Against this formidable armament
the Rhodians again put to sea, and a second battle ensued, which was more
obstinately contested than the first: the Romans however were again
victorious, and the city of Rhodes was blocked up by sea and land. Its fate
was soon determined; for some of the inhabitants, dreading a famine, opened
the gates to the Romans. Cassius, besides other severe terms, obliged the
Rhodians to deliver up all their ships, and all their public treasures; the
temples were plundered, and 8000 talents extorted from private individuals,
besides a fine of 500 levied on the city.
From this time till the reign of Vespasian, when the island became a Roman
province, it was sometimes oppressed, and sometimes favoured by the Romans;
according, as Tacitus remarks, as they obliged them with their assistance
in foreign wars, or provoked them with their seditions at home.
In order to complete the maritime history of Rhodes, we have rather
advanced beyond the period to which we had brought down our notices of the
Roman navigation and commerce: these therefore we shall now resume at the
war between Perseus king of Macedonia and the Romans. Perseus harassed the
coasts of Italy, plundered and sunk all their ships, while they found it
difficult to oppose him by sea, or protect their coasts, for want of a
fleet.
