In order, however, that the
Roman armies might not suffer by their losses at sea, it was decreed that
the new fleet should be manned with hired troops. There was still another
difficulty to overcome; the protracted war with Carthage, and the heavy and
repeated losses which they had suffered during it, had nearly exhausted the
Roman treasury; from it therefore could not possibly be drawn the sums
requisite for the proper and effective equipment of such a fleet as would
be adequate to meet that of the enemy. This difficulty was removed by the
patriotism of all ranks and classes of the citizens. The senators set the
example; the most wealthy of whom built, each at his own cost, a
quinquereme: those who were not so wealthy joined together, three or four
of them fitting out a single galley. By these means a fleet of 200 large
vessels was made ready for any expedition, the state having bound
themselves to repay the individuals whenever her finances were adequate to
such an expence. This fleet was not only very numerous and well equipped,
but most of the vessels which composed it were built on an entirely new
model, which combined an extraordinary degree of celerity with strength.
The model was taken from that light Rhodian galley, which we have already
mentioned, as having been employed by its owner, Hannibal, in conveying
intelligence between Carthage and Lilibaeum, and which was afterwards
captured by the Romans.
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