FREJUS. 177 



that in the ^-ear 31 B. C. it was able to contain the two 

 hundred galle\'s which Octavianus captured from Anton- 

 ius in the battle of Actium. What a splendid sight 

 that must ha\'e been when the fleet of ^Vntonius fiUed 

 this harbour, when pow erful Roman gallexs were mirrored 

 in its waters, and far awa\ up tlie \'alle\- the bold arches 

 of the aqueduct extended to the distant hills. Under 

 the Emperors Frejus remained the most important na\'al 

 base on that coast: then sad times commenced for this 

 place. The aninls argenteu.s — the Argens of toda^ — 

 slowh' silted up the harbour with mud and earth. In 

 the tenth centur\- onh' small \'esscls could take refuge 

 here. And in the \ear ') 10 the Saracenscame and destro\'ed 

 tlie lortiiications of the town. In the fifteenth centiu'\' 

 Frejus \\as burned b\' Corsairs, and phmdered under 

 Charles \'' in the sixteenth centurw The harbour grad- 

 ualh' disappeared and extensive swamps formed in its 

 place; tliese filled the neighbourhood with deadh' miasuia. 

 ^Vt the commencement of the eighteenth centur\- Aubin- 

 Louis Millin describes the place as a picture ot miser\ . 

 The streets were empt\-, the houses uninhabited, and the 

 few people who were to be seen had pale, white faces, 

 hollow cheeks and sunken eyes. ^ ou miglit lanc\- \ our- 

 self in a large hospital. Millin writes; ~ "We took 

 rooms in the best Inn; it was an imcleanh^ and pestilen- 

 tial house, in which our sojourn was a penance. The 

 rooms were extremel_y dirtv. Foul water was given 

 us in unwashed jugs: swarms of flies besieged the food, 

 which was prepared with rancid oil. The midges and 

 gnats which came from the swamp.s plagued us with 



