HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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their victims, and the inconsiderable force, in respect to numbers, with whichthey were bold enough to assail the territories of Rome. It is represented,as has been already remarked, far more formidable than any of those whichhad preceded; yet, in the course of its passage along the western coastof the Euxine, the invaders disdained not to recruit their navy by the seizureof a number of fishing barks, which they were fortunate to fall in with, andwhich were considered by the captors as a very considerable addition to theiroriginal strength.

The whole province of Bithynia was over-run with a rapidity almost incre-dible, and fell an easy prey to these merciless plunderers. Their ravageshad in all probability been carried to much greater extent, had not their ownwant of maritime skill, and the approach of the autumnal equinox, warnedthem to depart. The third expedition, which immediately followed the arrivalof a more serene season of the year, far surpassed either of the former. Thefleet is said to have consisted of five hundred ships ; but, from the testimony ofthe best historians, it appears, that the largest of them was not capable ofcontaining more than thirty persons. From this information, which is consi-dered as authentic, the strength of this mighty army, which conquered as itwere with the very report of its approach, appears not to have exceeded fifteenthousand fighting men. Athens, the whole of Greece, and the valuable islandsprofusely scattered by the hand of nature throughout the Aegean sea, submittedto the same invaders who menaced Italy, and caused Rome itself to tremble,,when the intestine divisions among some of their chiefs, aided by the rewards,or rather bribes, profusely distributed among others, caused their unexpectedretreat, which, owing to the want of system in the Roman army, was effectedwithout loss, and was attended by all its customary horrors.

The death of the wretched Gallienus appeared to promise the restorationof the Roman name to its pristine state of glory, or at least to rescue it fromthe future depredations of these merciless barbarians. Claudius first taughtthem to treinble at the prowess of the legions; and it is worthy of remark,,that as in their former enterprises the actual numbers, of which their hithertoinvincible armies had been composed, were almost incredibly insignificant, soon the present occasion, when they were completely defeated, they were aswonderfully numerous. Claudius, in a letter written to the senate on the eveof the battle, states their numbers to have consisted of no less than three hun-dred and twenty thousand fighting men. The fleet of vessels collected for,

their.