The Whole
Of This Immense Quantity Served For The Decoration Of One Day, On Which
Nero Gave An Entertainment Of Gladiators.
In the time of Theodoric, king of
the Goths, the Estii sent that monarch a large quantity of amber, as the
most likely present by means of which they could obtain his alliance.
They
informed the ambassadors, whom he sent with a letter acknowledging this
present, that they were ignorant whence the amber came, but that it was
thrown upon their coast by the sea, a fact which exactly agrees with what
occurs at present.
Whether the Estii, with whom the Romans carried on this traffic, were a
maritime nation, we are not informed; but there was another nation or tribe
of Germans on the Baltic, of whose maritime character some notices are
given. These were the Sitones, who, according to Tacitus, had powerful
fleets; their ships were built with two prows, so as to steer at both ends,
and prevent the necessity of putting about; their oars were not fixed, like
those of the Mediterranean vessels, but loose, so that they could easily
and quickly be shifted: they used no sails. The people of Taprobane
(Ceylon) - the Byzantines, and, on some occasions, the Romans also, employed
vessels, like those of the Sitones, which could be steered at both ends.
One of the most considerable revolutions in the maritime and commercial
affairs of Rome, was brought about by the battle of Actium. The fleet of
Anthony was composed chiefly of ships belonging to the Egyptians, Tyrians,
and other nations of the east, and amounted, according to some accounts, to
200 sail, whereas the fleet of Augustus consisted of 400 sail.
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