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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. --Athenæus, XV. 22,
p. 487; 38, p. 514. --Strabo, XVII. iii. 712. --Pliny, _Natural History_,
XVI. 33; XIX. 3.

[445] Pindar, _Pythian Odes_, IV. 2. --Athenæus, III. 58, p. 392.

[446] Diodorus Siculus, XVII. 49.

[447] Aristotle, _Politics_, VII. 2, § 10.

[448] Josephus, _Jewish Antiquities_, XIII. 12, § 2, 3.

[449] Ælian, _History of Animals_, V. lvi. --Eustathius, _Comment. on
Dionysius Periegetes_, 508, 198, edit. Bernhardy.

[450] Strabo, XIV. 6. --Pliny, _Natural History_, XXXIV. 2.

[451] Virgil, _Æneid_, I. 415. --Statius, _Thebais_, V. 61.

[452] Strabo, X. 4.

[453] Polybius, XIII. 8.

[454] Cretan mercenaries are found in the service of Flamininus in 557
(Titus Livius, XXXIII. 3), in that of Antiochus in 564 (Titus Livius,
XXXVII. 40), in that of Perseus in 583 (Titus Livius, XLII. 51), and in
the service of Rome in 633.

[455] _Iliad_, II. 656.

[456] Polybius, XXX. 7, year of Rome 590.

[457] Strabo, XIV. 2. The town of _Rhoda_ in Spain, establishments in
the Baleares, _Gela_ in Sicily, _Sybaris_ and _Palæopolis_ in Italy,
were Rhodian colonies.

[458] This happened especially at the epoch when the famous Colossus of
Rhodes fell, and when the town was violently shaken by an earthquake.
Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, Ptolemy, king of Egypt, Antigonus Doson, king
of Macedonia, and Seleucus, king of Syria, sent succours to the
Rhodians. (Polybius, V. 88, 89. )

[459] We see, in fact, with what care the Rhodians spared their allies
on the coast of the Pontus Euxinus. (Polybius, XXVII. 6. )

[460] Polybius, IV. 38.

[461] Strabo, VII. 4.

[462] Titus Livius, XXXIII. 18.

[463] During the siege of Rhodes, Demetrius had formed the design of
delivering to the flames all the public buildings, one of which
contained the famous painting of Ialysus, by Protogenes. The Rhodians
sent a deputation to Demetrius to ask him to spare this masterpiece.
After this interview, Demetrius raised the siege, sparing thus at the
same time the town and the picture. (Aulus Gellius, XV. 31. )

[464] In 555, twenty ships; in 556, twenty vessels with decks; in 563,
twenty-five ships with decks, and thirty-six vessels. This last fleet of
thirty-six vessels was destroyed, and yet the Rhodians were able to send
to sea again, the same year, twenty vessels. In 584 they had forty
vessels. (Titus Livius, XXXI. 46; XXXII. 16; XXXVI. 45; XXXVII. 9, 11,
12; XLII. 45. )

[465] Pliny, XXXIV. 17.

[466] Strabo, XIV. 2.

[467] Athenæus, XII. 35, p. 461.

[468] Titus Livius, XXIII. 34.

[469] Titus Livius, XXIII. 40.

[470] Titus Livius, XLI. 12, 17, 28. --The number of 80,000 men whom the
Sardinians lost in the campaign of T. Gracchus, in 578 and 579, was
given by the official inscription which was seen at Rome in the temple
of the goddess Matuta. (Titus Livius, XLI. 28. )

[471] Festus, p. 322, edit. O. Müller. --Titus Livius, XLI. 21.

[472] See Heeren, vol. IV. sect. I. chap. ii. --Polybius, I. 79. --Strabo,
V. ii. 187. --Diodorus Siculus, V. 15. --Titus Livius, XXIX. 36.

[473] Titus Livius, XXX. 38.

[474] Strabo, V. 2.

[475] Diodorus Siculus, V. 14. --The Corsicans having revolted, in 573,
had 2,000 slain. (Titus Livius, XL. 34. )--In 581, they lost 7,000 men,
and had more than 1,700 prisoners. (Titus Livius, XLII. 7. )

[476] Strabo, V. 2.

[477] Pliny, _Natural History_, III. 6.

[478] Diodorus Siculus, V. 13. --In 573, the Corsicans were taxed by the
Romans at 1,000,000 pounds of wax, and at 200,000 in 581. (Titus Livius,
XL. 34; XLII. 7. )

[479] Cicero, _Second Oration against Verres_, II. ii. 74. --The oxen
furnished hides, employed especially for the tents; the sheep, an
excellent wool for clothing.

[480] Cicero, _Second Oration against Verres_, II. III. 70.

[481] Titus Livius, XXV. 31.

[482] Polybius, I. 17, 18.

[483] Polybius, IX. 27. --Strabo, VI. 2.

[484] See what is said by Titus Livius (XXIX. 26) and Polybius (I. 41,
43, 46). --Florus, II. 2.

[485] See the work of the Duke of Serra di Falco, _Antichità della
Sicilia_.

[486] Thus the Jupiter of the Capitol and the Italic Juno, at least in
their official worship, were the protectors of virtuous morals and
punished the wicked, while the Phœnician Moloch and Hercules, worshipped
at Carthage, granted their favours to those who made innocent blood run
upon their altars. (Diodorus Siculus, XX. 14. )--See the remarkable
figures of Moloch holding a gridiron destined for human sacrifices.
(Alb. della Marmora, _Sardinian Antiquities_, pl. 23, 53, tom. ii. 254. )

[487] Polybius, I. 7, 11.

[488] Polybius, I. 16. --Zonaras, VIII. 16 _et seq. _

[489] We have seen before that Rome, after the capture of Antium (_Porto
d’Anzo_), had already a navy, but she had no galleys of three ranks or
five ranks of oars. Nothing, therefore, is more probable than the
relation of Titus Livius, who states that the Romans took for a model a
Carthaginian quinquireme wrecked on their coast. In spite of the
advanced state of science, we have not yet obtained a perfect knowledge
of the construction of the ancient galleys, and, even at the present
day, the problem will not be completely solved until chance furnishes us
with a model.

[490] The Romans employed the triremes of Tarentum, Locri, Elea, and
Naples to cross the Strait of Messina. The use of quinquiremes was
entirely unknown in Italy.

[491] Polybius, I. 20, 21.

[492] Each vessel carried 300 rowers and 120 soldiers, or 420 men, which
makes, for the Carthaginian fleet, 147,000 men, and, for the Roman
fleet, 138,600. (Polybius, I. 25 and 26. )

[493] Nearly thirteen millions of francs [£520,000]. (Polybius, I. 62. )

[494] Polybius, I. 36.

[495] Valerius Maximus, V. i. 2.

[496] Titus Livius, _Epitome_, XIX.

[497] Polybius, III. 10, 27, 28.

[498] The Sardinians owed their civilisation to the Phœnicians; the
Sicilians had received theirs from the Greeks. This difference explains
the attachment of the first for Carthage, and the repulsion of the
others for the Punic rule.

[499] Polybius, II. 4, 5, 10.