117) informs us that it
was the Seleucides who collected into towns the inhabitants of
Babylonia, who before only inhabited villages (_vici_), and had no other
cities than Nineveh and Babylon.
was the Seleucides who collected into towns the inhabitants of
Babylonia, who before only inhabited villages (_vici_), and had no other
cities than Nineveh and Babylon.
Napoleon - History of Julius Caesar - a
41.
[334] Titus Livius, XLV. 82.
[335] Titus Livius, XLV. 33.
[336] It lasted three days: the first was hardly sufficient to pass in
review the 250 chariots laden with statues and paintings; the second
day, it was the turn of the arms, placed on cars, which were followed by
3,000 warriors carrying 750 urns full of money; each, borne by four men,
contained three talents (the whole amounting to more than 13 millions of
francs [£520,000]). After them came those who carried vessels of silver,
chased and wrought. On the third day appeared in the triumphal
procession those who carried the gold coins, with 77 urns, each of which
contained three talents (the total about 17 millions [£680,000]); next
came a consecrated cup, of the weight of ten talents, and enriched with
precious stones, made by order of the Roman general. All this preceded
the prisoners, Perseus and his household; and, lastly, came the car of
the triumphant general. (Plutarch, _Paulus Æmilius_, 32, 33. )
[337] Titus Livius, XLV. 40.
[338] Polybius, IV. 38, 44, 45.
[339] Aristotle, _Politics_, VI. 4, § 1. --Ælian, _Various Histories_,
III. 14.
[340] Strabo, VII. vi. § 2; XII. iii. § 11.
[341] Cicero, _Oration for the Law Manilia_, vi.
[342] Plutarch, _Sylla_, xxv.
[343] Especially the fish called _pelamydes_, objects of research
throughout Greece. (Strabo, VII. vi. § 2; XII. iii. § 11, § 19. )
[344] Strabo, XII. iii. § 19.
[345] Strabo, XII. iii. § 13. Gadilonitis extended to the south-west of
Amisus (_Samsoun_).
[346] Polybius, V. 44, 55. --Ezekiel xxvii. 13, 14.
[347] Xenophon, _Retreat of the Ten Thousand_, V. v. 34. --Homer,
_Iliad_, II. 857.
[348] Strabo, XII. iii. § 19.
[349] There passed in the procession a statue of gold of the King of
Pontus, six feet high, with his shield set with precious stones, twenty
stands covered with vases of silver, thirty-two others full of vases of
gold, with arms of the same metal, and with gold coinage; these stands
were carried by men followed by eight mules loaded with golden beds, and
after whom came fifty-six others carrying ingots of silver, and a
hundred and seven carrying all the silver money, amounting to 2,700,000
drachmas (2,619,000 francs [£104,760]). (Plutarch, _Lucullus_, xxxvii. )
[350] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, xxiii.
[351] Strabo, XII. iii. § 13, 14.
[352] Appian, _War against Mithridates_, lxxviii.
[353] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, xiv.
[354] See what is reported by Plutarch (_Lucullus_, xxix. ) of the riches
and objects of art of every species with which Tigranocerta was crammed.
[355] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, xiii. p. 658; xv. p. 662; xvii. p.
664.
[356] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, xvii. 664. Lesser Armenia furnished
1,000 horsemen. Mithridates had a hundred and thirty chariots armed with
scythes.
[357] Strabo, XII. iv. § 2. --Stephanus Byzantinus, under the word
Νικομἡδειον. --Pliny, _Natural History_, V. xxxii. 149.
[358] Strabo, XII. iii. § 6.
[359] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, xvii.
[360] Strabo, XII. v. § 7.
[361] Strabo (XII. v. § 3) tells us that Pessinus was the greatest mart
of the province.
[362] Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 23.
[363] Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 26.
[364] Diodorus Siculus, XVIII. 16.
[365] Strabo, XII. ii. § 10.
[366] About 3,500,000 francs [£140,000]. (Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 37. )
See Appian, _Wars of Syria_, xlii. --“Demetrius obtained soon afterwards
a thousand talents (5,821,000 francs [£232,840]) from Olophernes for
having established him on the throne of Cappadocia. ” (Appian, _Wars of
Syria_, xlvii. )
[367] Strabo, XII. ii. 7, 8.
[368] Falkener, _Ephesus_: London, 1862.
[369] _Natural History_, V. xxx. 126.
[370] It was thence that the fleets of the kings of Pergamus put to sea.
(Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 40; XLIV. 28. )
[371] The name of Pergamus is preserved in our modern languages in the
word “parchment” (_pergamena_), which was used to designate the skin
which was prepared in that town to serve as paper, after the Ptolemies
had prohibited the exportation of Egyptian papyrus.
[372] Attalus I. , King of Pergamus, gave to the Sicyonians 11,000
medimni of wheat. (Titus Livius, XXXII. 40. )--Eumenius II. lent 80,000
to the Rhodians. (Polybius, XXXI. xvii. 2. )
[373] Strabo, XII. viii. § 11.
[374] Athenæus, XV. xxxviii. 513, ed. Schweighæuser.
[375] The Sea of Marmora took its name from these quarries of marble.
[376] Κυξικηνοἱ στατἡρες, whence the word _sequins_.
[377] Strabo, XIII. i. § 23.
[378] Strabo, XV. iii. § 22.
[379] Titus Livius, XXXII. 16; XXXVI. 43.
[380] Titus Livius, XXXVII. 8.
[381] The petty king Moagetes, who reigned at Cibyra, in Phrygia, gave a
hundred talents and 10,000 medimni of corn (Polybius, XXII. 17. --Titus
Livius, XXXVIII. 14 and 15); Termessus, fifty talents; Aspendus,
Sagalassus, and all the cities of Pamphylia, paid the same (Polybius,
XXII. 18 and 19); and the towns of this part of Asia contributed, at the
first summons of the Roman general, for about 600 talents (3,500,000
francs [£140,000]); they also delivered to him about 60,000 medimni of
corn.
[382] Titus Livius, XXXIX. 6.
[383] Manlius, although he had been despoiled on his way home of a part
of his immense booty by the mountaineers of Thrace, displayed, at his
triumph, crowns of gold to the weight of 212 pounds, 220,000 pounds of
silver, 2,103 pounds of gold, more than 127,000 Attic tetradrachms,
250,000 cistophori, and 16,320 gold coins of Philip. (Titus Livius,
XXXIX. 7. )
[384] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, lxiii.
[385] Arrian, _Campaigns of Alexander_, I. xx. § 3. --Diodorus, XVII. 23.
[386] Strabo, XIV. ii. 565.
[387] Strabo, XIV. i. § 6.
[388] Pliny, _Natural History_, V. 31.
[389] Strabo, XIV. iii. § 6.
[390] Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 39.
[391] Scylax, _Periplus_, 39, ed. Hudson. --Dio Cassius, XLVII. 34.
[392] Herodotus, I. 176.
[393] Pliny, _Natural History_, V. 28.
[394] Strabo, XIV. v. § 2.
[395] Strabo, XIV. v. § 2.
[396] Tarsus had still naval arsenals in the time of Strabo (XIV. v. §
12 _et seq. _).
[397] Arrian, _Anabasis_, II. 5.
[398] Polybius, XXII. 7.
[399] Seleucus founded sixteen towns of the name of _Antiochia_, five of
the name of _Laodicea_, nine of the name of _Seleucia_, three of the
name of _Apamea_, one of the name of _Stratonicea_, and a great number
of others which equally received Greek names. (Appian, _Wars of Syria_,
lvii. 622. )--Pliny (_Natural History_, VI. xxvi.
117) informs us that it
was the Seleucides who collected into towns the inhabitants of
Babylonia, who before only inhabited villages (_vici_), and had no other
cities than Nineveh and Babylon.
[400] Pliny (_Natural History_, VI. 26, 119) mentions one of these towns
which was 70 stadia in circuit, and in his time was reduced to a mere
fortress.
[401] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 5. --Pausanias, VI. ii. § 7.
[402] John Malalas, _Chronicle_, VIII. 200 and 202, ed. Dindorf.
[403] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 4.
[404] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 6.
[405] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 10.
[406] It was raised on a terrace a thousand feet long by three hundred
feet broad, and was built with stones 70 feet long.
[407] The empire of Seleucus comprised seventy-two satrapies. (Appian,
_Wars of Syria_, lxii. 630. )
[408] Polybius, X. 27. Ecbatana paid to Antiochus III. a tribute of
4,000 talents (Attic talents = 23,284,000 francs [£931,360]), the
produce of the casting of silver tiles which roofed one of its temples.
Alexander the Great had already carried away those of the roof of the
palace of the kings.
[409] The country of Gerra, among the Arabians, paid 500 talents to
Antiochus (Attic talents = 2,910,500 francs [£116,420]). (Polybius,
XIII. 9. )--There was formerly a great quantity of gold in Arabia. (Job
xxviii. 1, 2. --Diodorus Siculus, II. 50. )
[410] Strabo, XVI. iii. § 3.
[411] Strabo, XI. ii. 426 _et seq. _
[412] Pliny, _Natural History_, VI. 11.
[413] Polybius, V. 54. If, as is probable, Babylonian talents are
intended, this would make about 7,426,000 francs [£297,040], Seleucia,
on the Tigris, was very populous. Pliny (_Natural History_, VI. 26)
estimates the number of its inhabitants at 600,000. Strabo (XVI. ii. §
5) tells us that Seleucia was even greater than Antioch. This town,
which had succeeded Babylon, appears to have inherited a part of its
population.
[414] In 565, Antiochus III. gives 15,000 talents (Euboic talents =
87,315,000 francs [£3,492,600]). (Polybius, XXI. 14. --Titus Livius,
XXXVIII. 37. ) In the treaty of the following year, the Romans stipulated
for a tribute of 12,000 Attic talents of the purest gold, payable in
twelve years, each talent of 80 pounds Roman (69,852,000 francs
[£2,794,080]). (Polybius, XXII. 26, § 19. ) In addition to this, Eumenes
was to receive 359 talents (2,089,739 francs [£83,589]), payable in five
years (Polybius, XXII. 26, § 20). --Titus Livius (XXXVIII. 38) says only
350 talents.
[415] The father of Antiochus, Seleucus Callinicus, sent to the Rhodians
200,000 medimni of wheat (104,000 hectolitres). (Polybius, V. 89. ) In
556, Antiochus gave 540,000 measures of wheat to the Romans. (Polybius,
XXII. 26, § 19. )
[416] According to Strabo (XV. 3), wheat and barley produced there a
hundredfold, and even twice as much, which is hardly probable.
[417] Strabo, XVI. 2.
[418] Athenæus, XII. 35, p. 460, ed. Schweighæuser.
[419] Polybius, XXXI. 3. --There were seen in these festivals a thousand
slaves carrying silver vases, the least of which weighed 1,000 drachmas;
a thousand slaves carrying golden vases and a profusion of plate of
extraordinary richness. Antiochus received every day at his table a
crowd of guests whom he allowed to carry away with them in chariots
innumerable provisions of all sorts. (Athenæus, V. 46, p. 311, ed.
Schweighæuser. )
[420] Polybius, V. 79.
[421] Titus Livius, XXXVII. 37.
[422] Strabo, XVI. 2.
[423] Polybius, V. 70.
[424] Titus Livius, XXXIII. 41. --Polybius, V. 59. --Strabo, XVI. 2.
[425] Strabo, XVI. 2.
[426] Strabo, XIV. 5.
[427] In 558, Antiochus sent to sea a hundred covered vessels and two
hundred light ships. (Titus Livius, XXXIII. 19. )--It is the greatest
Syrian fleet mentioned in these wars. At the battle of Myonnesus, the
fleet commanded by Polyxenus was composed of ninety decked ships (574).
(Appian, _Wars of Syria_, 27. )--In 563, before the final struggle
against the Romans, that prince had forty decked vessels, sixty without
decks, and two hundred transport ships. (Titus Livius, XXXV.
43. )--Finally, the next year, a little before the battle of Magnesia,
Antiochus possessed, not including the Phœnician fleet, a hundred
vessels of moderate size, of which seventy had decks. (Titus Livius,
XXXVI. 43; XXXVII. 8. )--This navy was destroyed by the Romans.
[428] Herodotus, II. 177. --Diodorus Siculus, I. 31.
[429] A measure great enough to make thirty loaves. (Franz, _Corpus
Inscript. Græcarum_, III. 303. --Polybius, V. 79. )
[430] Böckh, _Staatshaushaltung der Athener_, I. xiv. 15.
[431] Flavius Josephus, _Jewish Antiquities_, XII. 4.
[432] Athenæus, V. p. 203.
[433] Appian (_Preface_, § 10). --We may, nevertheless, judge from the
following data of the enormity of the sums accumulated in the treasuries
of the kings of Persia. Cyrus had gained, by the conquest of Asia,
34,000 pounds weight of gold coined, and 500,000 of silver. (Pliny,
XXXIII. 15. )--Under Darius, son of Hystaspes, 7,600 Babylonian talents
of silver (the Babylonian talent = 7,426 francs [£297]) were poured
annually into the royal treasury, besides 140 talents devoted to the pay
of the Cilician cavalry, and 360 talents of gold (14,680 talents of
silver), paid by the Indies. (Herodotus, III. 94. )--This king had thus
an annual revenue of 14,500 talents (108 millions of francs
[£4,320,000]). Darius carried with him in campaign two hundred camels
loaded with gold and precious objects. (Demosthenes, _On the Symmories_,
p. 185, xv. p. 622, ed. Müller. )--Thus, according to Strabo, Alexander
the Great found in the four great treasuries of that king (at Susa,
Persia, Pasargades, and Persepolis) 180,000 talents (about 1,337
millions of francs [£53,480,000]).
[434] Polybius, V. 89.
[435] Strabo, XVII. 1.
[436] Strabo, XVII. 1.
[437] Strabo, XVI. 4; XVII.
[438] Strabo, XVII. 1.
[439] Diodorus Siculus, III. 43.
[440] Appian, _Preface_, § 10. --In 537, at Raphia, the Egyptian army
amounted to 70,000 foot, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 elephants. (Polybius, V.
79; see also V. 65. )--Polybius, who gives us these details, adds that
the pay of the officers was one mina (97 francs [£3 17_s. _ 7_d. _]) a
day. (XIII. ii. )
[441] Theocritus, _Idylls_, XVII. lines 90-102. --Athenæus (V. 36, p.
284) and Appian, _Preface_, § 10, give the details of this
fleet. --Ptolemy IV. Philopator went so far as to construct a ship of
forty ranges of rowers, which was 280 cubits long and 30 broad.
(Athenæus, V. 37, p. 285. )
[442] Herodotus, IV. 199. The plateau of Barca, now desert, was then
cultivated and well watered.
[443] The most important object of commerce of the Cyrenaica was the
_silphium_, a plant the root of which sold for its weight in silver. A
kind of milky gum was extracted from it, which served as a panacea with
the apothecaries and as a seasoning in the kitchen. When, in 658,
Cyrenaica was incorporated with the Roman Republic, the province paid an
annual tribute in silphium. Thirty pounds of this juice, brought to Rome
in 667, were regarded as a miracle; and when Cæsar, at the beginning of
the civil war, seized upon the public treasury, he found in the treasury
chest 1,500 pounds of silphium locked up with the gold and silver.
(Pliny, XIX. 3. )
[444] Diodorus Siculus, III. 49. --Herodotus, IV. 169.
[334] Titus Livius, XLV. 82.
[335] Titus Livius, XLV. 33.
[336] It lasted three days: the first was hardly sufficient to pass in
review the 250 chariots laden with statues and paintings; the second
day, it was the turn of the arms, placed on cars, which were followed by
3,000 warriors carrying 750 urns full of money; each, borne by four men,
contained three talents (the whole amounting to more than 13 millions of
francs [£520,000]). After them came those who carried vessels of silver,
chased and wrought. On the third day appeared in the triumphal
procession those who carried the gold coins, with 77 urns, each of which
contained three talents (the total about 17 millions [£680,000]); next
came a consecrated cup, of the weight of ten talents, and enriched with
precious stones, made by order of the Roman general. All this preceded
the prisoners, Perseus and his household; and, lastly, came the car of
the triumphant general. (Plutarch, _Paulus Æmilius_, 32, 33. )
[337] Titus Livius, XLV. 40.
[338] Polybius, IV. 38, 44, 45.
[339] Aristotle, _Politics_, VI. 4, § 1. --Ælian, _Various Histories_,
III. 14.
[340] Strabo, VII. vi. § 2; XII. iii. § 11.
[341] Cicero, _Oration for the Law Manilia_, vi.
[342] Plutarch, _Sylla_, xxv.
[343] Especially the fish called _pelamydes_, objects of research
throughout Greece. (Strabo, VII. vi. § 2; XII. iii. § 11, § 19. )
[344] Strabo, XII. iii. § 19.
[345] Strabo, XII. iii. § 13. Gadilonitis extended to the south-west of
Amisus (_Samsoun_).
[346] Polybius, V. 44, 55. --Ezekiel xxvii. 13, 14.
[347] Xenophon, _Retreat of the Ten Thousand_, V. v. 34. --Homer,
_Iliad_, II. 857.
[348] Strabo, XII. iii. § 19.
[349] There passed in the procession a statue of gold of the King of
Pontus, six feet high, with his shield set with precious stones, twenty
stands covered with vases of silver, thirty-two others full of vases of
gold, with arms of the same metal, and with gold coinage; these stands
were carried by men followed by eight mules loaded with golden beds, and
after whom came fifty-six others carrying ingots of silver, and a
hundred and seven carrying all the silver money, amounting to 2,700,000
drachmas (2,619,000 francs [£104,760]). (Plutarch, _Lucullus_, xxxvii. )
[350] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, xxiii.
[351] Strabo, XII. iii. § 13, 14.
[352] Appian, _War against Mithridates_, lxxviii.
[353] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, xiv.
[354] See what is reported by Plutarch (_Lucullus_, xxix. ) of the riches
and objects of art of every species with which Tigranocerta was crammed.
[355] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, xiii. p. 658; xv. p. 662; xvii. p.
664.
[356] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, xvii. 664. Lesser Armenia furnished
1,000 horsemen. Mithridates had a hundred and thirty chariots armed with
scythes.
[357] Strabo, XII. iv. § 2. --Stephanus Byzantinus, under the word
Νικομἡδειον. --Pliny, _Natural History_, V. xxxii. 149.
[358] Strabo, XII. iii. § 6.
[359] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, xvii.
[360] Strabo, XII. v. § 7.
[361] Strabo (XII. v. § 3) tells us that Pessinus was the greatest mart
of the province.
[362] Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 23.
[363] Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 26.
[364] Diodorus Siculus, XVIII. 16.
[365] Strabo, XII. ii. § 10.
[366] About 3,500,000 francs [£140,000]. (Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 37. )
See Appian, _Wars of Syria_, xlii. --“Demetrius obtained soon afterwards
a thousand talents (5,821,000 francs [£232,840]) from Olophernes for
having established him on the throne of Cappadocia. ” (Appian, _Wars of
Syria_, xlvii. )
[367] Strabo, XII. ii. 7, 8.
[368] Falkener, _Ephesus_: London, 1862.
[369] _Natural History_, V. xxx. 126.
[370] It was thence that the fleets of the kings of Pergamus put to sea.
(Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 40; XLIV. 28. )
[371] The name of Pergamus is preserved in our modern languages in the
word “parchment” (_pergamena_), which was used to designate the skin
which was prepared in that town to serve as paper, after the Ptolemies
had prohibited the exportation of Egyptian papyrus.
[372] Attalus I. , King of Pergamus, gave to the Sicyonians 11,000
medimni of wheat. (Titus Livius, XXXII. 40. )--Eumenius II. lent 80,000
to the Rhodians. (Polybius, XXXI. xvii. 2. )
[373] Strabo, XII. viii. § 11.
[374] Athenæus, XV. xxxviii. 513, ed. Schweighæuser.
[375] The Sea of Marmora took its name from these quarries of marble.
[376] Κυξικηνοἱ στατἡρες, whence the word _sequins_.
[377] Strabo, XIII. i. § 23.
[378] Strabo, XV. iii. § 22.
[379] Titus Livius, XXXII. 16; XXXVI. 43.
[380] Titus Livius, XXXVII. 8.
[381] The petty king Moagetes, who reigned at Cibyra, in Phrygia, gave a
hundred talents and 10,000 medimni of corn (Polybius, XXII. 17. --Titus
Livius, XXXVIII. 14 and 15); Termessus, fifty talents; Aspendus,
Sagalassus, and all the cities of Pamphylia, paid the same (Polybius,
XXII. 18 and 19); and the towns of this part of Asia contributed, at the
first summons of the Roman general, for about 600 talents (3,500,000
francs [£140,000]); they also delivered to him about 60,000 medimni of
corn.
[382] Titus Livius, XXXIX. 6.
[383] Manlius, although he had been despoiled on his way home of a part
of his immense booty by the mountaineers of Thrace, displayed, at his
triumph, crowns of gold to the weight of 212 pounds, 220,000 pounds of
silver, 2,103 pounds of gold, more than 127,000 Attic tetradrachms,
250,000 cistophori, and 16,320 gold coins of Philip. (Titus Livius,
XXXIX. 7. )
[384] Appian, _Wars of Mithridates_, lxiii.
[385] Arrian, _Campaigns of Alexander_, I. xx. § 3. --Diodorus, XVII. 23.
[386] Strabo, XIV. ii. 565.
[387] Strabo, XIV. i. § 6.
[388] Pliny, _Natural History_, V. 31.
[389] Strabo, XIV. iii. § 6.
[390] Titus Livius, XXXVIII. 39.
[391] Scylax, _Periplus_, 39, ed. Hudson. --Dio Cassius, XLVII. 34.
[392] Herodotus, I. 176.
[393] Pliny, _Natural History_, V. 28.
[394] Strabo, XIV. v. § 2.
[395] Strabo, XIV. v. § 2.
[396] Tarsus had still naval arsenals in the time of Strabo (XIV. v. §
12 _et seq. _).
[397] Arrian, _Anabasis_, II. 5.
[398] Polybius, XXII. 7.
[399] Seleucus founded sixteen towns of the name of _Antiochia_, five of
the name of _Laodicea_, nine of the name of _Seleucia_, three of the
name of _Apamea_, one of the name of _Stratonicea_, and a great number
of others which equally received Greek names. (Appian, _Wars of Syria_,
lvii. 622. )--Pliny (_Natural History_, VI. xxvi.
117) informs us that it
was the Seleucides who collected into towns the inhabitants of
Babylonia, who before only inhabited villages (_vici_), and had no other
cities than Nineveh and Babylon.
[400] Pliny (_Natural History_, VI. 26, 119) mentions one of these towns
which was 70 stadia in circuit, and in his time was reduced to a mere
fortress.
[401] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 5. --Pausanias, VI. ii. § 7.
[402] John Malalas, _Chronicle_, VIII. 200 and 202, ed. Dindorf.
[403] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 4.
[404] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 6.
[405] Strabo, XVI. ii. § 10.
[406] It was raised on a terrace a thousand feet long by three hundred
feet broad, and was built with stones 70 feet long.
[407] The empire of Seleucus comprised seventy-two satrapies. (Appian,
_Wars of Syria_, lxii. 630. )
[408] Polybius, X. 27. Ecbatana paid to Antiochus III. a tribute of
4,000 talents (Attic talents = 23,284,000 francs [£931,360]), the
produce of the casting of silver tiles which roofed one of its temples.
Alexander the Great had already carried away those of the roof of the
palace of the kings.
[409] The country of Gerra, among the Arabians, paid 500 talents to
Antiochus (Attic talents = 2,910,500 francs [£116,420]). (Polybius,
XIII. 9. )--There was formerly a great quantity of gold in Arabia. (Job
xxviii. 1, 2. --Diodorus Siculus, II. 50. )
[410] Strabo, XVI. iii. § 3.
[411] Strabo, XI. ii. 426 _et seq. _
[412] Pliny, _Natural History_, VI. 11.
[413] Polybius, V. 54. If, as is probable, Babylonian talents are
intended, this would make about 7,426,000 francs [£297,040], Seleucia,
on the Tigris, was very populous. Pliny (_Natural History_, VI. 26)
estimates the number of its inhabitants at 600,000. Strabo (XVI. ii. §
5) tells us that Seleucia was even greater than Antioch. This town,
which had succeeded Babylon, appears to have inherited a part of its
population.
[414] In 565, Antiochus III. gives 15,000 talents (Euboic talents =
87,315,000 francs [£3,492,600]). (Polybius, XXI. 14. --Titus Livius,
XXXVIII. 37. ) In the treaty of the following year, the Romans stipulated
for a tribute of 12,000 Attic talents of the purest gold, payable in
twelve years, each talent of 80 pounds Roman (69,852,000 francs
[£2,794,080]). (Polybius, XXII. 26, § 19. ) In addition to this, Eumenes
was to receive 359 talents (2,089,739 francs [£83,589]), payable in five
years (Polybius, XXII. 26, § 20). --Titus Livius (XXXVIII. 38) says only
350 talents.
[415] The father of Antiochus, Seleucus Callinicus, sent to the Rhodians
200,000 medimni of wheat (104,000 hectolitres). (Polybius, V. 89. ) In
556, Antiochus gave 540,000 measures of wheat to the Romans. (Polybius,
XXII. 26, § 19. )
[416] According to Strabo (XV. 3), wheat and barley produced there a
hundredfold, and even twice as much, which is hardly probable.
[417] Strabo, XVI. 2.
[418] Athenæus, XII. 35, p. 460, ed. Schweighæuser.
[419] Polybius, XXXI. 3. --There were seen in these festivals a thousand
slaves carrying silver vases, the least of which weighed 1,000 drachmas;
a thousand slaves carrying golden vases and a profusion of plate of
extraordinary richness. Antiochus received every day at his table a
crowd of guests whom he allowed to carry away with them in chariots
innumerable provisions of all sorts. (Athenæus, V. 46, p. 311, ed.
Schweighæuser. )
[420] Polybius, V. 79.
[421] Titus Livius, XXXVII. 37.
[422] Strabo, XVI. 2.
[423] Polybius, V. 70.
[424] Titus Livius, XXXIII. 41. --Polybius, V. 59. --Strabo, XVI. 2.
[425] Strabo, XVI. 2.
[426] Strabo, XIV. 5.
[427] In 558, Antiochus sent to sea a hundred covered vessels and two
hundred light ships. (Titus Livius, XXXIII. 19. )--It is the greatest
Syrian fleet mentioned in these wars. At the battle of Myonnesus, the
fleet commanded by Polyxenus was composed of ninety decked ships (574).
(Appian, _Wars of Syria_, 27. )--In 563, before the final struggle
against the Romans, that prince had forty decked vessels, sixty without
decks, and two hundred transport ships. (Titus Livius, XXXV.
43. )--Finally, the next year, a little before the battle of Magnesia,
Antiochus possessed, not including the Phœnician fleet, a hundred
vessels of moderate size, of which seventy had decks. (Titus Livius,
XXXVI. 43; XXXVII. 8. )--This navy was destroyed by the Romans.
[428] Herodotus, II. 177. --Diodorus Siculus, I. 31.
[429] A measure great enough to make thirty loaves. (Franz, _Corpus
Inscript. Græcarum_, III. 303. --Polybius, V. 79. )
[430] Böckh, _Staatshaushaltung der Athener_, I. xiv. 15.
[431] Flavius Josephus, _Jewish Antiquities_, XII. 4.
[432] Athenæus, V. p. 203.
[433] Appian (_Preface_, § 10). --We may, nevertheless, judge from the
following data of the enormity of the sums accumulated in the treasuries
of the kings of Persia. Cyrus had gained, by the conquest of Asia,
34,000 pounds weight of gold coined, and 500,000 of silver. (Pliny,
XXXIII. 15. )--Under Darius, son of Hystaspes, 7,600 Babylonian talents
of silver (the Babylonian talent = 7,426 francs [£297]) were poured
annually into the royal treasury, besides 140 talents devoted to the pay
of the Cilician cavalry, and 360 talents of gold (14,680 talents of
silver), paid by the Indies. (Herodotus, III. 94. )--This king had thus
an annual revenue of 14,500 talents (108 millions of francs
[£4,320,000]). Darius carried with him in campaign two hundred camels
loaded with gold and precious objects. (Demosthenes, _On the Symmories_,
p. 185, xv. p. 622, ed. Müller. )--Thus, according to Strabo, Alexander
the Great found in the four great treasuries of that king (at Susa,
Persia, Pasargades, and Persepolis) 180,000 talents (about 1,337
millions of francs [£53,480,000]).
[434] Polybius, V. 89.
[435] Strabo, XVII. 1.
[436] Strabo, XVII. 1.
[437] Strabo, XVI. 4; XVII.
[438] Strabo, XVII. 1.
[439] Diodorus Siculus, III. 43.
[440] Appian, _Preface_, § 10. --In 537, at Raphia, the Egyptian army
amounted to 70,000 foot, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 elephants. (Polybius, V.
79; see also V. 65. )--Polybius, who gives us these details, adds that
the pay of the officers was one mina (97 francs [£3 17_s. _ 7_d. _]) a
day. (XIII. ii. )
[441] Theocritus, _Idylls_, XVII. lines 90-102. --Athenæus (V. 36, p.
284) and Appian, _Preface_, § 10, give the details of this
fleet. --Ptolemy IV. Philopator went so far as to construct a ship of
forty ranges of rowers, which was 280 cubits long and 30 broad.
(Athenæus, V. 37, p. 285. )
[442] Herodotus, IV. 199. The plateau of Barca, now desert, was then
cultivated and well watered.
[443] The most important object of commerce of the Cyrenaica was the
_silphium_, a plant the root of which sold for its weight in silver. A
kind of milky gum was extracted from it, which served as a panacea with
the apothecaries and as a seasoning in the kitchen. When, in 658,
Cyrenaica was incorporated with the Roman Republic, the province paid an
annual tribute in silphium. Thirty pounds of this juice, brought to Rome
in 667, were regarded as a miracle; and when Cæsar, at the beginning of
the civil war, seized upon the public treasury, he found in the treasury
chest 1,500 pounds of silphium locked up with the gold and silver.
(Pliny, XIX. 3. )
[444] Diodorus Siculus, III. 49. --Herodotus, IV. 169.
