XX APPENDIX.

which the vessels laid very securely, without the necessity, as we have just mentioned, of using either cable or chain. These places were termed o§/xoi, v(oqij.oi, vavXoxoi, ormoi, uphormoi, naulokoi, &c., and formed altogether what was called va.vaTacQix.os (mustathmos ) Here were likewise the docks in which ships were built, or careened, drawn up on the beach.

Most harbours were adorned with temples, or altars, where sacrifices were offered to the tutelar deities of the place, and to those which presided over the sea and the winds. The adjacent places were filled with inns and other places of public entertainment, for the use of mariners, merchants, &c., who might be stationed or touch at the port.

In times of war, harbours were also defended on the land side by a ditch and parapet, or by a wall, built in the form of a semicircle, extending from one point of the sea to the other. The wall was occasionally defended by towers, and beautified with gates, through which the garrison sometimes issued to attack their enemies.

Towards the sea, or within it, pales of wood were also fixed, like those in the harbours, before which the vessels of burthen were placed in such order as to serve instead of a wall, and to give protection to those within. Nicias is reported by Thucydides to have entrenched himself in this manner ; but it seems only to have been practised when the enemy were supposed to be very superior in strength, or excited unusual apprehension; at other times a few ships were appointed to reconnoitre the hostile squadron, and to observe the enemy’s motions.

When the fortifications were considered sufficiently strong to resist any assault which might be made upon them, the vessels were usually hauled up on the beach, and around them were pitched the tents of the soldiers and sailors, as appears everywhere in Homer, Thucydides, &c. This practice, however, seems only to have been resorted to in the winter season, when the enemy’s fleet was equally * The harbour at Ptolemeta presents an example of works of this description.