Re: Evolution and stuff (was: Re: HTML: woes)
Anton Sherwood (dasher@netcom.com)
Sun, 15 Mar 1998 16:34:17 -0700
Erik Moeller wrote:
> A correction:
> >The big Roman harbours had restrictions that disallowed the entry of ships
> >under a tonnage of 150 tons. That means that the largest MA ship wasn't even
> >big enough to dock at a major Roman harbour. Actually, you managed to build
> >in more than one mistake into each sentence. Great effort!
>
> Abrams and Wrigley: Towns in Societies (1978), page 41 by Keith
> Hopkins: "The minimum tonnage which would give a shipowner tax
> immunity for bringing wheat to the city of Rome was 325 tonnes
> burden, but that could be split among several ships, provided
> none was less then 65 tonnes burden (Digest. 50, 5, 3)"
> [burden = cargo, Seems ships of less than 65 to were unwanted
> because they consumed too much manpower and caused too much traffic.]
The rule as cited says nothing about the size of individual ships; it's
just a tax break for big business.
--
"How'd ya like to climb this high without no mountain?" --Porky Pine
Anton Sherwood *\\* +1 415 267 0685
!! visiting New Mexico, end of March !!