The Rhone also received many goods by means of the
rivers which joined it, which were conveyed, not only to the Saone, but
also to the Loire, in carriages. The Seine brought up goods almost as far
as the Moselle, from which they were conveyed to the Rhine. In the fourth
year of Nero's reign, the commander of the Roman army in Gaul joined the
Saone and the Moselle by a canal; and, though these canals were generally
made by the Romans, for purposes connected with the army, yet they were
soon applied to commerce. The merchandize of the Saone was brought by land
carriage to the Seine, and by it conveyed to the ocean, and thence to
Britain. There seems to have been regular and established companies of
watermen on these rivers, whose business it was to convey goods on them: an
ancient inscription at Lyons mentions Tauricius of Vannes, as the general
overseer of the Gallic trade, the patron or head of the watermen on the
Seine and Loire, and the regulator of weights, measures, and carriages; and
other ancient inscriptions state, that the government of the watermen who
navigated the Rhone and the Saone, was often bestowed on Roman knights.
Besides the ports on the Mediterranean, or on the rivers which flow into
that sea, the Gauls in Caesar's time, or shortly afterwards, seem to have
had several, ports on the ocean. Caesar reckons the present Nantz, though at
some distance from the sea, as inhabited by people who were skilled in
maritime affairs; and he expressly informs us, that he built his ships at a
port at the mouth of the Seine, when he was preparing to invade Britain.
Pages:
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337