234 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book VII. 



Paralus, Ctesias, 43 Semiramis, 44 and Archemachus, JEgaeon. 

 According to Damastes, 45 the Erythrsei 46 were the first to 

 construct vessels with two banks of oars ; according to Thu- 

 cydides, 47 Aminocles, the Corinthian, first constructed them 

 with three banks of oars ; according to Aristotle, the Car- 

 thaginians, those with four banks ; according to Mnesigiton, 

 the people of Salamis, those with five banks ; 48 and, according to 

 Xenagoras, the Syracusans, those with six ; those above six, as 

 far as ten, Mnesigiton says were first constructed by Alexander 

 the Great. From Philostephanus, we learn that Ptolemy Soter 

 made them as high as twelve banks ; Demetrius, the son of 

 Antigonus, with fifteen ; Ptolemy Philadelphus, with thirty ; 

 and Ptolemy Philopater, who was surnamed Tryphon, with 

 forty. 49 Hippus, the Tyrian, was the first who invented 

 merchant-ships ; the Cyrenians, the pinnace ; the Phoenicians, 

 the passage-boat ; the Ehodians, the skiff; and the Cyprians, 

 the cutter. 50 



contradistinction to the small skiffs which were moved along, 'either by a 

 sail or a single pair of oars, and were more of a rounded form. B. 



43 Ctesias has already been referred to, in c. 2 of the present Book. B. 



44 One of her most remarkable exploits was her expedition against India, 

 of which we have an account in Diodorus Siculus, B. ii. ; he says that 

 she fitted out a fleet of between 2000 and 3000 vessels. B. 



45 From the account of Damastes, given by Hardouin, he was a native of 

 Sigseum, whose works appear to have been held in considerable estimation 

 by the ancients. B. 



46 There were at least three ancient cities of the name Erythrse, but the 

 one most noted was situate on the coast of the JEgean Sea, opposite to the 

 Isle of Chios. B. 



47 The passage in Thucydides here referred to, is in B. i. c. 13. B. 



48 There appears to be much uncertainty respecting the statements made 

 in the concluding part of this paragraph, in consequence of the variation 

 of the MSS.-B. 



49 The position of the rowers, in the vessels of the ancients, and, more 

 especially, the mode in which the ranks, or " ordines," were disposed 

 with respect to each other, has been a subject of much discussion. From 

 the incidental remarks in the classical writers, and from the representations 

 which still remain, particularly those on Trajan's Column, and on certain 

 coins, it would appear that they were disposed in stages, one above the 

 other, and provided with oars of different lengths, in proportion to their 

 distance from the water. But, although we may conceive that this was 

 the case with two or three rows, it is impossible that a greater number 

 could have been disposed in this manner. B. 



50 It is not easy to determine what was the construction and form of the 

 four kinds of vessels here mentioned, which he designates respectively by 

 the terms "lembus," "cymba," "celes," and "cercurus." The "lem- 



