# Arrian's Voyage Round the Euxine Sea/On The Distance Which the Ancient Ships Sailed in Twenty-Four Hours

ON
THE DISTANCE
WHICH THE
ANCIENT SHIPS
SAILED IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS
ON
THE DISTANCE
WHICH THE
ANCIENT SHIPS
SAILED IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.
It is not my intention to discuss here the subject of ancient navigation; but, a few observations on the distances which the'vessels of antiquity could fail in twenty-four hours, may not be foreign to the subject, and tend to illustrate the Voyage now under consideration.
Scylax says, that a ship will sail 500 stadia, or 57 English miles, in the course of a day; by which it is clear that he means a day only, and not a day and a night, as, when he means both, they are always so specified. Ptolemy mentions 1000 stadia as the distance that a ship will fail in a day and a night; from which it appears, that as great a distance was allowed for the navigation of the night as for that of the day.
The distances specified by Scylax (though many of them are estimated by the space which a ship will sail in a day, or a ​day and a night) cannot be supposed all of them to correspond with measurement, as the time consumed in some coasting voyages must; be longer than in others, on account of the shores and currents, and often of the irregularity of the winds that blow off the land.
Let us however, subject to such allowance as may be made for these interruptions, examine some of the distances which he specsies.
The first distance he mentions is that which extends across the Straits of Gibraltar, which he accounts one day's fail. This distance is much less than 500 stadia; but on account of the current, which always sets strongly through the Straits into the Mediterranean, it might have taken up so much time with ships of such imperfect construction and management.
The next distance he mentions is from Gades to the Pillars of Hercules, which he reckons as one day's sail. This corresponds well with the space, it being very nearly 500 stadia.
From the mouth of the Rhone to Antium, or, as Cluwferius reads, to the Arnus, is counted four days and four nights sail. If the Arnus be the genuine reading, the coasting distance is about 2400 stadia, or 600 in twenty-four hours, or a day and night. If Antium be the right reading, the distance approaches nearer to the allotment of Ptolemy, it being nearly 4000 stadia, which accords with the calculation.
Another distance, which he specifies, is from Sardinia to the coast of ​of Libya, or Africa. This he estimates as one day and one night's sail. The distance is about 850 stadia, which is sufficiently near the former computation, as fractions of a day or night are seldom expressed in the ancient writers on these subjects.
Another distance which he specifies is from the mouth of the river Strymon to Seitos, which is reckoned as two days and two nights fail. It measures about 1400 stadia; but it might take up more time than usual, on account of the currents, which set very strongly from the Euxine through the Straits into the Ægean sea.
Let us now examine some of the distances on the Euxine sea itself, which are most applicable to the present purpoie.
From A the mouth of the Ister to Criu-metopon, or the Ram'shead promontory, is reckoned three days and three nights sail. The distance is about 243 English miles, equal to about 2130 stadia, or about 710 stadia for a day and a night's sail.
Another distance is from Criu-metopon to Panticapaeum, which is reckoned a day and a night's sail. This is somewhat, but not greatly, more than 1000 stadia.
Another distance set down (not indeed in the Euxine sea) is from the mouth of the river Meander to the promontory of Cragus. This is called a voyage of two days, and appears to be about 1500 stadia, and the passage so entangled among the islands that in all probability it was not reckoned safe to fail in the night time.
​The last distance I shall cite from this author is from Lacedæmon to Crete, which is counted one day's fail, and is nearly 500 stadia. The average of the above distances is about 470 stadia in the course of twelve hours, or nearly 40 stadia, or 5 Greek miles, every hour.
Xenophon in his Anabasis says, that he failed from Cotyora to Harmene in two days and one night. This distance by sea, if measured round Cape Boona, amounts to 1422 stadia, or 162.765 English miles, by D'Anville's map, which is equal to nearly 500 stadia daily. By Arrowsmith's chart it is 167 English miles, equal to 1460 stadia nearly, or about 487 stadia daily.
Xenophon says again, that the Greeks failed from Harmene, or Sinope, to Heraclea in two days, which is about 1800 stadia; but the ships they employed were probably not the best sailers, as he says, that a trireme galley would, in a very long day, fail from Byzantium to Heraclea. This, according to Arrowsmith's chart, is 1150 stadia, or 131 English miles nearly, which, if we reckon sixteen hours to the day, would be nearly 8¼ miles per hour. Xenophon however esteems this an extraordinary exertion, and such as required, no doubt, a favourable wind; and then, by the joint power of fails and oars, such a distance is not unlikely to be accomplished.
Tournefort, though embarrassed with the company of many vessels, and bad failors, Went 80 miles in a day on this coast, with the greatest ease, and even by four in the afternoon; and failed seventy miles more that night. He accounts 50 miles a small distance for a day's sail, and 60 miles as a very moderate one. ​Had he continued his voyage after sailing 80 miles, he might perhaps have gone as far in 16 hours as is mentioned by Xenophon, with no better sailors than those of the Greeks.
I am aware that in this statement I vary considerably from that of a gentleman, whose knowledge and abilities I respecting and it is on that account incumbent on me to Rate my reasons for thus differing with him in opinion
Mr. Rennel thinks that 37 Greek miles is the mean distance, which the ships of antiquity failed in the space of one day. As this is much less than I have assigned, I shall take the liberty to examine the authorities he cites for what he alledges. The first instance he adduces is that of Miltiades, who, as he says, under favour of an easterly wind, passed in a single day from Elæus, in the Chersonese of Thrace, to Lemnos. The distance is 38 Greek miles only."
I am sorry to remark several inaccuracies in this short account. The story in Herodotus is as follows: "The Pelasgians, who were in possession of Lemnos, admonished by the Pythian oracle to give satisfaction to the Athenians, for some injuries and cruelties which they had committed, and being required by the Atheians to surrender their island, replied, that they would do so when the north wind should carry a ship in one day from the ​Athenian territory to Lemnos, well knowing the thing to be impracticable, as Attica lies much to the south of Lemnos.
"Miltiades however, having gained possession of Elærus, which lies to the north-east of Lemnos, failed from thence as from a part of the Athenian territory, during the prevalence of the Etesian winds, and claimed their promsle of a surrender."
It is clear from this account, that none but a northerly wind would have enabled him to claim this promise; and it is equally clear, that the Esetern winds in Greece were northerly, or northwesterly, not easterly, as Mr. Rennel (missed probably by the found of the word) supposes.
Next Herodotus only says, that Miltiades sailed from Elæus to Lemnos in one day, not that the distance between these places was the utmost extent of a day's sail. Miltiades had no reason to go ​further; but this does not abridge his power of proceeding to a greater distance in that space of time. It should also be observed, that, although the distance between Attica and Lemnos is consider able, the Lemnians guarded their promise by restricting the voyage to be performed by a northerly wind.
Again, the distance between Elmum and the nearest point of Lemnos is, by Mr. D'Anville's map, 420 Olympic stadia, or more than 52 Greek miles; and according to Mr. Rochette's map, at least 49 miles. These distances approach much nearer to the calculation of Ptolemy than to that of Mr. Rennel; and indeed this instance proves nothing, as it does not appear that Miltiades might not have gone further, had he been so inclined.
Mr. Rennel next instances the fleet of Xerxes, which, he says, failed from the Euripus to Phalerus, a port in Attica, in three days, which he says is 06 Greek miles, or 32 Greek miles each day: The words of Herodotus are, "that Xerxes, after having viewed the dead bodies of the Lacedæmonians slain at Thermopylæ, passed over from Trachis to Histiæa, and after three days stay sailed through the Euripus, and in three days arrived at Phalerus." The distance from Histiæa to Phalerus through the Euripusis, according to Mr. D'Anville, 179 Greek miles, and according to Mr. Rochette's map, 174 Greek miles; which gives, according to the lowest of these calculations, 58 Greek miles for each day's sail, instead of 32, according to Mr. Rennel. If we consider the vast fleet which performed this voyage, and the narrow straits through which they failed, we may be justly surprifed they were so expeditious. But a fleet of 1000 ships is no proper instance to prove how far ships in general may fail in a given time.
​The third instance brought by Mr. Rennel is from the voyag of Nearchus. "That commander," he says, "reckoned the promontory of Maceta to be a day's sail from him, when he first discovered it; and it is shewn by circumstances, that this distance was about 38 Greek miles." The words of Nearchus are, that "sailing 800 stadia from Bades, they came to a desert shore, from whence they viewed a long promontory extended a great way into the sea, and which appeared 'to them to be about a day's sail distance."
In this short account there is much uncertainty. We know not the spot from whence this promontory was viewed. The desert shore was not a point, and might allow a latitude of several miles. The judgment of a day's sail by the view of a distant object is very imperfect, and was probably (till more so in the time of Nearchus than at present. The sentence referred to in Arrian has two expreiiions of doubt or uncertainty in eight words. Nothing therefore can be concluded from such a random computation.
The fourth instance which Mr. Rennel brings is from Scylax, who, he says, allows 75¼ days for the navigation from Canopus to the Pillars of Hercules, which is equal to about 32 Greek miles a day. Canopus lies so near to Alexandria, that it may in so large a distance be taken for the same place. The longitude of Alexandria from London is, by the Nautical Almanack, 30° 10′ 30″ E. L. that of Gibraltar 5° 22′ W. The sum of these, 35° 38′ 30″, is equal, in the latitude of Gibraltar, (3O° 5' ao") to 2009 English ​miles. The difference of latitude between Gibraltar and Alexandria is 4° 54′ 10″. These, reckoned in the usual way of latitude and departure, amount to 2035 English miles, equal to 2229 Greek miles, which, divided by 75, give about 29⅔ Greek miles for each day's fail. But I must say, that this instance is not fairly adduced. Scylax expressly assigns this time to a ship that sailed round the bays and gulphs that lay in the line of passage, not to one that sailed directly to the point aimed at. This circumstance makes a material difference. Had Mr. Rennel drawn his conclusion from an instance he might have found a few lines above, in the same author, it might perhaps have been different: Scylax there says, that a ship under favourable circumstances might sail from Carthage to Hercules's Pillars in seven days and seven nights.
Carthage lies nearly in the same latitude with Gibraltar, and at least 15° East, which in latitude 36.5 amounts to 56 English miles and a small fraction over to a degree. This multiplied by 15 is equal to 840 English miles, or 917 Greek miles; or 131 Greek miles, or 1048 stadia, in twenty-four hours.
The fifth instance he brings is from the Red sea, which, he says, from Herodotus, is forty days of navigation. Its length, according to the track a ship must make through it, is about 1300 miles, which makes a rate of saling about 32 miles a day. But I cannot think the navigation of the Red sea proper to be brought as an instance to estimate the distance which might be failed by the ships of antiquity, or indeed by any ships whatever. Mr. Irwin observes, that from its narrowness it is soon agitated; that it abounds ​with rocks, shoals, and breakers, and hazy weather. He mentions, that they could not run more than 30 miles on one tack, and that. it was their custom to make one shore about sun-set, then to tack, and to stand for the opposite shore until day-break. This is nearly the same progress described by Herodotus. Mr. Irwin adds, that an English ship had been wrecked there, from the-difficulty of the navigation, not six months before; and at one time-he regarded his own situation as desperate.
They were besides twenty days (from -April 16th to May 6th), in failing from Mocha to Zambo, which is a difference of not; more than 11° of latitude and 6° of longitude, which is little more than 42 English miles, or about 46 Greek miles, each day of twenty-four hours. Perhaps it was from the difficulty of this navigation that Herodotus intimates, that it was performed with oars only; and indeed Mr.-Irwin's account proves that the management of sails in this sea is difficult, even in the present age, and to English sailors.
The sixth and last instance I shall examine is the one Mr. Rennel brings from Herodotus, who fays, that the navigation from the Thracian Bosporus on the Euxine sea to the mouth of the Phasis is a voyage of eight days and nine nights, or, as Mr. Rennel counts it, of sixteen days. This distance he reckons at 38 miles each day. Herodotus estimates this distance at 11,100 stadia, which gives for 8½ days sail more than 1300 stadia for every twenty-four hours, equal to 162 Greek miles, or 148 English miles.
​Arrian reckons the same distance to be 8505 stadia, or 1063 Greek miles, which divided by 8.5 gives 125 Greek miles, or 1000 stadia, for each day's sail of twenty-four hours, which agrees exactly with Ptolemy. The real distance however appears to be about 13° of longitude, which in latitude 41° amounts to 682 English miles, which divided by 8.5 gives 80 English miles, or 87 Greek miles, equal to 696 stadia, for a day and night's sail.
Herodotus again says, that the distance from Sindica to Themiscyra is 3300 stadia, and that this was three days and three nights sail. This allows 1100 stadia for every twenty-four hours fail, which is above the computation of Ptolemy. According to Mr. D'Anville, the distance is about 2640 stadia, or more than 118 Greek miles, in twenty-four hours.
I have thus examined the instances which Mr. Rennel thinks the fairest and most to the purpose; and I submit to the reader, whether I have not shewn, that the distance, which he has ascribed to the ships of antiquity as a day's sail, has not been by him underrated; and that 1000 stadia, which is the space assigned by Ptolemy, is not very near the truth, on a medium computation.
* ↑ Mr. Rennel and I differ in our estimation of the length of the stadium. But I have given my reasona for this in another place.
* ↑ Βορέῃ ἀνέμῳ.
* ↑ Herodot. lib. vi. ul finem.
* ↑ It must he owned that the Etesian winds are differently represented, same writers describing them as inclining to the east, others to the west, but all agreeing that their principal direction was northerly. But it is clear from Aristotle, who may properly be our guide on this occasion, and whose account reconciles these apparently contradictory opinions, that the Etesian winds in Greece always blow from the west of the north point, though within these limits their direction varied. In the eastern countries, he}}ls}]ays, they were easterly winds. Mare quoque Etesiæ flabant: hamm flatu in orizntem navigantibus secundum, inde adversum erst. Tacitus, Histor. lib. ii. Τῶν δὲ ἀνέμων, οἱ μὲν χειμῶνος, ὥσπερ οἱ νότοι, δυναϛεύοντες, οἱ δὲ θέρους, ὡς οἱ Ἐτησίαι λεγόμενοι, μίξον ἔχοντες τῶν τε ἀπὸ τῆς ἄρκτου φερομένων καὶ ζεφύρων Aristot. de Mundo, cap. iv. p. 853. Ed. Du Val. Οἱ δ' Ἐτησίαι περιΐϛανται τοῖς μὲν περὶ δυσμὰς οἰκοῦσιν, ἐκ τῶν Ἀπαρκτιων εἰς Θρασκίας, Ἀργέϛας, καὶ Ζεφύρους. ὁ γὰρ Ἀπαρκτίας Ζεφύρος ἐϛίν. ἀρχόμενοι μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἄρκτου, τελευτῶντες δὲ εἰς τοὺς πόῥῥω. τοῖς δὲ πρὸς Ἕω περιΐϛανται μέχρι τοῦ Ἀπηλιωτου Aristot. Meteorol. lib. ii. cap. vi. psg. 796. In the table of the winds in Vitrvius, the Etesian winds are placed only fifteen degrees to the north of the well point. See the Plate at the end of this Work.
* ↑ Ἀπέχειν δὲ ΕΦΑΙΝΕΤΟ ἡ ἄκρη πλόον ΩΣ ἡμέρης.
* ↑ Κατὰ τοὺς κόλπους κύκλῳ περιπλίοντι ἡμερῶν οέ, δ'. Scylac. Perip.
* ↑ Irwin's Voyage, page 20.
* ↑ Page 22.