This Fleet Arrived In Sicily, But Performed Nothing; And Genseric,
Notwithstanding The Law Of Theodosius, Obtained The Means And The Skill Of
Fitting Out A Formidable Fleet.
The Vandal empire in Africa was peculiarly
adapted to maritime enterprise, as it stretched along the coast of the
Mediterranean above ninety days' journey from Tangier to Tripoli:
The woods
of mount Atlas supplied an inexhaustible quantity of ship timber; the
African nations whom he had subdued, especially the Carthaginians, were
skilled in ship-building and in maritime affairs; and they eagerly obeyed
the call of their new sovereign, when he held out to them the plunder of
Rome. Thus, as Gibbon observes, after an interval of six centuries, the
fleets that issued from the port of Carthage again claimed the empire of
the Mediterranean. A feeble and ineffectual resistance was opposed to the
Vandal sovereign, who succeeded in his grand enterprise, plundered Rome,
and landed safely in Carthage with his rich spoils. The emperor Leo,
alarmed at this success, fitted out a fleet of 1113 ships, at the expense,
it is calculated, of nearly five millions sterling. This fleet, with an
immense army on board, sailed from Constantinople to Carthage, but it
effected nothing. Genseric, taking advantage of a favourable wind, manned
his largest ships with his bravest and most skilful sailors; and they towed
after them vessels filled with combustible materials. During the night they
advanced against the imperial fleet, which was taken by surprise; confusion
ensued, many of the imperial ships were destroyed, and the remainder saved
themselves by flight. Genseric thus became master of the Mediterranean; and
the coasts of Asia, Greece, and Italy, were exposed to his depredations.
Towards the end of the fifth century, the Romans under Theodoric exhibited
some slight and temporary symptoms of reviving commerce. His first object
was to fit out a fleet of 1000 small vessels, to protect the coast of Italy
from the incursions of the African Vandals and the inhabitants of the
Eastern empire. And as Rome could no longer draw her supplies of corn from
Egypt, he reclaimed and brought into cultivation the Pomptine marshes and
other neglected parts of Italy. The rich productions of Lucania, and the
adjacent provinces, were exchanged at the Marcilian fountain, in a populous
fair, annually dedicated to trade: the gradual descent of the hills was
covered with a triple plantation of divers vines and chestnut trees. The
iron mines of Dalmatia, and a gold mine in Bruttium, were carefully
explored and wrought. The abundance of the necessaries of life was so very
great, that a gallon of wine was sometimes sold in Italy for less than
three farthings, and a quarter of wheat at about five shillings and
sixpence. Towards a country thus wisely governed, and rich and fertile,
commerce was naturally attracted; and it was encouraged and protected by
Theodoric: he established a free intercourse among all the provinces by sea
and land: the city gates were never shut; and it was a common saying, "that
a purse of gold might safely be left in the field." About this period, many
rich Jews fixed their residence in the principal cities of Italy, for the
purposes of trade and commerce.
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