154 .

HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

different occasion, very judiciously pointed put. Since Rome, after the removalof one emperor to Milan, and of another to Adrianople, had ceased to be theseat of government, the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna hadbeen gradually neglected ; and as the shipping, as well as the mariners, of theempire, were supported by commerce rather than by war, it was natural theyshould most abound in the industrious provinces of Egypt and Asia. It istherefore highly surprising, that the eastern emperor (Licinius) should haveneglected so fair an opportunity of carrying an offensive war into the heartof his rival’s dominions.

The army of the east, though far more numerous than that of Constantine,having been compelled to fly, after a bloody and obstinate contest, before thesuperior discipline of their antagonists, and the valour of their commander,the only hopes of repairing the defeat, with which Licinius could possiblyflatter himself, naturally rested on the superiority and success of his navy. Thecommanders, however, either through want of ability, or that degree of spiritnecessary to conduct an hazardous enterprise, continued for a considerablespace of time perfectly inactive in the narrow streights of the Hellespont,now called the passage of the Dardanelles, where superior numbers becamein great measure useless. This timid, or to give it a less harsh term, this im-politic conduct, inspired Constantine with confidence, and caused him to issueorders to Crispus, his eldest son, the admiral of his little fleet, for the attackof that of his antagonist. The prince executed the commands with vigour,promptitude, and ability. Two distinct engagements took place; the first ofwhich, contested on both sides with equal fury and equal obstinacy, endedindecisively, with almost equal loss. The second was far more inauspiciousto the hopes of the unfortunate Licinius ; for Crispus, judiciously availing him-self of a strong breeze of wind from the southward, forced his way into thevery center of the enemy, whom having attacked with the utmost fury, hehad the good fortune to obtain a most complete and decisive victory: onehundred and thirty of the gallies belonging to the fleet of the emperor of theeast, were totally destroyed, five thousand of the mariners were slain, andAmandus, the commander in chief, made his escape with the utmost difficultyto the shore of Chalcedon.

From the time when Byzantium surrendered to the arms of the vjfctoriousConstantine, and quickly afterwards received from its conqueror the honour ofbeing called after his name, an historical incident which took place about the

year