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exclusively to the cultivation of violets and roses. Lilies, however, soon attained an almost equal vogue. Other flowers cultivated by the Romans were the narcissus, anemone, iris, poppy, amaranthus, and immortelle. The only flower acclimatised by them was, apparently, the oriental crocus.

(498) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 15, 1477; (500) Published by Froehner, Mus. de France, pl. 13, 1, p. 45; Salzmann, Nécr. de Camiros, pl. 54, 2, 3; (504) Cat. of Sculpt., III., 2212; (507) Cat. of Vases, II., B 226; (508) Cat. of Terracottas, D 550.

XXI. SHIPPING.

(Wall-Cases 53-54.)

As early as the eighth century before Christ the Greeks possessed powerful war-vessels propelled by numerous oarsmen. These appear on vases of that date, as for example on a large bowl of Boeotian fabric (mentioned above in connection with chariots

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p. 200), which shows such a ship with its double line of rowers and a man at the stern managing the big steering-oars. The crew of this vessel seems to have numbered some forty men. A more finished representation of an early Greek war-vessel is seen on a vase of the sixth century B.C. (B 436; fig. 222). Here will be noticed the two rows of eleven and twelve oars respectively, the

1 Journ. Hell. Stud., XIX., pl. 8.

steersman with his two steering-oars, the ladder for embarking and disembarking, the ram in the form of a dog's head, and the mast and sail. The merchant vessel of the time is illustrated on the same vase (fig. 223). The principal difference is that the merchant ship has no rowers, but is entirely dependent upon its sail. A terracotta model ship from Cyprus (No. 512; fig. 224) of about this period shows the socket for the mast and the high poop for the steersman, with the remains of an iron oar. This vessel is doubtless intended for a merchantman. The numerous small terracotta boats found with this merchant vessel at Amathus give a good idea of the fishing boats of the time (Case 53). These boats are also interesting as reminding us of the legend that

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Kinyras, king of Cyprus, promised to send fifty ships to help the Greeks against Troy. He sent but one, carrying forty-nine others of terracotta, manned by terracotta figures. The small model wargalley (No. 513) from Corinth, containing warriors armed with circular shields, is interesting from the place of its discovery, for Corinth was traditionally an early shipbuilding centre, and triremes are said to have been first built at that city.'

The use of triremes (ships with triple arrangement of oars) did not become common among the Greeks till the earlier part of the fifth century B.C. This was the typical Greek warship of the period of the Peloponnesian war, and the arrangement of the rowers in it. 1 Thuc., i. 13: πρῶτοι δὲ Κορίνθιοι λέγονται ἐγγύτατα τοῦ νῦν τρόπου μεταχειρίσαι τὰ περὶ τὰς ναῦς, καὶ τριήρεις πρῶτον ἐν Κορίνθῳ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ναυπηγηθῆναι,

has given rise to much controversy. The crew (according to one view) consisted of two hundred rowers, sixty-two on the highest tier (@pavirai), fifty-four on the middle (vyîra), and fifty-four on the lowest (aλapirai), as well as thirty who were apparently stationed on the highest deck (Tepivew). The best ancient representation of the rowers in a trireme is that given on a relief in Athens, of which a cast is shown here (No. 514; Case 53). The upper oars pass over the gunwale, the second and third lines (if these are oars) through port-holes. Another view is that in the trireme three rowers sat on one bench, each pulling a separate oar, which passed through a common rowlockport. This view discards the theory of superposed banks of

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FIG. 224.-TERRACOTTA MODEL OF MERCHANT-SHIP (No. 512). L. 12 in.

oars. In the trireme the ram was of the greatest importance, and much attention was devoted to strengthening it. An excellent illustration of the prow of a trireme is to be seen in the terracotta vase from Vulci (No. 515; fig. 225). Here are an upper and a lower ram, each armed with three teeth; the curved ornament above the ram has been broken away. The projections on either side by the handles, decorated with a woman's head, would serve as a protection to the oars. The eye on the side is a prominent decoration in Greek ships, and was probably intended to avert the evil eye. It is seen on the ship painted on the vase B 508 in Case 53 (No. 516), from which the diver is preparing to jump, and has survived even to the present day, for eyes are still found painted on the bows of Mediterranean fishing boats.

Ships with

numerous groups of rowers (as many as thirty or forty are mentioned) were sometimes used from the fourth century B.C. onwards, but they must at all times have been very unwieldy. Indeed the only rational explanation of these vessels seems to be, not that there were thirty or forty lines of rowers, but that several men rowed to a single oar, most, no doubt, standing. Roman ships did not differ very materially from Greek ships, but a special class of swift ships with two banks of oars was adopted from Liburnian pirates who inhabited the islands off Illyria, and these ships were

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FIG. 225.-VASE IN THE FORM OF A PROW OF A TRIREME (No. 515). L. 8 in.

called Liburnian galleys. A figure-head in bronze from a Roman ship, found in the sea off Actium, is shown in Case 54 (No. 517). It represents Minerva, and probably belonged to some ship sunk in the great battle between Octavian and Antony in 31 B.C. Besides figure-heads and figures painted on the bow, Roman ships often had a statue of their protecting deity in the stern. Thus the ship which bore Ovid to his place of exile had a statue of Minerva in the stern (tutela), and her helmet painted on the bows.1

1 Ovid, Tristia, i. 10, 1:

Est mihi, sitque, precor, flavae tutela Minervae,
Navis et a picta casside nomen habet.

Some lamps placed in Case 54 give interesting pictures of Roman harbours. In one (No. 518; fig. 226), a ship is seen entering the harbour, which is indicated by a light-house. Of the crew of six, one is seated high on the stern, blowing a trumpet to announce the ship's approach; before him is the steersman, and next come three men furling the sail. The man in the bows is

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FIG. 226.-ROMAN SHIP ENTERING A HARBOUR (No. 518). Diam. 4 in.

preparing to let down the anchor. Another lamp (No. 519; fig. 227) shows a harbour with buildings on the quay. A fisherman in a small boat holds a rod and line in his right hand, and a fish which he has just caught in his left. Before him is a man on shore just about to cast a net into the water. In the third lamp (No. 520) Cupid is seen in a boat, hauling in his net from the

water.

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