Maritime advantages of the Phoenicians.

vantageously situated for extending their commerce over this sea. Every thing invited them to become navigators. Inspired by that creative genius, which, from a horde of savages, made them, after a few ages, an illustrious nation, they invented, in the course of a few generations, many new arts, and considerably extended the ancient limits of Phoenicia. (26) Commodious harbours offered them a safe asylum for their vessels, and Mount Lebanon furnished the timber requisite for building ships. They profited so well by these advantages, that, if they were not the inventors of navigation, they were, at least, the first people who made long voyages, and armed their ships for war. Interest and ambition conspired to render them the most celebrated navigators of ancient times. They visited, in turn, Sicily, Sardinia, Greece,* Gaul, and Spain. Another sea soon became necessary to gratify their ambition; they bold

(26) According to Strubo, in his geography, lib. 16. Phœnicia comprehended the whole maritime coast from Onthosius to Pelusium. Procopius de bello Vand. lib. 11, c. 10, calls all the country, from Sidon to the confines of Egypt, Phoenicia. This leads us to suppose, that the Philistines were incorporated with the Phoenicians, and took their name. Herodotus, lib. 1, p. 59, calls the inhabitants of Askalon, which was one of the cities belonging to the Philistines, Phoenicians; their other cities, without excepting Rhino-colura, are also denominated by ancient historians and geographers, cities of Phoenicia. Dionys. Perieg. v. 905-910.

*« Phænices primi mercaturis et mercibus suis avaritiam, et magnificentiam, et inexplebiles cupiditates omnium rerum supportaverunt in Græciam." Fragmenta Cicer......T.

Progress of the commerce of the Phoenicians.

ly passed the columns of Hercules, and their courage was rewarded by the discovery of Great Britain.(27)

2. The countries frequented by the Phoenicians, were almost all, which composed the ancient world, during the second period of history, that is, from the reign of Sesostris to that of Cyrus; a period, during which the east and the south were as well known, as the west, in a subsequent age. The Phoenicians, treading in the steps of the conquerors of the immense regions of Asia and India, established their commerce, by means of their navigation, in all the places over which those great monarchs extended their dominion.(28) Egypt itself, which continued for a long time, as impenetrable to strangers as China, was accessible to the Phoenicians, Ships bearing

(27) Eusebius in Chronic, lib. 2. Diodor. lib. 5, p. 346. Strabo. Geog. lib. 1, page 85.

(28) Robertson, in his History of America, in mentioning the reasons which induced him not to doubt of the voyage, made round Africa by Necho, king of Egypt, about the year, A. M. 3100, and 904 before Christ, supposes this monarch employed the Phoenician crews to man his fleet.* See also on this subject an interesting pamphlet, by M. Chapus, member of the legislative body, entitled Histoire abregée des Revolutions du Commerce, ch. 8.

The date here given, is evidently erroneous. Robertson says, " A Phœnician fleet, we are told, fitted out by Necho, king of Egypt, took its depar ture about 604 years before the Christian era, from a port in the Red Sea, doubled the southern promontory of Africa, and, after a voyage of three years, returned by the streights of Gades to the mouth of the Nile."...... T.

Rise and fall of the maritime power of the Phœnicians.

their flag, might ascend the Nile, by one of its mouths, and their merchants occupied a quarter of the city of Memphis, in the vicinity of the Temple of Vulcan, called the Tyrian Canton, from the name of Tyre, their chief city.(29)

3. By means of their extensive commerce, and their skill in navigation, they at length acquired the empire of the sea, which they long retained. They became, however, the tyrants of the ocean, and exercised piracy, until their dominion was annihilated by the most dreadful catastrophe. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, marched against Tyre, about the year 580, before Christ, and, after a siege of thirteen years, made himself master of the city.(30) The conqueror, irritated at so long a resistance, exterminated every thing by fire and sword, and destroyed the city to its foundations,

4. Re-established under Cyrus, and more splendid than ever under the kings of Persia, Tyre paid dearly for arresting the march of Alexander the Great. A murderous siege transformed it into a heap of ruins. From the dominion of the kings of Syria, successors of Alexander, it passed under that of the Romans. Their empire, mild and tranquil, was favourable to commerce. Tyre took advantage of this circum

(29) See an excellent work by Mr. Peuchet, entitled, Recherches sur l'etat et les progrés du commerce et de la navigation des anciens, inserted in the Bibliotheque Commerciale, Sept. 1803.

(30) Joseph. Antiquit. lib. 10, cap. 11.

Destruction of Tyre.—Ægina.

stance to raise herself to her former greatness; to reassume her glory, and to become the principal city of Syria. In the ages which followed, she experienced, under the Saracens, and the Christian princes, the same alternations of prosperity and adversity. She has undergone, at last, the fate of all the ancient cities which have fallen under the Turkish yoke; exhibiting nothing but a heap of ruins, and of huts occupied by miserable fishermen. A melancholy fate! the sad fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel.(31)

Section II.

ÆGINA.

§ 1. ÆGINA, a considerable island, is situated in the Salonic Gulf, near the port of Pireus, and not far from Salamis, illustrious for the famous victory of the Greeks over the Persians. A tradition, mentioned by Hesiod, confers on it the honour of having invented the art of navigation. The Æginetes, in the reign of Darius, son of Hystaspis, having rendered their island the centre of the commerce of all Greece, by their attention to the maintenance of a large naval force, were considered as the most powerful

(31)" And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it saith the Lord God; and it shall become a spoil to the nations." Ezekiel, ch. 26, v. 4 and 5.

Destruction of the naval power of Ægina.—Crete.

maritime people of that age.(32) They distin guished themselves in the wars against the Persians, and earned the palm of valor. For this reason, they have been ranked among those nations who have, for a time, held the empire of the sea.(33) The part which they performed in Greece, was as short as it was brilliant. They were able to maintain themselves, for a short time only, in opulence and prosperity. Driven out of the island by the Athenians in the time of Pericles, the Æginetes never recovered from their fall.(34) Their naval power was entirely destroyed, and their commerce annihilated.(35)

Section III.

CRETE.

§ 1. MINOS, the second of that name, king of Crete, who took such sanguinary vengeance on the Athenians for the murder of his son Androgeus,(36) has been regarded as the first sovereign of that country, who held the empire of the sea.(37) But this empire, for which he has been so much honoured by historians, must be confined to the superiority Minos enjoyed in the seas of Crete, and of the adjacent islands.

(32) Strabo. Geog. Herod. Hist. lib. 5. Plutarch in Themistoc. (33) Strabo. Ælian var. Hist. lib. 12, c. 10.

(34) Pausan. in Corinth.

(35) Ælian. in loc. cit. Strabo. loc. cit. Thucyd. Hist. lib. 1.

(36) Plato de legibus, lib. 4.

(37) Thucyd. Hist. lib. 1. Herodot. lib. 3, n. 122. Aristot. de repub. lib. 2, c. 10. Diod. lib. 4. Strabo loc. cit.