158 Remarks on the Site of Troy 
alluding to their protracted stay, remarks, 
“Our ships are rotted and our cordage mar- 
req, Iliad II, 152. 
And we may infer that the Trojans had for 
some years been unable to cultivate their 
land, from the complaint of Hector, that the 
immense treasures of Priam had been 
«‘Marketed, and Phrygia hath a part 
«‘ Obtained, and part Meonia’s lovely land. 
Iliad XVITT, 354. 
Whilst the Greeks continued to ravage the 
country, the Trojans were necessarily com- 
pelled to purchase corn for themselves and 
allies. It is generally supposed that the 
Greeks had no communication with home, 
during their ten years’ absence at the Trojan 
war, and this is urged by some as a further 
objection to Homer’s history. It is certainly 
singular that no direct mention is made of any 
communication with Greece, but we must re- 
member, that the action of the Iliad occupies 
only a few days, and possibly no opportunity, 
or rather necessity, arose for describing what 
intercourse, if any, had taken place. From 
the address of Achilles toPatroclus however, 
at the commencement of the XVI book, we 
may reasonably infer that the Greeks did 
maintain some connexion with home. 
