But king Philadelphus surpassed most kings in riches; and he pursued every kind of manufacturing and trading art so zealously, that he also surpassed every one in the number of his ships. Now the largest ships which he had were these:—two of thirty banks of oars, one of twenty, four of thirteen, two of twelve, fourteen of eleven, thirty of nine, thirty-seven of seven, five of six, seventeen of five. And from quadriremes down to light half-decked triremes, for purposes of war, he had twice as many as all these put together. And the vessels which were sent to the different islands and to the other cities under his dominion, and to Libya, amounted to more than four thousand. And concerning the numbers of his books, and the way in which he furnished his libraries, and the way in which he collected treasures for his Museum, why need I speak? for every one remembers all these things.

37. But since we have mentioned the subject of the building of ships, let us speak (for it is worth hearing of) of the ships which were built also by Ptolemy Philopator, which are mentioned by the same Callixenus in the first book of his Account of Alexandria, where he speaks as follows:—"Philopator built a ship with forty ranks of rowers, being two hundred and eighty cubits long and thirty-eight cubits from one side to the other; and in height up to the gunwale it was forty-eight cubits; and from the highest part of the stern to the water-line was fifty-three cubits; and it had four rudders,

[[325]]each thirty cubits long; and oars for the thranitæ, the largest thirty-eight cubits in length, which, from having lead in their handles, and because they were very heavy in the part inside the ship, being accurately balanced, were, in spite of their bulk, very handy to use. And the ship had two heads and two sterns, and seven beaks, one of which was longer than all the rest, and the others were of smaller size; and some of them were fixed to the ears of the ship; and it had twelve undergirths to support the keel, and each was six hundred cubits in length. And it was well proportioned to a most extraordinary degree; and all the appointments of the vessel were admirable, for it had figures of animals on it not less than twelve cubits in size, both at the head and at the stern, and every part of it was inlaid and ornamented with figures in wax; and the space between the oars down to the very keel had a running pattern of ivy-leaves and thyrsi; and there was a great store of every kind of equipment to supply all parts of the ship that might require any.[325:1] And when it put to sea it held more than four thousand rowers, and four hundred supernumeraries; and on the deck were three thousand marines, or at least two thousand eight hundred and fifty. And besides all these there was another large body of men under the decks, and a vast quantity of provisions and supplies. And the vessel was launched originally from a sort of framework, which they say was erected and made out of the wood of fifty ships of five ranks of oars; and it was launched by the multitude with great acclamations and blowing of trumpets. But after that a Phœnician devised a new method of launching it, having dug a trench under it, equal to the ship itself in length, which he dug close to the harbour. And in the trench he built props of solid stone five cubits deep, and across them he laid beams crosswise, running the whole width of the trench, at four cubits' distance from one another; and then making a channel from the sea he filled all the space which he had excavated with water, out of which he easily brought the ship by the aid of whatever men happened to be at hand; then closing the entrance which had been originally made, he drained the water off again by means of engines; and when this had been done the vessel rested securely on the before-mentioned cross-beams.

[[326]] 38. "Philopator also built a vessel for the river which he called Thalamegus, or the Carrier of his Bed-chamber, in length half a stadium, and in width at the broadest part thirty cubits; and the height together with the frame for the awning was little short of forty cubits. And its appearance was not exactly like ships of war, nor merchant vessels either, but it was something different from both, on account of the necessity imposed by the depth of the river. For below it was flat and broad; but in its main hull it was high. And the parts at the extremity, and especially at the head, extended a sufficient length, so as to exhibit a very pretty and elegant sweep. This ship also had two heads and two sterns. And it rose to a considerable height above the water, as was necessary, because the waves in the river often rise very high. And in the middle of its hull were constructed banqueting-rooms and sleeping-rooms, and everything else which may be convenient for living in. And round the ship were double corridors running about three sides, each of which was not less than five plethra in circumference. And the arrangement of the lower one was like a peristyle, and that in the upper part was covered in, and surrounded with walls and windows on all sides. And when you first came into the vessel by the stern your eye was met by a colonnade, open in front, and surrounded by pillars. And opposite to it in the bow of the vessel there was a sort of propylæum constructed, made of ivory and most expensive woods. And after you had passed through that, then you came to something like a proscenium, covered in overhead. And again in the same way in the middle of the vessel was another colonnade, open behind, and an entrance of four folding-doors led to it. And both on the right hand and on the left there were windows, admitting a pleasant breeze.

"To these was joined a room of very large size, and that was adorned with pillars all round, and it was capable of containing twenty couches. And the greater part of it was made of split cedar, and of Milesian cypress. And the doors which were round it, being twenty in number, were put together with beams of citron wood, having ivory ornaments. And all the nails and fastenings which were visible were made of red brass, which had taken a polish like that of gold from the fire. And of the pillars the bodies were of cypress-wood, but the capitals were of Corinthian workmanship, adorned with ivory and gold. The whole of the capitals of the pillars

[[327]]were of gold; and there was a sort of girdle on them having figures of animals beautifully carved in ivory, more than a cubit high, of which the workmanship was not so conspicuous as the exquisite beauty of the materials. There was a beautiful roof to the banqueting-room, square, and made of cypress wood. And its ornaments were all carved, having a golden face. Next to this banqueting-chamber was a sleeping-chamber holding seven couches; and to that there was joined a narrow passage, which separated the woman's chamber from this one by the width of the hold. And by the passage was a banqueting-room holding nine couches, very like the large one in the sumptuousness of its furniture; and a bed-chamber holding five couches. As to the rooms then on the first deck this was the general appearance presented.

39. "But when you had ascended by the stairs which were close to the before-mentioned sleeping chamber, there was another chamber capable of containing five couches, having a vaulted oblong roof. And near to it was a temple of Venus, in form like a rotunda, in which was a marble statue of the goddess. And opposite to this was another banqueting-room, very sumptuous, adorned all round with columns: for the columns were all made of Indian stone. And near to this banqueting-room were more sleeping-chambers, with furniture and appointments corresponding to what has been already mentioned. And as you went on towards the head of the vessel was another apartment dedicated to Bacchus, capable of holding thirteen couches, surrounded with pillars, having its cornices all gilt as far down as the epistyle which ran round the room, but the roof corresponded to the character of the god. And in it there was on the right hand a large cave constructed, the colour of which was stone, for in fact it was made of real stone and gold; and in it images were placed of all the relations of the king, made of the stone called lychnites. And there was another banqueting-room, very pleasant, above the roof of the greatest apartment, having an arrangement like that of a tent, so that some of it had no actual roof; but there were arched and vaulted beams running along the top at intervals, along which purple curtains were stretched whenever the vessel was in motion. And after this there was an open chamber occupying the same room above that was occupied by the portico before mentioned as being below. And a winding

[[328]]ladder joined on to it, leading to the secret walk, and a banqueting-room capable of containing nine couches, constructed and furnished in the Egyptian style. For round pillars were run up in it, with alternate tambours of white and black, all placed in parallel lines. And their heads were of round shape; and the whole of the figures round them were engraved like roses a little expanded. And round that part which is called the basket there were not tendrils and rough leaves, as is the case in Grecian pillars, but calyxes of the river-lotus, and the fruit of newly budding dates. And sometimes many other kinds of flowers were also represented. And under the roof of the capital which lies upon the tambour, where it joins on to the head, there were ornaments like the flower leaves of the Egyptian bean intertwined together. This then is the way in which the Egyptians construct and ornament their pillars, and this is the way in which they variegate their walls with black and white bricks: and sometimes also they employ the stone which is called alabaster. And there were many other ornaments all over the main hull of the vessel, and over the centre, and many other chambers and divisions in every part of it.

"And the mast of this vessel was seventy cubits in height, and it had a linen sail, adorned with a purple fringe. And the whole of the wealth which had been so carefully preserved by king Philadelphus was dissipated by the last Ptolemy, who also excited the war against Gabinius, who was not a man, but a mere flute-player and conjuror."

40. But concerning the ship built by Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse, which also Archimedes the geometrician superintended, I do not think it right to be silent, since a certain man named Moschion has given a description of it, which I read over with great care very lately.