16. Were they agreed to? What was the duration of the first Punic war?
FOOTNOTES:
The vessels in which they had hitherto transported their troops, were principally hired from their neighbours the Locrians, Tarentines, &c. It is certain that the Romans had ships of war before this period; but from the little attention they had hitherto paid to naval affairs, they were, probably, badly constructed and ill managed.
The Romans considering these two disasters as indications of the will of the gods that they should not contend by sea, made a decree that no more than fifty galleys should, for the future, be equipped. This decree, however, did not continue long in force,