534 EEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSKUM, 1891. 



probabk', that they tlioiij^iit tliiil sacli storms of the ocean and sucli 

 violent gales of wind could not be resisted by sails, nor ships of such 

 great burden be conveniently enough managed by them. The relative 

 character of the two was of such initure that our fleet excelled in speed 

 alone ami the plying of the oars; other things, considering the nature 

 of the place and the violence of the storms, were more suitable and bet- 

 ter adapted on their side; for neither could our ships injure theirs with 

 their beaks, so great was their strength, nor on account of their height 

 was a weapon ea.sily cast iipon them; an.d for the same reason they 

 were less leadily locked in by rocks. To this was added tliat, whenever 

 a storm began to rage and th(\v ran before the wind, they both <*ould 

 weather the storm more leadily and heave to securely in the shallows, 

 and when left by the tide feared nothing from rocks and shelves; the 

 risk of all which things was much to l)e di'eaded by our shiits." 



Tli»' shii>s employed by C;esar during his expedition to Brittany 

 were the naves actuariw,^ vessels of surpassing speed, ^ such as were 

 employed by the pirates.^ They were iiropelled by oars, and according 

 to Isidorus^ also employed sails. The designation actuaria appears 

 to have been a multiplied and varied one^ and embraces vessels of 

 various sizes, number of oars,^ and purposes. According to Dr. Lue- 

 beck' it may be assumed with a degree of certainty that they did not 

 belong to the freight ships {onet'driw)," nor are they to be considered as 

 war- vessels proper of Cicsarian times.^ 



During the expedition to Brittany these actuaria' took the place of 

 theo)<err/r/rt?for the transport of troops, horses, and war paraphernalia, 

 although it is stated explicitly that they were built as actuaria', and 

 for that reason they were enabled to keep pace with the war-vessels 



1 Lueheck, Emil, Das Seeweseu der Griocheu iiud Kouier. Hamburg, 1890. 



- A.ccordiug to Nonius, xiii, 9, the iinves actuariit^ were "navicnlte celeres, dicta? 

 qnod cito agi possiiit." 



■'Sail, hist., lib. ii, "pauea piratica actuaria navigia." 



* Isidov. Orig., xix 1 ; '• actuarial naves sunt, (jue velis sininl agiiiitiir ct reiiii.s. " 



^' Assmann, Seewesen, p. 1623. 



'"'C'to. ad. Attic, xvi, 3, 6: "hcec ego conscendns e Pompejaiio irihus ((ctuariolis deeem- 

 scalmis." And iiwius, xxxviii, 38: " Traditoct )i(irrs lonf/an armaineufaque earnm, neve 

 2}lures qnam decern naves actnarias, (juaram xnlhi plus qnaiii iriginia remis agafur, 

 hahelo." 



^ Dr. Emil Lueheck: Das Seewesen der Griecheu uud Romer. Hamburg, 1890. (The 

 author has made a thorough study of ancient Greek and Roman naval iitlairs, and 

 some of th() references employed have been taken from his essay.) 



'^Sisenna: Histor., lib. iii (Nonius, xiii, 8): " Quibus occisis achno-ias ad rigiiifi 

 navis, item complures onerarias incendunt." 



'■'Caesar: De Bell, gall., v, 2, 1: "Eo cum advcnisset, circuitio omuihus hibernis, singu- 

 lari militum, studio, in summa omnium rernm inopia, eirciter DC eius generis, cuius supra 

 demonstrarimus, nares et longas xxviii inrenit instructas, ncque multum abesse ah eo, quin 

 paucis diehus deduci possiui." The words "supra demonsfravimus" referring to v., 1, 

 3: " adonera et ad niuHifudineni iumentorum transportandam paulo latiores, qnam quihus 

 in reHqwis utimur luaribus. Has omues actuurias imperat fieri, qnam ad rem niultuui 

 humilitas adiurat." 



