DISCOVERY 



57 



increased or the number of mouths decreased. Sparta, 

 like Rome, solved the problem in part by the conquest 

 of more land, but it is obvious that this solution is not 

 universally possible, for the area of land belonging to 

 ■one community can only be increased at the expense 

 of another. The second alternative was therefore 

 widely adopted, and overpopulation made the Greeks 

 into sailors and colonisers. Some, like the mountaineers 

 of Arcidia, went off to serve abroad as mercenaries- 

 As early as the seventh century B.C. Ionian and Carian 

 mercenaries were the deciding factor in the EgA-ptian 

 re%'olution, which threw oil the Assyrian yoke and put 

 Psammetichus I on the throne. Greek merchants 

 went wherever there was hope of gain, and Psammeti- 

 chus' soldiers were followed by the merchants of 

 Naucratis, the Shanghai of Egypt. When Cambvscs 

 invaded Eg3,-pt in 525 B.C., Greek merchants were 

 among his camp followers. In Herodotus' day the 

 Greek was ubiquitous, and throughout the Oriental 

 lands in which the historian so widely travelled, he was 

 clearly never at a loss for an interpreter. And besides 

 this dispersion by the emigration of individuals, there 

 were the organised settlements sent out by the Greek 

 States of Asia and the Balkan Peninsula. Greek 

 colonies spread all round the Mediterranean from the 

 Black Sea to Marseilles until, as Cicero expressed it. 

 the world had a Greek fringe. 



But even with a diminished number of mouths 

 there was not enough corn to feed the Greeks who 

 stayed at home ; and of course the development of 

 commerce implies the growth of a non-farming popu- 

 lation for which provision must be made. It was 

 inevitable, therefore, that the Greeks should become 

 dependent upon imported corn. For this they made 

 the necessary pa\Tnent partly by the profits of the 

 carrying trade, and partly by the export of manu- 

 factures or commodities for the production of which 

 their country was economically suitable. The most 

 valuable of agricultural gifts was that of Athena, the 

 goddess of the olive. The olive thrives in the poor 

 soil of Greece, and demands comparatively little care. 

 Its product was indispensable in ancient life, for olive 

 oil took the place of our butter, soap, and illuminants. 

 Even the refuse after the oil has been squeezed was 

 valuable then, as now, for cattle food. There is no 

 waste about the olive. The vine, too, can be grown 

 with profit, particularly in the volcanic soil of the 

 islands. Malvoisie derived its name from a district 

 in Crete, and Modern Europe drinks more Greek wine 

 than perhaps it knows. 



The natural tendency, then, is for the Greeks to 

 develop the culture of the vine and olive, and to pay 

 for imported corn with the profits of the export of 

 ■wine and oil. But if you are sending wine and oil by 

 freight a receptacle is necessary, and in consequence 



the export of these goods tended to stimulate the 

 pottery-industry. Of course cargo in bulk was not 

 sent in the highly decorated painted ware, but in big 

 -Ali Baba jars. It can hardly be doubted, however, 

 that the pottery trade as a whole received a stimulus. 

 The finely painted wares were destined mainly for the 

 Etruscan market, to be used as funerary furniture 

 in the tombs of the wealthy ; but Herodotus tells 

 us rather an interesting thing about the wine jars. 

 A large number of jars of Greek wine were yearly 

 imported by Egypt. Of these the " empties " were 

 collected, and were used on the waterless caravan 

 route through the eastern desert to form artificial 

 water depots. 



The conditions of early navigation were difficult, 



although Nature, as we have seen, had provided 

 exceptional facilities in the chains of islands which 

 gave both shelter and guidance to the early mariner. 

 Old Hesiod knows the rules for seafaring, but is not 

 very enthusiastic about it as a profession. It is too 

 chancy and the risk is too great. His advice, however, 

 to the young adventurer, who refuses to be warned off, 

 is perfectly sound ; his rules as to seasons hold good 

 to-day, and could be illustrated from the weekly statis- 

 tics of the movements of sailing vessels, which it was 

 lately my duty to collect and send to Mudros. There 

 are two seasons when sailing is possible. In the sum- 

 mer there is nothing to fear except squalls, and the 

 prevailing wind is northerly. For the Etesian winds 

 not only cool the torrid heat, but provide a steady 

 trade-wind, and Plato has described how with their 

 advent come the merchants " flying over sea in spring- 



