39b
ROADS AND TRAVEL
ROADS AND TRAVEL
Formiie (16th Dec), Laveniium (25tli Dec), back to Formia' (25th Dec to 1st Jan. 49). The outbreak of the civil war ami Cicero's desire for a triuinph alike kept liim outside Konie(a^'eneral fjave up his chum to a triuinpli if he entered the city walls). Cicero's further uiovements at this time were Tarracina (1st Jan.), I'omptinum (2nd Jan.), Alba (3rd Jan.), outside Home (4lh .Ian.), lietweeii 8th and mil Jan. Cicero was given charge of the dis- trict of Capua in the interest of the Senate. On the 18th before dawn he left Home in the direc- tion of Antium, the route being by the Appian Way for the lirst stage. He was at Formise from about 20th to 22nd January, llis later movements were to Miuturnje (22nd to 2-lth Jan.), Calos (24th Jan.), Capua (25th to 2Sth Jan.), back to Cales and Formia". (29th Jan. to .Srd Feb.), then again to Capua (4th to7tli F'eb.), Cales (7th Feb.), and again to l''ormi;e (8tli to 17th Feb.). On 17th Feb. he journeyed to Cales, and on the 19th back toF'ormiie, whei'elie remained till 27th March, on which d;iy he went to his villa at Ariiinum among the hills. On 3rd April he arrived at his brother's Laterium (Arcanum). After 7th April he journeyed to the coast : on 13th April at latest he was at Cumte. On 12th May he went to Pompeii, but on the morning of the ne.\t d.ay returned to Cunia;, where he remained till, soon after 19th May, he moved to Formioe. On 7th June he left Italy by sea for the East, probably for the vilLa of Atticus in Epirus, where he in all likelihood spent the summer. Be- fore the end of the year 49 he joined Pompey's camp at Dyrrhachium. It is not necessary to follow him further, but it has been instructive to trace Cicero's movements through his letters during these three important years. It is safe to say that of no other man's movements before the 19th cent, do we know as much in detail as of Cicero's.
Early in the year 37 B.C. a journey was taken from Rome to Brundisium for political purposes. The poet Horace and others were in the retinue of the diplomatists. In Sat. i. 5 Horace gives an account of the journey. It is true that he modelled the satire on an earlier one of the old satirist Lueilius on a similar topic, but this fact in no way interferes with the interest of the account. The journey need not have occupied more than nine days (Ovid, E]t. ex Ponto, IV. v. 5-8), but this party, moving leisurel}', took thirteen days. The itinerary, according to the latest reconstruction (in Paul Le- jay's edition of the Satires, Paris, 1911, p. 146), was as follows :
First day . . . Rome to Arinia : over 16 Roman miles.
Second day . . Aricia to Forum Appi : „ 27 „ „
Night of second
to tliird day . On the canal : „ 16 „ „
Third day . . To Tarracina : >, 3 „ „
Fourth day . . (1) Tarracina to Fundi : ,, 13 „ „
„ . . (2) Fundi to Formi.-e : „ 13 „ „
Fifth day . . . Formiae to Bridge of
Campania : ,, 27 ,, i,
Sixth day . . (1) Bridge of Campania
to Capua : „ , , (2) Capua to Caudiura :
Seventh day . (1) Caudiuni to Bene-
ventum : „ . . (2) Beiieventum to Tri-
vicum ; Eighth day . . Trivioum to Asculum
Apulum : „ 24 ,, „
Ninth day . . Asculum Apulum to Can-
usium ; „ 35 „ „
Tenth d.ay . . Canusiura to Rubi ; „ 23 „ „
Ele^-enth day . Rubi to Barium : „ 23 „ „
Twelfth flay . . Barium to Gnatia : „ 37 „ „
Thirteenth day. Gnatia to Brundisium : „ 39 ,, ,,
3. Sea-Rontes. — We have seen from the experi- en'^es of Cicero and other travellers that land- journeys could be performed with a safety and a certainty that are truly astonishing. There was a similar security about journeys over the Mediter- ranean. The Mediterranean was practically closed to traffic in the live winter months, November to
17
21
11
25
March. Also coasting voyages were, where possible, ^)referred to voyages right across the sea. These tacts, taken in conjunction with the small size of the ve.ssels, account for the safety of ancient navi- gation. (_;reek sailors steered by the (Jreat Bear, and Phojnicians by the Lesser B(^ar (Lucan, Bell. C'ii\ iii. 219), but it was a common custom to put in to harbour at night and sleep on shore. lOxamples of both kinds of voyages are to be found iu the Acts of the Apostles.
The best plan to follow in describing the principal sea-routes of the Mediterranean will be to select several examples, all from the Istcent. A.D., of sea- jonrneys that were actually taken. Philo the Jew, in his in Fluccum, v. (ed. Mangey, ii. p. 521), de- scribes most graphically the journey of Herod Agrippa from Rome to Syria, when he went to take over the kingdom conferred upon him by Gains in A.D. 40. ' As he was about to set out, Gains coun- selled him to avoid the direct voyage from Brun- disium to Sj'ria, as it was long and wearisome, and to wait for the periodic winds and take the short route via Alexandria. He said that the merchant vessels from that port were quick sailers, and that the steersmen were most skilled, being like charioteers driving hor.ses trained to contests, and taking an unswerving course straight to the goal. And he obeyed, as he was at once his overlord and the advice he gave him seemed to be to his advan- tage. So, travelling down to Puteoli, and seeing Alexandrian ships at anchor, all in trim for setting sail, he went on board with his family, had a good voyage, and a few days later arrived in sight of port, unexpected and undetected ' (cf. ch. xiii. [Mangey, ii. p. 533] for another voyage from Puteoli to Alexandria, which also took only a few days \_i\lyai ijfi^pai]). The same voyage was taken by M. Majcius Celer, sent by the Emperor Domitian as a legatus Icr/ionis to command a legion in the province of Syria about a.d. 92 (Stat. Si/iiw, iii. 2). A straight course between Puteoli and Alexandria was from May to September the regular course for the corn-ships which brought corn from Egypt to Italy. The ships kept to the south of Crete. Pliny speaks of a record passage of nine days, and it is mentioned that the accession of the Emperor Galba was known at Alexandria within 27 days {Companion to Latin Studies, p. 427). Only fav- oured persons were allowed to travel by these ships. The corn-Heet flew a special topsail. When the appearance of this sail in the ofling warned the people of Puteoli that the great corn-fleet was approaching, a general holiday was immediately proclaimed (Seneca, Ep. 77, § 1).