."

"We are all grateful to you," said Lachares, laughing. "Hail,
Polyanthus; may Neptune favor you!"

The two riders set off at a gallop, becoming lost to view among the
hovels grouped around the base of the temple of Aphrodite.

Meanwhile one of the ship's passengers landed, making his way through
the crowd. He was a Greek. All knew his origin by the _pilos_ which
covered his head, a conical leather helmet, after the fashion of that
worn by Ulysses in Greek paintings. He was clad in a short, dark tunic,
adjusted around his waist by a leather belt, from which hung a pouch.
His chlamys, which did not reach his knees, was fastened at the right
shoulder by a copper brooch; worn and dusty laced shoes covered his
stockingless feet, and his sinewy arms, carefully freed from hair,
rested on a great dart which was almost a lance. His hair, short and
arranged in thick curls, hung beneath the _pilos_, forming a hollow
crown around his head. It was black, but silvery threads shone in it and
also in his broad short beard. His upper lip was carefully shaved in the
Athenian style.

He was a strong and agile man, in the prime of life, healthy and
vigorous. His eyes had an ironic glance, and in them sparkled something
of that fire which reveals men born for warfare and for contact with the
world. He walked at ease about the unfamiliar port, like a traveler
accustomed to all manner of contrasts and surprises.

The sun began to sink, and work at the port had ceased. The crowd which
had swarmed on the wharf was gradually scattering. Bands of slaves
stretching their aching limbs and wiping off the sweat, passed near the
stranger. Controlled by the clubs of their guards, they were about to be
locked up until the next morning in caves in the nearby hill, or in the
oil mills situated beyond the mariners' taverns, the inns, and the
brothels, with their mud walls and broad roofs, which as a complement to
the port were grouped at the foot of the hill of Aphrodite.

The merchants also left in search of their horses and chariots to ride
to the city. They passed in groups, looking over the records on their
tablets, and discussing the operations of the day. Their diverse types,
dress, and bearing, showed a great mixture of races in Zacynthus, a
commercial city to which in ancient times flocked the vessels of the
Mediterranean, and whose traffic was in rivalry with that of Emporion
and Massilia. The Asiatic or African merchants who imported iv