He
was one of Polemo's freedmen, by name Anicetus, who had formerly been
influential and resented the change which had converted the kingdom
into a province of the Roman empire. He accordingly enlisted the
maritime tribes of Pontus in Vitellius' service, attracting all the
neediest ruffians with promises of plunder. At the head of no mean
force he suddenly fell upon Trapezus,[122] an ancient and famous city,
founded by Greek settlers on the frontier of the Pontic kingdom. There
he cut to pieces the auxiliaries, who had once formed the king's Body
Guard, and, after receiving the Roman franchise, had adopted our
ensigns and equipment, while still retaining all the inefficiency and
insubordination of Greek troops. Anicetus also set fire to the
fleet[123] and thus enjoyed complete mastery of the sea, since
Mucianus had moved the pick of his cruisers and all his troops to
Byzantium. The sea was overrun by natives too, who had hurriedly built
themselves boats. These, which they call 'arks',[124] are
broad-bottomed boats with low sides, built without any brass or iron
rivets. In a rough sea, as the waves rise higher and higher, the
height of the sides is raised by the addition of planks which, in the
end, enclose the whole boat under a sort of roof. They are thus left
to toss up and down on the waves. They have bows at both ends and the
paddles can be used on either side, since it is as easy and as safe to
row in one direction as in the other.
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