When Xenophon was obliged to retreat
after his expedition into Asia Minor, the Heracleans supplied him with
ships, to transport his army into Greece. Their maritime strength and
skill, or their commercial pursuits, involved them in almost every maritime
war, their friendship and support being sought after by all the Asiatic
princes. When the war broke out between Ptolemy and Antigonus, they sent to
the assistance of the former a numerous fleet, all of which were well
equipped and manned. Some were of an extraordinary size, especially one,
which had on each side 800 oars, besides 1200 fighting men.
Trapezus was a Greek city, in Pontus, situated on a peninsula, in the Black
Sea, where it begins to turn to the east: it had a large and convenient
port, and carried on a considerable trade. But the most celebrated of the
Grecian colonies in this part of the world, was Byzantium: it was anciently
founded by the Megareans, and successively rebuilt by the Milesians and
other nations of Greece. Its harbour, which was in fact an arm of the
Bosphorus, obtained, at a very remote period, the appellation of the Golden
Horn; most of the recesses, which were compared to the horn of a stag, are
now filled up. The epithet "golden" was given to it as expressive of the
riches, which (to use the language of Gibbon) every wind wafted from the
most distant countries into its secure and capacious port.
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