PHILEBUS OF PLATO, ETC. 169 
In conclusion, I will examine one or two of the most notable 
passages, which present considerable difficulty at first sight. 
Xenophon, H. G. I. i. 28, where Conon is surprised at gos 
Potamos: the crews, which had dispersed on shore, rush hurriedly 
to their ships; but the enemy is upon them, before the vessels can 
be manned ; and they have to push off in the following condition : 
al psy toy ve@y Otxpota joay, af dO povdzxpota, af 0% navtehOs xevat 
(we find elsewhere dzpotos and diujpys used as synonyms). It has 
generally been assumed that this must mean that some of the vessels 
had only one or two of their three banks of oars manned. But we 
know, from other sources, that each rower had his proper station at 
a particular oar; and it is much more likely, in my opinion, that 
instinct would be supreme in the confusion ; so that, as each man 
hurried up, he would rush to his particular oar (whether his station 
was fore or aft, below or above), and proceed to cast it loose, without 
waiting for his comrades of the same bench or (for the sake of 
argument) “¢ier.” I would explain thus: “Some of the ships had 
but two men to an oar, others but one, &e.” 
Lucan, Pharsal. ILI. v. 536, foll.: 
** Validasque triremes, 
Quasque quater surgens exstructi remigis ordo 
Commovet, et plures quae mergunt aequore pinus, 
Multiplices cinxere rates : hoc robur aperto 
Oppositum pelago. Lunata fronte recedunt 
Ordine contentae gemino crevisse Liburnae. 
Celsior at cunctis B:uti praetoria puppis 
Verberibus senis agitur, molemque profundo 
Invehit et summis longe petit aequora remis.”’ 
Here we have biremes, triremes, quadriremes, quinqueremes, and 
the hexeris of Brutus.—Lxstructi remigis:—As I have said before, in 
these huge vessels, the men nearer the upper extremity of the oar 
must have been placed higher than those nearer to the thole pin ; 
but, if each man had a separate oar, how long and awkward the 
highest must have been! The Liburnae, which were light, swift 
sailing vessels, are said to have been content “ordine gemino”— 
naturally, as the Liburnae did not stand so high out of the water, 
their oars would be shorter and more easily managed. Whereas the 
praetoria puppis, which towered above all the others (celsior, &c.), 
would, necessarily, have longer and heavier oars; hence each was 
plied by six men. Scaliger’s objection, that the words “summis 
remis” suggest that this vessel had other oars nearer to the water, 
