OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
29
an object of terror rather than of curiosity , 11 the chap.
whole extent of the Mediterranean, after the_
destruction of Carthage , and the extirpation ofthe pirates, was included within their provinces.
The policy of the emperors was directed only topreserve the peaceful dominion of that sea, andto protect the commerce of their subjects. Withthese moderate views, Augustus stationed twopermanent fleets in the most convenient ports ofItaly; the one at Ravenna , on the Adriatic, theother at Misenuni, in the hay of Naples. Ex-perience seems at length to have convinced theancients, that as soon as their galleys exceededtwo, or at the most three ranks of oars, they weresuited rather for vain pomp than for real service.Augustus himself, in the victory of Actium , hadseen the superiority of his own light frigates (theywere called liburnians) over the lofty but un-wieldy castles of his rival.* Of these liburni-ans be composed the two fleets of Ravenna andMisenum , destined to command, the one theeastern, the other the western division of the Me-diterranean ; and to each of the squadrons he at-tached a body of several thousand mariners. Be-sides these two ports, which may be consideredas the principal seats of the Roman navy, a veryconsiderable force was stationed atFrejus, on thecoast of Provence, and the Euxine was guarded