Three Months After The Departure Of The Fleet From
Constantinople, The Troops Were Landed Near Carthage; Belisarius Being
Anxious To
Effect this as soon as possible, as his men did not hesitate to
express their belief, that they were not
Able to contend at once with the
winds, the waves, and the barbarians. The result of this expedition was the
conquest of the African provinces, Sardinia, and Corsica.
The absurd and injudicious regulations of Justinian, respecting the corn
trade of the empire have been already noticed; nor did his other measures
indicate, either a better acquaintance with the principles of commerce, or
more regard to its interests. The masters of vessels who traded to
Constantinople were often obliged to carry cargoes for him to Africa or
Italy, without any remuneration; or, if they escaped this hardship,
enormous duties were levied on the merchandize they imported. A monopoly in
the sale of silk was granted to the imperial treasurer; and, indeed, no
species of trade seems to have been open and free, except that in cloth.
His addition of one-seventh to the ordinary price of copper, so that his
money-changers gave only 180 ounces of that metal, instead of 210, for
one-sixth of an ounce of gold, seems rather to have been the result of
ignorance than of fraud and avarice; since he did not alter the gold coin,
in which alone all public and private payments were made. At this time, the
geographical knowledge of the Romans, respecting what had formerly
constituted a portion of their empire, must have declined in a striking
manner, if we may judge from the absurd and fabulous account which
Procopius gives of Britain. And the commercial relations of the Britons
themselves had entirely disappeared, even with their nearest neighbours;
since, in the history of Gregory of Tours, there is not a single allusion
to any trade between Britain and France.
At the beginning of the seventh century we glean our last notice of any
event connected with the commerce and maritime enterprise of the Romans;
and the same period introduces us to the rising power and commerce of the
Arabians.
Alexandria, though its importance and wealth as a commercial city had long
been on the wane, principally by the removal of most of the oriental trade
to Persia, was still the commercial capital of the Mediterranean, and was
of the utmost importance to Constantinople, which continued to draw from it
an annual supply of about 250,000 quarters of corn; but in the beginning of
this century it was conquered by the Persians, and the emperor was obliged
to enter into a treaty with the conquerors, by which he agreed to pay a
heavy and disgraceful tribute for the corn which was absolutely necessary
for the support of his capital. But a sudden and most extraordinary change
took place in the character of Heraclius: he roused himself from his sloth,
indolence and despair; he fitted out a large fleet; exerted his skill, and
displayed his courage and coolness in a storm which it encountered; carried
his armies into Persia itself, and succeeded in recovering Egypt and the
other provinces which the Persians had wrested from the empire.
The very early commerce of the Arabians, by means of caravans, with India,
and their settlements on the Red Sea and the coasts of Africa and India at
a later period, for the purposes of commerce, have been already noticed.
Soon after they became the disciples of Mahomet, their commercial and
enterprizing spirit revived, if indeed it had ever languished; and it
certainly displayed itself with augmented zeal, vigour, and success, under
the influence of their new religion, and the genius and ambition of their
caliphs. Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain, were successively
conquered by them; and one of their first and most favourite objects, after
they had conquered a country, was the amelioration or extension of its
commerce. When they conquered Persia, the trade between that country and
India was extensive and flourishing: the Persian merchants brought from
India its most precious commodities. The luxury of the kings of Persia
consumed a large quantity of camphire, mixed with wax, to illuminate their
palaces; and this must have been brought, indirectly, through India, from
Japan, Sumatra, or Borneo, the only places where the camphire-tree grows: a
curious and striking proof of the remote and extensive influence of the
commerce and luxury of Persia, at the time it was conquered by the
Arabians. The conquerors, aware of the importance of the Indian commerce,
and of the advantages which the Tigris and Euphrates afforded for this
purpose, very soon after their conquest, founded the city of Bassora: a
place, which, from its situation midway between the junction and the mouth
of these rivers, commands the trade and navigation of Persia. It soon rose
to be a great commercial city; and its inhabitants, directing their
principal attention and most vigorous enterprize to the East, soon pushed
their voyages beyond Ceylon, and brought, directly from the place of their
growth or manufacture, many of those articles which hitherto they had been
obliged or content to purchase in that island. Soon after the conquest of
Persia was completed, the Caliph Omar directed that a full and accurate
survey and description, of the kingdom should be made, which comprehended
the inhabitants, the cattle, and the fruits of the earth.
The conquest of Syria added comparatively little to the commerce of the
Arabians; but in the account which is given of this enterprize, we are
informed of a large fair, which was annually held at Abyla, between
Damascus and Heliopolis, where the produce and manufactures of the country
were collected and sold. In the account given of the conquest of Jerusalem
by the Arabians, we have also an account of another fair held at Jerusalem,
at which it is probable the goods brought from India by Bassora, the
Euphrates, and the caravans, were sold. As soon as the conquest of the
western part of Syria was completed, the Arabians took advantage of the
timber of Libanus, and of the maritime skill of the Phoenicians, which even
yet survived:
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