by Polybius
38. When the Carthaginians heard of the destruction which had befallen the Roman fleet, they made up their minds that as their late victory had made them a match for their enemy on land, so now the Roman catastrophe had made them a match for him at sea. Accordingly they devoted themselves with still greater eagerness than before to their naval and military preparations. And first, they lost no time in despatching Hasdrubal to Sicily, and with him not only the soldiers that they had already collected, but those also whom they had recalled from Heracleia; and along with them they sent also a hundred and forty elephants. And next, after despatching him, they began fitting out two hundred ships and making all other preparations necessary for a naval expedition. Hasdrubal reached Lilybaeum safely, and immediately set to work to train his elephants and drill his men, and showed his intention of striking a blow for the possession of the open country.
The Roman government, when they heard of this from the survivors of the wreck on their arrival home, felt it to be a grievous misfortune; but being absolutely resolved not to give in, they determined once more to put two hundred and twenty vessels on the stocks and build afresh. These were finished in three months, an almost incredibly short time, and the new Consuls Aulus Atilius and Gnaeus Cornelius fitted out the fleet and put to sea. As they passed through the straits they took up from Messene those of the vessels which had been saved from the wreck; and having thus arrived with three hundred ships off Panormus, which is the strongest town of all the Carthaginian province in Sicily, they began to besiege it. They threw up works in two distinct places, and after other necessary preparations brought up their battering rams. The tower next the sea was destroyed with ease, and the soldiers forced their way in through the breach: and so what is called the New Town was carried by assault; while what is called the Old Town being placed by this event in imminent danger, its inhabitants made haste to surrender it. Having thus made themselves masters of the place, the army sailed back to Rome, leaving a garrison in the town.
[1] ἀπολιπόντες φυλακὴν τῆς πόλεως. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῆς θερείας ἐπιγενομένης οἱ κατασταθέντες ἄρχοντες Γνάιος Σερουίλιος καὶ Γάιος Σεμπρώνιος ἀνέπλευσαν παντὶ τῷ στόλῳ καὶ διάραντες εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν ἀφώρμησαν ἐντεῦθεν εἰς τὴν Λιβύην. [2] κομιζόμενοι δὲ παρὰ τὴν χώραν ἐποιοῦντο καὶ πλείστας ἀποβάσεις. ἐν αἷς οὐδὲν ἀξιόλογον πράττοντες παρεγίνοντο πρὸς τὴν τῶν Λωτοφάγων νῆσον, ἣ καλεῖται μὲν Μῆνιγξ, οὐ μακρὰν δ᾽ ἀπέχει τῆς μικρᾶς Σύρτεως. [3] ἐν ᾗ προσπεσόντες εἴς τινα βράχεα διὰ τὴν ἀπειρίαν, γενομένης ἀμπώτεως καὶ καθισάντων τῶν πλοίων εἰς πᾶσαν ἦλθον ἀπορίαν. [4] οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἀνελπίστως μετά τινα χρόνον ἐπενεχθείσης τῆς θαλάττης, ἐκρίψαντες ἐκ τῶν πλοίων πάντα τὰ βάρη μόλις ἐκούφισαν τὰς ναῦς. [5] οὗ γενομένου φυγῇ παραπλήσιον ἐποιήσαντο τὸν ἀπόπλουν. ἁψάμενοι δὲ τῆς Σικελίας καὶ κάμψαντες τὸ Λιλύβαιον καθωρμίσθησαν εἰς Πάνορμον. [6] ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ποιούμενοι παραβόλως καὶ διὰ πόρου τὸν πλοῦν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην πάλιν περιέπεσον χειμῶνι τηλικούτῳ τὸ μέγεθος ὥστε πλείω τῶν ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα πλοίων ἀποβαλεῖν. οἱ δ᾽ ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ τούτων συμβάντων, [7] καίπερ ὄντες ἐν παντὶ φιλότιμοι διαφερόντως, ὅμως τότε διὰ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν συμπτωμάτων τοῦ μὲν ἔτι στόλον ἁθροίζειν ἀναγκασθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπέστησαν, [8] ἐν δὲ ταῖς πεζικαῖς δυνάμεσι τὰς ὑπολοίπους ἔχοντες ἐλπίδας, τοὺς μὲν στρατηγοὺς ἀπέστελλον Λεύκιον Καικίλιον καὶ Γάιον Φούριον καὶ στρατόπεδα μετὰ τούτων εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν, ἑξήκοντα δὲ μόνον ἐπλήρωσαν ναῦς χάριν τοῦ τὰς ἀγορὰς κομίζειν τοῖς στρατοπέδοις. [9] ἐκ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων περιπετειῶν συνέβη πάλιν ἐπικυδέστερα γενέσθαι τὰ τῶν Καρχηδονίων πράγματα. [10] τῆς μὲν γὰρ θαλάττης ἀδεῶς ἐπεκράτουν ἐκκεχωρηκότων τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ἐν δὲ ταῖς πεζικαῖς δυνάμεσι μεγάλας εἶχον ἐλπίδας. [11] καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔπασχον οὐκ ἀλόγως: οἱ γὰρ Ῥωμαῖοι, διαδοθείσης φήμης περὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ μάχης ὅτι τὰ θηρία τάς τε τάξεις αὐτῶν διασπάσαι καὶ τοὺς πλείστους διαφθείραι τῶν ἀνδρῶν, [12] οὕτως ἦσαν κατάφοβοι τοὺς ἐλέφαντας ὡς ἐπὶ δύ᾽ ἐνιαυτοὺς τοὺς ἑξῆς τῶν προειρημένων καιρῶν πολλάκις μὲν ἐν τῇ Λιλυβαιίτιδι χώρᾳ, πολλάκις δ᾽ ἐν τῇ Σελινουντίᾳ παραταττόμενοι τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐν ἓξ καὶ πέντε σταδίοις οὐκ ἐθάρρησαν οὐδέποτε κατάρξαι τῆς μάχης οὐδ᾽ εἰς τοὺς ὁμαλοὺς καθόλου συγκαταβῆναι τόπους, δεδιότες τὴν τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἔφοδον. [13] Θέρμαν δὲ μόνον καὶ Λιπάραν ἐξεπολιόρκησαν ἐν τούτοις τοῖς καιροῖς, ἀντεχόμενοι τῶν ὀρεινῶν καὶ δυσδιαβάτων τόπων. [14] διὸ καὶ θεωροῦντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τὴν ἐν τοῖς πεζικοῖς στρατοπέδοις πτοίαν καὶ δυσελπιστίαν αὖθις ἔγνωσαν ἐκ μεταμελείας ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι τῆς θαλάττης. [15] καὶ καταστήσαντες στρατηγοὺς Γάιον Ἀτίλιον καὶ Λεύκιον Μάλιον ναυπηγοῦνται πεντήκοντα σκάφη καὶ κατέγραφον καὶ συνήθροιζον στόλον ἐνεργῶς.
39. But next summer the new Consuls Gnaeus Servilius and Gaius Sempronius put again to sea with their full strength, and after touching at Sicily started thence for Libya. There, as they coasted along the shore, they made a great number of descents upon the country without accomplishing anything of importance in any of them. At length they came to the island of the Lotophagi called Mēnix, which is not far from the Lesser Syrtis. There, from ignorance of the waters, they ran upon some shallows; the tide receded, their ships went aground, and they were in extreme peril. However, after a while the tide unexpectedly flowed back again, and by dint of throwing overboard all their heavy goods they just managed to float the ships. After this their return voyage was more like a flight than anything else. When they reached Sicily and had made the promontory of Lilybaeum they cast anchor at Panormus. Thence they weighed anchor for Rome, and rashly ventured upon the open sea-line as the shortest; but while on their voyage they once more encountered so terrible a storm that they lost more than a hundred and fifty ships.
The Romans after this misfortune, though they are eminently persistent in carrying out their undertakings, yet owing to the severity and frequency of their disasters, now yielded to the force of circumstances and refrained from constructing another fleet. All the hopes still left to them they rested upon their land forces: and, accordingly, they despatched the Consuls Lucius Caecilius and Gaius Furius with their legions to Sicily; but they only manned sixty
ships to carry provisions for the legions. The fortunes of the Carthaginians had in their turn considerably improved owing to the catastrophes I have described. They now commanded the sea without let or hindrance, since the Romans had abandoned it; while in their land forces their hopes were high. Nor was it unreasonable that it should be so. The account of the battle of Libya had reached the ears of the Romans: they had heard that the elephants had broken their ranks and had killed the large part of those that fell: and they were in such terror of them, that though during two years running after that time they had on many occasions, in the territory either of Lilybaeum or Selinus, found themselves in order of battle within five or six stades of the enemy, they never plucked up courage to begin an attack, or in fact to come down upon level ground at all, all because of their fear of an elephant charge. And in these two seasons all they did was to reduce Therma and Lipara by siege, keeping close all the while to mountainous districts and such as were difficult to cross. The timidity and want of confidence thus displayed by their land forces induced the Roman government to change their minds and once more to attempt success at sea. Accordingly, in the second consulship of Caius Atilius and Lucius Manlius, we find them ordering fifty ships to be built, enrolling sailors and energetically collecting a naval armament.
[1] ὁ δὲ προεστὼς τῶν Καρχηδονίων Ἀσδρούβας, ὁρῶν ἀποδειλιῶντας τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐν ταῖς προγεγενημέναις παρατάξεσιν, πυθόμενος τὸν μὲν ἕνα τῶν στρατηγῶν μετὰ τῆς ἡμισείας δυνάμεως εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἀπηλλάχθαι, τὸν δὲ Καικίλιον ἐν τῷ Πανόρμῳ διατρίβειν τὸ λοιπὸν μέρος ἔχοντα τῆς στρατιᾶς, βουλόμενον ἐφεδρεῦσαι τοῖς τῶν συμμάχων καρποῖς ἀκμαζούσης τῆς συγκομιδῆς, [2] ἀναλαβὼν ἐκ τοῦ Λιλυβαίου τὴν δύναμιν ὥρμησεν καὶ κατεστρατοπέδευσεν πρὸς τοῖς ὅροις τῆς χώρας τῆς Πανορμίτιδος. ὁ δὲ Καικίλιος, [3] θεωρῶν αὐτὸν κατατεθαρρηκότα, καὶ σπουδάζων ἐκκαλεῖσθαι τὴν ὁρμὴν αὐτοῦ, συνεῖχε τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐντὸς τῶν πυλῶν. [4] οἷς ἐπαιρόμενος Ἀσδρούβας, ὡς οὐ τολμῶντος ἀντεξιέναι τοῦ Καικιλίου, θρασέως ὁρμήσας παντὶ τῷ στρατεύματι κατῆρε διὰ τῶν στενῶν εἰς τὴν Πανορμῖτιν. [5] φθείροντος δὲ τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτοῦ μέχρι τῆς πόλεως, ἔμενεν ἐπὶ τῆς ὑποκειμένης γνώμης ὁ Καικίλιος, ἕως αὐτὸν ἐξεκαλέσατο διαβῆναι τὸν πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ποταμόν. [6] ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ θηρία διεβίβασαν οἱ Καρχηδόνιοι καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, τὸ τηνικαῦτα δὲ τοὺς εὐζώνους ἐξαποστέλλων ἠρέθιζε, μέχρι πᾶν αὐτοὺς ἐκτάξαι τὸ στρατόπεδον ἠνάγκασε. [7] συνθεασάμενος δὲ γινόμενον ὃ προέθετο, τινὰς μὲν τῶν εὐκινήτων πρὸ τοῦ τείχους καὶ τάφρου παρενέβαλε, προστάξας, ἂν ἐγγίζῃ τὰ θηρία πρὸς αὐτούς, χρῆσθαι τοῖς βέλεσιν ἀφθόνως, [8] ὅταν δ᾽ ἐκπιέζωνται, καταφεύγειν εἰς τὴν τάφρον καὶ πάλιν ἐκ ταύτης ὁρμωμένους εἰσακοντίζειν εἰς τὰ προσπίπτοντα τῶν ζῴων: [9] τοῖς δ᾽ ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς βαναύσοις φέρειν προσέταξε τὰ βέλη καὶ παραβάλλειν ἔξω παρὰ τὸν θεμέλιον τοῦ τείχους. [10] αὐτὸς δὲ τὰς σημείας ἔχων ἐπὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸ λαιὸν κέρας τῶν ὑπεναντίων κειμένης πύλης ἐφεστήκει, πλείους ἀεὶ καὶ πλείους ἐπαποστέλλων τοῖς ἀκροβολιζομένοις. [11] ἅμα δὲ τῷ τούτων ὁλοσχερεστέραν γενέσθαι τὴν συμπλοκὴν ἀντιφιλοδοξοῦντες οἱ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἐπιστάται πρὸς τὸν Ἀσδρούβαν καὶ βουλόμενοι δι᾽ αὑτῶν ποιῆσαι τὸ προτέρημα πάντες ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ τοὺς προκινδυνεύοντας: τρεψάμενοι δὲ τούτους ῥᾳδίως συνεδίωξαν εἰς τὴν τάφρον. [12] προσπεσόντων δὲ τῶν θηρίων καὶ τιτρωσκομένων μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ τείχους τοξευόντων, συνακοντιζομένων δ᾽ ἐνεργοῖς καὶ πυκνοῖς τοῖς ὑσσοῖς καὶ τοῖς γρόσφοις ὑπ᾽ ἀκεραίων τῶν πρὸ τῆς τάφρου διατεταγμένων, [13] συμβελῆ γινόμενα καὶ κατατραυματιζόμενα ταχέως διεταράχθη καὶ στραφέντα κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἐφέρετο, τοὺς μὲν ἄνδρας καταπατοῦντα καὶ διαφθείροντα, τὰς δὲ τάξεις συγχέοντα καὶ κατασπῶντα τὰς αὑτῶν. [14] ἃ καὶ κατιδὼν ὁ Καικίλιος ἐξῆγε τὴν δύναμιν ἐνεργῶς: καὶ συμπεσὼν ἐκ πλαγίου κατὰ κέρας τεταραγμένοις τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀκεραίους ἔχων καὶ συντεταγμένους τροπὴν ἐποίει τῶν ὑπεναντίων ἰσχυρὰν καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ἀπέκτεινεν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἠνάγκασε φεύγειν προτροπάδην. [15] θηρία δὲ σὺν αὐτοῖς μὲν Ἰνδοῖς ἔλαβε δέκα, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς ἀπερριφότων μετὰ τὴν μάχην περιελασάμενος ἐκυρίευσε πάντων. [16] ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐπιτελεσάμενος ὁμολογουμένως αἴτιος ἐδόκει γεγονέναι τοῖς Ῥωμαίων πράγμασι τοῦ πάλιν ἀναθαρρῆσαι τὰς πεζικὰς δυνάμεις καὶ κρατῆσαι τῶν ὑπαίθρων.
40. Meanwhile Hasdrubal noticed the terror displayed by the Romans whenever they had lately found themselves in the presence of the enemy. He learnt also that one of the Consuls had departed and gone to Italy, and that Caecilius was lingering in Panormus with the other half of the army, with the view of protecting the corn-crops of the allies just then ripe for the harvest. He therefore got his troops in motion, marched out, and encamped on the frontier of the territory of Panormus. Caecilius saw well enough that the enemy had become supremely confident, and he was anxious to draw him on; he therefore kept his men within the walls. Hasdrubal imagined that Caecilius dared not come out to give him battle. Elated with this idea, he pushed boldly forward with his whole army and marched over the pass into the territory of Panormus. But though he was destroying all the standing crops up to the very walls of the town, Caecilius was not shaken from his resolution, but kept persistently to it, until he had induced him to cross the river which lay between him and the town. But no sooner had the Carthaginians got their elephants and men across, than Caecilius commenced sending out his light-armed troops to harass them, until he had forced them to get their whole army into fighting order. When he saw that everything was happening as he designed it, he placed some of his light troops to line the wall and moat, with instructions that if the elephants came within range they should pour volleys of their missiles upon them; but that whenever they found themselves being forced from their ground by them, they should retreat into the moat, rush out of it again, and hurl darts at the elephants which happened to be nearest. At the same time he gave orders to the armourers in the market-place to carry the missiles and heap them up outside at the foot of the wall. Meanwhile he took up h
is own position with his maniples at the gate which was opposite the enemy’s left wing, and kept despatching detachment after detachment to reinforce his skirmishers. The engagement commenced by them becoming more and more general, a feeling of emulation took possession of the officers in charge of the elephants. They wished to distinguish themselves in the eyes of Hasdrubal, and they desired that the credit of the victory should be theirs: they therefore, with one accord, charged the advanced skirmishing parties of the enemy, routed them with ease, and pursued them up to the moat. But no sooner did the elephants thus come to close quarters than they were wounded by the archers on the wall, and overwhelmed with volleys of pila and javelins which poured thick and fast upon them from the men stationed on the outer edge of the moat, and who had not yet been engaged, — and thus, studded all over with darts, and wounded past all bearing, they soon got beyond control. They turned and bore down upon their own masters, trampling men to death, and throwing their own lines into utter disorder and confusion. When Caecilius saw this he led out his men with promptitude. His troops were fresh; the enemy were in disorder; and he charged them diagonally on the flank: the result was that he inflicted a severe defeat upon them, killed a large number, and forced the rest into precipitate flight. Of the elephants he captured ten along with their Indian riders: the rest which had thrown their Indians he managed to drive into a herd after the battle, and secured every one of them. This achievement gained him the credit on all hands of having substantially benefited the Roman cause, by once more restoring confidence to the army, and giving them the command of the open country.