[135] Observe the neuter plurals followed by one verb in the sing. and the other in the plur. σπάρτα, apparently ropes made of common broom; see L. and S. s.v. Hemp was hardly known in Greece even in the fifth century; v. Herod.iv. 74.Varro, perhaps rightly, took the word to mean thongs used to bind the timbers together: “Liburni plerasque naves loris suebant: Graeci magis cannabo et stupa, caeterisque sativis rebus, a quibus σπάρτα appellabant” (ap. Gell. xvii. 3). This suits the context rather better than to take “σπάρτα” = cables, a less vital matter. (A cable is called “βύβλινος” in Od. 21.391; the rigging is of leather, Od. 2.426.)
