The Ancients’ Dread of the Sea; Homer’s Account of It; Slow Progress in Navigation before the Discovery of the Lode-stone; Early Egyptians; The Argonauts; The Phenicians and Greeks; Evidences of Sea-fights Thousands of Years before Christ; Naval Battle Fought by Rameses III; The Fleets of Sesostris; Description of Bas-relief at Thebes; Roman Galleys Described; Early Maritime Spirit of the Carthaginians; Herodotus’ Account of the Battle of Artemisium; The Greeks under Alexander; Romans and Carthaginians. I-19 I. SALAMIS. B. C. 480. The Island of Salamis; Xerxes; His Immense Power; His Fleet and Army; Events Preceding the Battle; The Contending Hosts Engage in Worship before the Fight Begins; The Greek Admiral Gives the Signal for Action; Many Persian Vessels Sunk at the First Onset; Fierce Hand-to-Hand Fighting; A Son of the Great Darius Falls; Dismay Among the Asiatics; Panic-stricken; Artifice of Queen Artemisia; She Escapes; Xerxes Powerless; He Rends his Robes and Bursts into Tears; Resolves to Return to Asia; Greece Wins her Freedom. I-25 II. NAVAL BATTLE AT SYRACUSE. B. C. 415. A Bloody Battle; Strength of the Athenians; The Fleet enters Syracuse Harbor in Fine Order; The Sicilians Blockade the Entrance and Imprison the Fleet; The Perils of Starvation Compel the Greeks to Attempt to Raise the Blockade; Both Fleets Meet at the Mouth of the Harbor; Confusion Among the Greeks; They are Finally Compelled to Turn Back and Take Refuge in their Docks; Another Attempt to Escape from the Harbor; Mutiny Among the Sailors; The Syracusans Appear in their Midst and Capture both Men and Ships; End of Athens as a Naval Power. I-31 III. ROMANS AND CARTHAGINIANS. Carthage a Place of Interest for Twenty Centuries; Romans and Carthaginians in Collision; First Punic War; Rome Begins the Construction of a Navy; A Stranded Carthaginian Vessel Serves as a Model; They Encounter the Carthaginians at Mylœ; Defeat of the Latter; Renewed Preparations of both Countries for the Mastery of the Mediterranean: A Great Battle Fought, 260 B. C.; The Romans Finally Victorious; They Land an Army in Africa and Sail for Home; Encounter a “Sirocco” and Lose nearly all their Galleys on the Rocks; The Succeeding Punic Wars; Rome in Her Greatness; Antony and Octavius Appear Upon the Scene. I-36 IV. ACTIUM. B. C. 31.