more. They had, besides the merchant vessels which belonged to
private individuals, great ships of war belonging to the state. These
vessels were called galleys, and were rowed by oarsmen, tier above
tier, there being sometimes four and five banks of oars. They had
armies, too, drawn from different countries, in various troops,
according as different nations excelled in the different modes of
warfare. For instance, the Numidians, whose country extended in the
neighborhood of Carthage, on the African coast, were famous for their
horsemen. There were great plains in Numidia, and good grazing, and it
was, consequently, one of those countries in which horses and horsemen
naturally thrive. On the other hand, the natives of the Balearic
Isles, now called Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica, were famous for their
skill as slingers. So the Carthaginians, in making up their forces,
would hire bodies of cavalry in Numidia, and of slingers in the
Balearic Isles; and, for reasons analogous, they got excellent
infantry in Spain.

The tendency of the various nations to adopt and cultivate different
modes of warfare was far greater, in those ancient times, than now.
The Balearic Isles, in fact, received their name from the Greek word
_ballein_, which means to throw with a sling. The youth there were
trained to perfection in the use of this weapon from a very early age.
It is said that mothers used to practice the plan of putting the bread
for their boys' breakfast on the branches of trees, high above their
heads, and not allow them to have their food to eat until they could
bring it down with a stone thrown from a sling.

Thus the Carthaginian power became greatly extended. The whole
government, however, was exercised by a small body of wealthy and
aristocratic families at home. It was very much such a government as
that of England is at the present day, only the aristocracy of England
is based on ancient birth and landed property, whereas in Carthage it
depended on commercial greatness, combined, it is true, with
hereditary family distinction. The aristocracy of Carthage controlled
and governed every thing. None but its own sons could ordinarily
obtain office or power. The great mass of inhabitants were kept in a
state of servitude and vassalage. This state of things operated then,
as it does now in England, very unjustly and hardly for those who were
thus debased; but the result was--and in this respect the analogy with
England still hold