the whole length of the continent, to the Veneti, who forwarded it to Rome.  Afterwards, in consequence of the great demand for it there, and its high price, the Romans sent people expressly to purchase it in the north of Germany:  and their land journies, in search of this article, first made them acquainted with the naval powers of the Baltic.  The Estii, a German tribe, who inhabited the amber country, gathered and sold it to the Roman traders, and were astonished at the price they received for it.  In Nero’s time it was in such high request, that that emperor resolved to send Julianus, a knight, to procure it for him in large quantities:  accordingly, a kind of embassy was formed, at the head of which he was placed.  He set out from Carnuntum, a fortress on the banks of the Danube, and after travelling, according to Pliny, 600 miles, arrived at the amber coast.  There he bought, or received as a present, for the emperor, 13,000 pounds weight, among which was one piece that weighed thirteen pounds.  The whole of this immense quantity served for the decoration of one day, on which Nero gave an entertainment of gladiators.  In the time of Theodoric, king of the Goths, the Estii sent that monarch a large quantity of amber, as the most likely present by means of which they could obtain his alliance.  They informed the ambassadors, whom he sent with a letter acknowledging this present, that they were ignorant whence the amber came, but that it was thrown upon their coast by the sea, a fact which exactly agrees with what occurs at present.

Whether the Estii, with whom the Romans carried on this traffic, were a maritime nation, we are not informed; but there was another nation or tribe of Germans on the Baltic, of whose maritime character some notices are given.  These were the Sitones, who, according to Tacitus, had powerful fleets; their ships were built with two prows, so as to steer at both ends, and prevent the necessity of putting about; their oars were not fixed, like those of the Mediterranean vessels, but loose, so that they could easily and quickly be shifted:  they used no sails.  The people of Taprobane (Ceylon)—­the Byzantines, and, on some occasions, the Romans also, employed vessels, like those of the Sitones, which could be steered at both ends.

One of the most considerable revolutions in the maritime and commercial affairs of Rome, was brought about by the battle of Actium.  The fleet of Anthony was composed chiefly of ships belonging to the Egyptians, Tyrians, and other nations of the east, and amounted, according to some accounts, to 200 sail, whereas the fleet of Augustus consisted of 400 sail.  Other authors estimate them differently; but all agree that the ships of Anthony were much larger, stronger, and loftier, than those of Caesar:  they were consequently more unwieldy.  We have the express testimony of Plutarch, that it was principally this victory which convinced Caesar of the advantages and extraordinary use of the Liburnian ships; for though they had been employed before this time in the Roman fleet, yet they had never been so serviceable in any previous battle.  Augustas, therefore, as well as most of the succeeding emperors of Rome, scarcely built any other ships but those according to the Liburnian model.