But They Soon Began To Engage Very
Extensively And With Great Spirit In Trade Themselves.
Several kinds of
manufactures were encouraged, which were highly valued by foreign nations,
especially coverlets for beds, and brass and earthen-ware vessels.
But
their most valuable manufacture consisted in a metal compounded of copper
and a small quantity of gold and silver, which was extremely brilliant, and
scarcely liable to rust or decay. From this metal they made helmets, &c.,
little figures, cups, vessels, &c., which were highly esteemed, not only on
account of the metal of which they were formed, but still more on account
of the tasteful foliage and other ornaments with which they were covered.
Their earthen-ware was ornamented in the same beautiful and tasteful
manner.
All these were exported by the Corinthians in great quantities, and formed
very lucrative articles of trade. Paper and sailcloth from Egypt; ivory
from Lybia; leather from Cyrene; incense from Syria; dates from Phoenicia;
carpets from Carthage; corn and cheese from Sicily; apples and pears from
Euboea; - filled the warehouses of Corinth.
As soon as Corinth resolved to participate in maritime commerce, she
applied herself to this object with great industry and success: she built
ships of a novel form, and first produced galleys with three benches of
oars; and history assures us that the Greeks obtained their first maritime
experience during the naval war between the Corinthians and the inhabitants
of Corfu; and by their instruction the Samians put to sea those powerful
fleets for which they were distinguished.
Besides Athens and Corinth, there were no states in ancient Greece, the
consideration of whose maritime and commercial affairs will detain us long.
Lacedaemonia was favourably situated in these respects; but either her laws,
or the disposition and pursuits of her inhabitants, prevented her from
taking advantage of her situation. All the south part of Laconia was
encompassed by the sea, and on the east and north-east was the Argelic Bay:
on its coasts were a great number of capes, the most celebrated of which
were those of Malea and Tanara; they were also furnished with a great
number of sea-port towns and commodious harbours. In consequence of the
capes extending far into the sea, and the deepness of some of the bays, the
ancients took three days to navigate the length of the coast in vessels
wrought by oars, following, as they generally did, all the windings of the
land. The little river Pameros, which divided Beotia from Laconia, formed
one extremity, and the port of Prais, on the Gulf of Argelis, formed the
other. The most difficult and dangerous part of this navigation consisted
in doubling Cape Malea.
The most convenient and frequented sea-ports in Laconia were Trinassus and
Acria, situated on each side the mouth of the Eurotas; and Gythium, not far
from Trinassus, at the mouth of a small river on the Laconic Gulf. The
mouth of this river, which was navigable up to Sparta, was defended by a
citadel, the ruins of which were remaining in the time of Pausanias. As the
Lacedaemonians regarded this town as their principal port, in which their
naval forces, as well as the greater part of their merchant ships
assembled, they employed considerable labour and expence in rendering it
commodious and safe; for this purpose they dug a very spacious basin which,
on one side was defended by motes, and on the other by numerous
fortifications: the strength of these may be judged of from the
circumstance, that even after the armies of Sparta had been utterly
defeated by Epaminondas, and Philip, the son of Demetrius, neither of these
conquerors could capture this sea-port. In it were deposited all the
requisites for their naval force, and from it sailed their merchant ships
with cargoes to Crete, Africa, and Egypt; to all of which countries,
according to Thucydides, the Lacedaemonians carried on a lucrative and
regular traffic. Another of their sea-ports was Epidaurus, situated on the
Gulf of Argos, in the eastern part of Laconia. The country round it
contained many vineyards, the wine of which was exported in considerable
quantities, and supplied other parts of Greece. This district is still
celebrated for its wine, called Malvasia, (or Malmsey,) a corruption from
Maleates, the ancient name of this part of Laconia.
We have already alluded to the supposed aversion of the Spartans to
maritime affairs, which, according to some authors, arose from Lycurgus
having prohibited them from building vessels, or employing sailors; but
this idea is unfounded, and seems to have arisen from the fact, that their
kings were prevented, by a positive law, from commanding the fleets. That
the Spartans engaged in commerce, we have, as has been just stated, the
express testimony of Thucydides; and there is abundant evidence that they
had always armed vessels during their wars; and even so early as the time
of Croesus, they sent some troops to Satnos, and plundered that island: and
in later times, they used such efforts to equip vessels, in order to gain
the mastery of the seas, that, according to Xenophon, they entirely
neglected their cavalry. They were stimulated to this line of conduct by
Alcibiades, who advised the kings, ephori, and the nation at large, to
augment their marine, to compel the ships of all other nations to lower
their flag to theirs, and to proclaim themselves exclusive masters of the
Grecian seas. Isocrates informs us, that, before Alcibiades came to
Lacedaemon, the Spartans, though they had a navy, expended little on it;
but afterwards they increased it almost daily. The signal defeat they
sustained at the battle of Cnidus, where Conon destroyed their whole fleet,
not only blasted their hopes of becoming masters of the seas, but,
according to Isocrates, led to their defeat at the battle of Leuctra.
Off the coast of Laconia, and about forty stadia from Cape Malea, lies the
island of Cythera; the strait between it and the mainland was deemed by the
ancients extremely dangerous in stormy weather; and indeed its narrowness,
and the rocks that lay off Cape Malea must, to such inexperianced
navigators, have been very alarming.
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