Chap. II. 
of the East Indie s. 
427 
into the Profecution, that Gfdlus, to prevent being fent 
i into Banifhment, threw himfelf upon iris Sword, and died 
: on the Spot. The Zeal fhewn by the Senate upon this 
; Occafion was fo grateful to the Emperor, that he returned 
them his Thanks for it *, and it is obferved, that this 
Cornelius G alius and Salvidienus Rufus were the only Per- 
fons given up by Augujlus to the Severity of the Laws du- 
ring his whole Reign ; and it is very poffible, that the for- 
mer, in fome meafurc, met with his Fate to gratify the 
Egyptians upon their firft becoming Subjeds to Rome , and 
to whom he had rendered himfelf hateful. 
5. Publius Petronius was made Governor of Egypt in 
the Year before Chrifk 26 and, in the Year after, Augujlus 
formed a Defign, which very plainly fhews how far the In- 
dian Trade had already made an Impreffion upon his Mind. 
He had been informed, that the Southern Arabians , that 
is, the Arabians , who inhabited the Side of the Gulph op- 
pofite to Egypt , were a Nation very rich in Gold, Silver, 
and precious Stones : He, therefore, determined either to 
make them Friends to his Government, or to bring them 
under Subjection, by which means two very defirable Ends 
would have been anfwered ; for, in the firft place, a very 
rich Commerce, and very commodious, would be fecured 
to his new Subjects j and next, he flattered himfelf there 
would be fuch Difcoveries made, as might enable him to 
extend either his Conquefts or his Trade on that Side much 
farther. As this Scheme of his was really of great Im- 
portance, fo the Means he took to have it executed were 
exceedingly well contrived, and plainly fhew how much 
he had ftudied it. He knew that the Thing v/as difficult 
in itfelf and that, unlefs it was conducted by Perfons who 
were well acquainted in the Country, it would certainly mif- 
carry. He, therefore, directed Herod , King of Judea , who 
had been always his faft Friend, to affift in the Execution 
of the ProjeCt ; and gave the like Orders to an Arabian 
Prince, whofe Dominions bordered on thofe Nations that 
were to be affeded by this ProjeCt, which rendered his Af- 
fiftance therefore of the utmoft Importance \ 
Minis G alius, a Roman of the Equeftrian Order, was the 
General fent on this Expedition, for which Augujlus fur- 
niffied him with ten thoufand of the Allies ; to thefe were 
added five hundred Men from Herod abovementioned* 
and a thoufand more that were brought him by SylHus from 
Obodas , King of the Nabathean Arabs. This Obodas , 
had fucceeded Malchus in the Kingdom, and SylHus was 
his chief Minifter, and a Perfon of great Craft', Vigour 
and Application *, He, knowing the Country, undertook to 
be Gallus’s Guide in this Expedition, and thereby made it 
mifcarry by betraying him in it. It was propofed to march 
through the Country of rite Nabatheans , and from thence 
to enter on this Expedition •, but SylHus falfly informing 
G alius, that there was no fafe Paffage thither by Land, 
this put him on building a Fleet to pals thither by Sea ; 
and therefore, having provided an hundred and thirty 
Tranfports at Cleopatris , a Port at the Bottom of the 
Arabian Gulph, or Red Sea , he there put his Army on 
board them, and failed to Lucocome , a Port of the Naba- 
theans , lying on the Eaftern Side of that Sea. This be- 
ing a very dangerous Navigation, by reafon of the many 
Rocks and Shoals that are in that Part of the Arabian 
Gulph and SylHus piloting him the world Way through 
it, he was fifteen Days in the Paffage, and loft feveral *of 
his Ships in it ; and when he was landed, all his Army 
falling lick of a Difeaie common in that Country, he was 
forced to lie by all the remaining Part of the Summer, 
and the Winter following to wait their Recovery b . 
Vv'e have all thefe Circumftances from Strabo , who was 
the intimate Friend of G alius, and muft, therefore have 
been perfectly well acquainted with every thing relating to 
this Expedition ; and it is his Obfervation, that tho’ Obodas 
was very hearty in this Affair, yet leaving it, as it was 
too much the Cuftom of the Arabian Princes, to his Mini- 
fcer, he ventured upon thefe extraordinary Meafures, with 
a View, as our Author conjectures, to his own private 
Advantage ; for his Defign was, that the Romans ffiould 
conquer a great Part of the Country, but with fuch Diffi- 
culty, and under fuch Disadvantages, that they might be 
weary of keeping it, and that fo it might, with the reft of 
his Mafter’s Dominious, fall into his Elands , for he had 
already projected the Poifoning of King Obodas , which he 
afterwards executed. It is, alfo, worthy of Obfervation, 
that this Difeafe, which carried off fuch Numbers of the 
Romans , was a Swelling in their Gums, their Thighs, and 
their Legs, or, in plain Englijh , the Scurvy. Irt the Be- 
ginning of the Spring, when his Army had recovered their 
Health and Spirits, G alius continued his March, but 
through fuch Roads, as made it abfolutely neceffary to carry 
a Supply of Water on the Backs of Camels, which was 
another Contrivance of SylHus , Who, if he pleafed, might 
have fhewn them a much eafier and ffiorter Paffage c . 
After a tedious March of many Days, they arrived ih 
the Country of Areta , in the Neighbourhood of Obodas , 
who came thither to meet the Rotnan General, treated him 
with great Kindnefs, and made him many Prefents. They 
made, from thence, another fatiguing March of fifty Days, 
through a fandy and defert Country, belonging to a King 
whofe Name was Sabus •, and then came into the Country 
of the Agrarians, the chief City of which they took *, and 
in this Country they found great Relief, being in itfelf very 
fruitful and pleafant, and inhabited by a People who were 
naturally peaceable. Continuing their March for fix Days, 
they came to a River, where, for the firft time, Fhey faw 
an Enemy •, for, the neighbouring Nations, having heard 
of their Approach, affembled to flop their Paffage a 
Battle enfued, in which the Arabians were routed, or ra- 
ther flaughtered ; for here were ten thoufand of them 
killed, with the Lofs of no more than two Romans : The 
Barbarians , indeed, were armed with Lances, Swords, 
Bows and Slings ; but they were naturally a timorous 
People, and made but poor Ufe of their Weapons. They 
took foon after the City of AJca , the King having aban- 
doned it d . 
_ Thence they marched to Athrulla , which they took 
without any Trouble ; and, making it a Place of Arms, 
they provided themfelves there with Corn, and other Ne- 
ceffaries. Thence they moved on to Marjibas , a City of 
the Ramanitanians , not far from llafarus,, which Place 
they befieged for fix Days, and were then obliged to de- 
camp for want of Water. The Treachery of the Guides 
being by this Time fully detected, they took another Road 
in their Return, and, in the Space of iixty Days, reached 
the Port of Nagra on the Arabian Gulph, though they 
had been fix Months in penetrating into that Part of the 
Country, from which, without any great Difficulty, they 
returned in two. There they again embarked, and in eleven 
Days, and without any Accident, arrived fafely at My os 
Hormos : From thence they continued their March to Cop- 
tos, and fo back to Alexandria. 
AElius Gallius brought home with him, after two Years 
Abfence, but a fmall Part of his Army, having loft the 
reft, not in Battle, but by Hunger, Fatigue, Sicknefs, and 
the Hardfhips they endured ; for, in the who le Expedition, 
there were no more than feven fell by the Sword. After all, 
there was but very little gained by all this Labour, either 
in point of Conqueft or Difcovery ; which was abfolutely 
owing to the treacherous Arts of SylHus before mentioned, 
who, being at Rome fome Years afterwards, and there 
charged with thefe and other Offences, and fully convided, 
fuffered an infamous Death, the juft Reward of his fuper- 
lative Wickednefs e . Yet, as unfuccefsful as this Enter- 
prize proved, it was undoubtedly a well laid Defign ; and, 
if it had taken Effed, muft have contributed greatly to the 
openirfg a free Commerce throughout the whole Gulph, 
from the City Arfmoe to the City of Ptoletnais \ and, as 
Strabo hkewife fuggefts, it would have afforded a fhort 
and eafy Paffage acrofs the Streights of Babel-Mandel, to 
the Region of the Troglodytes ; the Redudion of which 
muft have been very advantageous, becaufe, as we fhall 
* Dion Cajjius, lib hii. p ■■ 1 2. Sue ton. in Augufto , c. 66. The learned Cajaulon has confounded in his Notes upon S*raho -hie r „ r 
Patron ot Vinril, and himielf an evre’ hnt Pner- SPr.ru c i r , 7 , ,C3 u P on ^ Ttao ° Oornelius, th 
m ' ’AXtiSlp. ?8 , ‘ 7 * 0 , ; 8 ., AU t . 8 , 9 . 
fhew 
ii 
