, who governed it. Scipio, when

he returned to Rome, brought from Spain 14,342 pounds weight of silver,

besides coin, arms, and corn, &c. to an immense amount. And Lentulus

returned from this country with 44,000 pounds of silver, and 2550 of gold,

besides the coin, &c., which was divided among his soldiers. Manlius

brought with him 1200 pounds of silver, and about 30 of gold. Cornelius

Lentulus, who was praetor of Hither Spain for two years, brought with him

1515 pounds of gold, and 2000 of silver, besides a large amount of coin,

while the praetor of Farther Spain returned with 50,000 pounds of silver.

And these immense sums, as we have already stated, were brought away in the

space of nine years.

Cornelius Scipio was sent into Spain at the commencement of the second

Punic war. Of the events of this war, however, we shall confine ourselves

exclusively to such as were maritime, and which trace the steps of the

Roman superiority at sea, and, consequently, of the advancement and

extension of their commerce. The exertions of the rival nations to contest

the empire of the sea were very great: the Romans equipped 220

quinqueremes, and twenty other light vessels, beside 160 galleys, and

twenty light vessels, which were employed to transport troops to Africa.

Their allies, the Syracusans, also, were active and alert in the equipment

of a fleet to assist their allies, the Romans; and Hiero, their king, had

the good fortune to give an auspicious commencement to the war, by

capturing some Carthaginian ships, part of a fleet, whose object was to

plunder the coasts of Italy, but which had been dispersed by a storm. The

Carthaginians were equally unfortunate in their second maritime enterprise

against Lilibaeum, for the Syracusans and Romans, having learnt their

intention, anchored before the mouth of the harbour. The Carthaginians,

finding that they could not, as they expected, surprise the place, drew up

their fleet in line of battle, a little way out at sea: the allies

immediately got under weigh; a battle ensued, in which the Carthaginians

were defeated, with the loss of seven ships. These successes, however, were

dreadfully counterbalanced by the advance of Hannibal into Italy, and the

decisive victories which he obtained in the very heart of the Roman

territories. Under these circumstances, maritime affairs were naturally

disregarded.

Of the actual state of the Roman commerce about this time we know very

little, but that it was lucrative, may fairly be inferred from the

following circumstance:--A little before the commencement of the second

Punic war, Caius Flaminnus was extremely desirous to obtain the support and

good will of the populace; with this object in view, he joined the tribunes

of the people in passing a law, which is called the Flaminian, or Claudian

law. By it, the senators, who had been accustomed to acquire considerable

wealth by fitting out ships and trading, were expressly forbidden to

possess or hire any vessel above the burden of 300 amphorae or eight tons,

and not more than one vessel even of that small tonnage. This vessel was

allowed them, and was deemed sufficient to bring the produce of their farms

to Rome. By the same law, the scribes, and the clerks, and attendants of

the quæstors, were prohibited from trading; and thus the liberty of

commerce was exclusively confined to the plebeians.

Whilst Hannibal threatened the Romans in the vicinity of Rome itself, they

had neither leisure, inclination, or means, to cope with the Carthaginians

by sea; at length, however, Marcellus, having checked the enemy in Italy,

maritime affairs were again attended to. Scipio, who had been successful in

Spain, resolved to attempt the reduction of New Carthage: this place was

situated, like Old Carthage, on a peninsula betwixt a port and a lake: its

harbour was extremely commodious, and large enough to receive and shelter

any fleet. As it was the capital of the Carthaginian dominions in Spain,

here were deposited all their naval stores, machines used in war, besides

immense treasures. It was on this account extremely well fortified, and to

attempt to take it by a regular siege seemed to Scipio impracticable: he,

therefore, formed a plan to take it by surprise, and this plan he

communicated to C. Lælius, the commander of the fleet, who was his intimate

friend. The Roman fleet was to block up the port by sea, while Scipio was

to blockade it by land. The ignorance of the Romans with regard to one of

the most common and natural phenomena of the sea, is strongly marked in the

course of this enterprise. Scipio knew that when the tide ebbed, the port

of New Carthage would become dry and accessible by land; but his soldiers,

and even his officers, were ignorant of the nature of the tides, and they

firmly believed that Neptune had wrought a miracle in their favour, when,

according to Scipio's prediction, the tide retired, and the army was thus

enabled to capture the town, the walls of which on that side were extremely

low, the Carthaginians having directed all their attention and efforts to

the opposite side. The capture of New Carthage depressed, in a great

degree, the spirits, as well as weakened the strength of the Carthaginians

in Spain: eighteen galleys were captured in the port, besides 113 vessels

laden with naval stares; 40,000 bushels of wheat, 260,000 bushels of

barley, a large number of warlike machines of all descriptions, 260 cups of

gold, most of which weighed a pound, 18,300 pounds weight of silver,

principally coin, besides brass money, were among the spoils.

About the year of Rome 556, Scipio had succeeded in reducing all Spain. It

does not appear, however, that the Romans were thus enabled greatly to

extend their commerce; indeed, at this period, we have no evidence that any

other town in Spain, except Gades, possessed any considerable trade. This

island and city were situated in a gulph of the same name, between the

straits of Gibraltar and the river Boetis; and, from the remotest period of

which we possess any records, was resorted to by foreigners for the

purposes of commerce. Gradually, however, the inhabitants of Spain, under

the Roman government, enriched themselves and their conquerors by their

industry: large quantities of corn, wine, and oil were exported, besides

wax, honey, pitch, vermilion, and wool. The oil and wool were deemed equal,

if not superior, to those of any other part of the world: the excellent

quality of the wool is a strong fact, against an opinion entertained by

many, that the fineness of the Spanish was originally derived from the

exportation of some English sheep to Spain, since it appears to have been

celebrated even in the time of the Romans: how important and lucrative an

object it was considered, may be collected from the attention that was paid

to the breed of sheep; a ram, according to Strabo, having been sold for a

talent, or nearly 200_l_. Horace incidentally gives evidence of the

commercial wealth of Spain in his time, when he considers the master of a

Spanish trading vessel and a person of great wealth as synonimous terms.

As Hannibal still continued in Italy, the senate of Rome resolved to send

Scipio into Italy, with a discretionary power to invade Africa from that

island. He lost no time in equipping a fleet for these purposes, and his

efforts were so well seconded by the zeal and activity of the provinces and

cities, many of which taxed themselves to supply iron, timber, cloth for

sails, corn, &c. that, in forty days after the timber was felled, Scipio

had a fleet of thirty new galleys.

Soon after he landed in Sicily, he resolved to invade Africa: for this

purpose his fleet was collected in the port of Lilibæum. Never was

embarkation made with more order and solemnity: the concourse of people who

came from all parts to see him set sail, and wish him a prosperous voyage,

was prodigious. Just before he weighed anchor, he appeared on the poop of

his galley, and, after an herald had proclaimed silence, addressed a solemn

prayer to the gods. It is foreign to our purpose to give any account of the

campaign in Africa, which, it is well known, terminated in the utter defeat

of the Carthaginians, who were obliged to sue for peace. This was granted

them on very severe terms: all the cities and provinces which they

possessed in Africa previously to the war, they were indeed permitted to

retain, but they were stripped of Spain, and of all the islands in the

Mediterranean; all their ships of war, except ten galleys, were to be

delivered up to the Romans; and, for the future, they were not to maintain

above that number at one time: even the size of their fishing boats and of

their trading vessels was regulated. In the course of fifty years ten

thousand talents were to be paid to the Romans. During a short truce which

preceded the peace, the Carthaginians had seized and plundered a Roman

squadron, which had been dispersed by a storm, and driven near Carthage; as

a satisfaction for this, they were obliged to pay the Romans 25,000 pounds

weight of silver. The successful termination of the second Punic war gave

to the Romans complete dominion of the sea, on which they maintained

generally 100 galleys. Commerce flourished, particularly that most

important branch, the trade in corn, with which Rome, at this period, is

said to have been so plentifully furnished, that the merchants paid their

seamen with it.

The power of the Romans at sea was now so well established, that no foreign

power could hope to attack, or resist them, unless they were expert

navigators, as well as furnished with a numerous fleet. Under this

impression, Philip king of Macedon, who had long been jealous and afraid of

them, applied himself sedulously to maritime affairs. As it was about this

period that the Romans began to turn their thoughts to the conquest of

Greece, it may be proper to take a retrospective view of the maritime

affairs and commerce of that country. An inspection of the map of Greece

will point out the advantages which it possessed for navigation and

commerce. Lying nearly in the middle of the Mediterranean, with the sea

washing three of its sides; possessed of almost innumerable inlets and

bays, it was admirably adapted to ancient commerce. Its want of large and

navigable rivers, which will always limit its commerce in modern times,

presented no obstacle to the small vessels in which the ancients carried on

their trade; as they never navigated them during the winter, and from their

smallness and lightness, they could easily drag them on shore.

Athens, the most celebrated state in Greece for philosophy, literature, and

arms, was also the most celebrated for commerce. The whole of the southern

angle of Attica consisted of a district called Parali, or the division

adjacent to the sea. In the other districts of Attica, the soldiers of the

republic were found: this furnished the sailors; fishing and navigation

were the chief employments of its inhabitants. About 46 miles distant from

the Piraeus, stood Sunium, the most considerable town in this district: it

possessed a double harbour in the Mediterranean.

The principal commerce of Attica, however, was carried on at Athens: this

city had three harbours: the most ancient was that of Phalerum, distant

from the city, according to some authors, 35 stadia; according to others

only 20 stadia. It was nearer Athens than the other two, but smaller, and

less commodious. Munichea was the name of the second harbour: it was formed

in a promontory not far distant from the Pirasus, a little to the east of

Athens, and naturally a place of great strength; it was afterwards, at the

instance of Thrasybulus, rendered still stronger by art. But by far the

most celebrated harbour of Athens was the Piraeus. The republic of Athens,

in order to concentrate its military and mercantile fleets in this harbour,

abandoned that of Phalerum, and bent all their efforts to render the

Piraeus as strong and commodious as possible. This occurred in the time of

Themistocles; by whose advice both the town and the harbour were inclosed

with a wall, about seven miles and a half long, and sixty feet high.

Themistocles' intention was to have made it eighty cubits high, but in this

he was opposed. Before this connecting wall was built, the Piraeus was

about three miles distant from the city. As the strength of the wall was of

the utmost importance, it was built of immense square stones, which were

fastened together with iron or leaden cramps. It was so broad that two

waggons could have been driven along it. The Pireus contained three docks;

the first called Cantharus, the second Aphrodisium, and the third Zea.

There were likewise five porticos, and two forums. The Piraeus was so

celebrated for its commerce, that it became a proverbial saying in Greece,

"Famine does not come from the Piræus." The extent and convenience of the

Piræus may be judged of from this circumstance, that under the demagogue

Lycurgus, the whole naval force of the nation, amounting to 400 triremes,

were safely and easily laid up in its three harbours.

Before the time of Themistocles, Athens does not appear to have devoted her

attention or resources to maritime affairs: but this celebrated general not

only rendered the Piræus stronger and more commodious, but also procured a

decree, which enabled him to add twenty ships to the fleet annually. The

sums arising from the sale of the privileges of working the mines, or the

eventual profits of the mines, which had formerly been distributed among

the people, were, through his influence, set apart for the building of

ships. Afterwards a law was passed, which taxed all the citizens who

possessed land, manufactories, or money in trade or with their bankers;

these classes of the citizens were also obliged to keep up, and increase,

if occasion required it, the naval force of the republic. When it was

necessary to fit out an armament, as many talents as there were galleys to

be built and equipped, were raised in each of the ten tribes of Athens. The

money thus collected was given to the captains of the galleys, to be

expended in the maintenance of the crew. The republic furnished the rigging

and sailors: two captains were appointed to each galley, who served six

months each.

Although the vessels employed by the Athenians both for war and commerce

were small compared with those of modern days, and their merchant ships

even much smaller than those of the Phoenicians, if we may judge by the

description given by Xenophon of a Phoenician merchant vessel in the

Piræus, yet the expence attending their equipment was very great. We learn

from Demosthenes, that the light vessels could not be kept in commission,

even if the utmost attention was paid to economy, and no extraordinary

damage befel them, for a smaller sum than about 8000_l_. annually; of

course, such vessels as from their size, strength, and manning, were

capable of standing the brunt of an engagement, must have cost more than

double that sum.

In the time of Demosthenes, the trade of Athens seems to have been carried

on with considerable spirit and activity; the greater part of the money of

the Athenians having been employed in it. From one of his orations we

learn, that in the contract executed when money was lent for this purpose,

the period when the vessel was to sail, the nature and value of the goods

with which she was loaded, the port to which she was to carry them, the

manner in which they were to be sold there, and the goods with which she

was to return to Athens, were all specifically and formally noticed. In

other particulars the contracts varied: the money, lent was either not to

be repaid till the return of the vessel, or it was to be repaid as soon as

the outward goods were sold at the place to which she was bound, either to

the agent of the lender, or to himself, he going there for that express

purpose. The interest of money so lent varied: sometimes it rose as high as

30 per cent: it seems to have depended principally on the risks of the

voyage.

In another oration of Demosthenes we discover glimpses of what by many has

been deemed maritime insurance, or rather of the fraud at present called

barratry, which is practised to defraud the insurer: but, as Park in his

learned Treatise on Marine Insurance has satisfactorily proved, the

ancients were certainly ignorant of maritime insurance; though there can be

no doubt frauds similar to those practised at present were practised.

According to Demosthenes, masters of vessels were in the habit of borrowing

considerable sums, which they professed to invest in a cargo of value, but

instead of such a cargo, they took on board sand and stones, and when out

at sea, sunk the vessel. As the money was lent on the security either of

the cargo or ship, or both, of course the creditors were defrauded: but it

does not appear how they could, without detection, substitute sand or

stones for the cargo.

The Athenians passed a number of laws respecting commerce, mostly of a

prohibitory nature. Money could not be advanced or lent on any vessel, or

the cargo of any vessel, that did not return to Athens, and discharge its

cargo there. The exportation of various articles, which were deemed of the

first necessity, was expressly forbidden: such as timber for building, fir,

cypress, plane, and other trees, which grew in the neighbourhood of the

city; the rosin collected on Mount Parnes, the wax of Mount Hymettus--which

two articles, incorporated together, or perhaps singly, were used for

daubing over, or caulking their ships. The exportation of corn, of which

Attica produced very little, was also forbidden; and what was brought from

abroad was not permitted to be sold any where except in Athens. By the laws

of Solon, they were allowed to exchange oil for foreign commodities. There

were besides a great number of laws respecting captains of ships,

merchants, duties, interest of money, and different kinds of contracts. One

law was specially favourable to merchants and all engaged in trade; by it a

heavy fine, or, in some cases, imprisonment, was inflicted on whoever

accused a merchant or trader of any crime he could not substantiate. In

order still farther to protect commerce, and to prevent it from suffering

by litigation, all causes which respected it could be heard only during the

period when vessels were in port. This period extended generally to six

months--from April to September inclusive--no ships being at sea during the

other portion of the year.

The taxes of the Athenians, so far as they affected commerce, consisted of

a fifth, levied on the corn and other merchandize imported, and also on

several articles which were exported from Athens. These duties were

generally farmed. In an oration of Andocides, we learn that he had farmed

the duty on foreign goods imported for a term of three years, at twelve

talents annually. In consequence of these duties, smuggling was not

uncommon. The inhabitants of the district called Corydale were celebrated

for illicit traffic: there was a small bay in this district, a little to

the north of Piræus, called. Thieves' Harbour, in which an extensive and

lucrative and contraband trade was carried on; ships of different nations

were engaged in it. Demosthenes informs us, that though this place was

within the boundaries of Attica, yet the Athenians had not the legal power

to put a stop to traffic by which they were greatly injured, as the

inhabitants of Corydale, as well as the inhabitants of every other state,

however small, were sovereigns within their own territory.

In an oration of Isocrates an operation is described which bears some

resemblance to that performed by modern bills of exchange. A stranger who

brought grain to Athens, and who, we may suppose, wished to purchase goods

to a greater amount than the sale of his grain would produce, drew on a

person living in some town on the Euxine, to which the Athenians were in

the habit of trading. The Athenian merchant took this draft; but not till a

banker in Athens had become responsible for its due payment.

The Athenian merchants were obliged, from the nature of trade in those

ancient times, to be constantly travelling from one spot to another; either

to visit celebrated fairs, or places where they hoped to carry on an

advantageous speculation. We shall afterwards notice more particularly the

Macedonian merchant mentioned by Ptolemy the Geographer, who sent his

clerks to the very borders of China; and from other authorities we learn

that the Greek merchants were accurately informed respecting the interior

parts of Germany, and the course of most of the principal rivers in that

country. The trade in aromatics, paints, cosmetics, &c., was chiefly

possessed by the Athenians, who had large and numerous markets in Athens

for the sale of these articles. Even in the time of Hippocrates, some of

the spices of India were common in the Peloponnesus and Attica; and there

is every reason to believe that most of these articles were introduced into

Greece in consequence of the journeys of their merchants to some places of

depôt, to which they were brought from the East.

We have already mentioned that the importation of corn into a country so

unfertile as Attica, was a subject of the greatest moment, and to which the

care and laws of the republic were most particularly directed. There were

magistrates, whose sole business and duty it was to lay in corn for the use

of the city; and other magistrates who regulated its price, and fixed also

the assize of bread. In the Piræus there were officers, the chief part of

whose duty it was to take care that two parts at least of all the corn

brought into the port should be carried to the city. Lysias, in his oration

against the corn merchants, gives a curious account of the means employed,

by them to raise its price, very similar to the rumours by which the same

effect is often produced at present: an embargo, or prohibition of

exporting it, by foreigners, an approaching war, or the capture or loss of

the vessels laden with it, seem to have been the most prevalent rumours.

Sicily, Egypt, and the Crimea were the countries which principally supplied

Attica with this necessary article. As the voyage from Sicily was the

shortest, as well as exposed to the least danger, the arrival of vessels

with corn from this island always reduced the price; but there does not

appear to have been nearly such quantities brought either from it or Egypt,

as from the Crimea. The Athenians, therefore, encouraged by every possible

means their commerce with the Cimmerian Bosphorus. One of the kings of that

country, Leucon II., who reigned about the time of Demosthenes, favoured

them very much. As the harbours were unsafe and inconvenient, he formed a

new one, called Theodosia, or, in the language of the country, Ardauda: he

likewise exempted their vessels from paying the duty on corn, to which all

other vessels were subject on exporting it--this duty amounted to a

thirtieth part,--and allowed their merchants a free trade to all parts of

his kingdom. In return, the Athenians made him and his children citizens of

Athens, and granted to such of his subjects as traded in Attica the same

privileges and exemptions which their citizens enjoyed in Bosphorus. It was

one of the charges against Demosthenes, by his rival, the orator Dinarchus,

that the sons and successors of Leucon sent yearly to him a thousand

bushels of wheat. Besides the new port of Theodosia, the Athenians traded

also to Panticapæum for corn: the quantity they exported is stated by

Demosthenes to have amounted to 400,000 mediniri, or bushels, yearly, as

appeared from the custom books; and this was by far the greatest quantity

of corn they received from foreign countries. Lucian, indeed, informs us

that a ship, which, from his description, must have been about the size of

our third-rates, contained as much corn as maintained all Attica for a

twelvemonth; but, in the time of this author, Athens was not nearly so

populous as it had been: and besides, as is justly remarked by Hume, it is

not safe to trust to such loose rhetorical illustrations.

From a passage in Thucydides we may learn that the Athenians derived part

of their supply of corn from Euboea; this passage is also curious as

exhibiting a surprising instance of the imperfection of ancient navigation.

Among the inconveniences experienced by the Athenians, from the fortifying

of Dacelia by the Lacedemonians, this historian particularly mentions, as

one of the most considerable, that they could not bring over their corn

from Euboea by land, passing by Oropus, but were under the necessity of

embarking it, and sailing round Cape Sunium; and yet the water carriage

could not be more than double the land carriage.

The articles imported by the Athenians from the Euxine Sea, besides corn,

were timber for building, slaves, salt, honey, wax, wool, leather, and

goat-skins; from Byzantium and other ports of Thrace and Macedonia, salt

fish and timber; from Phrygia and Miletus, carpets, coverlets for beds, and

the fine wool, of which their cloths were made; from the islands of Egean

Sea, wine and different fruits; and from Thrace, Thessaly, Phrygia, &c., a

great number of slaves.

The traffic in slaves was, next to that in corn, of the greatest

consequence to the Athenians, for the citizens were not in sufficient

numbers, and, if they had been, were not by any means disposed, to

cultivate the land, work the mines, and carry on the various trades and

manufactures. The number of slaves in Attica, during the most flourishing

period of the republic, was estimated at 400,000: of these the greater part

had been imported; the rest were natives of Greece, whom the fate of arms

had thrown into the hands of a conqueror irritated by too obstinate a

resistance. The slaves most esteemed, and which brought the highest price,

were imported from Syria and Thrace, the male slaves of the former country,

and the females of the latter: the slaves from Macedonia were the least

valued. The price of a slave seems to have been extremely low, as Xenophon

mentions that some were sold at Athens for half an Attic mina, or rather

more than thirty shillings: those, however, who had acquired a trade, or

were otherwise particularly useful, were valued at five minæ, or about

fifteen pounds.

Our idea of the commerce of Athens, and of Greece in general, would be very

imperfect and inadequate if we neglected to notice their fairs. It has been

ingeniously supposed, that at the celebrated games of Greece, such as those

of Olympia, &c., trade was no subordinate object; and this idea is

certainly confirmed by various passages in ancient authors. Cicero

expressly informs us, that even so early as the age of Pythagoras, a great

number of people attended the religious games for the express purpose of

trading. At Delphi, Nemæa, Delos, or the Isthmus of Corinth, a fair was

held almost every year. The amphyctionic fairs were held twice a year. In

the time of Chrysostom, these lairs were infamously distinguished for a

traffic in slaves, destined for public incontinence. The amphyctionic

spring fair was held at Delphi, and at Thermopylæ in the autumn; in fact,

at the same times that the deputies from the states of Greece formed the

amphyctionic council;--another proof that wherever large assemblies of

people took place in Greece, for religious or political purposes, advantage

was taken of them to carry on traffic. At the fairs of Thermopylæ medicinal

herbs and roots, especially hellebore, were sold in large quantities. One

principal reason why the religious games or political assemblies of the

states were fixed upon to hold fairs was, that during them all hostilities

were suspended; and every person might go with his merchandize in safety to

them, even through an enemy's country. The priests, so far from regarding

these fairs as a profanation of the religions ceremonies, encouraged them;

and the priests of Jupiter, in particular, advanced large sums on interest

to such merchants as had good credit, but had not sufficient money with

them.

The island of Delos calls for our particular attention, as the grand mart

of the Athenians, as well as of the rest of Greece, and of the other

countries in the Mediterranean, which at this period were engaged in

commerce. The peace of this island always remained undisturbed, from an

opinion that it was under the special protection of Apollo and Diana; and

when the fleets of enemies met there, out of respect to the sacredness of

the place, they forbore all manner of hostilities. There were also other

circumstances which contributed to render it a place of great importance to

commerce: its commodious situation for the navigation from Europe into

Asia; its festivals, which brought immense crowds to it (and as we have

just observed, wherever a multitude of Greeks were collected, by

superstitious rites or amusements, commerce was mingled with their duties

and pursuits); and the bias which its original, or at least its very early

inhabitants, had to commerce: all these combined to render it a place of

great importance to commerce. Its trade consisted chiefly in slaves:

according to Strabo, in the time of Perseus, king of Macedonia, above

10,000 slaves came in and went out daily. The corn, wine, and other

commodities of the neighbouring islands; the scarlet linen tunics,

manufactured in the island of Amorgos; the rich purple stuffs of Cos; the

highly esteemed alum of Melos, and the valuable copper, which the mines, of

Delos itself (that had been long worked,) and the elegant vases,

manufactured from this copper,--were the principal commodities exported

from Delos. In return and exchange, foreign merchants brought the produce

and manufactures of their respective countries; so that the island became,

as it were, the storehouse of the treasures of nations; and the scene,

during this mixture of religious festivals and commercial enterprise, was

peculiarly gay and animated. The inhabitants were, by an express law, which

is noticed by Athenæus, obliged to furnish water to all the strangers who

resorted thither; to which, it would appear, they added, either

gratuitously, or for a small remuneration, cakes and other trifling

eatables.

The Athenians were so anxious to protect and extend the commerce carried on

in Delos, that they gave encouragement to such strangers to settle there as

were conversant in commerce, as well as strictly guarded its neutrality and

privileges. On the destruction of Tyre, and afterwards of Carthage, events

which gave a new direction to the commerce of the Mediterranean, a great

number of merchants from these cities fled to Delos, where they were taken

under the protection of the Athenians; and it appears by an inscription

found in the 17th century, that the Tyrians formed a company of merchants

and navigators there. The Romans traded to it, even before their war with

Philip, king of Macedon. After the restoration of Corinth, the Athenians

used all their efforts to keep up the commerce of Delos; but the wars of

Mithridates put an end to it; and in a very short period afterwards, it

seems to have been entirely abandoned by the merchants of all nations, and,

as a commercial place, to have fallen into utter neglect and decay.

Corinth, next to Athens, demands our notice, as one of the most commercial

cities of Greece. The Corinthian dominions were extremely small, their

extent from east to west being about half a degree, and from north to south

about half that space: according to the geographer Scylax, a vessel might

sail from one extremity to the other in a day. It had no rivers of any

note, and few rich plains, being in general uneven, and but moderately

fertile. The situation of Corinth itself, however, amply compensated for

all these disadvantages: it was built on the middle of the isthmus of the

same name, at the distance of about 60 stadia on either side from the sea;

on one side was the Saronic Gulf, on the other the sea of Crissa. On the

former was the port of Lechæum, which was joined to the city by a double

wall, 12 stadia in length; on the latter sea, was the port of Cinchræa,

distant from Corinth 70 stadia. There was, besides, the port and castle of

Cromyon, about 120 stadia distant from the capital. Hence, it will appear

that Corinth commanded the trade of all the eastern part of the

Mediterranean by the port of Cinchræa; and of the Ionian sea, by that of

Lechæum. But the Corinthians possessed other advantages; for their citadel

was almost impregnable, commanded from its situation both these seas, and

stood exactly in the way of communication by land between one part of

Greece and the other. The other states, however, would not permit the

Corinthians to interdict them the passage of the Isthmus; but they could

not prevent them from taking advantage of their situation, by carrying on

an extensive and lucrative commerce. The Isthmian games, which were

celebrated at Corinth, also contributed very much to its splendour and

opulence, and drew additional crowds to it, who, as usual, mingled commerce

with religion. According to Thucydides, Corinth had been a city of great

traffic, even when the Greeks confined their trade to land: at this period,

the Corinthians imposed a transit duty on all commodities, which entered or

left the Peloponnessus by the Isthmus. But the extended knowledge and

enterprise of the Greeks, and, above all, the destruction of the pirates

which infested the narrow seas, led them to prefer sea carriage part of the

way. The reason why they did not transport their goods the whole passage by

sea, may be found in their ignorance and fears: their inexperienced

mariners and frail ships could not succeed in doubling Cape Malea in

Laconia; off which, and between it and Crete, the sea was frequently very

boisterous. Hence, the merchants were under the necessity of transporting,

by land carriage, their goods to the seas which formed the Isthmus. Such as

came from Italy, Sicily, and the countries to the west, were landed at

Lechæum; while the merchandize from Asia Minor, Phoenicia, and the islands

in the Egean Sea, were landed at the port of Cinchræa. The breadth of the

Isthmus was so small that the goods were easily and quickly conveyed from

one harbour to the other; and afterwards the Corinthians succeeded in

transporting the ships themselves.

At first it would appear that the Corinthians contented themselves with the

wealth derived from their city being the great mart of commerce, and from

the duties which they imposed: but they soon began to engage very

extensively and with great spirit in trade themselves. Several kinds of

manufactures were encouraged, which were highly valued by foreign nations,

especially coverlets for beds, and brass and earthen-ware vessels. But

their most valuable manufacture consisted in a metal compounded of copper

and a small quantity of gold and silver, which was extremely brilliant, and

scarcely liable to rust or decay. From this metal they made helmets, &c.,

little figures, cups, vessels, &c., which were highly esteemed, not only on

account of the metal of which they were formed, but still more on account

of the tasteful foliage and other ornaments with which they were covered.

Their earthen-ware was ornamented in the same beautiful and tasteful

manner.

All these were exported by the Corinthians in great quantities, and formed

very lucrative articles of trade. Paper and sailcloth from Egypt; ivory

from Lybia; leather from Cyrene; incense from Syria; dates from Phoenicia;

carpets from Carthage; corn and cheese from Sicily; apples and pears from

Euboea;--filled the warehouses of Corinth.

As soon as Corinth resolved to participate in maritime commerce, she

applied herself to this object with great industry and success: she built

ships of a novel form, and first produced galleys with three benches of

oars; and history assures us that the Greeks obtained their first maritime

experience during the naval war between the Corinthians and the inhabitants

of Corfu; and by their instruction the Samians put to sea those powerful

fleets for which they were distinguished.

Besides Athens and Corinth, there were no states in ancient Greece, the

consideration of whose maritime and commercial affairs will detain us long.

Lacedæmonia was favourably situated in these respects; but either her laws,

or the disposition and pursuits of her inhabitants, prevented her from

taking advantage of her situation. All the south part of Laconia was

encompassed by the sea, and on the east and north-east was the Argelic Bay:

on its coasts were a great number of capes, the most celebrated of which

were those of Malea and Tanara; they were also furnished with a great

number of sea-port towns and commodious harbours. In consequence of the

capes extending far into the sea, and the deepness of some of the bays, the

ancients took three days to navigate the length of the coast in vessels

wrought by oars, following, as they generally did, all the windings of the

land. The little river Pameros, which divided Beotia from Laconia, formed

one extremity, and the port of Prais, on the Gulf of Argelis, formed the

other. The most difficult and dangerous part of this navigation consisted

in doubling Cape Malea.

The most convenient and frequented sea-ports in Laconia were Trinassus and

Acria, situated on each side the mouth of the Eurotas; and Gythium, not far

from Trinassus, at the mouth of a small river on the Laconic Gulf. The

mouth of this river, which was navigable up to Sparta, was defended by a

citadel, the ruins of which were remaining in the time of Pausanias. As the

Lacedæmonians regarded this town as their principal port, in which their

naval forces, as well as the greater part of their merchant ships

assembled, they employed considerable labour and expence in rendering it

commodious and safe; for this purpose they dug a very spacious basin which,

on one side was defended by motes, and on the other by numerous

fortifications: the strength of these may be judged of from the

circumstance, that even after the armies of Sparta had been utterly

defeated by Epaminondas, and Philip, the son of Demetrius, neither of these

conquerors could capture this sea-port. In it were deposited all the

requisites for their naval force, and from it sailed their merchant ships

with cargoes to Crete, Africa, and Egypt; to all of which countries,

according to Thucydides, the Lacedæmonians carried on a lucrative and

regular traffic. Another of their sea-ports was Epidaurus, situated on the

Gulf of Argos, in the eastern part of Laconia. The country round it

contained many vineyards, the wine of which was exported in considerable

quantities, and supplied other parts of Greece. This district is still

celebrated for its wine, called Malvasia, (or Malmsey,) a corruption from

Maleates, the ancient name of this part of Laconia.

We have already alluded to the supposed aversion of the Spartans to

maritime affairs, which, according to some authors, arose from Lycurgus

having prohibited them from building vessels, or employing sailors; but

this idea is unfounded, and seems to have arisen from the fact, that their

kings were prevented, by a positive law, from commanding the fleets. That

the Spartans engaged in commerce, we have, as has been just stated, the

express testimony of Thucydides; and there is abundant evidence that they

had always armed vessels during their wars; and even so early as the time

of Croesus, they sent some troops to Satnos, and plundered that island: and

in later times, they used such efforts to equip vessels, in order to gain

the mastery of the seas, that, according to Xenophon, they entirely

neglected their cavalry. They were stimulated to this line of conduct by

Alcibiades, who advised the kings, ephori, and the nation at large, to

augment their marine, to compel the ships of all other nations to lower

their flag to theirs, and to proclaim themselves exclusive masters of the

Grecian seas. Isocrates informs us, that, before Alcibiades came to

Lacedaemon, the Spartans, though they had a navy, expended little on it;

but afterwards they increased it almost daily. The signal defeat they

sustained at the battle of Cnidus, where Conon destroyed their whole fleet,

not only blasted their hopes of becoming masters of the seas, but,

according to Isocrates, led to their defeat at the battle of Leuctra.

Off the coast of Laconia, and about forty stadia from Cape Malea, lies the

island of Cythera; the strait between it and the mainland was deemed by the

ancients extremely dangerous in stormy weather; and indeed its narrowness,

and the rocks that lay off Cape Malea must, to such inexperianced

navigators, have been very alarming. The Phoenicians are supposed to have

had a settlement in this island: afterwards it became an object of great

consequence to the Lacedaemonians, who fortified, at great expence, and

with much labour and skill, its two harbours, Cythera and Scandea. The

convenience of these harbours to the Lacedaemonians compensated for the

sterility of the island, which was so great that when the Athenians

conquered it, they could raise from it only four Attic talents annually.

The chief employment and source of wealth to the inhabitants consisted in

collecting a species of shell-fish, from which an inferior kind of Tyrian

dye was extracted. There were several fisheries on the mainland of Laconia

for the same purpose.

Some of the other Greek islands require a short and general notice, on

account of the attention they paid to maritime affairs. Corcyra was

inhabited by skilful mariners, who, in the time of Herodotus, possessed a

greater number of ships than any other people in Greece, with the exception

of the Athenians; and, according to Thucydides, at one period they were

masters of the Mediterranean Sea. On the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, they

fitted out a fleet of sixty ships, with which they promised to assist their

countrymen; but, instead of this, their ships anchored in a place where

they could see the result of the battle of Salamis, and when they

ascertained that the Greeks were victorious, they pretended that they had

been prevented from affording the promised succours by contrary winds, so

that they could not double Cape Malea. Of the commerce of this island we

have no particulars detailed by ancient writers.

Egina, in the Saronic Gulf, acquired great wealth from the cultivation of

commerce: in the time of the Persian war, they equipped a very powerful and

well-manned fleet for the defence of Greece; and at the battle of Salamis

they were adjudged to have deserved the prize of valour. According to

Elian, they were the first people who coined money.

The island of Euboea possessed excellent harbours, from which, as it was

very fertile, the Athenians exported large quantities of corn. This island

is divided from the mainland of Greece by the Euripus, which the ancients

represented to be so extremely narrow, that a galley could scarcely pass

through it: its frequent and irregular tides were, also the subject of

their wonder, and the cause of them, of their fruitless researches and

conjectures. It hits several promontories, the doubling of one of which,

Cape Catharius, was reckoned by the ancients very dangerous, on account of

the many rocks and whirlpools on the const. Of all the cities of Euboea,

Chalcis was the most famous: its inhabitants applied themselves, at a very

early period, to navigation, and sent numerous colonies to Thrace, Macedon,

Italy, &c. In the vicinity of another of its towns, Carystus, there were

quarries of very fine marble, the exportation of which seems to have been a

lucrative trade: in the same part of the island also was found the

asbestos. Euboea possessed several rich copper and iron mines; and as the

inhabitants were very skilful in working these metals, the exportation of

armour, and various vessels made from them, was also one important branch

of their commerce.

Of the numerous colonies sent out by the Greeks, we shall notice only those

which were established for the purposes of commerce, or which, though not

established for this express purpose, became afterwards celebrated for it.

None of the Athenian colonies, which they established expressly for the

purpose of trading with the capital, was of such importance as Amphipolis.

This place was situated at the mouth of the river Strymon, on the borders

of Macedonia. The country in its vicinity was very fertile in wood, and

from it, for a considerable length of time, the Athenians principally

derived timber for building their fleets: they also levied on its

inhabitants a heavy tribute in silver coin. As this city was well situated

for commerce, and the Athenians, wherever they went, or were settled, were

eager in pursuit of gain, their colonists in Amphipolis extended their

trade, on one side into Thrace, and on the other into Macedonia. They were

enabled, in a great measure, to monopolize the commerce of both these

countries, at least those parts of them which were contiguous, from the

situation of their city on the Strymon; of which river they held, as it

were, the key, so that nothing could depart from it without their consent.

The ancients represent this river as frequently exhibiting immense logs of

wood floating down it, which had been felled either on Mount Rhodope, or in

the forests of Mount Hemus. The Athenians retained this important and

valuable colony till the time of Philip, the father of Alexander, by whom

it was taken from them.

The island of Samos may justly be regarded as a Grecian colony; having been

chiefly inhabited by the Iones, to whose confederacy it belonged. Its

situation between the mainland of Asia and the island of Icaria, from both

of which it is separated by very narrow straits, which were the usual

course for the ancient vessels in their voyage from the Black Sea to Syria

and Egypt, rendered it the resort of pirates, as well as celebrated for its

ships and commerce. The city of Samos, as described by the ancients, seems

to have been a place of great consequence. Herodotus mentions three things

for which it was remarkable in his time; one of which was a mole or pier,

120 feet long, which formed the harbour, and was carried two furlongs into

the sea. The principal design of this mole was to protect ships from the

south wind, to which they would otherwise have been much exposed. Hence it

would appear, that even at this early period, they had made great advances

in commerce, otherwise they would neither have had the disposition or

ability to build such a mole. But we have the express testimony of

Thucydides, that even at a much earlier period,--nearly 300 years before

the Peloponnesian war,--the Samians gave great encouragement to

shipbuilding, and employed Aminodes, the Corinthian, who was esteemed the

most skilful ship-builder of his time; and Herodotus speaks of them as

trading to Egypt, Spain, &c., before any of the other Greeks, except

Sostrates, of Egina, were acquainted with those countries. The same author

informs us, that the Samians had a settlement in Upper Egypt, and that one

of their merchant ships, on its passage thither, was driven by contrary

winds, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, to the island of Tartessus, which

till then was unknown to the Greeks. This island abounded in gold; of the

value of which, the inhabitants were so utterly ignorant, that they readily

allowed the Samians to carry home with them sixty talents, or about

13,500_l_. According to Pliny, they first built vessels fit to transport

cavalry. We are not informed of what articles their exports and imports

consisted, except that their earthen-ware was in great repute among the

ancients, in their most splendid entertainments, and was exported in great

quantities for this purpose. The Samian earth, from which these vessels

were made, was itself also exported, on account of its medicinal

properties. It is well known that the victory obtained by the Greeks over

the Persians, at the sea-fight of Mycale, was chiefly owing to the Samians.

The commerce of the Black Sea was of so much importance and value to the

Greeks, that we cannot be surprised that they founded several colonies on

its shores, and in the adjacent countries. Heraclea, in this sea, is said

to have been founded by the Beotians: the inhabitants availed themselves of

their situation to engage very extensively in maritime affairs and in

commerce, so that in a short time they were not inferior in wealth or power

to any of the Greek states in Asia. When Xenophon was obliged to retreat

after his expedition into Asia Minor, the Heracleans supplied him with

ships, to transport his army into Greece. Their maritime strength and

skill, or their commercial pursuits, involved them in almost every maritime

war, their friendship and support being sought after by all the Asiatic

princes. When the war broke out between Ptolemy and Antigonus, they sent to

the assistance of the former a numerous fleet, all of which were well

equipped and manned. Some were of an extraordinary size, especially one,

which had on each side 800 oars, besides 1200 fighting men.

Trapezus was a Greek city, in Pontus, situated on a peninsula, in the Black

Sea, where it begins to turn to the east: it had a large and convenient

port, and carried on a considerable trade. But the most celebrated of the

Grecian colonies in this part of the world, was Byzantium: it was anciently

founded by the Megareans, and successively rebuilt by the Milesians and

other nations of Greece. Its harbour, which was in fact an arm of the

Bosphorus, obtained, at a very remote period, the appellation of the Golden

Horn; most of the recesses, which were compared to the horn of a stag, are

now filled up. The epithet "golden" was given to it as expressive of the

riches, which (to use the language of Gibbon) every wind wafted from the

most distant countries into its secure and capacious port. Never was there

a happier or more majestic situation. The river Lycus, which was formed by

the junction of two small streams, pouring into the harbour, every tide, a

regular supply of fresh water, cleansed the bottom; while the tides in

those seas being very trifling, the constant depth of the harbour allowed

goods to be landed on the quay without the assistance of boats: and in some

parts, the depth near the shore was so considerable, that the prows of the

vessels touched the houses, while they were fully afloat. The distance from

the mouth of the river to that of the harbour, or the length of this arm of

the Bosphorus is seven miles; the entrance, about 500 yards broad, was

defended, when necessary, by a strong chain drawn across it. The city of

Byzantium was situated on a promontory, nearly of a triangular form; on the

point of the promontory stood the citadel. The walls of the city itself

were very strong, but not so lofty towards the sea as towards the land,

being on the former side defended by the waves, and in some places by the

rocks on which they were built, and which projected into the sea.

Thus favoured by nature, and strengthened by art, and situated in a

territory abounding in grain and fruits, Byzantium was crowded with

merchants, and supported and enriched by an active and flourishing

commerce: its harbour, which was sheltered on every side from tempests,

besides being easy of access and capacious, attracted to it ships from all

the states of Greece, while its situation at the head of the strait

enabled, and seemed to authorize it to stop and subject to heavy duties,

the foreign merchants who traded to the Euxine, or to reduce the nations

who depended on the countries bordering on this sea for their supplies of

corn to great difficulties, and in some cases, even to famine. On these

accounts the Athenians and Lacedaemonians were generally rivals for its

alliance and friendship. Besides the necessary article of grain and

abundance of rich and valuable fruit, the Byzantines derived great wealth

from their fisheries: these were carried on with great spirit, enterprize,

and success. A surprising quantity of fish was caught in the harbour

itself, in autumn, when they left the Euxine for the Archipelago; and in

the spring, on their return to Pontus. A great many people were employed

both in this fishery, and in the curing of the fish: great sums were

derived from this source, as well as from the sale of salt provisions; for

the quality of which, Byzantium was in greater renown than even

Panticapeum. The only disadvantage under which the Byzantines laboured, to

counterbalance the excellence of their harbour, the fertility of their

soil, the productiveness of their fisheries, and the extent of their

commerce, arose from the frequent excursions of the Thracians, who

inhabited the neighbouring villages.

There were many other Grecian colonies on the Bosphorus and the adjacent

seas. Panticapeum, built by the Milesians, according to Strabo, the capital

of the European Bosphorus, with which, as has been already mentioned, the

Athenians carried on a considerable trade. Theodosia, also mentioned

before, was likewise formed and colonized by the Milesians: its port could

contain 100 ships. Tanais, on the Cimmerian Bosphorus; Olbia and

Borysthenes, both situated near the mouth of the river from which the

latter took its name; Panagorea and Hermonassa on the Bosphorus, and

several others. Besides these colonies in this part of the world, the

Greeks founded others, for the express purposes of commerce; as Syracuse,

in Sicily; Marseilles, in Gaul, the mother of several colonies established

on the neighbouring coasts, and, as we shall afterwards notice, a place of

very considerable wealth, consequence, and strength, derived entirely from

commerce, as well as the seat of the arts and sciences; Cyrene, an opulent

city in Africa, and Naucratis, situated on one of the mouths of the Nile.

They likewise formed settlements in Rhodes and Crete, in the islands of the

Egean Sea, on the opposite coasts of Asia, &c.; most of which were of

importance to the mother country, from the facilities they offered to the

extension of its commerce.

The war between the Romans, and Philip king of Macedon, which intervened

between the second and third Punic war, first afforded the former an

opportunity and an excuse for interfering in the affairs of Greece. Till

the time of Philip, the father of Alexander, Macedonia does not appear to

have had any connexion with the rest of this celebrated portion of the

ancient world; the Greeks, indeed, regarded its inhabitants as savages; but

from that period, Macedonia became the most important and influential state

in Greece. Its boundaries varied at different periods of its history: it

seems originally to have been bounded on the east by the Egean Sea; on the

south by Thessaly and Epirus; on the west by the Ionian Sea; and on the

north by the river Strymon, at the mouth of which, as has been already

mentioned, the Athenians founded one of their most flourishing and useful

colonies. The princes of Macedonia viewed with jealousy, but for a long

time were unable to prevent the states of Greece from forming colonies in

the immediate vicinity of their dominions: their union, however, with the

king of Persia, when he first fixed his ambition on Greece, was rewarded by

a great accession of territory, which enabled them to contest the

possession of the sea-coasts with the most powerful of the Greek republics.

They then extended their territories to the Eastern Sea, but there were

till the reign of Philip, the father of Alexander, several nations between

them and the Adriatic, all of which were subdued by him; and thus this sea

became their western boundary.

Some of the most celebrated cities of Macedonia were founded by foreign

nations. Epidamnus, which was seated at the entrance of the Ionian Gulf,

was a colony of the Corcyrians: it was the occasion of a fierce naval war

between them and the Corinthians, generally called the Corinthian war.

Apollonia, distant seven miles from the sea, on the river Laus, was a

Corinthian colony: it was renowned for its excellent laws. On another part

of the coast of the Adriatic were the sea-ports of Elyma and Bullis. The

district of Paraxis, which was full of gulfs and inlets formed by the Egean

Sea, had several ports, but none of any repute. From this description of

Macedonia and its principal sea coasts and ports, it is evident that it

possessed many advantages for commerce and naval affairs, which, however,

were never embraced till the period when the Romans first turned their

thoughts to Greece. Had its sovereigns been disposed to engage in commerce,

the Adriatic, with its extensive and safe haven of Epidamnus, in which

there were several ports, would have opened the trade to Italy; the Egean

Sea, still more advantageous, would have secured the trade of Greece and

Asia, by means of its spacious bays, one of which, the Sinus Thermæus, was

at least sixty miles long.

The produce of Macedonia also would have favoured its commerce; the soil

was every where fruitful, and, especially near the sea, abounding in corn,

wine, and oil: its principal riches, however, consisted in its mines of

almost all kinds of metals, but particularly of gold. In the district of

Pieria, it is said, there were found large quantities of this metal in the

sand, sometimes in lumps of considerable size: but by far the most

productive and valuable mines of gold were in the mountain Pangæus, in a

district which Philip, the father of Alexander, added to Macedonia. The

people who inhabited the country near the river Strymon derived great

wealth from these mines, and it was the knowledge of this, as much as the

facility of obtaining timber, which induced the Athenians to found their

colony near this river. The Thracians drove the Athenians from this part of

Macedonia, and Philip expelled them: he paid great attention to the working

of the mines; and by employing persons well skilled in this and in refining

the ore, he rendered them so extremely valuable, that, according to ancient

authors, he obtained the empire of Greece principally by means of the

immense sums he drew from them, amounting annually, according to Diodorus,

to 1000 talents of gold. When the Romans reduced Macedonia, they expressly

forbade the inhabitants from working the mines of gold or silver, or

refining either of those metals; permitting them, however, to manufacture

any other metal.

The princes of Macedonia previous to Philip, the father of Alexander,

notwithstanding the great advantage for maritime affairs and commerce

afforded by the sea-coasts, bays, harbours, &c., neither practised nor

understood them: this arose in a great measure from their being continually

engaged in wars, or having their ports occupied or blocked up by the

maritime states of Greece. Philip was the first who freed his country from

these evils and inconveniences; but his thoughts were too intently and

constantly fixed on other objects to allow him to turn his attention to

maritime affairs or commerce. Alexander, as we have already seen, bestowed

much care on his fleet, while engaged in the conquest of Asia; and when he

died at Babylon, had formed the design of placing his fleets, in every port

of his dominions, on a regular and extensive scale. But the advantages of

Macedonia for commerce were neglected in the midst of his vast plans

elsewhere, and the Macedonians, at the period of his death, were still

inattentive to maritime affairs.

Philip, the antagonist of the Romans, of whose power and success he was not

only jealous but apprehensive, as soon as he resolved to engage in

hostilities with them, applied himself to maritime affairs. His

determination seems to have been fixed when he learnt that the Romans had

been defeated at the Lake of Thrasymenus: he instantly formed the plan of

invading Illyrium, and then crossing over to Italy. But the latter step

could not be taken, nor, indeed, could he expect to cope with the Romans,

till he had formed a fleet, and trained his subjects to the management of

it. At this period the Macedonians seem to have had some merchant ships;

for we are informed that a petty king of Illyria seized some of them in the

port of Leucas, and also all that his squadron met with on the coast of

Greece, as far as Malea. This insult and attack afforded Philip an

excellent reason for declaring war against Illyricum: he began by

exercising the Macedonians in the art of navigation; he built ships after

the Illyrian manner, and he was the first king of Macedonia that put to

sea 100 small vessels at one time.

He was urged still more strongly to go on with his plan of invading Italy,

when he learnt the result of the battle of Cannæ; he immediately formed an

alliance with Hannibal, and engaged to invade Italy with 200 sail of ships,

and plunder its eastern coasts: in return for this service he was to retain

all the islands in the Adriatic, lying near the coast of Macedonia, that he

might subdue.

His first naval enterprize was the siege of Oricum on the coast of Epirus,

and of Apollonia on the coast of Macedonia, both of which he carried on at

the same time, with 120 ships of two banks of oars. He was, however,

successfully opposed by the Roman consul Laevinus, who obliged him to burn

great part of his fleet, and raise the siege of Doth the places.

About twelve years afterwards, or about 200 years before Christ, Philip

engaged in a maritime war with Attalus, king of Pergamus, and the Rhodians,

near the isle of Chio: the fleet of Philip consisted of fifty-three decked

vessels and 150 gallies; besides these he had several ships called pristis,

from the figure of a large fish which was affixed to, or engraved on their

bows, either to distinguish them, or as a mark of their swift sailing. The

fleet of his opponents consisted of sixty-five covered ships, besides those

of their allies, the people of Byzantium.

Notwithstanding, however, the exertions he made to acquire a naval force

equal to that of the Romans, and the experience which his subjects

gradually obtained in maritime affairs, he was not able to sustain their

attacks, either by land or sea, but was compelled in a very few years to

sue for peace. This he obtained, on the condition, that he should deliver

up to the Romans all his covered gallies, and reserve to himself only a few

smaller vessels: he was permitted, however, to retain one galley of sixteen

banks of oars, a vessel rather for shew than use.

The success of the Romans, the extent of their conquests, and the ambitious

views, which seemed wider and wider in proportion to their successes,

alarmed Antiochus, king of Syria, who, not intimidated by the fate of

Philip, resolved to declare war against them. They were never averse to

engage in hostilities. The fleet of Antiochus consisted of 100 ships; that

of the Romans was nearly equal in number; the ships of Antiochus, however,

were inferior to those of his opponents in respect to strength and size,

though surpassing them in swiftness. The hostile fleets met and engaged on

the coast of Ionia; that of Antiochus was defeated, and would have been

utterly captured or destroyed, had it not been for the swiftness of the

vessels. In order to repair his loss, Antiochus sent for additional vessels

from Sicily and Phoenicia; but these were taken on their passage by the

Rhodians, who were at this time in alliance with the Romans. The Rhodians,

however, in their turn were attacked and defeated by the fleet of

Antiochus, near Samos, whither they had gone to join a Roman squadron.

In the meantime the Romans had collected a fleet of eighty ships, and with

these they fought one hundred ships of their opponent off the coast of

Ionia; the victory of the former was decisive, all the ships of Antiochus

being captured or destroyed. This disaster, in connection with a signal

defeat he sustained by land, compelled him to submit; and the Romans,

always attentive to their maritime interests, which however they had not

hitherto pushed nearly to the extent which they might have done, refused to

grant him peace, except on the conditions, that he should cede all that

part of Asia which lies between the sea and Mount Taurus; that he should

give up all his vessels except ten; and that these should not, on any

account, sail beyond the promontories of Cilicia. The Romans, extremely

strict, and even severe, in enforcing the conditions of peace, not only

destroyed fifty covered galleys, but, the successor of Antiochus having

built additional vessels to the ten he was by treaty allowed to keep, they

compelled him to burn them.

The temporary success of the Carthaginians against the Romans induced

Philip, king of Macedon, to engage in that war which proved his ruin. The

advice of Hannibal, when an exile at the court of Antiochus, likewise led

to the disastrous war of that monarch with the same people; and by the

advice of Hannibal also, Prusias, king of Bythinia, was engaged in

hostilities with them. This king seems to have paid considerable attention

to naval and commercial affairs, for both of which, indeed, his territories

were admirably suited. In conjunction with the Rhodians, he made war

against the inhabitants of Byzantium, and obliged them to remit the tax

which they had been accustomed to levy on all vessels that sailed to or

from the Euxine Sea, The maritime war between this sovereign and the

Romans, who were at this time in alliance with Eumenes, king of Pergamus,

offers nothing deserving our notice, except a stratagem executed by

Hannibal. In order to compensate for the inferiority of Prusias' fleet,

Hannibal ordered a great many serpents to be collected; these were put into

pots, which, during the engagement, were thrown into the enemy's ships. The

alarm and consternation occasioned by this novel and unexpected mode of

warfare, threw his opponents into disorder, and compelled them to save

themselves by flight.

The conquest of all the islands on the coast of Greece, from Epirus to Cape

Malea, by the Romans, was the result of a naval war, in which they engaged

with the Etolians, a people who, at this time, were so powerful at sea, and

so much addicted to piracy, as to have drawn upon themselves the jealousy

and the vengeance of the Romans. This extension of their dominions was

followed by a successful war with the Istrians, which made them masters of

all the western parts of the Mediterranean Sea; and by an equally

successful war with Nabis, the tyrant of Sparta, who was compelled to

deliver up his fleet to them, as well as all the sea-ports of consequence

on the coast of Sparta.

The Rhodians hitherto had been generally in alliance with the Romans; but

differences arose between them during the war between the latter and

Perseus, king of Macedon.

The island of Rhodes was remarkably well situated for maritime commerce;

and its inhabitants did not fail to reap all the advantages in this respect

which nature had so kindly bestowed on them. It appears from Homer, that in

his time there were three cities in the island; but during the

Peloponnesian war, the greater part of the inhabitants, having formed the

resolution to settle in one place, built the city of Rhodes, after the

designs of the same Athenian architect, who built the Piræus. This city was

situated on the east coast of the island, at the foot of a hill, in the

form of an amphitheatre: it possessed a very convenient and safe harbour,

at the entrance of which there were two rocks; and on these, which were

fifty feet asunder, the famous Colossus was placed. The arsenals of Rhodes

were filled with every thing requisite for the defence of the city, or the

equipment of a large fleet: its walls, which were extremely high, were

defended by towers: its houses were built of stone: in short, the whole

city presented a striking picture of wealth, magnificence, and beauty, for

which it was not less indebted to art and commerce than to nature.

Before the era of the Olympiads, the Rhodians applied themselves to

maritime affairs: for many years they seem to have been masters of the

Mediterranean Sea; and their code of maritime laws became the standard with

all the maritime nations of antiquity, by which all controversies regarding

maritime affairs were regulated. There is great doubt among the learned,

whether what still exist as the fragments of these laws are genuine: we

know, however, that the Romans had a law which they called Lex Rhodia;

according to some, this contained the regulations of the Rhodians

concerning naval affairs; according to others, however, only one clause of

the law, _de jactu_, about throwing goods overboard in a storm, was

borrowed from the Rhodians.

Besides the commerce in which they themselves were engaged, the constant

arrival of ships from Egypt to Greece, and from Greece to Egypt, the island

being situated exactly in the passage between these countries, contributed

much to their wealth. As this encreased, they formed settlements and

colonies in many places; at Parthenope and Salapia, in Italy; Agrigentum

and Geta, in Sicily; Rhodes, on the coast of Spain, near the foot of the

Pyrenees, &c. They were particularly celebrated for and attentive to the

construction of their vessels; aiming principally at lightness and speed,

the discipline observed on board of them, and the skill and ability of

their captains and pilots. All these things were under the direct

management and controul of magistrates, appointed for the express purpose,

who were excessively attentive and even rigid in the execution of their

duty. Whoever entered certain places in the arsenals without permission,

was punished with death.

A few of the most remarkable events in the maritime history of Rhodes,

prior to their dispute with the Romans, call for some general and cursory

notice. Till the foundation of the city of Rhodes, which, as we have

already stated, took place during the Peleponnesian war, there is scarcely

any thing to attract our attention: a short time before this, the

republican form of government was established, and the trade and navigation

of the Rhodians seem to have acquired a fresh impulse and spirit. But their

enterprizes were soon checked by Artemisia, queen of Caria, gaining

possession of their city: this she effected by a stratagem. The Rhodians

invaded Caria with a design of gaining possession of Halicarnassus: by the

direction of the queen, the inhabitants made a signal that they

surrendered; the Rhodians suspecting no treachery, and delighted with their

apparent success, left their fleet to take possession of the town; in the

meantime, the queen brought her fleet from an adjoining creek, by means of

some canal or other inland communication, to the port where the Rhodian

vessels lay, and quietly took them. This disaster was the cause of another,

still more calamitous to the Rhodians; for Artemisia sailed with the

Rhodian ships to Rhodes, and the inhabitants, under the belief that their

fleet was returning victorious, permitted the enemy to land and to seize

the city. To what cause the Rhodions were indebted for the restoration of

their liberty and independence we are not informed; but it was owing,

either to the interference of the Athenians, or the death of Artemisia.

From the period of these events, which occurred about 350 years before

Christ, till the reign of Alexander the Great, the Rhodians enjoyed

profound and uninterrupted tranquillity; their commerce extended, and their

wealth encreased. To this conqueror they offered no resistance, but of

their own accord surrendered their cities and harbours; as soon, however,

as they learnt that he was dead, they resumed their independence. About

this time the greater part of their city was destroyed by a dreadful

inundation, which would have swept the whole of it away, if the wall

between it and the sea had not been broken down by the force of the waters,

and thus given them free passage. This misfortune seems only to have

encouraged the inhabitants to attend still more closely and diligently to

commerce, which they carried on with so much industry and skill, and in

such a profitable manner, that they soon rebuilt their city, and repaired

all the losses they had sustained. Their alliance was courted by all their

neighbours; but they resolved to adhere to a strict neutrality, and thus,

while war raged among other nations, they were enabled to profit by that

very circumstance, and thus became one of the most opulent states of all

Asia. Their commerce, as well as that of all the states on the

Mediterranean, being much molested and injured by the pirates, they

undertook, of their own accord, and at their own expence, to root them out;

and in this they completely succeeded.

But that commerce, on account of which they were so very anxious to keep at

peace, involved them in war. Their most lucrative trade was with Egypt.

When hostilities began between Ptolemy and Antigonus, the latter insisted

that they should join him; this they refused to do; upon which his fleet

blockaded Rhodes, to prevent their commerce with Egypt. The Rhodians were

thus compelled to act against him in their own defence, in order to free

their harbour. The raising of the blockade, and the defeat of his fleet,

incensed Antiochus; and to the remonstrances and entreaties of the Rhodians

to be permitted to remain at peace, he replied, "that they must declare war

against Ptolemy, admit his fleet into their harbour, and give hostages for

the performance of these articles." War now was inevitable, and great

preparations for it were made on both sides: the attack on the city was

committed by Antigonus to his son Demetrius; for this purpose he collected

a fleet of 200 ships of war, 170 transports with 40,000 men on board, and

1000 vessels laden with provisions, stores, warlike engines, etc. This

immense armament was composed partly of pirates and mercenaries, who were

induced to join Demetrius, by the hope of partaking in the plunder of

Rhodes. It is foreign to our purpose to enter on the details of this

memorable siege: the Rhodians trusted principally to their own valour and

resources; from Ptolemy, however, they received most ample and seasonable

supplies of provisions: at one time he sent them 300,000 measures of corn;

a few days afterwards Cassandra sent them 100,000 bushels of barley, and

Lysimachus 400,000 bushels of corn, and as many of barley: these supplies,

the valour of the inhabitants, and the ill success of some new and immense

engines, on which Demetrius had mainly depended, at length induced him to

raise the siege and make peace with the Rhodians.

The Rhodians endeavoured to make up for the time they had lost, and the

money they had expended, during their war with Antiochus, by applying

themselves entirely to navigation and commerce; so that, according to

Polybius, they became masters of the sea, and the most opulent and

flourishing state of those times. The next war in which they were engaged

was occasioned entirely by their attention and regard to their commercial

interests. We have already slightly noticed this war; but in this place it

will be proper to go more into detail respecting it. The people of

Byzantium determined to lay a toll on all ships that traded to the Euxine,

in order to defray an annual tribute which they were obliged to pay to the

Greeks. As one of the most important and lucrative branches of the commerce

of Rhodes was to the countries lying on this sea, they were much aggrieved

by this toll, and endeavoured to persuade the Byzantines to take it off,

but in vain. Under these circumstances, they, in conjunction with Prusias,

king of Bythinia, declared war against the Byzantines; and while their ally

took Hieron, which seems to have been a great mart of the Byzantines, and

the resort of most of the merchants trading to these parts, the Rhodians,

with a powerful fleet, ravaged their coasts, and seized all their ships

trading to the Euxine. The war was at length terminated under the mediation

of the king of the Thracian Gauls; the Byzantines agreeing to take off the

toll.

Their success in this war was counterbalanced by a dreadful earthquake,

which threw down the Colossus, destroyed the arsenal, and damaged part of

the walls and city. As the Rhodians, however, were much esteemed by most of

their neighbours, who found their prosperity intimately connected with the

prosperity of Rhodes, they soon recovered from these calamities and losses.

Hiero, king of Syracuse, gave them 100 talents, and exempted them from all

duties and taxes. Ptolemy gave them also the like sum, besides one million

measures of wheat, and timber, etc. requisite for building fifty ships.

Antiochus exempted all their vessels, which traded to his ports, from every

kind of tax and duty. They received from other princes presents or

privileges of equal importance and value; so that, in a very short time,

they recovered their former opulence and trade, and rebuilt their walls,

etc.

Their alliance with Attalus, king of Pergamus, involved them in a war with

Philip king of Macedonia, and was the cause of their forming an alliance

with the Romans. In this war the Rhodian fleet, in conjunction with the

fleets of their allies, gained several victories over the fleet of Philip.

The latter was at length obliged to sue to the Romans for peace, and they,

in fixing the terms, included the Rhodians, to whom were ceded Stratonice,

and the greater part of Caria. In the meantime Antiochus and the Romans had

commenced hostilities, and the Rhodians were again involved in them: almost

at their very commencement, their fleet was surprized by a stratagem of

Antiochus's admiral, and of thirty ships of war of which it consisted, only

seven escaped.

They soon, however, repaired their losses, and fitted out another fleet,

with which they put to sea, for the purpose of preventing the junction of

Hannibal with Antiochus's ships: the former had thirty-seven large ships;

the Rhodian fleet was nearly equal in numbers, but inferior in size. The

hostile fleets met off the coast of Pamphilia. The battle was obstinate: at

first, by an oversight of the Rhodian admiral, some disorder occurred in

part of his fleet; but this was soon repaired, and a decisive victory

obtained. Part of Hannibal's fleet was captured, and the rest blocked up in

the harbours of Pamphilia. The defeat of Antiochus, both at sea and land,

by the Romans, to which we have already adverted, obliged this monarch to

sue for peace, in which the Rhodians were included.