B.C. 263
(a.u. 491)As Etruscan unrest had come to a standstill and affairs in Italy were perfectly peaceful, whereas the Carthaginian state was becoming ever greater, the Romans ordered both the consuls to make an expedition into Sicily. Valerius Maximus and Otacilius Crassus consequently crossed over and in their progress through the island together and separately they won over many towns by capitulation. When they had made the majority of places their own, they set out for Syracuse. Hiero in terror sent a herald to them with offers: he expressed a readiness to restore the cities of which they had been deprived, promised money, and liberated the prisoners. On these terms he obtained peace, for the consuls thought they could subjugate the Carthaginians more easily with his help. After reaching an agreement with him, then, they turned their attention to the remaining cities garrisoned by Carthaginians. They were repulsed from all of them except Segesta, which they took without resistance. Its inhabitants because of their relationship with the Romans (they declare they are descended from Æneas) slew the Carthaginians and joined the Roman alliance.
VIII, 10.—On account of the winter the consuls embarked again for Rhegium. The Carthaginians conveyed most of their army to Sardinia in the intention of attacking Rome from that quarter. They would thus either rout them out of Sicily altogether or would render them weaker after they had crossed. Yet they achieved neither the one object nor the other. The Romans both kept guard over their own land and sent a respectable force to Sicily with Postumius Albinus and Quintus Æmilius.[15] B.C. 262
(a.u. 492)On arriving in Sicily the consuls set out for Agrigentum and there besieged Hannibal the son of Gisco. The people of Carthage, when apprised of it, sent Hanno, with a powerful support, to aid him in the warfare. This leader arrived at Heraclea, not far from Agrigentum, and was soon engaged in war. A number of battles, but not great ones, took place. At first Hanno challenged the consuls to fight, then later on the Romans challenged him. For as long as the Romans had an abundance of food, they did not venture to contend against a superior force, and were hoping to get possession of the city by famine; when, however, they encountered a permanent shortage of grain, they displayed a zeal for taking risks, but Hanno showed hesitation; their eagerness led him to suspect that he might be ambushed. Everybody therefore was satisfied to revere the Romans as easy conquerors, and Hiero, who once coöperated with them sulkily, now sent them grain, so that even the consuls took heart.
Hanno now undertook to bring on a battle, expecting that Hannibal would fall upon the Romans in the rear, assailing them from the wall. The consuls learned his plan but remained inactive, and Hanno in scorn approached their intrenchments. They also sent some men to lie in ambush behind him. When toward evening he fearlessly and contemptuously led a charge, the Romans joined battle with him from ambush and from palisade and wrought a great slaughter of the enemy and of the elephants besides. Hannibal had in the meantime assailed the Roman tents, but was hurled back by the men guarding them. Hanno abandoned his camp and made good his escape to Heraclea. Hannibal then formed a plan to escape as runaways from Agrigentum by night, and himself eluded observation; the rest, however, were recognized and were killed, some by the Romans and many by the Agrigentinians. For all that the people of Agrigentum did not obtain pardon, but their wealth was plundered and they themselves were all sold into servitude.
On account of the winter the consuls retired to Messana. The Carthaginians were angry with Hanno and despatched Hamilcar the son of Barca in his stead, a man superior in generalship to all his countrymen save only Hannibal his son. B.C. 261
(a.u. 493)Hamilcar himself guarded Sicily and sent Hannibal as admiral to damage the coast sections of Italy and so draw the consuls to his vicinity. Yet he did not accomplish his aim, for they posted guards along both shores and then went to Sicily. They effected nothing worthy of record, however. And Hamilcar, becoming afraid that his Gallic mercenaries (who were offended because he had not given them full pay) might go over to the Romans, brought about their destruction. He sent them to take charge of one of the cities under Roman sway, assuring them that it was in course of being betrayed and giving them permission to plunder it: he then sent to the consuls pretended deserters to give them advance information of the coming of the Gauls. Hence all the Gauls were ambuscaded and destroyed; many of the Romans also perished.
After the consuls had departed home Hamilcar sailed to Italy and ravaged the land and won over some cities in Sicily. On receipt of this information the Romans B.C. 260
(a.u. 494)gathered a fleet and put one of the consuls, Gaius Duillius, in command of it, while they sent his colleague, Gaius[16] Cornelius, to Sicily. He, neglecting the war on land which had fallen to his lot, sailed with the ships that belonged to him to Lipara, on the understanding that it was to be betrayed to him. Through treachery it had fallen into the hands of the Carthaginians. When, therefore, he put into Lipara, Bodes the lieutenant of Hannibal closed in upon him. As Gaius[17] made preparations to defend himself, Bodes fearing the Romans' desperation invited them to discuss terms. Having persuaded them to do so he took the consul and military tribunes, who supposed they were to meet the admiral, on board his own trireme. These men he sent to Carthage: the rest he captured without their so much as lifting a weapon.
VIII, 11.—Then Hannibal continued the ravaging of Italy, while Hamilcar made a campaign against Segesta, where the Romans had most of their infantry force. Gaius Cæcilius, a military tribune, wanted to assist them, but Hamilcar waylaid him and slaughtered many of his followers. The people of Rome learning this at once sent out the prætor urbanus and incited Duillius to haste. On coming to Sicily he learned the fact that the ships of the Carthaginians were inferior to his own in stoutness and size, but excelled in the quickness of their rowing and variety of movement. Therefore he fitted out his triremes with mechanical devices,—anchors and grappling irons with long spikes and other such things,—in order that by laying hold of the hostile ships with these they might pin them fast to their own vessels; then by crossing over into them they might have a hand to hand conflict with the Carthaginians and engage them just as in an infantry battle. When the Carthaginians began the fight with the Roman ships, they sailed round and round them using the oars rapidly and would make sudden dashes. So for the time the conflict was an evenly matched one: later the Romans got the upper hand and sank numbers of crews, retaining possession also of large numbers. Hannibal conducted the fight on a boat of seven banks, but when his own ship became entangled with a trireme, he feared capture, hastily left the seven banked affair, and transferring to another ship effected his escape.
This was the way, then, that the naval battle resulted, and much spoil was taken. Frag. 4313the carthaginians would have put hannibal to death on account of the defeat, if he had not immediately enquired of them whether, granted that the business were still untouched, they would bid him risk a sea-fight or not. they agreed that he ought to fight, for they prided themselves upon having a superior navy. he then added: "i, then, have done no wrong, for i went into the engagement with the same hopes as you. it was the decision, but not the fortune of the battle that happened to be within my power." So he saved his life, but was deprived of his command.—Duillius after securing a reinforcement of infantry rescued the people of Segesta, and Hamilcar would not venture to come into close conflict with him. He strengthened the loyalty of the other friendly settlements and returned to Rome at the close of autumn. Upon his departure Hamilcar took forcible possession of the place called Drepanum (it is a convenient roadstead), deposited there the objects of greatest value and transferred to it all the people of Eryx. The city of the latter, because it was a strong point, he razed to the ground to prevent the Romans from seizing it and making it a base of operations for the war. He captured some cities, too, some by force, some by betrayal; and if Gaius Florus who wintered there had not restrained him, he would have subjugated Sicily entire.
B.C. 259
(a.u. 495)Lucius Scipio, his colleague, made a campaign against Sardinia and against Corsica. These islands are situated in the Tyrrhenian sea only a short distance apart,—so short a distance, in fact, that from a little way off they seem to be one. His first landing place was Corsica. There he captured by force Valeria, its largest city, and subdued the remainder of the region without effort. As he was sailing toward Sardinia he descried a Carthaginian fleet and directed his course to it. The enemy fled before a battle could be joined and he came to the city of Olbia. There the Carthaginians put in an appearance along with their ships, and Scipio being frightened (for he had no infantry worthy the mention) set sail for home.
These were the days when the Samnites with the coöperation of other captives and slaves in the city came to an agreement to form a conspiracy against Rome. Numbers of them had been brought there with a view to their utilization in the equipment of the fleet. Herius Potilius, the leader of the auxiliary force, found it out and pretended to be of like mind with them, in order that he might fully inform himself in regard to what they had determined. As he was not able to give knowledge of the affair,—for all those about him were Samnites,—he persuaded them to gather in the Forum at a time when a senate meeting was being convened and denounce him with declarations that they were being wronged in the matter of the grain which they were receiving. They did this and he was sent for as being the cause of the tumult; and he then laid bare to the Romans the plot. For the moment they merely dismissed the protestants (after they had become quiet) but by night all of those who held slaves arrested some of them. And in this way the entire conspiracy was overthrown.
B.C. 253
(a.u. 496)The following summer the Romans and the Carthaginians fought in Sicily and Sardinia at once. Somewhat later Atilius Latinus[18] went to Sicily and finding a city named Mytistratus being besieged by Florus he made use of the latter's support. He made assaults upon the circuit of the wall which the natives with the help of the Carthaginians at first withstood vigorously, but when the women and children were moved to tears and laments they abandoned resistance. The Carthaginians passed out secretly by night and at daybreak the natives voluntarily swung the gates wide open. The Romans went in and proceeded to slaughter them all till Atilius made proclamation that the remainder of the booty and the human beings belonged to him who might take them. Forthwith they spared the lives of the remaining captives and after pillaging the city burned it to the ground.