FISHERIES AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS. 5 



ing-houses were established in favorable places, round which soon 

 rose a constantly increasing number of fishermen's huts. These again 

 attracted artisans and merchants, so that the village soon grew to a 

 city, of which the fisheries might be called the nucleus. Of such cities 

 there was a large number, Byzantium and Sinope being illustrious ex- 

 amples. It is well known that the wealth from fish gave to the sea 

 near the former city the name of the Golden Horn. " Proud and beau- 

 tiful Venice" is of later date, but of similar origin.* Many private in- 

 dividuals rapidly accumulated large fortunes by dealing in salt-fish, and 

 the ancient writers of comedies frequently make such a trader (Keriphi- 

 los by name) the object of their raillery. This man, it seems, had been 

 honored with the Athenian citizenship, but his son, by a life of dissipa- 

 tion, soon spent the fortune which his thrifty father had amassed. 



We are acquainted with about four huudred different names of fishes, 

 which have been described by Greek authors. "This abundance of words," 

 says Buffon, " this wealth of exhaustive and accurate terms, presupposes 

 the same abundance of ideas and knowledge. Is it not evident that 

 nations, who had fixed the names of many more objects than we, must 

 naturally have known a great many more f 



From what Aristophanes and other dramatic writers tell usof themode 

 of living amons; the ancient Greeks we know that in their time fresh and 

 salt fish formed a very important article of trade. Athenaeus quotes about 

 two hundred passages of authors, whose works are now lost, in which 

 different ways of preparing and preserving fish are mentioned. Xeno- 

 crates, iEschylus, and Sophocles did not consider it beneath their dignity 

 to speak of very tempting bills of fare; and Archestratus, who assisted 

 Epicurus in seeking the qualification of the senses, seems to have de- 

 scribed a great many such in his poem, " Dipnologia," a most amusing 

 and excellent cook-book, whose lossis still deplored by modern gourmands. 

 In the city of Athens the government, in its paternal care, even went so 

 far as to make a law obliging fishermen as soon as they brought their fish 

 to the market to sound a gong, so that everybody might buy fresh fish. 

 We are also told that fishmongers, in order to sell their stock more rapidly, 

 were not allowed to sit down, but required to stand during the time fixed 

 for selling.t 



That fish formed U favorite article of food in those times, is clear from 

 the fact that great importance was attached to their fisheries. But other 

 considerations also tended to increase their interest in the success of 

 the fisheries. Fleets, as is well known, played an important part in all 

 of the wars of those ages. It was often a matter of considerable difficulty 



* Regarding the remarkable fish-colony, Commachio, compare the work by M. Coste, 

 "Voyage d'exploration sur le littoral de la France et de l'ltalie." Paris, 1861. 



tThis law seems to have been known in Vienna in the fifteenth century. At any 

 rate, there has been fouud in the archives of that city an ancient decree ordering the 

 fishermen to sell their fish standing and bare-headed, exposed to the scorching rays of 

 eun and to storm and rain, thus forcing them to sell their fish speedily and at a reason- 

 able price. 



