Chap. 57.] THE LffVENTORS OF VAEIOUS THINGS. 235 



We are indebted to the Phoenicians for the first observa- 

 tion of the stars in navigation ; the Copse invented the oar, 

 and the Plataeans gave it its broad blade. 51 Icarus was the 

 person who invented sails, 52 and Daedalus the mast and yards ; 

 the Samians, or else Pericles, the Athenian, transports for 

 horses, 53 and the Thracians, long covered vessels, 51 before 

 which time they used to fight only from the prow or the stern. 

 Pisasus, the Tyrrhenian, added the beak to ships ; 55 Eupala- 

 mus, the anchor ; Anacharsis, that with two flukes ; Pericles, 

 the Athenian, grappling-irons, and hooks like hands; 56 and 

 Tiphys, 57 the helm and rudder. Minos was the first who 

 waged war by means of ships ; Hyperbius, the son of Mars, 

 the first who killed an animal ; and Prometheus, the first who 

 slew the ox. 58 



bus " is mentioned by Livy, B. xxiv. c. 40, as a vessel wit! 

 of oars, "biremis;" and in B. zl. c. 4, he describes it a 



with two benches 

 as a small vessel 



used for towing large ships. The "cymba" has been supposed to have 

 been a still smaller vessel, answering to our idea of a common boat ; the 

 " celes," we may suppose, was named from "celer," being especially 

 adapted for quick motion, and the "cercurus" fromjctpicof, "a tail," from 

 its long narrow form, or from its having a tail-like appendage attached 

 to it. B. 



51 Hardouin conjectures, that the cities of Copae and Plateae derived their 

 names, respectively, from the inventions here ascribed to them, KWTTJ) and 

 irXarf). B. 



52 Pausanias ascribes this invention to Daedalus ; Diodorus, B. v. c. 1, to 

 JEolus, who gave his name to the JEolian islands. B. 



53 a Hippagus." B. 



54 " Tecta longa ;" Caesar, Bell. Civ. B. i. c. 56, says that the Massilians 

 fitted out long ships, of which eleven were " tectaa." B. 



55 Ships of war had their prows armed with brazen beaks, to which 

 sharp spears were attached ; these were used in their naval engagements 

 as instruments of attack, and, when the vessels were captured, were con- 

 sidered the trophies of victory. The tribunal, in the Roman Forum, from 

 which the orators harangued the people, obtained its name of " Rostra," 

 from its being ornamented with the beaks of captured ships. B. 



56 The "harpago" and the " manus ferrea" are mentioned by Caesar, 

 Bell. Civ. B. i. c. 57, and by Livy, B. xxx. c. 10 ; Quintus Curtius also 

 speaks of them, but considers them as only different names for the same 

 instrument, B. iv. c. 2, 12. B. 



5 ' Tiphys was the pilot of the vessel of the Argonauts ; he died before 

 the expedition reached Colchis. B. 



68 Hardouin remarks upon this passage, that Pliny probably means to 

 speak of the persons who firs*t killed oxen or other animals for what may 

 be styled profane purposes ; as they had long before this been employed for 

 sacrifice. B. 



