DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0531
OF THE MILITARY AFFAIRS OF GREECE.
scholiast upon Thucydiles, that this is a name of very large extent, com-
prehending not only those that rowed, but all other persons in the ship,
and sometimes applied to ai:*y thing else contained therein. When ships
had several banks of oars, the uppermost rowers were called Srgovwwi,
and their bank, Sgavos C l-V: the lowest, 5«X«./juoi, SaXocfjuVcu and SaXajxaxsj,
and their bank, SaXa^os : those in the middle, guyiVew, and (xstfo^uyioi, and
all the-ir banks, how many soever in number, £Vpa. Every one had a dis-
tinct oar, for, except in cases of necessity, one oar was never managed
by above one person, as Scheffer hath proved at large ; yet their labour
and pay were not the same ; for such as were placed in the uppermost
banks by reason of their distance from the water, and the length of their
oars, underwent more toil and labour than those in the inferior banks,
and therefore were rewarded with greater wages The rowers in ships
of burden were called sgoyfuXovaurai (2)* those in triremes, r^^srai- and
the rest seem to have had different appellations from the names of the
ships they laboured in. Those that were foremost in the respective
banks, and sat nearest the prow, were called irgoxwrror and on the other
side, those who were placed next the stern were termed farbcuitoi, as be-
ing behind their fellows. Their work was esteemed one of the worst and
most wretche ! drudgeries, and therefore the most notorious malefactors
were frequently condemned to it; for, beside their incessant toil in row
ing, their very rest was uneasy, there being noplace to repose their
wearied bodies besides the seats whereon they had laboured all the day .
therefore, whenever the poets speak of their ceasing from labour, there
is mention of their lying down upon them : thus Seneca (3) ;
--credita est vento raiis,
Fususque transtris miles.--
Unto the wind the ship was left,
The soldiers lay along their seats.
To the same purpose Virgil (4) :
-placida laxarant membra quiete
Sub remis fusiper dura sedilia nautce.
--The crew
On the hard benches stretch'd beneath their oars,
Relax'd iheir weary limbs with pleasing rest. TKAPr.
The rest of the ship's crew usually took their rest in the same manner,
only the masters (5), or persons of quality, were permitted to have clothec
spread unlierthem ; so we read of Uiysses in Homer (6) :
K^'J" (T af 'OifWfl-Sii yopj^atv pfijofTe, Kivav re,
Nw st' i)t-pio<piv •yKa$upi\t,(iv<t v^yptrov sotTyi)
Tlpuuvnt, £v ft ij autoc iQma.ro, £ k*tIx6kt3 »
—-
Upon the deck soft painted robes they spread
With linen cover'd forthe hero's bed :
He chmb'el the lofty stern, then gently prest,
The swelling couch, and lay compos'd to rest. topk.
Such as would not be contented with this provision were looked upon as
soft and delicate, and unfit to endure the toil and hardships of war ; Which
censure the Athenians passed upon Alcibiades, because he had a bed hung
on cords, as we read in Plutarch (7).
(1) Pollux, Aristophanis Scholiastes, Suidas, (4) jEneid. v. 836.
Etymologici Auctor. (5) Theophrastus ntq\ dvc4£u5cjfai
02) Pollux, lib. yii. (3) Agamemnon, v.437. (6) Odyss. v, v. 74, (7) Alcibiadc
scholiast upon Thucydiles, that this is a name of very large extent, com-
prehending not only those that rowed, but all other persons in the ship,
and sometimes applied to ai:*y thing else contained therein. When ships
had several banks of oars, the uppermost rowers were called Srgovwwi,
and their bank, Sgavos C l-V: the lowest, 5«X«./juoi, SaXocfjuVcu and SaXajxaxsj,
and their bank, SaXa^os : those in the middle, guyiVew, and (xstfo^uyioi, and
all the-ir banks, how many soever in number, £Vpa. Every one had a dis-
tinct oar, for, except in cases of necessity, one oar was never managed
by above one person, as Scheffer hath proved at large ; yet their labour
and pay were not the same ; for such as were placed in the uppermost
banks by reason of their distance from the water, and the length of their
oars, underwent more toil and labour than those in the inferior banks,
and therefore were rewarded with greater wages The rowers in ships
of burden were called sgoyfuXovaurai (2)* those in triremes, r^^srai- and
the rest seem to have had different appellations from the names of the
ships they laboured in. Those that were foremost in the respective
banks, and sat nearest the prow, were called irgoxwrror and on the other
side, those who were placed next the stern were termed farbcuitoi, as be-
ing behind their fellows. Their work was esteemed one of the worst and
most wretche ! drudgeries, and therefore the most notorious malefactors
were frequently condemned to it; for, beside their incessant toil in row
ing, their very rest was uneasy, there being noplace to repose their
wearied bodies besides the seats whereon they had laboured all the day .
therefore, whenever the poets speak of their ceasing from labour, there
is mention of their lying down upon them : thus Seneca (3) ;
--credita est vento raiis,
Fususque transtris miles.--
Unto the wind the ship was left,
The soldiers lay along their seats.
To the same purpose Virgil (4) :
-placida laxarant membra quiete
Sub remis fusiper dura sedilia nautce.
--The crew
On the hard benches stretch'd beneath their oars,
Relax'd iheir weary limbs with pleasing rest. TKAPr.
The rest of the ship's crew usually took their rest in the same manner,
only the masters (5), or persons of quality, were permitted to have clothec
spread unlierthem ; so we read of Uiysses in Homer (6) :
K^'J" (T af 'OifWfl-Sii yopj^atv pfijofTe, Kivav re,
Nw st' i)t-pio<piv •yKa$upi\t,(iv<t v^yptrov sotTyi)
Tlpuuvnt, £v ft ij autoc iQma.ro, £ k*tIx6kt3 »
—-
Upon the deck soft painted robes they spread
With linen cover'd forthe hero's bed :
He chmb'el the lofty stern, then gently prest,
The swelling couch, and lay compos'd to rest. topk.
Such as would not be contented with this provision were looked upon as
soft and delicate, and unfit to endure the toil and hardships of war ; Which
censure the Athenians passed upon Alcibiades, because he had a bed hung
on cords, as we read in Plutarch (7).
(1) Pollux, Aristophanis Scholiastes, Suidas, (4) jEneid. v. 836.
Etymologici Auctor. (5) Theophrastus ntq\ dvc4£u5cjfai
02) Pollux, lib. yii. (3) Agamemnon, v.437. (6) Odyss. v, v. 74, (7) Alcibiadc