Fall of Carthage. 63 amass wealth, but these riches passed into few hands, and whilst individuals became very opulent the state itself remained poor, and was consequently often made subservient to private ambition. The Romans, on the other hand, were animated by the mere love of war and glory. At that time every man among them was a soldier, frequently a hero, and in any important struggle, allies without number were found in every direction. The boldness with which they conceived, and the energy with which they executed, their project of meeting the Carthaginians on their own element, is in itself strong proof of that confidence and genius which enabled them to attain a mastery, not only over Carthage, but over a great portion of the known world. CHAPTER IX. Rome, her Position as a Maritime Power-Origin of VeniceVenetia Prima-Venetia Secunda-Dalmatian Pirates-Irruption of the Lombards into Italy-The Government of the Republic-Doge-Councils. As Rome did not take to the sea from choice, neither did she continue to use it beyond her absolute requirements, in transporting her troops to such points as her plans of conquest needed. Among her allies there were always to be found some who did business with ships, and who were ready to furnish vessels in case of need, so that navigation with the Romans scarcely went beyond the point to which it had attained during the Punic wars. No traces of maritime discovery, no voyages for the purposes of colonization and trade, similar to those related of the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians, are to be found among their annals. Their vessels were scarcely changed in shape from those used in the infancy of the marine; the galleys with which Cæsar invaded Britain, were of no greater dimensions than those employed centuries before; and in the famous battle of Actium, where Augustus vanquished Anthony, we learn that many of the ships were transported over land from the sea to the Ambracian Gulf, a tolerably clear proof that their size and tonnage Early Venetian History. 65 were insignificant. Extended, therefore, as were the conquests of Rome, and widespread as her dominion undoubtedly was, ages passed away before any great maritime people comes prominently forward to supply the place previously held by the nations we have described. It was not that vessels ceased to dot the Mediterranean or throng the harbours of its islands and peninsulas; on the contrary, ships became every year more abundant, and ports more numerous; but we seek in vain for the naval expeditions which distinguished a remoter period. It is to the north-eastern extremity of Italy that we must next direct our attention to discover a nation, which, rising from a few untutored fishermen, so increased with years, and aggrandized itself by the peculiarities of its position and the singular policy it pursued, as to take at one period the first rank in maritime affairs, and retain, even to our fathers' days, a considerable amount of power. This was Venice-a name which conjures up a host of recollections—a city with which all of us have become familiar; for the painter, the traveller, the historian, and the poet have alike laboured to render it an object of marvel and admiration. A few words about its origin, and the circumstances which contributed to its advancement, can scarcely be out of place. Venice seems to have been peopled at an early period by a colony from Asia Minor, called the Heneti or Veneti; hence the country where they settled, at the head of the Adriatic Gulf, acquired the name of Venetia. The early inhabitants, however, occupied the mainland, whilst the Rialto and the numerous islets in its neigh F bourhood were merely the abodes of a few scattered families who followed the vocation of fishing. When the latter grew in importance and acquired an independent character, the name designating their country was adopted by both; and whilst the continental territory bore the title of Venetia Prima, the various isles were known as Venetia Secunda. Agriculture formed the chief occupation of the inhabitants of the mainland, commerce and fishing of the islanders; for the former were seated in the midst of a fertile land which yielded abundantly to the slightest care, whilst the latter were confined to barren spots which naturally disposed them to navigation and trade, as the means whereby their wants were to be supplied. The Veneti were early allies of Rome, and rendered great assistance to that Republic in sustaining the attacks of the Gauls; they also furnished it a contingent force during the second Punic war, and were at all times treated by that haughty power with a respect that proves the estimation in which they were held. When the Roman empire began to decline, and the Goths in mighty hosts to make their appearance at her city gates, Venetia Prima suffered no less from their depredations than her once all-powerful neighbour. The fertile territory in which her cities were embosomed, and the beauty of those cities themselves, offered irresistible attractions to the fierce barbarians; and the continental Venetians, as they fled from their wasted lands and burning habitations, took refuge in the isles among their seafaring brethren. As they found there a safe retreat for the enemy, though formidable on land, had neither means nor skill to pursue them on the sea-they Early Venetian History. 67 gradually abandoned the homes of their fathers; and when a second irruption of a multitude of Huns, and a third of a swarm of Lombards appeared in Italy, the inhabitants of Padua, Concordia, Altino, and Oderzo, the chief places of Venetia Prima, finally abandoned the continent and settled on the islands, which from that time increased their power and influence, and formed that singular republic distinguished by the name of Venice. Rialto (Rivalta, the high or steep bank) was the chief of those isles that were to be the future dwellings of the fugitives. On it was built the principal town, subsequently united by a bridge with the opposite bank of the stream; the Exchange, too, was constructed upon it; and as the wants of the increasing population dictated, isle after isle became connected by bridges with the central city, until the union of them all produced that romantic appearance which writers from various lands have so delighted to describe. The words of one of our own great poets are at the same time so beautiful and so appropriate, that, although well known and often repeated, there needs little apology for reproducing them in this place : * "I saw from out the wave her structures rise, Around me, and a dying glory smiles O'er the far times, when many a subject land Look'd to the winged lion's marble piles, Where Venice sat in state, throned on her hundred isles ! "She looks a sea Cybele, fresh from Ocean, Rising with her tiara of proud towers |