Dusmanul la Poarta!-Partea-16!

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“Well if they are not hungry, then perhaps they are thirsty.”

By 250 BC the Roman Republic was looking to complete its annexation, and in so doing end the First Punic War, by driving the Carthaginians out of their last remaining strongholds of Lilybaeum and Drepana in the west. Repeated attempts to storm the former failed, as did futile attempts to blockade the harbour, and so the legions dug in for a siege, which would last nine years.

The use of the innovative bridging method known as the corvus (crow) had allowed the Romans to turn themselves from maritime novices to a dominant force in the Mediterranean. This had essentially turned naval battles into land ones, as rather than relying on ramming and manoeuvring, the Romans now relied on boarding enemy ships. The corvus had granted the Roman victory at Mylae, Sulci, Ecnomus and Cape Hermaeum, but also made the ships unseaworthy and contributed to the annihilation of their fleet in a storm which left over 100,000 dead, and was thus abandoned. Despite that, an unlikely victory at Panormus after two years of avoiding battle had seen Rome defeat the last land army of Carthage in Sicily.

Encouraged by this victory, the Romans had began the siege of Sicily with a large army under both the Consuls, Publius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Junius Pullus. The fleet was rebuilt, and 200 Roman ships blockaded the harbour. Early in the blockade, 50 Carthaginian quinqueremes gathered off the Aegates Islands some 25 miles west of Sicily, then utilised a strong westerly wind to sail for Sicily before Rome could react. Up to 40,000 reinforcements for the garrison were unloaded, along with a stockpile of supplied, as they evaded the Romans by leaving at night, and evacuated the cavalry with them.

The Romans sealed the land approach to Lilybaeum with camps and walls, though an attempt to use a timber boom to blockade the harbour failed. This failure allowed the Carthaginian garrison to be repeatedly resupplied by blockade runners, light and manoeuvrable ships that relied on expert crews to avoid the Romans. Chief among them was Hannibal the Rhodian, who would taunt the Romans as he sailed past, only to eventually be captured by them. At additional 10,000 oarsmen were allocated to the Roman fleet to counter this, and the senior Consul Pulcher, supported by a war council, believed these gave him sufficient advantage to attack the Carthaginian fleet at Drepana. The Romans sailed on a moonless night to avoid detection.

On the way to Drepana, the Romans performed one of their sacred pre-battle rituals. It is easy to forget how superstitious and religious people of this era were, but these rituals and traditions played a key role in their lives. Often events were staged, to ensure that they were favourable, for unfavourable omens could cripple morale. Later campaigns in Greece would see Flamminius sacrifice over 20 bulls to achieve favourable readings from the entrails, while Julius Caesar managed to turn a bad omen on its head when he fell over while leaving his ship in Africa by rising with a pile of earth in his hand, declaring: “Africa, now I have a hold of you!” One of these rituals involved the ‘sacred chickens’ being proffered seed in the morning, with them eating it eagerly being a good omen, and them ignoring it being ill-fated – it seemed a fairly safe bet for generals by just keeping the chickens unfed beforehand! On this occasion, though, the chickens – likely feeling seasick – ignored the seed. Murmurs went through the ranks that the attack must be aborted, for the gods were against them. An outraged and practical Pulcher merely threw the chickens over the side of his ship, declaring: “Well if they are not hungry, then perhaps they are thirsty.”

The Romans were experiencing problems as they approached Drepana, struggling to maintain a tight formation in the dark, and the inexperience of the 10,000 news oarsmen showing. Morning thus found the Roman fleet spread out in a long line, with Pulcher’s ship at the rear to catch the stragglers. The Carthaginian commander Adherbal was caught by surprise, but his ships had been kept read to sail. He immediately ordered the garrison onboard to act as marines. Pulcher now had around 120 ships at his disposal, with a similar number for Adherbal, and each ship having a full complement of marines.

The most advanced Roman ships were at the mouth of the harbour to blockade it, but seeing that surprise was lost, Pulcher had them fall back to take up battle formation. Unsurprisingly on ships, in an age without modern communications, this ordered took some time to disseminate throughout the fleet, causing confusion and delay. Some Roman ships turned into the path of others, fouling the formation, and some of the inexperienced crews even ended up shearing the oars off their comrades in these crashes. Adherbal easily led his fleet through the Roman vanguard, which was in disarray, and continued west, passing betwixt the city and two small islands to enter open sea. With room to manoeuvre, the Roman advantage was now lost. Heading south, the Carthaginians formed a line of battle parallel to Pulcher’s, getting south of the Consul’s flagship and then echeloning to shore to cut off the Roman fleet from a retreat to Lilybaeum.

The Romans formed a line facing west, the shore behind them to protect their flanks, though the Carthaginian attack would expose this weakness in their formation. The Carthaginian ships were lighter and more manoeuvrable, their crews more experienced, and the Romans were now without their deadly corvus. If an individual Carthaginian ship was struggling it could reverse and withdraw, though if a Roman ship followed it then it was left vulnerable. The Romans relied on a tight formation for mutual protection, though this prevented them from advancing. The battle was hard fought throughout the day, with the Roman legionaries showing their quality when they managed to board enemy ships. Despite this they kept being outmanoeuvred, with exposed Roman ships rammed as the Carthaginians steadily built their advantage. Eventually Roman discipline collapsed, with several crews scuttling their ships to flee inland, and a breakout of 30 ships led by Pulcher were the only ones to escape. The Battle Drepana was an utter defeat for Rome, with 93 ships captured, many sunk, and 20,000 men killed or captured. It would be Carthage’s greatest naval victory of the war.

Shortly after the battle Adherbal was reinforced by Carthalo with a further 70 ships. Pulcher was recalled to Rome and charged with treason, though convicted of a lesser charge of sacrilege due to the incident with the chickens. He narrowly escaped a death sentence, and was exiled instead. His sister Claudia became infamous when she was obstructed in a street by the urban poor and wished aloud that he brother would lose another battle so to think the crowd. Adherbal now looked to press the Carthaginian advantage and relieve pressure on Lilybaeum. His adjutant Carthalo set sail with 100 ships to assist the city, and was soon to be enticed by news of a huge Roman supply convoy heading to the besiegers – an opportunity too good to pass up.