The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World

by Paine, Lincoln

  47. The goods can be grouped: Casson, Periplus, 39–41.

  48. coconut, rice, amla: Wendrich et al., “Berenike Crossroads,” 70.

  49. inscription at Delos: Sedov, “Qana,’ ” 26n12.

  50. statuette of Manimekhala: Wheeler, Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers, plate 15 and p. 163.

  51. Indian embassies: Weerakkody, Taprobanê, 51–63.

  52. “the trade, not merely of islands”: Dio Chrysostom, Discourses, 32.36 (vol. 3:207).

  53. loan arrangement: Casson, “New Light on Maritime Loans”; Young, Rome’s Eastern Trade, 55–57.

  54. “Aelia Isidora and Aelia Olympias”: In Young, Rome’s Eastern Trade, 58–59. For the text, translation, and discussion of the contract, see 55–57, and Casson, “New Light on Maritime Loans.”

  55. fifty million sesterces: Pliny, Natural History, 6.26.101 (vol. 2:417). On Romans’ net worth, see Duncan-Jones, Economy of the Roman Empire, 1–32, 146. Some slaves could fetch vastly more than the average, the highest known price being 700,000 sesterces paid for a grammaticus (professor of literature).

  56. “vast mansions”: Tacitus, Annals, 3.53 (p. 141).

  57. Chola town of Arikamedu: Ray, “Resurvey of ‘Roman’ Contacts,” 100–103.

  58. hoards of silver denarii: Ray, “Yavana Presence,” 98–100.

  59. “Noble daughter”: Ilanko Atikal, Tale of an Anklet, 2.94 (p. 32). Isaiah: see above, chap. 4.

  60. “the city / that prospered”: Ilanko Atikal, Tale of an Anklet, 6.148–54 (p. 62).

  61. “Swift, prancing steeds”: Uruthirankannanar, Pattinappalai, 213, 246–53 (pp. 39, 41).

  62. “In the past”: Shattan, Manimekhalaï, §16 (p. 66).

  63. “from the remotest countries”: Cosmas, Christian Topography, 365–66. Invaluable as he is for his account of Indian Ocean trade, Cosmas offers up bizarre proofs (pp. 132, 252) that the world is not a sphere, as pagan philosophers had demonstrated and many Christians believed, but flat. These were never accepted as mainstream, and medieval people who thought about it at all generally believed the world was round. Nineteenth-century Darwinists promoted the notion that they thought otherwise to demonstrate the Christian Church’s antagonism to science; but the concept of the flat earth had no influence on the course of navigation, exploration, or any other aspect of maritime endeavor. See Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians (New York: Praeger, 1991).

  64. Rev-Ardashir (Rishahr): Whitehouse, “Sasanian Maritime Activity,” 342–43.

  65. al-Bahrayn: This spelling is used of “the coastal region from Kazima in Kuwait through the Hasa province [of Saudi Arabia] and ending somewhat vaguely towards Qatar,” to distinguish it from the island of Bahrain, which early Arabic writers called Awal. See Wilkinson, “Sketch of the Historical Geography of the Trucial Oman,” 347n1.

  66. wooing of a Sri Lankan princess: Weerakkody, “Sri Lanka Through Greek and Roman Eyes,” 168.

  67. “the greater”: Cosmas, Christian Topography, 368–70.

  68. “black Byzantines”: Wink, Al-Hind, 1:47.

  69. Byzantine fleet from Clysma: Christides, “Two Parallel Naval Guides,” 58.

  70. “always locate themselves”: Procopius, Persian War, 1.20.1–2 (vol. 1:193).

  71. “in a hundred-oared ship”: Rig Veda, 1.116.5 (p. 287).

  72. “a boat with strong planks”: In Levi, “Manimekhala,” 601.

  73. “we embarked 200 passengers”: Villiers, Monsoon Seas, 82–83. Villiers does not give the linear dimensions of his vessel, but he describes a 42-meter boom he saw in Zanzibar as “very large.”

  74. “the wretched quality”: In Ray, “Resurvey of ‘Roman’ Contacts,” 100.

  75. common ancestor: Johnstone, Sea-craft of Prehistory, 214–15; McGrail, Boats of the World, 292, 326.

  76. watercraft in the Periplus: Casson, Periplus—sewn boats: 15–16; rafts: §7, 27; dugout canoes: §15; sangara and kolandiophonta: §60; and trappaga and kotymba: §44.

  77. trapyaka: In Chakravarti, “Early Medieval Bengal and the Trade in Horses,” 206. kolandiophonta: Deloche, “Iconographic Evidence,” 208–9, 222; Islam and Miah, “Trade and Commerce” (trapyaga); Manguin, “Southeast Asian Shipping,” 190 (Kolandiophonta); Mariners’ Museum, Aak to Zumbra, 330–31 (kotia), 508 (sangara); Ray, “Early Coastal Trade in the Bay of Bengal,” 360ff., and Monastery and Guild, 117–19 (kolandiophonta, kottimba, and sangara).

  78. “one boards”: In Wolters, Early Indonesian Commerce, 43. For voyage time, see Casson, Periplus, 289–90.

  79. wall painting at Ajanta: For a summary of the meager pictorial evidence of Indian ships in this period and later, see Deloche, “Iconographic Evidence.”

  80. “Her white sails outspread”: Aryasura, Once the Buddha Was a Monkey, 102.

  81. Mediterranean influence: Young, Rome’s Eastern Trade, 63–64.

  82. a first migration: Blench, “Ethnographic Evidence,” 418, 432–33.

  83. ethnobotany, ethnomusicology: Ibid., 420–30; Hornell, “Indonesian Influence,” 305–6, 318–19, 327–28.

  84. “a relic of an Indonesian type”: Hornell, “Indonesian Influence,” 319, 321.

  85. “The only cargo-carrying vessel”: Hornell, “Boat Oculi Survivals,” 343. The oldest extant rendering of an oculus is on a rendering of seagoing ships from Sahure’s temple at Abusir, Egypt; Wachsmann, Seagoing Ships, 14.

  7. Continent and Archipelagoes in the East

  1. “take advantage”: Collected Works of Liao Gang (12th century), in Shiba and Elvin, Commerce and Society in Sung China, 9.

  2. Asian Mediterranean: For a discussion, see Sutherland, “Southeast Asian History.”

  3. more than twenty-six thousand: The main groups are: Indonesia, 18,108 islands 17BBC report, February 2003); the Philippines, 7,107 islands; and Malaysia, about 1,000 islands.

  4. Austronesian languages: Jacq-Hergoualc’h, The Malay Peninsula, 24.

  5. languages are spoken: Bellwood, “Southeast Asia Before History,” 106–15.

  6. “Customs are not uniform”: Sanguo Zhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms), 53.8b, in Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 75–76.

  7. a local tradition: Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 1.

  8. cast bronze drums: Bellwood, Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago, 269–71.

  9. Sa Huyhn simply chose not to trade: Bellwood, “Southeast Asia Before History,” 129–31.

  10. “tribute” was an elaborate fiction: Bielenstein, Diplomacy and Trade, 675.

  11. “The gentleman is conversant”: Analects of Confucius, 4.16, 19 (pp. 69–70).

  12. “an enlightened ruler”: Han Shu, 24a:10b-12a, in Ban, Food and Money, 161–62.

  13. naval or amphibious operations: Deng, Chinese Maritime Activities, 9.

  14. “As the emperor considered”: Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), 6, 18a, in Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:551–52.

  15. the main rivers: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:220–22; Van Slyke, Yangtze, 13, 37.

  16. “a force of men”: Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, 2:232.

  17. “a chain of communication”: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:306.

  18. “hanged themselves”: Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, 2:201.

  19. “The cruelty”: Zhou Qufei, Information on What Is Beyond the Passes, in Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:304.

  20. “used boats”: Wu Yue Chun Qiu (Annals of Wu and Yue), chap. 6, in Wang, Nanhai Trade, 2.

  21. “a pair of white jades”: Han Shu, 95, 9b, in Wang, Nanhai Trade, 11.

  22. “the center for trade”: Shi Ji, 129:11b, in Ban, Food and Money, 446.

  23. “as well as 100,000 sailors”: Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, 2:215.

  24. Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan: Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 70. In Vietnamese, Jiaozhi is called Giao-chi; Jiuzhen is Cuu-chan; and Rinan is Nha
t-nam. Cochin China derives from the Portuguese corruption of Cuu chan as Cochin.

  25. “lustrous pearls”: Ch’ien Han Shu (History of the Former Han), 28.2, in Wheatley, Golden Khersonese, 8–9.

  26. sisters Trung: Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 37–41.

  27. Jiaozhi remained: Wang, Nanhai Trade, 24; Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 71–72.

  28. Funan: Hall, Maritime Trade, 21–22, 48–77; Wheatley, Golden Khersonese, xix. Funan is the Chinese rendering of the Khmer bnam, “mountain,” now pronounced phnom, as in Phnom Penh.

  29. “attacked and conquered”: In Hall, Maritime Trade, 64.

  30. “live in walled cities”: In ibid., 48.

  31. A lost work: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:449–50.

  32. “The Sea Route to Da Qin”: Yu Huan, Peoples of the West, online.

  33. “all the men”: Hill, Western Regions, online.

  34. “traffic by sea”: Han Annals, in Wheeler, Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers, 174. See also Wang, Nanhai Trade, 25.

  35. battle of the Red Cliffs: Crespigny, Generals of the South, 267–75.

  36. horse pastures: Elvin, Pattern of the Chinese Past, 135–36; Chin, “Ports, Merchants, Chieftains and Eunuchs,” 222.

  37. “where only the poor”: Jin Shu [Jin History], 90, in Wang, Nanhai Trade, 38.

  38. a million northerners: Zheng, China on the Sea, 26.

  39. for the first time: Ibid., 30.

  40. “with his ships”: Jin Shu [Jin History], 97, 9a, in Wang, Nanhai Trade, 35.

  41. “The governor”: Nan Ch’i Shu [History of the Southern Qi Dynasty], 32, 1a-1b, in Wang, Nanhai Trade, 44.

  42. looting the capital’s: Wang, Nanhai Trade, 49; Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 117.

  43. trade missions: Wang, Nanhai Trade, 117–21.

  44. “in case of accidents”: In Wheatley, Golden Khersonese, 38–39; Faxian [Fa-hian], Travels of Fa-Hian, lxxix–lxxxiii. See Manguin, “Archaeology of Early Maritime Polities,” 238.

  45. Kang Senghui: Grenet, “Les marchands sogdiens,” 66; Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 80.

  46. Missions from Sri Lanka: Wang, Nanhai Trade, 38.

  47. “valuable products”: Song Shu (History of the Song), 97, 12b-13a, in Wang, Nanhai Trade, 51.

  48. “would become rich”: Liang Shu (History of the Liang), 54, 16b-17a, in Hall, “Local and International Trade,” 222.

  49. Buddhism received: Wright, Sui Dynasty, 126–38.

  50. campaign along the Yangzi: Graff, Medieval Chinese Warfare, 129–35.

  51. extensive network of canals: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:269–70, 307–8.

  52. “dragon boats, phoenix vessels”: Sui Shu, 24.686, in Wright, Sui Dynasty, 180.

  53. “The only reason”: Lu You, in Chang and Smythe, South China in the Twelfth Century, 48.

  54. “the barbarians”: Jiu Tang Shu (Old Tang History), 41.43a, in Taylor, Birth of Vietnam, 167.

  55. bronze-and ironworking technologies: The Chinese Bronze and Iron Ages began around 1750 and 770 BCE, respectively; for Korea the corresponding dates are 1100 and 400 BCE.

  56. “the mountainous islands”: Wei Zhi (History of Wei), in Lu, Japan, 11–12.

  57. replacement ships: Nihongi, “Ojin,” 10.18 (300 ce) (vol. 1:268–69).

  58. Yamato invasion: Brown, “Yamato Kingdom,” 111–12.

  59. Sui Yangdi launched a second invasion: Deng, Maritime Sector, 11, 22.

  60. lashings and mortise-and-tenon joinery: Bellwood and Cameron, “Ancient Boats,” 11–19.

  61. Many Dong-Son drums: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:445–47.

  62. bronze ship model: Spennemann, “On the Bronze Age Ship Model from Flores.”

  63. “In the kingdom of Fu-nan”: Shui Ching Chu (Commentary on the Waterways Classic), 1.9a, in Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:450.

  64. “the very big kolandiophonta”: Casson, Periplus 60, 230.

  65. “The people of foreign parts”: Wan Chen, Strange Things of the South, in Manguin, “Southeast Asian Ship,” 275. Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:600–601, feel this may describe vessels from Vietnam or even Guangdong Province; Ray, “Early Coastal Trade in the Bay of Bengal,” 360ff.

  66. “lashed-lug and stitched-plank”: Manguin, “Southeast Asian Shipping,” 183–85.

  67. Sewn-plank fastening: McGrail, Boats of the World, 354.

  68. the Chinese approach: Ibid., 367, 370–77.

  69. centerline or axial rudder: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:640–51, plate 975; McGrail, Boats of the World, 380.

  70. layers of planking: McGrail, Boats of the World, 365–70, 372, 375.

  71. bulkheads gave hulls: Ibid., 366–67; Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:420–22; Manguin, “Trading Ships,” 268.

  72. free-flooding compartments: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:422.

  73. “at a moderate speed”: Worcester, Junks and Sampans of the Yangtze, 45.

  74. yulohs: Ibid., 44–50.

  75. Towing: Ibid., 50–56; Van Slyke, Yangtze, 119–26.

  76. The primary materials: Needham et al., Science and Civilisation, vol. 4, pt. 3:441–48, 595–97; Van Slyke, Yangtze, 120–21; and Deng, Chinese Maritime Activities, 23–26, 32–33.

  77. office of maritime administration (Seonbuseo): Kim, “Outline of Korean Shipbuilding History,” 5.

  78. Japanese cedar and camphorwood: Nihongi, 1.58 (vol. 1:58); rugged terrain: 5.16 (1:161); gifts of salt: 10.18 (1:268–69); “enrolled among the number”: 11.31 (1:297).

  8. The Christian and Muslim Mediterranean

  1. What prompted archaeologists: Bass et al., Serçe Limani, 1:52.

  2. Yassi Ada B: Bass and van Doorninck, “Fourth-Century Shipwreck at Yassi Ada”; van Doorninck, “4th-Century Wreck at Yassi Ada”; McGrail, Boats of the World, 159.

  3. Yassi Ada A: Bass, “A Byzantine Trading Venture”; Bass and van Doorninck, Yassi Ada; McGrail, Boats of the World, 159.

  4. The Serçe Limani ship: Bass and van Doorninck, “11th-century Shipwreck”; Steffy, “Reconstruction of the 11th Century Serçe Liman Vessel.”

  5. saws rather than axes: “Never, in a long career of examining wooden hull remains, have I seen so many saw marks and so few signs of axes and adzes on the surfaces of a hull” (J. Richard Steffy, in Bass et al., Serçe Limani, 1:153.)

  6. When, where, and why: Pryor and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 145–52; Unger, Ship in the Medieval Economy, 37–42.

  7. thirty to sixty tons burden: Pryor, Geography, Technology and War, 26; McCormick, Origins of the European Economy, 95.

  8. suited to the times: Bass et al., Serçe Limani, 1:185.

  9. pictorial evidence: Castro et al., “Quantitative Look,” 348, 350.

  10. associated finds: Bass et al., Serçe Limani, vol. 1.

  11. Hellenized Bulgarians: Ibid., 1:4, 425–26, 488.

  12. glass weight: Ibid., 1:8n5.

  13. Pax Romana: Paine, “A Pax upon You,” 92–93.

  14. battle of the Hellespont: Zosimus, New History, 2.23–24 (pp. 34–35).

  15. “the quiet shelter”: Procopius, Buildings, 1.5.2–13 (vol. 7:57–61).

  16. Gaeseric led: Procopius, Vandalic Wars, 3.6.17–24 (vol. 2:59–63).

  17. attack Cyprus: Al-Baladhuri, Origins of the Islamic State, 1:236–37.

  18. battle of the Masts: Cosentino, “Constans II and the Byzantine Navy,” 586–93; Christides, “Milaha”; and Stratos, “Naval Engagement at Phoenix.”

  19. siege of Constantinople: Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, 124.

  20. “When the barbarians”: Leo VI, Taktika, in Jenkins, “Cyprus Between Byzantium and Islam,” 1012–13; Hill, History of Cyprus, 1:290, which quotes Qudama ibn Ja’far al-Katib al-Baghdadi (ca. 873–948).

  21. Cypriot waters: Jenkins, “Cyprus Between Byzantium and Islam,” 1008–9; Pry
or and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 61–62.

  22. Tunis, an almost impregnable site: Taha, Muslim Conquest and Settlement, 71–72; Fahmy, Muslim Naval Organisation, 69–71.

  23. strung a chain: Pryor and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 31.

  24. Seville: Taha, Muslim Conquest and Settlement, 100.

  25. The Franks’ interest: Haywood, Dark Age Naval Power, 152–63; McCormick, Origins of the European Economy, 527–28, 641–44.

  26. agreement with Muslim ambassadors: Aziz Ahmad, History of Islamic Sicily, 5; McCormick, Origins of the European Economy, 900.

  27. The Aghlabids began: Aziz Ahmad, History of Islamic Sicily, 5–11; Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, 208; and McCormick, Origins of the European Economy, 906–7.

  28. “renowned across nearly the whole world”: William of Puglia, Gesta Roberti Wiscardi [Guiscard], in Citarella, “The Relations of Amalfi with the Arab World,” 299.

  29. “the most prosperous town”: Ibn Hawqal, The Book of Routes and Kingdoms, in Citarella, “The Relations of Amalfi with the Arab World,” 299.

  30. emergence of the Fatimids: Hitti, History of the Arabs, 618–19.

  31. “people, called Andalusians”: Severus ibn al-Muqaffa, in Christides, Conquest of Crete, 83.

  32. Taxation was moderate: Christides, Conquest of Crete, 107.

  33. Leo of Tripoli’s: Kaminiates, Capture of Thessalonica, 70 (p. 115); Christides, Conquest of Crete, 6, 40, 167–68; and Makrypoulias, “Byzantine Expeditions.”

  34. The Kalbids raided al-Andalus: Hitti, History of the Arabs, 521.

  35. river and lake operations: Cosentino, “Constans II and the Byzantine Navy,” 578–79, 582–83.

  36. ships were considerably smaller: Ibid., 581; Pryor and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 133.

  37. dromon: Warships were known by various names, including pamphylion, chelandion, and the smaller karabion, but how they differed is hard to determine. Pryor, “From Dromon to Galea,” 94–97; Pryor and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 166–70, 260–64; Fahmy, Muslim Naval Organisation, 126; and Agius, Classic Ships of Islam, 273, 334–48.

  38. fitted with a spur: Pryor and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 143–44, 203–10; Cosentino, “Constans II and the Byzantine Navy,” 583.

  39. to carry horses: Pryor and Jeffreys, Age of the Dromon, 307–9, 320–25.