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The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times PDF

329 Pages·1967·15.38 MB·English
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The Ancient Mariners Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times and Sea the Seafarers Fighters of The Ancient Mariners Mediterranean in Ancient Times Lionel Casson The Macmillan Company New York LIONEL CASSON 1959 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED ORTRANSMITTEDIN ANY FORM ORBYANY MEANS,ELECTRONICORMECHANICAL,INCLUDINGPHOTO- COPYING, RECORDING OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE ANDRETRIEVALSYSTEM,WITHOUTPERMISSIONINWRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER. FOURTH PRINTING 1967 LIBRARYOFCONGRESS CATALOGCARDNUMBER: 58-12437 THEMACMILLAN COMPANY,NEWYORK COLLIER-MACMILLAN CANADA,LTD.,TORONTO,ONTARIO PRINTEDINTHEUNITED STATES OF AMERICA To My Girls Foreword viii ley with slaves, thathe couldnotsail against the wind, andso on is utterlywrong. Probably this story could not have been properly told until now. Up to a half-century or so ago we had only the writings of ancient authorstosupplyinformation.Todaywecandrawon the findingsof hundreds of archaeological excavations; these have laid bare mari- time civilizations hitherto unknown, yielded an infinite variety of objects of trade, and even turned up priceless written documents, from the official records of the Athens Naval Base on imperishable stone to a tattered fragment of a maritime contract between some obscure businessmen on fragile papyrus. Moreover, in the last dec- ade, the new science of underwater archaeology has enabled us to explore the actual remains of ancientwrecks. There are still gaps in ourknowledge, butfar fewer thantherewere fiftyyears ago. The Ancient Mariners is addressed first and foremost to the gen- eral reader. Yet, since there is no other book in any language that covers the field, I have tried to straddle the fence and make it useful for scholars as well. I have given the sources of all illustrative ma- terial and citations. Though there are no footnotes, I have included twoappendicesthatIhopewill tosomeextentreplace them. Oneis a selected bibliography: the books listednot only supply the source of most of theinformationin the text, butenable whoever is interested to pursue any phase in greater detail. The other is an index of Greek andLatinnautical terms cross-referenced to the text; areader can, by looking up these words in the large lexicons, find many of the passages in ancient authors which have supplied significant in- formation. I hope, too, that the index will prove useful to those whostill takepleasure inreadingtheliteratureofGreeceorRomein the original; nautical terms can be a stumbling block to even an accomplished classicist, for the standard lexicons all too frequently define theminwaysthatareeithermeaninglesslyvagueordownright wrong. Manypeoplehelpedmeinmanywayswith this book; Ihavespace to acknowledge only my most important debts. A fellowship from theJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, by providing a precious opportunity to travel abroad forover ayear, enabledme to investigate the sites of scores of ancient Mediterranean harbors, to search obscure corners of museums and come upon evidence that I Foreword ix would otherwise never have known of, and to use the unique facil- ities of half a dozen European libraries. I took particular pains to secure apt and clear illustrations; a number of institutions and in- dividuals were of great assistance and their help is acknowledged at appropriate points in the listofplates. I mustmention in particular Mr. ErnestNashoftheFototecaUnione inRome; Iowe muchto his eager and fruitful cooperation and to the splendid resources of the archive he heads. A number of the chapters have benefited from the remarks of my good friends, Professor Saul Weinberg and Professor Naphtali Lewis. Chapter 13 owes much to the generous cooperation of Fernand Benoit, Director of the Museum of Archaeology at Marseilles. But far and away my greatest debt is the one I owe myfather. Hepasseda careful andcritical eyeover thelanguage and phrasing of every sentence in the manuscript; as a result, there is hardly a page in the book that has not profited from his comments and suggestions. Contents Foreword vii Down 1 to the Sea in Ships i 2 International Trade Begins 4 3 War on the Sea 37 4 Raiders and Traders 43 5 The Dawn of Maritime Exploration 58 6 Westward Ho! 66 7 The Wooden Walls 89 8 The Merchants of Athens 108 9 Beyond the Pillars of Hercules 128 10 The Age of Titans 141 11 Landlubbers to Sea Lords 157 12 East Meets West 173 13 Sea Digging !89 The 14 Pirates of Cilicia 198 XI xii Contents Rome Rules the Waves 15 16 All Routes Lead to Rome M An End and a 17 Beginning 24O Table of Dates Selected Bibliography Glossary of Greek and Latin Nautical Terms Index

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Written by the renowned authority on ancient ships and seafaring Lionel Casson, The Ancient Mariners has long served the needs of all who are interested in the sea, from the casual reader to the professional historian. This completely revised edition takes into account the fresh information that has
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