their national gods, in
particular Hadad and Atargatis. But the wars that shook the Orient at the
end of the republic, and above all the growth of piracy, ruined maritime
commerce and stopped emigration. This began again with renewed vigor when
the establishment of the empire guaranteed the safety of the seas and when
the Levantine traffic attained a development previously unknown. We can
trace the history of the Syrian establishments in the Latin provinces from
the first to the seventh century, and recently we have begun to appreciate
their economic, social and religious importance at its true value.

The Syrians' love of lucre was proverbial. Active, compliant and able,
frequently little scrupulous, they knew how to conclude first small deals,
then larger ones, everywhere. Using the special talents of their race to
advantage, they succeeded in establishing themselves on all coasts of the
Mediterranean, even in {108} Spain.[12] At Malaga an inscription mentions a
corporation formed by them. The Italian ports where business was especially
active, Pozzuoli, Ostia, later Naples, attracted them in great numbers. But
they did not confine themselves to the seashore; they penetrated far into
the interior of the countries, wherever they hoped to find profitable
trade. They followed the commercial highways and traveled up the big
rivers. By way of the Danube they went as far as Pannonia, by way of the
Rhone they reached Lyons. In Gaul they were especially numerous. In this
new country that had just been opened to commerce fortunes could be made
rapidly. A rescript discovered on the range of the Lebanon is addressed to
sailors from Arles, who had charge of the transportation of grain, and in
the department of Ain a bilingual epitaph has been found mentioning a
merchant of the third century, Thaim or Julian, son of Saad, decurion of
the city of Canatha in Syria, who owned two factories in the Rhone basin,
where he handled goods from Aquitania.[13] Thus the Syrians spread over the
entire province as far as Treves, where they had a strong colony. Not even
the barbarian invasions of the fifth century stopped their immigration.
Saint Jerome describes them traversing the entire Roman world amidst the
troubles of the invasion, prompted by the lust of gain to defy all dangers.
In the barbarian society the part played by this civilized and city-bred
element was even more considerable. Under the Merovingians in about 591
they had sufficien