History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 1 (of 4)Lindsay, W. S. (William Schaw)
History
History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 1 (of 4)
Lindsay, W. S. (William Schaw)
Commerce -- History; Shipping -- History; Steam navigation -- History
The trade of Carthage, as might be anticipated from her position,
was almost entirely with the west, her chief rivals being Sicily,
Italy, and Massalia (Marseilles), who prevented her from obtaining
anything like an exclusive monopoly. Yet the abundant details given
by Herodotus, Diodorus, Aristotle, Strabo, Terence, and Plautus, show
clearly that, even with these places, her commercial relations attained
considerable dimensions. The wines and oils of Sicily and Italy found
their best market in Carthage, the return being black slaves from
Central Africa. Malta, Corsica, Elba, produced fine cloths, wax and
honey, and iron, respectively; while the mines of Spain, with her great
port Cadiz, the entrepôt for tin from Britain, before the Massalians
brought it overland through France, produced the largest and most
enduring portion of her revenue.
To her commerce with the interior of Africa by means of caravans
mention has already been made; and it is scarcely necessary to add
that the details which Herodotus and other ancient writers give of
this trade, read much like a page out of Livingstone, or Baker, or
Du Chaillu. Then, as now, the wants of the respective populations
were much the same; if the interior could send abundance of ivory or
gold-dust, salt, a need of their daily life, could be procured only
from the Mediterranean shores. Lastly, it is certain that Carthage,
like the United States of America in modern times, was mainly indebted
for her navy to her merchant service, inasmuch as in times of peace she
set apart scarcely any shipping for merely warlike purposes.
FOOTNOTES:
[58] Gesen. Hebr. Lex. p. lxxix.
[59] Diod. ii. 16-19.
[60] 2 Kings xv. 19.
[61] Her. i. 1.
[62] Herod. i. 1; Mela, i. 12.
[63] Odys. xv. 414, &c. xiv. 29.
[64] Il. vi. 290.
[65] Pyth. ii. 125.
[66] Scyl. c. iii.
[67] Ezek. xxvii. ver. 3.
[68] Ver. 5, 6.
[69] Cf. Plin. xvi. 16; Diod. v. 14; Virg. x. 135.
[70] Ezek. xxvii. ver. 8.
[71] Ver. 8.
[72] Ver. 9.
[73] Ver. 7.
[74] Paus. iii. 21.
[75] Ver. 13.
[76] Ver. 14.
[77] Cf. Strab. xi. 553.
[78] Joel iii. 6; Amos i. 6, 9.
[79] Plin. xxxiv. 2; Fest. in Virg. Æn. xii. 6.
[80] Ezek. xxvii. ver. 12.
[81] Ver. 25.
[82] De Mirab. Ausc. 147; cf. Diod. v. 35.
[83] Lucret. v. 1256; Strab. iii. 147 and 159; Polyb. x. 10; Plin.
xxxiv. 15; Martial, iv. 35.
[84] Plin. iv. 34; xxxiv. 47; Strab. iii. 147.
[85] Diod. v. 38, 5.
[86] _Vide_ Lassen ap. Ritter’s Erdkunde, v. p. 549; and cf. Hom. Il.
xxiii. 503, who was clearly aware of the practice of tinning.
[87] Strabo, iii. 5. For further details of the tin trade, _vide_
Herod. iii. 115; Arist. de Mundo, viii. 3; Polyb. iii. 37; Strab. v.
10; Phillips’ Mineralogy, p. 249.
[88] Plin. iii. 26.
[89] Tac. Germ. 44, 45.
[90] Ezek. xxvii. ver. 15.
[91] Ver. 20.
[92] Ver. 16.
[93] Ver. 19.
[94] Ver. 22.
[95] Ver. 17.
[96] Ezek. ver. 18.
[97] Ver. 21.
[98] Vers. 10 and 11.
[99] The Azotus of Herod. iii. 5.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account