The earliest treaty, according to Polybius himself, was dated about
250 years before the war; and in this treaty the voyages undertaken by the
Romans on account of trade to Africa, Sardinia, and that part of Sicily at
that time possessed by the Carthaginians, are expressly mentioned and
regulated. The second treaty, about 100 years before the first Punic war,
is not so specific respecting commerce. The third treaty, occasioned by the
invasion of Italy by Pyrrhus, points out a decline in the naval power of
the Romans; for it stipulates, that the Carthaginians should furnish them
with ships, if required, either for trade or war. Secondly, seventy-four
years before the first Punic war, the Romans having subdued the Antiates,
and thus become masters of their fleet, among which were six armed with
beaks, the tribune was ornamented with these beaks, the ships to which they
belonged were burnt, and the others were brought to Rome and laid upon the
place allotted to the building and preservation of ships. Lastly, the
circumstances which gave rise to the war between the Romans and Tarentines,
to which we have already adverted, plainly prove that Polybius is wrong in
his assertion. Valerius, who commanded the Roman fleet, which was attacked
by the Tarentines, according to Livy, was one of the _duumviri navales_,
officers who had been already appointed nearly thirty years (that is,
nearly fifty years before the first Punic war), on the motion of Decius
Mus, expressly for the purpose of equipping, repairing, and maintaining the
fleets.
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