Note 767 — Chapter II · THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER ANASTASIUS: THE INHERITANCE OF JUSTINIAN

Very small, however, according to modern ideas; Pliny (op. cit., vi, 24) gives them 3,000 amphorae, not more than 40 or 50 tons register. Arrian (op. cit., 19) marks the distinction between “long, narrow war-galleys and round, capacious trading ships.” A few great ships—floating palaces rather—were built by the Ptolemies and Hiero of Syracuse, but they were never seriously employed in navigation; Athenaeus, v, 36, et seq. Yet ships of at least 250 tons register were in common use by 170; Pand., L, v, 3.