PHILEBUS OF PLATO, ETG^ 169 



In conclusion, I will examine one or two of the most notable 

 passages, which present considerable difficulty at first sight. 



Xenophon, H. G. II. i. 28, where Conon is surprised at ^gos 

 Potamos : the. crews, which had dispersed on shore, rush hurriedly 

 to their ships ; but the enemy is upon them, before the vessels can 

 be manned ; and they have to push off in the following condition : 

 ■al /j.ev Twjf vsaiy dixpoToi Tjffav, a.l 8k iiovoxporoi, al dk -itavrsXihq xsvai 

 (we find elsewhere dcxporo'? and dirjpvj<; used as synonyms). It has 

 generally been assumed that this must mean that some of the vessels 

 had only one or two of their three banks of oars manned. But we 

 know, from other sources, that each rower had his proper station at 

 a particular oar; and it is much more likely, in my opinion, that 

 instinct would be supreme in the confusion ; so that, as each man 

 hurried up, he would rush to his particular oar (whether his station 

 was fore or aft, below or above), and proceed to cast it loose, without 

 waiting for his comrades of the same bench or (for the sake of 

 argument) "tier." I would explain thus : "Some of the ships had 

 but two men to an oar, others but one, &c." 



Lucan, Pharsal. III. v. 636, foil.: 



" Validasque triremes, 

 Quasque quater surgens exstructi remigis ordo 

 Commovet, et plures quae mergunt aequore pinus, *» 



Multiplices cinxere rates : hoc robur aperto 

 Oppositum pelago. Lunata fronte recedunt 

 Ordine contentae gemino crevisse Liburnae. 

 Celsior at cunctis Bt uti praetoria puppis 

 Verberibus senis agitur, molemque profundo 

 Invehit et summis longe petit aequora remis. " 

 Here we have biremes, triremes, quadriremes, quinquerevies, and 

 the hexeris of Brutus. — Exstructi remigis : — As I have said before, in 

 these huge vessels, the men nearer the upper extremity of the oar 

 mxTst have been placed higher than those nearer to the thole pin ; 

 but. if each man had a separate oar, how long and awkward the 

 highest must have been ! The Liburnae, which were light, swift 

 sailing vessels, are said to have been content " ordine gemino " — 

 naturally, as the Liburnae did not stand so high out of the water, 

 their oars would be shorter and more easily managed. Whereas the 

 praetoria puppis, which towered above all the others (^celsior, (i&c.), 

 would, necessarily, have longer ■ and heavier oars ; hence each was 

 plied by six men. Scaliger's objection, that the words " summis 

 remis " suggest that this vessel had other oai'^ nearer to the water, 



