difference arose between that city and the Romans: the latter suspected
that the Rhodians favoured Perseus king of Macedon, with whom they were at
war, and were moreover displeased at their presuming to interfere with them
in his favour. In order to watch their inclinations and motions, the senate
sent three commissioners to Rhodes: these found a fleet of forty galleys,
which there was reason to believe had been intended to act against the
Romans; but which, by the advice of the chief magistrate, were, on the
arrival of the commissioners, ordered to sea, to act in union with them.
Scarce, however, were the commissioners departed, when the Rhodians became
lukewarm in the cause of the Romans; and although they sent a few of their
galleys to join the Roman admiral, they kept the greatest number in port,
waiting the issue of the war between them and the king of Macedonia. As
soon as they heard of the defeat of the former in Thessaly, they entered
into negotiations with Perseus, and at the same time sent ambassadors to
Rome, who complained, that in consequence of the war between Perseus and
the Romans, the navigation and commerce of Rhodes was greatly injured,
their island deprived of provisions and other necessaries, and the customs
and duties which their maritime situation formerly afforded them kept back,
from their no longer being able to sail with safety along the coasts of
Asia, where they used to levy the most important and productive of them.
After the defeat of Perseus, they ceased to remonstrate, and became
submissive to the Romans. It is probable, however, that the Romans would
have seized this opportunity of attacking them, had not Cato spoken very
strongly in their favour: in consequence of his arguments and influence,
and by the cession of Lycia and Caria, they were again admitted to an
alliance with the Romans.
The advantages they derived from this alliance were so great, that they
resisted the promises and the threats of Mithridates, when he engaged in
hostilities with the Romans. This monarch, therefore, resolved to employ
his whole force by sea and land against them: they were not however
dismayed, but placed a firm reliance on their skill in maritime affairs.
They divided their fleet into three squadrons: one drawn up in a line
protected the entrance of the harbour; and the other two, at a greater
distance from the shore, were stationed to watch the approach of the enemy.
Mithridates also divided his fleet, which was more numerous than that of
the Rhodians, into three squadrons; one of these he himself commanded, on
board of a quinquereme, and directed to attack the squadron which was
protecting the port. The Rhodians gradually retired before the enemy, till
they came close to the mouth of the harbour: Mithridates in vain
endeavoured to break their line, and force an entrance; in all his attempts
he was defeated with considerable loss; and his land forces, which he had
embarked in transports, being dispersed in a storm, he was obliged to
retire from before the city.
The Romans acknowledged the benefits they derived from the valour of the
Rhodians on this occasion; and they again experienced it, in the war which
Pompey carried on against the Cilician pirates, though that commander took
all the merit to himself. In the civil war between him and Caesar, they
assisted the former with a numerous fleet, under the command of one of
their best seamen, who distinguished himself above all Pompey's captains,
and gained very considerable advantages over Caesar's fleet. On the death
of Pompey they joined Csesar: this exposed them to the hostility of
Cassius; they endeavoured to pacify him by promising to recal the ships
they had sent to the assistance of Caesar, but he demanded the delivery of
their whole fleet, and that he should be put in possession of their harbour
and city. To these terms they would not accede, but prepared for war, by
equipping a fleet of thirty-three ships, and placing it under the command
of one of their best officers. A battle ensued which was fought on both
sides with great skill and bravery; but the Rhodians were obliged to yield
to the superior number of the Roman fleet, and to return to the harbour,
having lost two of their ships, and the rest being very much damaged. It is
remarked by the ancient historians who relate this battle, that it was the
first time the Rhodians were fairly overcome in a sea-fight.
Cassius followed up his success by bringing against Rhodes a fleet of
eighty ships of war, and 200 transports. Against this formidable armament
the Rhodians again put to sea, and a second battle ensued, which was more
obstinately contested than the first: the Romans however were again
victorious, and the city of Rhodes was blocked up by sea and land. Its fate
was soon determined; for some of the inhabitants, dreading a famine, opened
the gates to the Romans. Cassius, besides other severe terms, obliged the
Rhodians to deliver up all their ships, and all their public treasures; the
temples were plundered, and 8000 talents extorted from private individuals,
besides a fine of 500 levied on the city.
From this time till the reign of Vespasian, when the island became a Roman
province, it was sometimes oppressed, and sometimes favoured by the Romans;
according, as Tacitus remarks, as they obliged them with their assistance
in foreign wars, or provoked them with their seditions at home.
In order to complete the maritime history of Rhodes, we have rather
advanced beyond the period to which we had brought down our notices of the
Roman navigation and commerce: these therefore we shall now resume at the
war between Perseus king of Macedonia and the Romans. Perseus harassed the
coasts of Italy, plundered and sunk all their ships, while they found it
difficult to oppose him by sea, or protect their coasts, for want of a
fleet. This induced them to prepare for service fifty vessels; but though
their allies augmented this number, the Romans do not seem to have
performed any thing of consequence by sea. This is attributed principally
to the circumstance, that the fleet, on examination, was discovered to be
in bad condition, neither equipped sufficiently in stores or provisions,
and the seamen who were to have navigated it were either dead or absent,
while those who did appear were ill paid and worse clothed; these facts
sufficiently demonstrate the little care which the Romans, even at this
period, bestowed on maritime affairs. The defeat of Perseus at Pidna, and
his subsequent capture by the Romans in the island of Samothrace, rendered
it unnecessary for them to supply the deficiences of their fleet. The
immense ship, which, as we have already mentioned, Philip, Perseus's
father, employed in his war against the Romans, was taken on this occasion;
and Paulus Emilius, the consul, sailed up the Tiber in it: it had 16 banks
of oars. Many other ships of large size were also captured; these were
brought to Rome, and drawn into the Campus Martius.
One of the allies of the unfortunate Perseus was the king of Illyria, who
was powerful at sea, and ravaged the coasts of Italy opposite to his
dominions. While the consul was sent against Perseus, the management of the
naval war against the Illyrians was committed to the praetor: as he was
well aware of the maritime force of his opponent, he acted with great
caution; his first success, in capturing some of their snips, induced him
to land all his forces in Illyria, where, after an obstinate battle, he
compelled the king to surrender at discretion. Macedonia and Illyria were
thus reduced to the state of Roman provinces; but the Romans regarded these
victories as of importance, more on account of the accession they made to
their territories, than on account of the advantages which they might
thence derive to their commerce or their naval power: so little, indeed,
did they regard them in the latter point of view, that they gave the 220
ships which were surrendered to them by the king of Illyria, to the
inhabitants of Cephalonia, of Apollonia, and Dyrrhachium, who at the time
were much celebrated for their trade and navigation. Although their
seacoasts had been repeatedly ravaged, we are informed by Polybius, that,
from the time of Philip, king of Macedonia, till long after the defeat of
Perseus, they entirely neglected the coasts of Illyria, from which, till
this country was subdued by them, their own coasts were generally invaded,
and by means of the ports and produce of which, after it became a Roman
province, they might greatly have augmented their navy and commerce.
The Carthaginians had been gradually recovering from the losses which they
had sustained during the second Punic war, and witnessed with satisfaction
their enemies involved in constant hostilities, in the hope that the issue
of these would prove fatal to them, or, at least, so far weaken them, as to
enable them to oppose Rome with more success than they had hitherto done.
While the war was carried on between the Romans and the Macedonians, they
made great, but secret, preparations to regain their former power; but the
Romans, who always kept a watchful and jealous eye on the operations of all
their rivals, were particularly nearsighted with regard to whatever was
doing by the Carthaginians. They received information that at Carthage
there was deposited a large quantity of timber, and of other naval stores:
on learning this, Cato, their inveterate enemy, who had been sent into
Africa, to mediate between them and Masinissa, with whom they were at war,
went to Carthage himself, where he examined every thing with a malicious
eye. On his return to Rome, he reported that Carthage was again become
excessively rich,--that her magazines were filled with all kinds of warlike
stores,--that her ports were crowded with ships, and that by her war with
Masinissa, she was only preparing to renew the war against Rome. His
exhortations to his countrymen to anticipate the Carthaginians, by
immediately commencing hostilities, had no effect at first; but being
frequently repeated, and intelligence being received, that preparations
were making at Carthage for an open declaration of war, and that the
Carthaginians were fitting out a fleet, contrary to the terms of their
treaty with the Romans; and this information being confirmed by the report
of deputies sent to Carthage; war was declared against Carthage in the year
of Rome 605. The Carthaginians endeavoured to pacify the Romans by
surrendering to them their cities, lands, rivers, &c., in short, by a
complete surrender of whatever they possessed, as well as of themselves. At
first the Romans appeared disposed to abstain from war on these conditions;
and the Carthaginians actually delivered up all their arms and warlike
engines, and witnessed the burning of their fleet; but the Romans, having
thus degraded them, and stript them in a great measure of the means of
defence, now insisted that Carthage itself should be destroyed, and that
the inhabitants should build a city at the distance of five leagues from,
the sea. Indignant at these demands, they resolved to sustain a siege; and,
in a very short time, they made immense preparations for defending their
city. At first they gained some success over the Romans; for their fleet
having come very near the shore, to transport the troops, who were
suffering from the vicinity of the marshes, to a healthier spot, the
Carthaginians fitted out a great number of fire ships, filled with tar,
sulphur, bitumen, &c., and taking advantage of a favourable wind, they sent
them among the Roman fleet, great part of which was thus destroyed.
But these and other successes did not ultimately avail them: Scipio who had
been chosen consul, arrived in Africa, and Carthage was immediately
strictly blocked up by sea and land. His exertions were indeed astonishing;
as the new port of Carthage was effectually shut up by the Roman fleet, so
that no assistance or provisions could enter by it; and as lines of
circumvallation were formed on land, the consul's great object was to block
up the old port. The Romans were masters of the western neck of land, which
formed one side of its entrance; from this to the other side they built a
mole, ninety feet broad at bottom, and eighty at top; when this was
completed, the old port was rendered quite inaccessible and useless.
The Carthaginians on their part, imagined and executed works as surprising
as those of the Romans: deprived of both their ports, they dug, in a very
short time, a new harbour, from which they cut a passage to the sea; and
they built and equipped a fleet of fifty ships, which put to sea through
this new harbour. The Romans were astonished when they beheld a fleet, of
the existence or possibility of which they had no conception, advancing out
of a harbour, the formation of which equally astonished them, and this
fleet daring to hazard an engagement. The battle continued during the whole
day, with little advantage on either side; but, notwithstanding all their
efforts, and some partial and temporary successes, Carthage was at length
compelled to submit to Scipio, and was at first plundered, and afterwards
destroyed. The Romans burnt the new fleet which the Carthaginians had
built: indeed, in general, instead of augmenting their own naval force,
when they subdued any of their maritime enemies, they either destroyed
their ships or bestowed them on some of their allies; a certain proof, as
Huet remarks, of the very little regard they paid to sea affairs.
We are expressly informed, in the Life of Terence, generally ascribed to
Suetonius, that before the destruction of Carthage, the Romans did not
trade to Africa: but though his words are express, they must not be taken
literally; for we have already proved, that in the treaties between Rome
and Carthage at a very early period, the voyages undertaken by the Romans,
on account of trade, to Sicily, Sardinia, and parts of Africa are expressly
mentioned in diem, and the people of Utica are particularized as the allies
of the Romans, and a people with whom they traded. It is certain, however,
that the author of the Life of Terence is correct, if he merely meant, that
till after the destruction of Carthage the Romans had no regular commerce
with Africa. From the date of this event, it became of great importance,
though confined chiefly to slaves, most of whom were brought from Africa,
to the island of Delos: this, as has been already stated, was a great depôt
for them, as well as other kinds of merchandize. The capture of Carthage
and of Corinth, which took place nearly at the same time, increased
considerably the number of slaves for sale.
Still, however, though the Romans now began to be sensible of the value of
commence, they did little to protect it; for soon after the termination of
the third Punic war, the Mediterranean swarmed with pirates, who plundered
the merchant ships of all nations. These pirates belonged principally to
the Balearic islands, to Cilicia and to Crete. In one of the Balearic
islands, called Minor by the ancients, the present Minorca, there were two
cities built near the mouths of convenient harbours; the inhabitants of
these carried on a considerable commerce, and at the same time engaged in
piracy. They were uncommonly active and daring in this pursuit, attacking
and robbing every ship they met with; they even had the courage, or the
rashness, to oppose the Roman fleet, under the command of the consul
Metellus; but they were beaten, and for a time obliged to abstain from
their piratical proceedings.
They were soon again, however, emboldened to resume them, by the assistance
and example of the inhabitants of Crete and Cilicia. This latter country,
situated in Asia Minor, and possessing a sea-coast which extended along the
Mediterranean, from east to west, nearly 250 miles, was fertile beyond most
parts of Asia Minor; though on the coast, it was reckoned unhealthy. The
principal commercial town was Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great,
between Issus and the straits that lead from Cilicia into Syria; its
situation being very favourable for carrying on trade to all the western
parts of the Mediterranean, as well as to Egypt, the Euxine, &c. it soon
became one of the most flourishing cities in the world. But the Cilicians
were not content with lawful and regular trade: in the time of the
Mithridatic war, and even before it, they began to plunder the neighbouring
coasts; and being successful in these predatory expeditions, they extended
them as far as the coasts of Greece and Italy, on which they landed, and
carried off a great number of the inhabitants, whom they sold as slaves.
The Romans at length deemed it absolutely necessary to act with vigour
against them. Publius Servilius, who was employed on this occasion,
defeated them in a sea-battle, and took most of their strong-holds. For a
short time afterwards, they abstained from their predatory excursions; but,
as we shall soon have occasion to notice, they resumed them whenever they
had repaired their losses, and thought the Romans otherwise employed.
The island of Crete was regarded by the ancients as difficult of access;
most of its harbours were exposed to the wind; but as it was easy for ships
to sail out of them, when the wind was moderate and favourable, they were
convenient for commerce to almost any part of the then commercial world.
The ancients, according to Strabo, reckoned that ships which sailed from
the eastern part of Crete would arrive in Egypt in three or four days; and,
according to Diodorus Siculus, in ten days they would arrive at the Pulus
Mæotis. The principal seaports were Bithynia, which had a very convenient
haven; and Heracles, the seaport of the Gnossians. To these, merchants from
all parts of the world resorted. There were, besides, a great many creeks
and bays. This island would have been much more commercial and flourishing
than it actually was, considering its favourable situation, &c., had it not
been divided into a great number of independent states, who were jealous of
each other's prosperity, and almost constantly at war amongst themselves.
In very early times, when the whole island was subject to one sovereign,
the Cretans were powerful at sea; they had subjected even before the Trojan
war, some of the islands in the Egean Sea, and formed colonies and
commercial establishments on the coasts of Asia Minor and Europe. At the
breaking out of the Trojan war, they sent eighty ships to the assistance of
the Greeks. But as soon as the island was divided into independent
republics, their navigation and commerce seem to have declined. Their
piratical expeditions were conducted with so much boldness and success,
especially at the time when the Romans were engaged in hostilities with
Mithridates, that they determined to curb them. Anthony, the father of Marc
Anthony, was appointed to execute their vengeance; but, too confident of
success, he was beaten by the Cretans in a sea-battle. This naturally
encouraged them to carry on their piracies on a greater scale, and with
more boldness; but their triumph was of short duration, for Metellus, the
proconsul, having defeated their forces, united with those of the Cilician
pirates, landed on the island, and subdued the whole of it.
In the meantime, Mithridates, who had been very instrumental in encouraging
the pirates to commit depredations on the Roman vessels and coasts, was
vigorously preparing for war with the republic. His naval force, formed
partly of his own ships, and partly from those of most of the maritime
states, all of whom were jealous and afraid of the Romans, and regarded
Mithridates as their protector and deliverer, insulted even the coasts of
Italy. We have already noticed his unsuccessful sea-fight with the
Rhodians, almost the only people who continued faithful to the Romans. The
latter, at length, were fully sensible of the absolute necessity of forming
such a fleet as would enable them successfully to oppose Mithridates, who
was master, not only of Asia, but of all Greece, and the adjacent islands,
except Rhodes. Sylla was employed against him; but as he had very few
ships, he sent Lucullus to Syria, Egypt, Lybia, and Cyprus, to collect a
fleet. From Ptolemy, who was afraid of the power of Mithridates, and,
perhaps, jealous of the Romans, he received no vessels; but from the other
quarters he received considerable supplies of ships and experienced
mariners. It is probable, however, that by sea the Romans would not have
been able to cope with Mithridates, had not that monarch been beaten by
land, and had not his admiral, Archelaus, delivered up the fleet under his
command to Sylla. In the meantime, Mithridates was blocked up in Pitane, a
city near Troy, from which he could not have escaped, if Lucullus had
brought his fleet against it; this, however, out of jealousy to the Roman
general Fimbria, he refused to do, contenting himself with naval
operations. In these he was successful, gaining two victories over
Mithridates's fleet, near the coast of Troy. These defeats, and the
treachery of Archelaus, nearly annihilated the maritime force of
Mithridates. But this monarch was not easily dispirited; in a short time he
collected another fleet, and invaded Bithynia. It was therefore necessary
for the Romans to send a fleet thither, which they did, under the command
of Cotta. This fleet, however, was far inferior to that of the king, which
consisted of 400 ships of thirty oars, besides a great many smaller
vessels. On learning this, Lucullus, who had the chief command, ordered
Cotta to remain in the harbour of Chalcedon; but Mithridates, relying on
his strength, sailed into the very harbour, and burnt the Roman fleet. The
loss of the Romans consisted of sixty ships, and 8000 of their mariners
slain, besides 4500 taken prisoners. As this success of Mithridates
encouraged the cities of Asia to revolt, Lucullus resolved, if possible, to
counterbalance it with still more decisive success on his part by land; he
accordingly besieged him in his camp. Being reduced to great straits,
Mithridates was forced to escape by sea towards Byzantium; but on his
voyage he was overtaken by a violent storm, in which sixty of his ships
were sunk; he himself must have perished, if he had not been rescued by a
pirate, who landed him safe in Pontus. Mithridates still had a small float
of fifty ships, on board of which were 10,000 land forces. These were at
sea; but with what object does not appear: they were met, however, near
Lemnos, by a Roman squadron, and entirely defeated; thirty-two of them
being captured, and the rest sunk. On receiving information of this
victory, the Roman senate ordered Lucullus to be paid 3000 talents to
repair and augment his fleet; but he refused them, answering, "that with
the succours he could get from their allies, he should be able to gain the
dominion of the sea, and conquer Mithridates:" at the same time he sent to
Rome 110 galleys, armed with beaks. Mithridates, however, was still
formidable at sea, and continued so, till the Romans gained another victory
over him, near the island of Tenedos, in which they took and sunk sixty
ships: after this, he was not able to fit out another fleet. As the
remainder of the war between him and the Romans was entirely confined to
land operations, we shall pass it by, and proceed to the other naval
enterprizes of the Romans about this period.
The war with Mithridates employed the attention and the resources of the
Romans so completely, that the pirates again infested the Mediterranean
seas without control. Their numbers and force were greatly augmented by the
destruction of Carthage and Corinth; for the inhabitants of these cities,
having neither a place of retreat, nor the means of subsistence, naturally
turned their thoughts to piracy, having been accustomed to sea affairs, and
to commerce. In this they were encouraged by Mithridates, and assisted by
some persons of considerable rank and wealth. The inability of the Romans
to attend to them, and the success and encouragement they obtained, induced
them to conduct their piracies on a regular, systematic, and extensive
plan. Their ships were constantly at sea: all commerce was interrupted;
with their 1000 galleys--for so numerous were they--they exercised a
complete sovereignty over all the coasts of the Mediterranean. They formed
themselves into a kind of commonwealth, selected magistrates and officers,
who appointed each fleet its respective station and object, and built
watch-towers, arsenals, and magazines. They depended chiefly on Cilicia for
the necessary supplies for their fleets. Emboldened by their success, and
by the occupation afforded to the Romans by Mithridates, they ravaged the
whole line of the Italian coast; sacked the towns and temples, from which
they expected a considerable booty; plundered the country seats on the
sea-shore; carried off the inhabitants for slaves; blocked up all the ports
of the republic; ventured as far as the entrance of the Tiber; sunk part of
the Roman fleet at Ostia, and even threatened Rome itself, which they more
than once deprived of its ordinary and necessary subsistence. The scarcity
of provisions was, indeed, not confined to Rome; but no vessel venturing to
sea in the Mediterranean without being captured, it extended to those parts
of Asia and Africa which lie on that sea. Their inveteracy, however, was
principally directed against the Roman commerce, and the Romans themselves.
If any of their captives declared himself to be a Roman, they threw
themselves in derision at his feet, begging his pardon, and imploring his
protection; but after they had insolently sported with their prisoner, they
often dressed him in a toga, and then, casting out a ship's ladder, desired
him to return home, and wished him a good journey. If he refused to leap
into the sea, they threw him overboard, saying, "that they would not by any
means keep a free-born Roman in captivity!"
In order to root out this dreadful evil, Gabinius, the tribune of the
people, proposed a law, to form, what he called, the proconsulate of the
seas. This law, though vigorously opposed at first, eventually was carried.
The person to whom this new office was to be entrusted, was to have
maritime power, without control or restriction, over all the seas, from the
Pillars of Hercules to the Thracian Bosphorus, and the countries lying on
these seas, for fifty miles inland: he was to be empowered to raise as many
seamen and troops as he deemed necessary, and to take, out of the public
treasury, money sufficient to pay the expence of paying them, equipping the
ships, and executing the objects of the law. The proconsulate of the
seas was to be vested in the same person for three years.
As Gabinius was the known friend of Pompey, all Pompey's enemies
strenuously opposed this law, as evidently intended to confer authority on
him; but the people not only passed it, but granted Pompey, who was chosen
to fill the office, even more than Gabinius had desired, for they allowed
him to equip 500 ships, to raise 120,000 foot, and to select out of the
senate twenty senators to act as his lieutenants.
As soon as Pompey was vested with the authority conferred by this law, he
put to sea; and, by his prudent and wise measures, not less than by his
activity and vigour, within four months (instead of the three years which
were allowed him) he freed the seas from pirates, having beaten their fleet
in an engagement near the coast of Cilicia, and taken or sunk nearly 1000
vessels, and made himself master of 120 places on the coast, which they had
fortified: in the whole of this expedition he did not lose a single ship.
In order effectually to prevent the pirates from resuming their
depredations, he sent them to people some deserted cities of Cilicia.
It might have been supposed that as the Romans had suffered so much from
the pirates, and as Rome itself was dependent for subsistence on foreign
supplies of corn, which could not be regularly obtained, while the pirates
were masters of the seas, they would have directed their attention more
than they did to maritime affairs and commerce, especially after the
experience they had had of the public calamities which might thus be
averted. This, however, was not the case, even after the war against the
pirates, which was so successfully terminated by Pompey; for Pompey's son,
who opposed the triumvirate, by leaguing with the pirates, (of what nation
we are not informed,) repeatedly, during his warfare, reduced the city of
Rome to great straits for want of corn.
As the operations by sea which he carried on, in conjunction with the
pirates, are the last recorded in history, by means of which Rome was
reduced to such straits, and as this repeated proof of the absolute
necessity of rendering her independent of any maritime power for supplies
of corn, seems to have been the chief inducement with Augustus to establish
regular and powerful corn fleets, we shall notice them in this place,
though rather posterior to the period of Roman history at which we have
arrived.
The younger Pompey, it would appear, was sensible that his father's fame
and fortune had been first established by his success at sea: this induced
him to apply himself to maritime affairs, and, when he resolved to oppose
the triumvirate, to trust principally to his experience and force by sea,
to oblige them to comply with his terms. Accordingly, he built several
ships, some of which are said to have been covered with leather: he
associated himself with all the pirates he could meet with; and, when
sufficiently powerful, he took possession of Sardinia, Sicily, and Corcyra,
made himself master of the whole Mediterranean sea, and intercepted all the
convoys which were carrying provisions and other necessaries to Rome. The
occupation of Sicily enabled him to prevent any corn from being shipped
from that island, and to intercept all that came from the eastern ports of
the Mediterranean. His possession of Sardinia and Corcyra enabled him to
intercept all that came from the west, while he captured all that came from
Africa by his squadrons, which were constantly cruising in that direction.
It may easily be imagined, that when Rome was deprived of her supplies of
corn from Sicily, Africa, and the Euxine, she could not long subsist,
without being threatened with famine: this was actually the case, the
inhabitants were near starving, and it became necessary for the triumvirate
to relieve them, either by conquering Pompey, or coming to terms with him.
But Rome alone did not suffer: the rest of Italy was also deprived, in a
great measure, of provisions, and its coasts insulted and plundered.
Octavianus, one of the triumvirate, at first resolved, with the advice of
Anthony, to raise a naval force, and oppose Pompey; but when he attempted
to lay a tax on the inhabitants of Rome and the rest of Italy, though it
was to prevent them from starving, they resisted it with so much violence
and determination, that he was obliged to abandon the measure.
As, however, the famine still continued, the triumvirate agreed to come to
an accommodation with Pompey: the principal terms were, that the latter
should retain possession of Sicily, Sardinia,. &c.; and that he should
moreover receive Peloponnesus; that he might endeavour to obtain the
consulate; that the dignity of Pontifex Maximus should be granted him; that
he should be paid 70,000 great sesterces out of his father's confiscated
estate; and that such of his companions as chose should be allowed to
return. On his part, he promised, that he would no longer interrupt the
Roman trade and navigation; that he would no longer build ships, nor make
descents on the coasts of Italy, nor receive the slaves who fled to him;
and that he would immediately send to Rome the corn he had detained, oblige
the Sicilians to pay annually the tribute of corn due to Rome by that
island, and clear the seas of all the pirates.
From these terms it may be seen how dependent Rome, even at this period,
was on foreign supplies of corn, and how weak she was at sea. Pompey and
the triumvirate seem neither to have been sincere in this treaty: the
former, who still retained the title of governor of the maritime coasts,
had derived too great advantage from his superiority at sea, and his
connection with the pirates, easily to relinquish either; while, on the
other hand, the triumvirate could not regard themselves as masters of the
republic, so long as Pompey had it in his power to starve the city of Rome.
They, therefore, soon quarrelled; upon which Pompey caused his old ships to
be refitted, and new ones to be built; and, when he had got a sufficient
force, he again blocked up the ports of Italy, and reduced the inhabitants
of the capital to the utmost distress for want of provisions. Octavianus,
(Augustus Cæsar,) to whom the protection of Italy was assigned, had neither
the courage nor the means to oppose Pompey, who, probably, would speedily
have forced the triumvirate, to grant him conditions still more favourable
than the former ones, had it not been for the defection of one of his
admirals. As he was an officer of great valour and experience in maritime
affairs, and carried over with him the numerous fleet which he commanded,
Augustus was emboldened and rendered better able to cope with Pompey by
sea. The latter, rather enraged than intimidated by this defection, sent
another of his admirals, who had always been jealous of the one who had
gone over to Augustus, with a numerous fleet, to ravage the coasts of
Italy. On his return, he fell in with a fleet of Augustus, on board of
which was his rival. An obstinate battle ensued: at first Pompey's fleet
was worsted; but in the issue it was victorious, and the greater number of
Augustus' ships were sunk, captured, or driven on shore. As soon as
Augustus learnt the issue of this battle, he resolved to sail from
Tarentum, where he then was, pass the straits of Messina, and reinforce the
shattered remains of his squadron; but, while he was in the straits, his
ships were attacked by Pompey himself, and most of them sunk or dashed to
pieces: with great difficulty he escaped. He was now in a dreadful
situation; without ships or money; while the inhabitants of Rome were on
the point of rising against his authority, for want of corn. In this
extremity he applied to Anthony, who immediately came to his aid with 300
sail of ships. As Anthony needed land-forces, which, under the present
circumstances, were of no use to Augustus, they agreed to an interchange:
Augustus gave Anthony two legions; and Anthony, on his part, left with
Augustus 100 armed galleys. In addition to these, Octavia obtained from her
husband twenty small ships, as a reinforcement to her brother.
Augustus, though now superior in naval force to Pompey, (for his ships were
more numerous, as well as larger and stronger, though not so light and
expeditious, nor so well manned,) was not willing to expose himself any
more to the hazards of a sea-fight: he therefore appointed Agrippa
commander-in-chief of his navy, with directions to cruise off Mylæ, a city
on the northern coast of Sicily, where Pompey had assembled all his naval
forces. As the possession of this important island was absolutely necessary
to the reduction of Pompey's power, and the relief and supply of the city
of Rome, Augustus, Lepidus, and another general were to invade it in three
different places, while Agrippa was watching Pompey's fleet. The whole of
Augustus's expeditions sailed from different ports of Italy at the same
time; but they had scarcely put to sea, when a violent storm arose, in
which a great number of his ships perished. On this occasion Augustus
behaved with great presence of mind and judgment: his first object and care
was to send Mæcenas to Rome, to prevent the disturbances which the
intelligence of this disaster might occasion there: Mæcenas succeeded in
his mission completely. In the meantime Augustus went in person to the
several ports, into which his ships had escaped from the storm, encouraged
and rewarded the workmen, and soon got his fleet refitted and ready for
sea. In his second attempt to invade Sicily, which he put in execution as
soon as his fleet was repaired, he was more successful than in his first;
and Agrippa considerably weakened Pompey's naval forces, by defeating one
of his admirals, from whom he captured thirty galleys. Pompey was still so
formidable at sea, at least to the fears of Augustus, that, when he
appeared unexpectedly on the coast of Sicily with his fleet, the latter was
completely intimidated: apprehending that Pompey would land and attack his
camp, he deserted it and went on board his fleet. Pompey, however, who
always preferred naval enterprizes, attacked the fleet, put it to flight at
the first onset, captured most of the ships, and burnt and sunk the
remainder. Augustus with difficulty escaped in a boat; but, instead of
returning to his camp, in Sicily, he fled to Italy, attended only by one
domestic.
As soon as he recovered from his alarm, he, in conjunction with Lepidus,
determined to attack Messina, in which place Pompey had deposited all his
stores, provisions, and treasure. The city accordingly was closely
invested, both by sea and land. Pompey, in this emergency, challenged
Augustus to decide the war by a sea-fight, with 300 ships on each side.
Augustus acceding to this proposal, both fleets were drawn up in line of
battle, between Mylæ and Naulocus; the land forces having agreed to suspend
hostilities, and wait the event of the engagement. Agrippa, who commanded
Augustus's fleet, fought with great bravery, and was as bravely opposed by
Pompey; their respective officers and men emulated their example. For a
considerable time, the event was doubtful; but, at last, Pompey's fleet was
defeated: only seventeen of his vessels escaped, the rest were taken or
burnt. This victory Agrippa obtained at an easy rate, not more than three
of his snips being sunk or destroyed. Augustus, who, according to all
accounts, behaved in a most cowardly manner during the battle, was so fully
sensible of the obligations he was under to Agrippa, that he immediately
honoured him with a blue standard and a rostral crown, that is, a crown,
the flower-work of which represented the beaks of galleys, and afterwards,
when he became emperor, he raised him, by rank and honours, above all his
other subjects. According to Livy, and some other authors, the rostral
crown had never been given in any preceding wars, nor was it afterwards
bestowed; but Pliny is of a different opinion, he says that it was given to
M. Varro, in the war against the pirates, by Pompey.
After this signal and decisive defeat of his fleet, Pompey fled from Sicily
to Asia, where he attempted to raise disturbances; but he was defeated,
taken prisoner, and put to death.
We must now look back to the naval and commercial history of Rome,
immediately after the defeat of the pirates by Pompey the Great. The
immediate consequence of his success against them was the revival of trade
among the people who inhabited the coasts of the Mediterranean; but the
Romans, intent on their plans of conquest, or engaged in civil wars, had
little share in it The very nature and extent, however, of their conquests,
by making them masters of countries which were either commercial, or which
afforded articles of luxury, gradually led them to become more commercial.
Hitherto, their conquests and their alliances had been confined almost
entirely to the nations on the Mediterranean, or within a short distance of
that sea: but Julius Cæsar directed his ambition to another district of the
world; and Gaul was added to the Roman dominions.
Transalpine Gaul comprehended Flanders, Holland, Switzerland, and part of
Germany, as well as France, Its situation, having the ocean to the north
and west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south, was particularly
favourable to commerce; and though, when Caesar conquered it, its
inhabitants in general were very ignorant and uncivilized, yet we have his
express authority, that the knowledge they possessed of foreign countries,
and commodities from abroad, made them abound in all sorts of provisions.
About 100 years before the Christian era, the Romans, under pretence of
assisting the people of Marseilles, carried their arms into Gaul, and
conquered the district to the south of the Rhine.
This part of Gaul, long before the Romans invaded it, was celebrated for
its commerce, which was carried on very extensively at the port of
Marseilles. We have already mentioned, that this city was founded, or, at
least, greatly increased by the Greeks. As the colonists could not, from
the narrow boundaries of their territory, and the barrenness of the soil,
support themselves by their own industry on land, they applied themselves
to the sea: at first, as fishermen; then, as pirates; and afterwards, as
merchants. For forty years they are said to have been the most warlike, as
well as the most commercial people who frequented the Mediterranean, and
were celebrated for the excellent construction and equipment, both of their
merchant ships, and their ships of war. Their maritime laws and
institutions were nearly as much celebrated and respected as those of the
Rhodians. The wealth which the inhabitants of Marseilles had acquired by
commerce, and which was contained or displayed in their fleets, arsenals,
and magazines, and in their public buildings, drew upon them the envy of
their more savage and poorer neighbours; and it is probable they would have
fallen a prey to their more warlike habits, had they not formed an alliance
with the Romans, who sent an army to their assistance. The commander of
this army, after defeating their enemies, granted them all the harbours,
and the whole sea-coast, between their city and the confines of Italy; and
thus at once secured their safety and extended their territory. A short
time afterwards, Marius conferred on them another benefit, not inferior in
importance and utility. While he was waiting for the Cimbri in Transalpine
Gaul, he was under great difficulty to procure provisions up the Rhone, in
consequence of the mouth of the river being obstructed with sand-banks. To
remedy this inconvenience, he undertook a great and laborious work, which,
from him, was called Fossa Marina: this was a large canal, beginning at his
camp, near Arles, and carried on to the sea, which was fed with water from
the Rhone; through this canal, the largest transports could pass. After his
victory over the Cimbrians, Marius gave this canal to the people of
Marseilles, in return for the support and supplies they had afforded him in
his war against them. As there was no passage into the interior of this
part of Gaul, except either through the Rhone or this canal, the
Marseillians, who were now masters of both, enriched themselves
considerably, partly by the traffic they carried on, and partly by the
duties they levied on all goods which were sent up the canal and the river.
In the civil war between Pompey and Cæsar, they took part with the former,
who, in return, gave them all the territory on the western bank of the
Rhone. Cæsar, exasperated at their hostility towards him, and at their
ingratitude (for he, on the conquest of Gaul, had enlarged their
territories, and augmented their revenues), blocked up their port by sea
and land, and soon obliged them to surrender. He stripped their arsenals of
arms, and obliged them to deliver up all their ships, as well as deprived
them of the colonies and towns that were under their dominion.
The Marseillians, in the pursuit of commerce, made several voyages to
distant, and, till then, unknown parts of the world: of these, the voyage
of Pytheas, the extent, direction, and discoveries of which we have already
investigated, was the most remarkable and celebrated. Euthymenes, another
Marseillian navigator, is said to have advanced to the south, beyond the
line; but little credit seems due to the very imperfect accounts which we
possess of his voyage. The Marseillians also planted several colonies on
the coasts of Gaul, Italy, and Spain, viz. Nicæa, Antipolis (Antibes,) Telo
Martius (Toulon,) &c.
Arelas (Arles) was also a place of some trade, and celebrated for its
manufactures, especially its embroidery, and its curious and rich works in
gold and silver. It was at this place that Cæsar built, in the short period
of thirty days, the twelve galleys which he used in blocking up the port of
Marseilles; and he manned them with its inhabitants;--a proof, as Huet
observes, that they were well versed in maritime affairs at this time.
Narbo Marcius (Narbonne) was founded by Marius: it soon became, according
to Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, a place of very great trade. The British
tin, besides other articles, was brought by land-carriage through the
centre of Gaul, and exported, either from it or Marseilles, to the
different countries on the Mediterranean. It derived great importance and
wealth, from its being a convenient place of rest and refreshment for the
Roman troops, as they passed from the Pyrennees to the Alps, or from the
Alps to the Pyrennees. Its harbour was crowded with ships from Africa,
Spain, Italy, &c.; but, in the latter ages of the Roman Empire, it fell
into decay, principally in consequence of the course of the river being
changed, so that it no longer ran through it. The Romans endeavoured to
supply this misfortune, by cutting a canal to the sea, the traces and
remains of which are still visible.
Lugdunum (Lyons), at the confluence of the Rhone and Arar, was founded by
Manucius Plancus, after the death of Julius Caesar. In the time of
Augustus, according to Strabo, it had increased so much, by means of its
commerce, that it was not inferior to any city in Gaul, except Narbonne.
Indeed, not long after the entire conquest of Gaul by the Romans, the
advantages which that country might derive, with respect to foreign
commerce, and internal trade, by its rivers, seem to have been fully and
clearly understood. The head of the Saone being near to that of the Moselle
and the Seine, merchandize was easily conveyed by land from one of these
rivers to the other. The Rhone also received many goods by means of the
rivers which joined it, which were conveyed, not only to the Saone, but
also to the Loire, in carriages. The Seine brought up goods almost as far
as the Moselle, from which they were conveyed to the Rhine. In the fourth
year of Nero's reign, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul joined the
Saone and the Moselle by a canal; and, though these canals were generally
made by the Romans, for purposes connected with the army, yet they were
soon applied to commerce. The merchandize of the Saone was brought by land
carriage to the Seine, and by it conveyed to the ocean, and thence to
Britain. There seems to have been regular and established companies of
watermen on these rivers, whose business it was to convey goods on them: an
ancient inscription at Lyons mentions Tauricius of Vannes, as the general
overseer of the Gallic trade, the patron or head of the watermen on the
Seine and Loire, and the regulator of weights, measures, and carriages; and
other ancient inscriptions state, that the government of the watermen who
navigated the Rhone and the Saone, was often bestowed on Roman knights.
Besides the ports on the Mediterranean, or on the rivers which flow into
that sea, the Gauls in Cæsar's time, or shortly afterwards, seem to have
had several, ports on the ocean. Cæsar reckons the present Nantz, though at
some distance from the sea, as inhabited by people who were skilled in
maritime affairs; and he expressly informs us, that he built his ships at a
port at the mouth of the Seine, when he was preparing to invade Britain. In
his wars against the Vanni he brought ships from the present provinces of
Saintoinge and Poitou, which we may thence conclude were inhabited by
people skilled in maritime affairs. In later times, there was a marsh
filled with sea-water, not far from Bourdeaux, which made that city a
convenient port, and a place of considerable commerce. Strabo mentions a
town of some commerce, situated on the Loire, which he represents as equal
in size to Narbonne and Marseilles; but what town that was has not been
ascertained.
The most powerful and commercial, however, of all the tribes of Gaul, that
inhabited the coasts near the ocean, in the time of Cæsar, were the Vanni.
These people carried on an extensive and lucrative trade with Britain,
which was interrupted by the success of Cæsar, (who obliged them, as well
as the other tribes of Gaul, to give him hostages,) and which they
apprehended was likely to be still further injured by his threatened
invasion of Britain; in order to prevent this, as well as to liberate
themselves, they revolted against the Romans. As Cæsar was sensible that it
would be imprudent and unsafe to attempt the invasion of Britain, so long
as the Vanni were unsubdued and powerful at sea, he directed his thoughts
and his endeavours to build and equip such a fleet as would enable him
successfully to cope with them on their own element. In building his ships,
he followed the model of those of his enemies, which were large,
flat-bottomed, and high in the head and stern: they were strong-built, and
had leathern sails, and anchors with iron chains. They had a numerous
squadron of such vessels, which they employed chiefly in their trade with
Britain: they seem also to have derived considerable revenue from the
tribute which they levied on all who navigated the adjacent seas, and to
have possessed many ports on the coast. Besides their own fleet, the
Britons, who were their allies, sent ships to their assistance; so that
their united force amounted to 220 sail, well equipped, and manned by bold
and expert seamen.
To oppose this formidable fleet, Caesar ordered ships to be built on the
Loire, and the rivers running into it, exactly, as we have just stated,
after the model of the ships of the Vanni; for he was informed, or learnt
by experience, that the vessels which were used in the Mediterranean were
not fit for navigating and fighting on the ocean, but that such as were
employed on the latter must be built, not only stronger, but flat-bottomed,
and high at the head and stern, in order to withstand the fury of the waves
and winds, which was greater in the ocean than in the Mediterranean, and at
the same time to sail up the rivers, or in very shallow water, and to take
the ground, without injury or danger. Not being able, however, to build in
time a sufficient number of ships in Gaul, after the model of those of the
Vanni, he was under the necessity of bringing some from the south coast of
Gaul, and other parts of the Mediterranean Sea; he also collected all the
experienced pilots he could meet with, who were acquainted with the coasts,
and with the management of such ships, and exercised a sufficient number of
men at the oar, to navigate them.
These preparations were all indispensably requisite; for in the battle
which ensued, the Vanni and their allies fought their ships with a skill
and a valour of which the Romans had not had any previous example; and they
would certainly have been beaten, if they had not, by means of sharp
engines, cut the ropes and sails of the hostile fleet, and thus rendered
their ships unmanageable: in this state they were easily and speedily
captured. As the Vanni had on this occasion mustered all their forces,
their defeat put an end to their resistance, and removed Caesar's principal
obstacle to the invasion of Britain.
The motives which induced Caesar to invade Britain can only be conjectured,
if, indeed, any other motive operated on his mind besides ambition, and the
love of conquest and glory; stimulated by the hope of subduing a country,
which seemed the limit of the world to the west, and which was in a great
measure unknown. He was, probably, also incited by his desire to punish the
Britons for having assisted the Vanni; and Suetonius adds, that he was
desirous of enriching himself with British pearls, which were at that time
in high repute.
Before he undertook this expedition, which, even to Caesar, appeared
formidable, he resolved to learn all he could respecting Britain. For this
purpose, he collected the merchants who traded thither from all parts of
Gaul; but they could afford him no satisfactory information. They had
visited only the opposite coast of Britain; of the other parts of the
country, of its extent, its inhabitants, &c., they were utterly ignorant.
Under these circumstances, therefore, he sent one of his officers in a
galley, who, after being absent five days, during which however he had not
ventured to land, returned to Caesar, and acquainted him with the little he
had observed.
Caesar resolved to invade Britain immediately: for this purpose, he ordered
eighty transports to take on board two legions; and the cavalry to be
embarked in eighteen more, at a port a few miles off. The enterprize was
attended with considerable difficulty, from the opposition of the Britons,
and the large ships of the Romans not being able to approach very near the
land. It was however successful, and the Britons sued for and obtained
peace.
This they were soon induced to break, in consequence of Caesar's fleet
being greatly injured by a storm; and the violence of the wind raising the
tide very high, the Roman sailors, unaccustomed to any tides except the
very trifling ones of the Mediterranean, were still more alarmed and
dispirited. The Britons, after attacking one of the legions, ventured on a
still bolder enterprize, for they endeavoured to force the Roman camp: in
this attempt they were defeated, and again obliged to sue for peace. This
was granted, and Caesar returned to Gaul. But the Britons not fulfilling
the conditions of the peace, Caesar again invaded their country with 600
ships and twenty-eight galleys; he landed without opposition, and defeated
the Britons. His fleet again encountered a storm, in which forty ships were
lost, and the rest greatly damaged. In order to prevent a similar accident,
he drew all his ships ashore, and enclosed them within the fortifications
of the camp. After this, he had no further naval operations with the
Britons.
It will now be proper to consider the state of Britain at the period of its
invasion by the Romans, with respect to its navigation and commerce. It is
the generally received opinion, that the Britons, at the time of the
invasion of their island by Caesar, had no ships except those which he and
other ancient authors, particularly Solinus and Lucan, describe. These were
made of light and pliant wood, their ribs seem to have been formed of
hurdles, and they were lined as well as covered (so far as they were at all
decked) with leather. They had, indeed, masts and sails; the latter and the
ropes were also made of leather; the sails could not be furled, but, when
necessary, were bound to the mast. They were generally, however, worked
with oars, the rowers singing to the stroke of their oars, sometimes
accompanied by musical instruments. These rude vessels seem not to have
been the only ones the Britons possessed, but were employed solely for the
purpose of sailing to the opposite coasts of Gaul and of Ireland. They
were, indeed, better able to withstand the violence of the winds and waves
than might be supposed from the materials of which they were built. Pliny
expressly states that they made voyages of six days in them; and in the
life of St Columba, (in whose time they were still used, the sixth
century,) we are informed of a vessel lined with leather, which went with
oars and sails, sailing for fourteen days in a violent storm in safety, and
gaining her port. The passage therefore in these boats across the Irish
Channel, could not be so very dangerous as it is represented by Solinus.
But notwithstanding the authority of Caesar, Pliny, Solinus, and Lucan, who
mention only these leathern vessels, and that the poet Avienus, who lived
in the fourth century, expressly states, that even in his time the Britons
had no ships made of timber, but only boats covered with leather or hides;
there are circumstances which must convince us that they did possess
larger, stronger, and more powerful ships. Caesar informs us, that the
Britons often assisted the Gauls, both by land and sea; and we have seen
that they sent assistance to the Vanni, in their sea-fight against Caesar;
but it is not to be supposed that their leathern boats, small and weak as
they were, could have been of any material advantage in an engagement with
the Roman ships. Besides, the Britons, who inhabited the coast opposite to
Gaul, carried on, as we have remarked, a considerable and regular trade
with the Vanni; it is, therefore, reasonable to presume, that they would
learn from this tribe, the art of building ships like theirs, which were so
well fitted for these seas, as well as for war, that Caesar built vessels
after their model, when he formed the determination of opposing them by
sea.
The Britons, however, certainly did not themselves engage much in the
traffic with Gaul, and therefore could not require many vessels of either
description for this purpose. From the earliest period, of which we have
any record, till long after the invasion by Caesar, the commodities of
Britain seem to have been exported by foreign ships, and the commodities
given in exchange brought by these.
In our account of the commerce of the Phoenicians, their trade to Britain
for tin has been described. Pliny, in his chapter on inventions and
discoveries, states that this metal was first brought from the Cassiterides
by Midacritus, but at what period, or of what nation he was, he does not
inform us. This trade was so lucrative, that a participation in it was
eagerly sought by all the commercial nations of the Mediterranean, and even
by the Romans, who, as we have seen, were not at this period, much given to
commerce. This is evident, by the well known fact, of one of their vessels
endeavouring to follow the course of a Phoenician or Carthaginian vessel,
in her voyage to Britain. The Greeks of Marseilles, according to Polybius,
first followed, successfully, the course of the Phoenicians, and, about 200
years before Christ, began to share with them in the tin trade. Whether, at
this period, they procured it exclusively by direct trade with Britain, is
not known; but afterwards, as we have already mentioned, Marseilles became
one of the principal depots for this metal, which was conveyed to it
through Gaul, and exported thence by sea.
If we may believe Strabo, the Romans had visited Britain before it was
invaded by Caesar, as he expressly mentions that Publius Crassus made a
voyage thither: if he means P. Crassus the younger, he was one of Caesar's
lieutenants in Gaul; and, as he was stationed in the district of the Vanni,
it is not improbable that he passed from thence into Britain; or he may
have been sent by Caesar, at the same time that Volusenus was sent, and for
the same purpose.
However this may be, there was no regular intercourse between Britain and
Rome till some time after Caesar's invasion; in the time of Tiberius,
however, and probably earlier, the commerce of Britain was considerable.
Strabo, who died at the beginning of that emperor's reign, informs us, that
corn, cattle, gold, silver, tin, lead, hides, and dogs, were the
commodities furnished by the Britons. The tin and lead, he adds, came from
the Cassiterides. According to Camden, 800 vessels, laden with corn, were
freighted annually to the continent; but this assertion rests on very
doubtful authority, and cannot be credited if it applies to Britain, even
very long after the Roman conquest. Though Strabo expressly mentions gold
and silver among the exports, yet Caesar takes notice of neither; and
Cicero, in his epistles, writing to his friend, respecting Britain, states,
on the authority of his brother, who was there, that there were neither of
these metals in the island. The dogs of Britain formed a very considerable
and valuable article of export; they seem to have been known at Rome even
before Caesar's expedition: the Romans employed them in hunting, and the
Gauls in hunting and in their wars: they were of different species. Bears
were also exported for the amphitheatres; but their exportation was not
frequent till after the age of Augustus. Bridle ornaments, chains, amber,
and glass ware, are enumerated by Strabo among the exports from Britain;
but, according to other authors, they were imported into it. Baskets, toys
made of bone, and oysters, were certainly among the exports; and, according
to Solinus, gagates, or jet, of which Britain supplied a great deal of the
best kind. Chalk was also, according to Martial, an article of export:
there seems to have been British merchants whose sole employment was the
exportation of this commodity, as appears by an ancient inscription found
in Zealand, and quoted by Whitaker, in his history of Manchester. This
article was employed as a manure on the marshy land bordering on the Rhine.
Pliny remarks that its effect on the land continued eighty years. The
principal articles imported into Britain were copper and brass, and
utensils made of these metals, earthen ware, salt, &c. The traffic was
carried on partly by means of barter, and partly by pieces of brass and
iron, unshaped, unstamped, and rated by weight. The duties paid in Gaul, on
the imports and exports of Britain, formed, according to Strabo, the only
tribute exacted from the latter country by the Romans in his time.
Of that part of Europe which lies to the north of Gaul, the Romans, at the
period of which we are treating, knew little or nothing, though some
indirect traffic was carried on with Germany. The feathers of the German
geese were preferred to all others at Rome; and amber formed a most
important article of traffic. This was found in great abundance on the
Baltic shore of Germany: at first, it seems to have been carried the whole
length of the continent, to the Veneti, who forwarded it to Rome.
Afterwards, in consequence of the great demand for it there, and its high
price, the Romans sent people expressly to purchase it in the north of
Germany: and their land journies, in search of this article, first made
them acquainted with the naval powers of the Baltic. The Estii, a German
tribe, who inhabited the amber country, gathered and sold it to the Roman
traders, and were astonished at the price they received for it. In Nero's
time it was in such high request, that that emperor resolved to send
Julianus, a knight, to procure it for him in large quantities: accordingly,
a kind of embassy was formed, at the head of which he was placed. He set
out from Carnuntum, a fortress on the banks of the Danube, and after
travelling, according to Pliny, 600 miles, arrived at the amber coast.
There he bought, or received as a present, for the emperor, 13,000 pounds
weight, among which was one piece that weighed thirteen pounds. The whole
of this immense quantity served for the decoration of one day, on which
Nero gave an entertainment of gladiators. In the time of Theodoric, king of
the Goths, the Estii sent that monarch a large quantity of amber, as the
most likely present by means of which they could obtain his alliance. They
informed the ambassadors, whom he sent with a letter acknowledging this
present, that they were ignorant whence the amber came, but that it was
thrown upon their coast by the sea, a fact which exactly agrees with what
occurs at present.
Whether the Estii, with whom the Romans carried on this traffic, were a
maritime nation, we are not informed; but there was another nation or tribe
of Germans on the Baltic, of whose maritime character some notices are
given. These were the Sitones, who, according to Tacitus, had powerful
fleets; their ships were built with two prows, so as to steer at both ends,
and prevent the necessity of putting about; their oars were not fixed, like
those of the Mediterranean vessels, but loose, so that they could easily
and quickly be shifted: they used no sails. The people of Taprobane
(Ceylon)--the Byzantines, and, on some occasions, the Romans also, employed
vessels, like those of the Sitones, which could be steered at both ends.
One of the most considerable revolutions in the maritime and commercial
affairs of Rome, was brought about by the battle of Actium. The fleet of
Anthony was composed chiefly of ships belonging to the Egyptians, Tyrians,
and other nations of the east, and amounted, according to some accounts, to
200 sail, whereas the fleet of Augustus consisted of 400 sail. Other
authors estimate them differently; but all agree that the ships of Anthony
were much larger, stronger, and loftier, than those of Caesar: they were
consequently more unwieldy. We have the express testimony of Plutarch, that
it was principally this victory which convinced Caesar of the advantages
and extraordinary use of the Liburnian ships; for though they had been
employed before this time in the Roman fleet, yet they had never been so
serviceable in any previous battle. Augustas, therefore, as well as most of
the succeeding emperors of Rome, scarcely built any other ships but those
according to the Liburnian model.
One of the first objects of Augustus, after he had obtained the empire, was
to secure the command of the sea: he made use of the ships which he had
captured from Anthony to keep the people of Gaul in subjection; and he
cleared the Mediterranean of the pirates which infested it and obstructed
commerce. He formed two fleets, one at Ravenna, and the other at Misenum;
the former to command the eastern, the latter the western division of the
Mediterranean: each of these had its own proper commanders, and to each was
attached a body of several thousand mariners. Ravenna, situated on the
Adriatic, about ten or twelve miles from the most southern of the seven
mouths of the Po, was not a place of much consequence till the age of
Augustus: that emperor, observing its advantages, formed at the distance of
about three miles from the old town and nearer the sea, a capacious
harbour, capable of containing 250 ships of war. The establishment was on a
large and complete scale, consisting of arsenals, magazines, barracks, and
houses for the ship-carpenters, &c.: the principal canal, which was also
formed by Augustus, and took its name from him, carried the waters of the
river through the middle of Ravenna to the entrance of the harbour. The
city was rendered still stronger by art than nature had formed it. As early
as the fifth or sixth centuries of the Christian era the port was
converted, by the retreat of the sea, into dry ground, and a grove of pines
grew where the Roman fleet had anchored.
Besides the principal ports of Ravenna and Misenum, Augustus stationed a
very considerable force at Frejus, on the coast of Provence, forty ships in
the Euxine, with 3000 soldiers; a fleet to preserve the communication
between Gaul and Britain, another near Alexandria, and a great number of
smaller vessels on the Rhine and the Danube. As soon as the Romans had
constant and regular fleets, instead of the legionary soldiers, who used to
fight at sea as well as at land, a separate band of soldiers were raised
for the sea service, who were called Classiarii; but this service was
reckoned less honourable than that of the legionary soldiers.
The period at which we are arrived seems a proper one to take a general
view of the commerce of the Roman empire; though, in order to render this
view more complete, it will be necessary in many instances to anticipate
the transactions posterior to the reign of Augustus. We shall, therefore,
in the first place, give a statement of the extent of the Roman empire when
it had reached its utmost limits; secondly, an account of its roads and
communications by land; and, lastly, an abstract of the principal imports
into it, and the laws and finances, so far as they respect its commerce.
1. The empire, at the death of Augustus, was bounded on the west by the
Atlantic ocean, on the north by the Rhine and the Danube, on the east by
the Euphrates, and on the south by the deserts of Arabia and Africa. The
only addition which it received during the first century was the province
of Britain: with this addition it remained till the reign of Trajan. That
emperor conquered Dacea, and added it to the empire: he also achieved
several conquests in the east; but these were resigned by his successor
Adrian. At this period, therefore, the Roman empire may be considered as
having attained its utmost limits. It is impossible to ascertain the number
of people that were contained within these limits. In the time of Claudius
the Roman citizens were numbered; they amounted to 6,945,000: if to these
be added the usual proportion of women and children, the number will be
encreased to about 20,000,000. If, therefore, we calculate, as we may
fairly do, that there were twice as many provincials as there were citizens
with their wives and children, and that the slaves were at least equal in
number to the provincials, the total population of the Roman empire will
amount to 120,000,000.
Our ideas of the vastness and wealth of the empire will be still farther
encreased, if we regard the cities which it contained, though it is
impossible to decide in most instances the extent and population of many
places which were honoured with the appellation of cities. Ancient Italy is
said to have contained 1197, Gaul 1200, of which many, such as Marseilles,
Narbonne, Lyons, &c. were large and flourishing; Spain 300, Africa 300, and
Asia Proper 500, of which many were very populous.
2. All these cities were connected with one another and with Rome itself by
means of the public highways: these issuing from the forum, traversed
Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of
the empire. The great chain of communication formed by means of them from
the extreme north-west limit of the empire, through Rome to the south-east
limit, was in length nearly 4000 miles. These roads were formed in the most
substantial manner, and with astonishing labour and expence; they were
raised so as to command a prospect of the adjacent country; on each side
was a row of large stones for foot passengers. The miles were reckoned from
the gates of the city and marked on stones: at shorter distances there were
stones for travellers to rest on, or to assist those who wished to mount
their horses: there were cross roads from the principal roads. The care and
management of all the roads were entrusted only to men of the highest rank.
Augustus himself took charge of those near Rome, and appointed two men of
prætorian rank to pave the roads: at the distance of five or six miles
houses were built, each of which was constantly provided with forty horses;
but these could only be used in the public service, except by particular
and express authority. By means of the relays thus furnished, the Romans
could travel along their excellent roads 100 miles a day: they had no
public posts. Augustus first introduced public couriers among the Romans;
but they were employed only to forward the public despatches, or to convey
public intelligence of great and urgent importance.
Such was the facililty of communication by land from all parts of the
empire to Rome, and from each part to all the other parts: nor was the
communication of the empire less free and open by sea than it was by land.
"The provinces surrounded and enclosed the Mediterranean; and Italy, in the
shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the midst of that great
lake." From Ostia, situated at the mouth of the Tiber, only sixteen miles
from the capital, a favourable wind frequently carried vessels in seven
days to the straits of Gibraltar, and in nine or ten to Alexandria, in
Egypt.
3. In enumerating the principal articles imported into Rome, for the use of
its immense and luxurious population, we shall, necessarily, recapitulate,
in some degree, what has already been stated in giving an account of the
commerce of the different countries which were conquered by the Romans. But
this objection, we conceive, will be abundantly counterbalanced by the
connected and complete view which we shall thus be enabled to give of the
commerce of the Roman empire.
Before, however, we enter on this subject, we shall briefly consider the
ideas entertained by the Romans on the subject of commerce. We have already
had occasion incidentally to remark that the Romans thought meanly of it,
and that their grand object in all their conquests was the extension of
their territory; and that they even neglected the commercial facilities and
advantages, which they might have secured by their conquests. This was most
decidedly the case during the time of the republic. The statue of Victory,
which was erected in the port of Ostia, and the medals of the year of Rome
630, marked on the reverse with two ships and a victory, prove that at this
period the Roman fleets that sailed from this port were chiefly designed
for war. The prefects of the fleet were not employed, nor did they consider
it as their duty to attend to commerce, or to the merchant ships, except so
far as to protect them against the pirates. Of the low opinion entertained
by the Romans respecting commerce we have the direct testimony of Cicero:
writing to his son on the subject of professions, he reprobates and
condemns all retail trade as mean and sordid, which can be carried on
successfully only by means of lying. Even the merchant, unless he deals
very extensively, he views with contempt; if, however, he imports from
every quarter articles of great value and in great abundance, and sells
them in a fair and equitable manner, his profession is not much to be
contemned; especially if, after having made a fortune, he retires from
business, and spends the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits: in this
case, he deserves even positive praise. There is another passage of Cicero,
quoted by Dr. Vincent, in his Periplus, in which the same sentiments are
expressed: he says, "Is such a man, who was a merchant and neighbour of
Scipio, greater than Scipio because he is richer?" Pliny, also, though in
his natural history he expatiates in praise of agriculture and gardening,
medicine, painting and statuary, passes over merchandize with the simple
observation that it was invented by the Phoenicians. In the periplus of the
Erythrean sea, and in the works of Ptolemy, &c. the names of many merchants
and navigators occur; but they are all Greeks. Even after the conquest of
Egypt, which gave a more commercial character to the Roman manners, habits
and mode of thinking than they previously possessed, no Roman was permitted
to engage in the trade of that country.
Although, however, mercantile pursuits were thus underrated and despised by
the warlike portion of the nation, as well as by the philosophers, yet they
were followed by those who regarded gain as the principal object of life.
The wealth of merchants became proverbial: immense numbers of them followed
the armies, and fixed in the provinces subdued or allied,--the _Italici
generis homines_, who were agents, traders, and monopolizers, such as
Jugurtha took in Zama, or the 100,000 Mithridates slaughtered in Asia
Minor, or the merchants killed at Genabum (Orleans).
In the passage quoted from Cicero de Officiis, he expressly mentions the
merchant who _imports_; but he does not once allude to exportation.
Indeed, the commerce of the Romans, in the most luxurious period of the
empire, was entirely confined to importation, and may, with few exceptions,
be designated as consisting in the expenditure of the immense revenue they
derived from their conquests, and the immense fortunes of individuals, in
the necessaries, comforts, and, above all, the luxuries of the countries
which they had conquered.
By far the most extensive and important trade which the Romans carried on
at all periods of their history, was the conveyance of corn and other
provisions to the capital. The contiguous territory at no time was
sufficient to supply Rome with corn; and, long before the republic was
destroyed, even Italy was inadequate to this purpose. As the population
encreased, and the former corn fields were converted into pleasure-grounds
or pasture, the demand for corn was proportionally encreased, and the
supply from the neighbourhood proportionally diminished. But there was
another circumstance which rendered a regular and full supply of corn an
object of prime importance: the influence of the patron depended on his
largesses of corn to his clients; and the popularity, and even the reign of
an emperor, was not secure, unless he could insure to the inhabitants this
indispensable necessary of life. There were several laws respecting the
distribution of corn: by one passed in the year of Rome 680, five bushels
were to be given monthly to each of the poorer citizens, and money was to
be advanced annually from the treasury, sufficient to purchase 800,000
bushels of wheat, of three different qualities and prices. By the
Sempronian law, this corn was to be sold to the poor inhabitants at a very
low price; but by the Clodian law it was to be distributed _gratis_:
the granaries in which this corn was kept were called Horrea Sempronia. The
number of citizens who received corn by public distribution, in the time of
Augustus, amounted to 200,000. Julius Caesar had reduced the number from
320,000 to 150,000. It is doubtful whether five bushels were the allowance
of each individual or of each family; but if Dr. Arbuthnot be correct in
estimating the _modius_ at fourteen pounds, the allowance must have
been for each family, amounting to one quarter seven bushels, and one peck
per annum.
We have dwelt on these particulars for the purpose of pointing out the
extreme importance of a regular and full supply of corn to Rome; and this
importance is still further proved by the special appointment of
magistrates to superintend this article. The prefect, or governor of the
market, was an ancient establishment in the Roman republic; his duty was to
procure corn: on extraordinary occasions, this magistrate was created for
this express purpose, and the powers granted him seem to have been
increased in the latter periods of the republic, and still more, after the
republic was destroyed. Pompey, who held this office, possessed greater
power and privileges than his immediate predecessor, and in a time of great
scarcity. Augustus, himself, undertook the charge of providing the corn: it
was at the same time determined, that for the future, two men of the rank
of praetors should be annually elected for this purpose; four were
afterwards appointed. It would seem, however, that even their appointment
became an ordinary and regular thing: the emperors themselves superintended
the procuring of corn, for one of their titles was that of
commissary-general of corn.
Besides this magistrate, whose business was confined to the buying and
importing of corn, there were two aediles, first appointed by Julius
Caesar, whose duty it was to inspect the public stores of corn and other
provisions.
Till the time of Julius Caesar, the foreign corn for the supply of Rome was
imported into Puteoli, a town of Campania, between Baiae and Naples, about
seventy miles from the capital. As this was very inconvenient, Caesar
formed the plan of making an artificial harbour at the mouth of the Tiber,
at Ostia. This plan, however, was not at this time carried into execution:
Claudius, however, in consequence of a dreadful famine which raged at Rome,
A.D. 42, resolved to accomplish it. He accordingly dug a spacious basin in
the main land; the entrance to which was formed and protected by artificial
moles, which advanced far into the sea; there was likewise a little island
before the mouth of the harbour, on which a light-house was built, after
the model of the Pharos of Alexandria. By the formation of this harbour,
the largest vessel could securely ride at anchor, within three deep and
capacious basins, which received the northern branch of the Tiber, about
two miles from the ancient colony of Ostïa.
Into this port corn arrived for the supply of Rome from various countries;
immense quantities of wheat were furnished by the island of Sicily. Egypt
was another of the granaries of the capital of the world; according to
Josephus, it supplied Rome with corn sufficient for one-third of its whole
consumption: and Augustus established regular corn voyages from Alexandria
to the capital. Great quantities were also imported from Thrace, and from
Africa Proper. The ships employed in the corn trade, especially between
Egypt and Rome, were the largest of any in the Mediterranean: this probably
arose from the encouragement given to this trade by Tiberius, and
afterwards increased by Claudius. The former emperor gave a bounty of about
fourpence on every peck of corn imported: and Claudius, during the time of
the famine, made the bounty so great as, at all events, and in every
instance, to secure the importers a certain rate of profit. He also used
all his efforts to persuade the merchants to import it even in winter,
taking upon himself all the losses, &c. which might arise from risking
their ships and cargoes, at a time of the year when it was the invariable
practice of the ancients to lay the former up. Whenever an emperor had
distinguished himself by a large importation of corn, especially, if by
this means a famine was avoided or removed, medals seem to have been struck
commemorative of the circumstance; thus, on several medals there is a
figure of a ship, and the words _Annona Aug_. or _Ceres Aug_. Many of these
were struck under Nero, and Antoninus Pius. During the time of the
republic, also, similar medals were struck, with the figure of a prow of a
ship, and an inscription shewing the object for which the fleets had been
sent.
Having been thus particular in describing the importation of corn, we shall
notice the imports of other articles in a more cursory manner. The northern
parts of Italy furnished salt pork, almost sufficient for the whole
consumption of Rome, tapestry, and woollen cloths, wool, and marble; to
convey the latter, there were ships of a peculiar form and construction;
steel, crystal, ice, and cheese.
From Liguria, Rome received wood for building, of a very large size, ship
timber, fine and beautiful wood for tables, cattle, hides, honey, and
coarse wool. Etruria, also, supplied timber, cheese, wine, and stone; the
last was shipped at the ports of Pisa and Luna. Pitch and tar were sent
from Brutium; oil and wine from the country of the Sabines. Such were the
principal imports from the different parts of Italy.
From Corsica, timber for ship building; from Sardinia, a little corn and
cattle; from Sicily, besides corn,--wine, honey, salt, saffron, cheese,
cattle, pigeons, corals, and a species of emerald. Cloth, but whether linen
or cotton is uncertain, was imported from Malta; honey, from Attica.
Lacedemon supplied green marble, and the dye of the purple shell-fish. From
the Grecian islands, there were imported Parian marble, the earthenware of
Samos, the vermilion of Lemnos, and other articles, principally of luxury.
Thrace supplied salted tunnies, the produce of the Euxine Sea, besides
corn. The finest wool was imported from Colchis, and also hemp, flax,
pitch, and fine linens: these goods, as well as articles brought overland
from India, were shipped from the port of Phasis. The best cheese used at
Rome, was imported from Bithynia. Phrygia supplied a stone like alabaster,
and the country near Laodicea, wool of excellent quality, some of which was
of a deep black colour. The wine drank at Rome, was principally the produce
of Italy; the best foreign wine, was imported from Ionia. Woollen goods,
dyed with Tyrian purple, were imported from Miletus, in Caria. An inferior
species of diamond, copper, resin, and sweet oil were imported from Cyprus.
Cedar, gums, balsam, and alabaster, were supplied by Syria, Phoenicia, and
Palestine. Glass was imported from Sidon, as well as embroidery and purple
dye, and several kinds of fish, from Tyre. The goods that were brought from
India, by the route of Palmyra, were shipped for Rome, from the ports of
Syria. Egypt, besides corn, supplied flax, fine linen, ointments, marble,
alabaster, salt, alum, gums, paper, cotton goods, some of which, as well as
of their linens, seem to have been coloured or printed, glass ware, &c. The
honey lotus, the lotus, or nymphæa of Egypt, the stalk of which contained a
sweet substance, which was considered as a luxury by the Egyptians, and
used as bread, was sometimes carried to Rome; it was also used as provision
for mariners. Alexandria was the port from which all the produce and
manufactories of Egypt, as well as all the ports which passed through this
country from India, were shipped. In consequence of its becoming the seat
of the Roman government in Egypt, of the protection which it thus received,
and of its commerce being greatly extended by the increased wealth and
luxury of Rome, its extent and population were greatly augmented; according
to Diodorus Siculus, in the time of Augustus, from whose reign it became
the greatest emporium of the world, it contained 300,000 free people.
That part of Africa which was formerly possessed by the Carthaginians,
besides corn, sent to Rome, honey, drugs, marble, the eggs and feathers of
the ostrich, ostriches, elephants, and lions; the last for the
amphitheatre. From Mauritania, there were exported to the capital, timber
of a fine grain and excellent quality, the exact nature of which is not
known; this was sold at an enormous rate, and used principally for making
very large tables.
Spain supplied Rome with a very great number and variety of articles; from
the southern parts of it were exported corn, wine, oil, honey, wax, pitch,
scarlet dye, vermilion, salt, salted provisions, wool, &c. From the eastern
part of the north of Spain were exported salted provisions, cordage made of
the _spartum_, silver, earthenware, linen, steel, &c. The Balearic
islands exported some wine. The trade of Spain to Rome employed a great
number of vessels, almost as many as those which were employed in the whole
of the African trade; this was especially the case in the reigns of
Augustus and Tiberius. Even in the time of Julius Caesar, Spain had
acquired great wealth, principally by her exports to Rome. The ports from
which the greatest part of these commodities were shipped, were Cadiz, New
Carthage, and a port at the mouth of the Boetis, where, for the security of
the shipping, a light-house had been built. Cadiz was deemed the rival of
Alexandria in importance, shipping, and commerce; and so great was the
resort of merchants, &c. to it, that many of them, not being able to build
houses for want of room on the land, lived entirely upon the water.
From Gaul, Rome received gold, silver, iron, &c. which were sent as part of
the tribute; also linens, corn, cheese, and salted pork. Immense flocks of
geese travelled by land to Rome. The chief ports which sent goods to Rome
were Marseilles, Arles, and Narbonne, on the Mediterranean; and on the
Ocean, Bourdeau, and the port of the Veneti. It appears that there were a
considerable number of Italian or Roman merchants resident in Gaul, whose
principal trade it was to carry the wine made in the south of this
province, up the Rhine, and there barter it for slaves.
From Britain, Rome was supplied with tin, lead, cattle, hides, ornaments of
bone, vessels made of amber and glass, pearls, slaves, dogs, bears, &c. The
tin was either shipped from the island of Ictis (Isle of Wight), or sent
into Gaul: most of the other articles reached Rome through Gaul. The
principal article brought to Rome was amber.
We now come to the consideration of the articles with which Asia supplied
Rome; these, as may be easily imagined, were principally articles of
luxury. The murrhine cups, of the nature of which there has been much
unsatisfactory discussion, according to Pliny, came from Karmania in
Parthia; from Parthia they came to Egypt, and thence to Rome. It is
probable, however, that they came, in the first instance, from India, as
they are expressly mentioned by the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea, as brought down from the capital of Guzerat, to the port of Baragyza.
These cups were first seen at Rome, in the triumphal procession of Pompey,
when he returned from the shores of the Caspian Sea. They sold at enormous
prices; and were employed at the tables only of the great and wealthy, as
cups for drinking; they were in general of a small size. One, which held
three pints, sold for nearly 14,000_l_.; and Nero gave nearly
59,000_l_. for another. So highly were they prized, that, in the
conquest of Egypt, Augustus was content to select, for his own share, out
of all the spoils of Alexandria, a single murrhine cup.[5] Precious stones
and pearls were imported from Persia and Babylonia; the latter country also
furnished the wealthy Romans with _triclinaria_, which was furniture
of some description, but whether quilts, carpets, or curtains is not
ascertained. Persia supplied also incense of a very superior quality. The
various and valuable commodities with which Arabia supplied the profusion
and luxury of Rome, reached that capital from the port of Alexandria in
Egypt. We cannot enumerate the whole of them, but must confine ourselves to
a selection of the most important and valuable. Great demand, and a high
rate of profits necessarily draw to any particular trade a great number of
merchants; it is not surprising, therefore, that the trade in the luxuries
of the east was so eagerly followed at Rome. Pliny informs us, that the
Roman world was exhausted by a drain of 400,000_l_. a year, for the
purchase of luxuries, equally expensive and superfluous; and in another
place, he estimates the rate of profit made at Rome, by the importation and
sale of oriental luxuries at 100 per cent.
Arabia furnished diamonds, but these were chiefly of a small size, and
other gems and pearls. At Rome the diamond possessed the highest value; the
pearl, the second; and the emerald, the third. Nero used an emerald as an
eye-glass for short sight. But though large and very splendid diamonds
brought a higher price at Rome than pearls, yet the latter, in general,
were in much greater repute; they were worn in almost every part of the
dress, by persons of almost every rank. The famous pearl ear-rings of
Cleopatra were valued at 161,458_l_., and Julius Caesar presented the
mother of Brutus with a pearl, for which he paid 48,457_l_.
Frankincense, myrrh, and other precious drugs, were also brought to Rome
from Arabia, through the port of Alexandria. There was a great demand at
Rome for spices and aromatics, from the custom of the Romans to burn their
dead, and also from the consumption of frankincense, &c. in their temples.
At the funeral of Sylla 210 bundles of spices were used. Nero burnt, at the
funeral of Poppaea, more cinnamon and cassia than the countries from which
they were imported produced in one year. In the reign of Augustus,
according to Horace, one whole street was occupied by those who dealt in
frankincense, pepper, and other aromatics. Frankincense was also imported
into Rome from Gaza, on the coast of Palestine; according to Pliny, it was
brought to this place by a caravan, that was sixty-two days on its journey:
the length of the journey, frauds, impositions, duties; &c. brought every
camel's load to upward of 22_l_.; and a pound of the best sort sold at
Rome for ten shillings. Alexandria, however, was the great emporium for
this, as well as all the other produce of India and Arabia. Pliny is
express and particular on this point, and takes notice of the precautions
employed by the merchants there, in order to guard against adulteration and
fraud. Cinnamon, another of the exports of Arabia to Rome, though not a
production of that country, was also in high repute, and brought an
extravagant price. Vespasian was the first who dedicated crowns of
cinnamon, inclosed in gold filagree, in the Capitol and the Temple of
Peace; and Livia dedicated the root in the Palatine Temple of Augustus. The
plant itself was brought to the emperor Marcus Aurelius in a case seven
feet long, and was exhibited at Rome, as a very great rarity. This,
however, we are expressly informed came from Barbarike in India. It seems
to have been highly valued by other nations as well as by the Romans:
Antiochus Epiphanes carried a few boxes of it in a triumphal procession:
and Seleucus Callinicus presented two minae of it and two of cassia, as a
gift to the king of the Milesians. In the enumeration of the gifts made by
this monarch, we may, perhaps, trace the comparative rarity and value of
the different spices of aromatics among the ancients: of frankincense he
presented ten talents, of myrrh one talent, of cassia two pounds, of
cinnamon two pounds, and of costus one pound. Frankincense and myrrh were
the productions of Arabia; the other articles of India; of course the
former could be procured with much less difficulty and expence than the
latter. Spikenard, another Indian commodity, also reached Rome, through
Arabia, by means of the port of Alexandria. Pliny mentions, that both the
leaves and the spices were of great value, and that the odour was the most
esteemed in the composition of all unguents. The price at Rome was 100
denarii a pound. The markets at which the Arabian and other merchants
bought it were Patala on the Indus, Ozeni, and a mart on or near the
Ganges.
Sugar, also, but of a quality inferior to that of India, was imported from
Arabia, through Alexandria, into Rome. The Indian sugar, which is expressly
mentioned by Pliny, as better and higher priced, was brought to Rome, but
by what route is not exactly known, probably by means of the merchants who
traded to the east coast of Africa; where the Arabians either found it, or
imported it from India. In the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and likewise
in the rescript of the Roman emperors, relative to the articles imported
into Egypt from the East, which was promulgated by Marcus Aurelius and his
son Commodus, about the year A.D. 176, it is denominated cane-honey,
otherwise called sugar (sacchar). So early, therefore, as the Periplus
(about the year A.D. 73,) the name of sacchar was known to the Romans, and
applied by them to sugar. This word does not occur in any earlier author,
unless Dioscorides lived before that period, which is uncertain. It may be
remarked, that the nature, as well as the proper appellation of sugar, must
have been but imperfectly, and not generally known, even at the time of the
rescript, otherwise the explanatory phrase, honey made from cane, would not
have been employed.
The first information respecting sugar was brought to Europe by Nearchus,
the admiral of Alexander. In a passage quoted from his journal by Strabo,
it is described as honey made from reeds, there being no bees in that part
of India. In a fragment of Theophrastus, preserved by Photius, he mentions,
among other kinds of honey, one that is found in reeds. The first mention
of any preparation, by which the juice of the reed was thickened, occurs in
Eratosthenes, as quoted by Strabo, where he describes roots of large reeds
found in India, which were sweet to the taste, both when raw and boiled.
Dioscorides and Pliny describe it as used chiefly, if not entirely, for
medical purposes. In the time of Galen, A.D. 131, it would appear to have
become more common and cheaper at Rome; for he classes it with medicines
that may be easily procured. It seems probable, that though the Arabians
undoubtedly cultivated the sugar-cane, and supplied Rome with sugar from
it, yet they derived their knowledge of it from India; for the Arabic name,
shuker, which was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, is formed from the two
middle syllables of the Sanskrit word, ich-shu-casa.
But to return from this digression to the view of the imports into Rome:
Ethiopia supplied the capital with cinnamon of an inferior quality; marble,
gems, ivory; the horns of the rhinoceros and tortoiseshell. The last
article was in great demand, and brought a high price: it was used for
ornament, for furniture; as beds, tables, doors, &c.; not only in Italy,
but in Greece and Egypt: the finest sort was sold for its weight of silver.
It was imported not only from Ethiopia but also from the east coast of
Africa, and reached Rome even from Malabar and Malacca. The opsian stone
mentioned in the Periplus, and the opsidian stone described by Pliny, are
stated in both these authors to have come from Ethiopia; but whether they
were the same, and their exact nature, are not known. The opsian is
described as capable of receiving a high polish, and on that account as
having been used by the Emperor Domitian to face a portico. Pliny describes
it as employed to line rooms in the same manner as mirrors; he
distinguishes it from a spurious kind, which was red, but not transparent.
The dye extracted from the purple shell fish was imported into Rome from
Getulia, a country on the south side of Mauritania.
Rome was supplied with the commodities of India chiefly from Egypt; but
there were other routes by which also they reached the capital: of these it
will be proper to take some notice.
The most ancient communication between India and the countries on the
Mediterranean was by the Persian Gulf, through Mesopotamia, to the coasts
of Syria and Palestine. To facilitate the commerce which was carried on by
this route, Solomon is supposed to have built Tadmor in the wilderness, or
Palmyra: the situation of this place, which, though in the midst of barren
sands, is plentifully supplied with water, and has immediately round it a
fertile soil, was peculiarly favorable; as it was only 85 miles from the
Euphrates, and about 117 from the nearest part of the Mediterranean. By
this route the most valuable commodities of India, most of which were of
such small bulk as to beat the expence of a long land carriage, were
conveyed. From the age of Nebuchadnezzar to the Macedonian conquest,
Tiredon on the Euphrates was the city at which this commercial route began,
and which the Babylonians made use of, as the channel of their oriental
trade. After the destruction of Tyre by that monarch, a great part of the
traffic which had passed by Arabia, or the Red Sea, through Idumea and
Egypt, and that city, was diverted to the Persian Gulf, and through his
territories in Mesopotamia it passed by Palmyra and Damascus, through Syria
to the west. After the reduction of Babylon by Cyrus, the Persians, who
paid no attention to commerce, suffered Babylon and Ninevah to sink into
ruin; but Palmyra still remained, and flourished as a commercial city.
Under the Seleucidæ it seems to have reached its highest degree of
importance, splendour, and wealth; principally by supplying the Syrians
with Indian commodities. For upwards of two centuries after the conquest of
Syria by the Romans it remained free, and its friendship and alliance were
courted both by them and the Parthians. During this period we have the
express testimony of Appian, that it traded with both these nations, and
that Rome and the other parts of the empire received the commodities of
India from it. In the year A.D. 273, it was reduced and destroyed by
Aurelian, who found in it an immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and
precious stones. From this period, it never revived, or became a place of
the least importance or trade.
On the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the commercial communication between
India and Europe returned to Arabia in the south, and to the Caspian and
the Euxine in the north: there seem to have been two routes by these seas,
both of great antiquity. In describing one of them, the ancient writers are
supposed to have confounded the river Ochus, which falls into the Caspian,
with the Oxus, which falls into the lake of Aral. On this supposition, the
route may be traced in the following manner: the produce and manufactuers
of India were collected at Patala, a town near the mouth of the Indus; they
were carried in vessels up this river as far as it was navigable, where
they were landed, and conveyed by caravans to the Oxus: being again
shipped, they descended this river to the point where it approached nearest
to the Ochus, to which they were conveyed by caravans. By the Ochus they
were conveyed to the Caspian, and across it to the mouth of the river
Cyrus, which was ascended to where it approached nearest the Phasis:
caravans were employed again, till the merchandize were embarked at
Serapana on the Phasis, and thus brought to the Black Sea. According to
Pliny, Pompey took great pains to inform himself of this route; and he
ascertained, that by going up the Cyrus the goods would be brought within
five day's journey of the Phasis. There seems to have been some plan formed
at different times, and thought of by the Emperor Claudius, to join Asia to
Europe and the Caspian Sea, by a canal from the Cimmerian Bosphorus to the
Caspian Sea.
The route which we have thus particularly described was sometimes deviated
from by the merchants: they carried their goods up the Oxus till it fell
into lake Aral; crossing this, they transported them in caravans to the
Caspian, and ascending the Wolga to its nearest approach to the Tanais,
they crossed to the latter by land, and descended it to the sea of Azoph.
Strabo describes another route: viz. across the Caucasus, from the Caspian
to the Black Sea; this writer, however, must be under some mistake, for
camels, which he expressly says were employed, would be of no use in
crossing the mountains; it is probable, therefore, that this land
communication was round by the mouth of the Caspian,--a route which was
frequented by the merchants of the middle ages.
As the Euxine Sea was the grand point to which all these routes tended, the
towns on it became the resort of an immense number of merchants, even at
very early ages; and the kingdoms of Prusias, Attalus, and Mithridates were
enriched by their commerce. Herodotus mentions, that the trade of the
Euxine was conducted by interpreters of seven different languages. In the
time of Mithridates, 300 different nations, or tribes, met for commercial
purposes at Dioscurias in Colchis; and soon after the Romans conquered the
countries lying on the Euxine, there were 130 interpreters of languages
employed in this and the other trading towns. The Romans, however, as soon
as they became jealous, or afraid, of the power of the Parthians, would not
suffer them, or any other of the northern nations, to traffic by the
Euxine; but endeavoured, as far as they could, to confine the commerce of
the East to Alexandria: the consequence was, that even so early as the age
of Pliny, Dioscurias was deserted.
The only article of import into Rome that remains to be considered is silk:
the history of the knowledge and importation of this article among the
ancients, and the route by which it was obtained, will comprise all that it
will be necessary to say on this subject.
The knowledge of silk was first brought into Europe through the conquests
of Alexander the Great. Strabo quotes a passage from Nearchus, in which it
is mentioned, but apparently confounded, with cotton. It is well known that
Aristotle obtained a full and accurate account of all the discoveries in
natural history which were made during the conquests of Alexander, and he
gives a particular description of the silk worm; so particular, indeed,
that it is surprising how the ancients could, for nearly 600 years after
his death, be ignorant of the nature and origin of silk. He describes the
silk worm as a horned worm, which he calls bombyx, which passes through
several transformations, and produces bombytria. It does not appear,
however, that he was acquainted either with the native country of this
[work->worm], or with such a people as the Seres; and this is the only
reason for believing that he may allude entirely to a kind of silk made at
Cos, especially as he adds, that some women in this island decomposed the
bombytria, and re-wove and re-spun it. Pliny also mentions the bombyx, and
describes it as a natiye of Assyria; he adds, that the Assyrians made
bombytria from it, and that the inhabitants of Cos learnt the manufacture
from them. The most propable supposition is, that silk was spun and wove in
Assyria and Cos, but the raw material imported into these countries from
the Seres; for the silk worm was deemed by the Greeks and Romans so
exclusively and pre-eminently the attribute of the Sinae, that from this
very circumstance, they were denominated seres, or silk worms, by the
ancients.
The next authors who mention silk are Virgil, and Dionysius the geographer;
Virgil supposed the Seres to card their silk from leaves,--_Velleraque ut
foliis depectunt tentuia Seres_.--Dionysius, who was sent by Augustus to
draw up an account of the Oriental regions, says, that rich and valuable
garments were manufactured by the Seres from threads, finer than those of
the spider, which they combed from flowers.
It is not exactly known at what period silk garments were first worn at
Rome: Lipsius, in his notes on Tacitius, says, in the reign of Julius
Csesar. In the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, a law was made, that no
man should dishonor himself by wearing a silken garment. We have already
stated the opinion entertained by Pliny respecting the native country of
the silk worm; this author condemns in forcible, though affected language,
the thirst of gain, which explored the remotest parts of the earth for the
purpose of exposing to the public eye naked draperies and transparent
matrons. In his time, slight silks, flowered, seem to have been introduced
into religious ceremonies, as he describes crowns, in honour of the
deities, of various colours, and highly perfumed, made of silk. The next
author who mentions silk is Pausanias; he says, the thread from which the
Seres form their web is not from any kind of bark, but is obtained in a
different way; they have in their country a spinning insect, which the
Greeks call seer. He supposes that the insect lived five years, and fed on
green haulm: by the last particular, it is not improbable he meant the
leaves of the mulberry tree. For 200 years after the age of Pliny, the use
of silk was confined to the female sex, till the richer citizens, both of
the capital and the provinces, followed the example of Heliogabalus, the
first man, who, according to Lampridius, wore _holosericum_ that is, a
garment which was all of silk. From this expression, however, it is
evident, that previous to this period the male inhabitants of Rome had been
in the habit of wearing garments made of silk mixed with linen or woollen.
Hitherto there is no intimation in ancient authors of the price of silk at
Rome; in the time of Aurelian, however, that is towards the end of the
third century, we learn the high price at which it was rated, in an
indirect manner. For when the wife of that Emperor begged of him to permit
her to have but one single garment of purple silk; he refused it, saying,
that one pound of silk sold at Rome for 12 ounces, or its weight of gold.
This agrees with what is laid down in the Rhodian maritime laws, as they
appear in the eleventh book of the Digests, according to which unmixed silk
goods paid a salvage, if they were saved without being damaged by the sea
water, of ten per cent., as being equal in value to gold.
In about 100 years after the reign of Aurelian, however, the importation of
silk into Rome must have increased very greatly; for Ammianus Marcellinus,
who flourished A.D. 380, expressly states that silk, which had formerly
been confined to the great and rich, was, in his time, within the purchase
of the common people. Constantinople was founded about forty years before
he wrote; and it naturally found its way there in greater abundance than it
had done, when Rome was the capital of the empire.
From this time, till the middle of the sixth century, we have no particular
information respecting the silk trade of the Roman empire. At this period,
during the reign of Justinian, silk had become an article of very general
and indispensible use: but the Persians had occupied by land and sea the
monopoly of this article, so that the inhabitants of Tyre and Berytus, who
had all along manufactured it for the Roman market, were no longer able to
procure a sufficient supply, even at an extravagant price. Besides, when
the manufactured goods were brought within the Roman territories, they were
subject to a duty of ten per cent. Justinian, under these circumstances,
very impolitically ordered that silk should be sold at the rate of eight
pieces of gold for the pound, or about 3_l_. 4s. The consequence was
such as might have been expected: silk goods were no longer imported; and
to add to the injustice and the evil, Theodora, the emperor's wife, seized
all the silk, and fined the merchants very heavily. It was therefore
necessary, that Justinian should have recourse to other measures to obtain
silk goods; instead, however, of restoring the trade of Egypt, which at
this period had fallen into utter decay, and sending vessels directly from
the Red Sea to the Indian markets, where the raw material might have been
procured, he had recourse to Arabia and Abyssinia. According to Suidas, he
wished the former to import the silk in a raw state, intending to
manufacture it in his own dominions. But the king of Abyssinia declined the
offer; as the vicinity of the Persians to the Indian markets for silk
enabled them to purchase it at a cheaper rate than the Abyssinians could
procure it. The same obstacle prevented the Arabians from complying with
the request of Justinian.
The wealthy and luxurious Romans, therefore, must have been deprived of
this elegant material for their dresses, had not their wishes been
gratified by an unexpected event. Two Persian monks travelled to Serindi,
where they had lived long enough to become acquainted with the various
processes for spinning and manufacturing silk. When they returned, they
communicated their information to Justinian; and were induced, by his
promises, to undertake the transportation of the eggs of the silk-worm,
from China to Constantinople. Accordingly, they went back to Serindi, and
brought away a quantity of the eggs in a hollow cane, and conveyed them
safely to Constantinople. They superintended and directed the hatching of
the eggs, by the heat of a dunghill: the worms were fed on mulberry leaves:
a sufficient number of butterflies were saved to keep up the stock; and to
add to the benefits already conferred, the Persian monks taught the Romans
the whole of the manufacture. From Constantinople, the silk-worms were
conveyed to Greece, Sicily, and Italy. In the succeeding reign, the Romans
had improved so much in the management of the silk-worms, and in the
manufacture of silk, that the Serindi ambassadors, on their arrival in
Constantinople, acknowledged that the Romans were not inferior to the
natives of China, in either of these respects. It may be mentioned, in
further proof of the opinion already given, that the silk manufactures of
Cos were not supplied from silk-worms in that island, that we have the
express authority of Theophanes and Zonaras, that, before silk-worms were
brought to Constantinople, in the reign of Justinian, no person in that
city knew that silk was produced by a worm. This, certainly, would not have
been the case, if there had been silk-worms so near Constantinople as the
island of Cos is. All the authors whom we have quoted, (with the exception
of Aristotle, Pliny, and Pausanias,) including a period of six centuries,
supposed that silk was made from fleeces growing upon trees, from the bark
of trees, or from flowers. These mistakes, may, indeed, have arisen from
the Romans having heard of the silk being taken from the mulberry and other
trees, on which the worms feed; but, however they originated, they plainly
prove that the native country of the silk-worm was at a very great distance
from Rome, and one of which they had very little knowledge.
Having thus brought the history of this most valuable import into Rome,
down to the period, when, in consequence of the Romans having acquired the
silk-worm, there existed no longer any necessity to import the raw
materials; we shall next proceed to investigate the routes by which it was
brought from the Seres to the western parts of Asia, and thence to Rome. It
is well ascertained, that the silk manufacture was established at Tyre and
Berytus, from a very early period; and these places seem to have supplied
Rome with silk stuffs. But, by what route did silk arrive thither, and to
the other countries, so as to be within the immediate reach of the
Romans?--There were two routes, by which it was introduced to Europe, and
the contiguous parts of Asia: by land and sea.