Note 1469 — BOOK VII.835 MAN, HIS BIRTH, HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS. (continued 2)

It is not easy to determine what was the construction and form of the four kinds of vessels here mentioned, which he designates respectively by the terms “lembus,” “cymba,” “celes,” and “cercurus.” The “lembus” is mentioned by Livy, B. xxiv. c. 40, as a vessel with two benches of oars, “biremis;” and in B. xl. c. 4, he describes it as a small vessel used for towing large ships. The “cymba” has been supposed to have been a still smaller vessel, answering to our idea of a common boat; the “celes,” we may suppose, was named from “celer,” being especially adapted for quick motion, and the “cercurus” from κερκὸς, “a tail,” from its long narrow form, or from its having a tail-like appendage attached to it.—B.