John Stack - Ship of Rome

Hamilcar turned once more to Gisco, the admiral’s screams now abated to a low murmur of incoherent cries. For an instant his senses seemed to return and his eyes looked past Hamilcar to the shattered fleet he once commanded. He roared a visceral challenge, the incomprehensible words born from an unrecognizable emotion. Hamilcar nodded to himself, deciding Gisco’s final fate. Tomorrow he would order Gisco’s legs broken, ending the admiral’s life by suffocation, the weight of his own body constricting his lungs, the end coming swiftly.

Hamilcar dismissed his guard and walked back along the beach towards the port. He cursed the island of Sicily, hating it anew, its arid shore and coarse mountains so different from the fertile hinterland of Carthage. The defeat at Mylae was a dark mark against the pride of his city, a mark he felt on his own heart, a mark that could only be removed with Roman blood. The enemy were now poised to strike at Thermae, the only other port the Carthaginians held on the northern coast. The Romans would become careless in the aftermath of their victory, their confidence blinding them into believing the Carthaginians were all but beaten. Hamilcar vowed to shatter that illusion.

Atticus looked down at the Carthaginian war banners that carpeted the steps of the Curia as he and Duilius made their way up to the assembled Senate, remembering when and where he had last seen them.

‘You belong in Rome, Atticus,’ Duilius said suddenly, his voice barely audible over the constant cheers of the crowd. Atticus looked over at the man by his side, the consul’s expression proud and magnanimous.

‘Join me on my staff,’ he continued, ‘and I promise you, the city will always be at your feet.’

Duilius held Atticus’s gaze for a second before turning his face upward once more as they covered the last few steps to the top, the members of the Senate moving back from the edge to allow a place in the centre for their consul. Atticus walked on behind Duilius before turning, his breath catching in his throat as he drank in the sight before him, the assembled masses of Rome spread out from the foot of the steps of the Curia, the entire city at his feet.

Waves of sound crashed over Atticus as he watched Duilius being presented with a golden wreath of olives by the Senate, and he closed his eyes against the noise, his mind transposing the sound into that of the crashing waves of the sea against the cutwater of the Aquila. In that instant Atticus was sure his place would always be on the aft-deck of his galley, and in his mind’s eye he could see the clear horizon over the bow of the Aquila , taste and smell the salt-laden air of an onshore breeze, hear the sound of the canvas sail catching the prevailing wind in a crack of cloth and rigging as the finely balanced hull of the Aquila sliced through the white horses of the wave tops.

Atticus opened his eyes once again as Duilius turned to accept the adulation of the crowd, but the sense that he belonged elsewhere stayed with him in his heart. Rome would never be his home but Atticus knew that for now his destiny was intertwined with hers, his fate and future commanded by a city his forefathers had called their enemy. He, like the Aquila , was no longer alone, no longer a solitary warrior of the sea. He was now a commander in the Roman fleet and the Aquila was a ship of Rome.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The First Punic War began in 264 BC when the inhabitants of the city of Messina, fearing occupation from Hiero II, the tyrant of Syracuse, sent envoys to both Rome and Carthage pleading for an alliance that would protect their city. Carthage was the first to react and after persuading Hiero to call off his advance, promptly occupied Messina themselves, installing a garrison and effectively taking control of the city.

Rome had been slow to react, believing the conflict between Syracuse and Messina to be an internal conflict. However the permanent presence of a Carthaginian force so close to Italy prompted the Republic to land a force of their own on Sicily, the first time the legions had ever deployed off the mainland. By the end of 264 BC, and after several defeats, Hiero concluded an agreement with Rome that allowed Syracuse to remain independent but confined her forces within her own borders on the south-east corner of Sicily. The conflict was now transformed into a contest between Carthage and Rome with each vying for complete control of Sicily.

In 262 BC the Romans besieged the city of Agrigentum. The siege was finally lifted after several months by the Carthaginian navy but in the ensuing land battle the Romans prevailed and the city fell into their hands. The city’s commander, Hannibal Gisco did not suffer censure for the defeat although the loss of Agrigentum was considered a significant blow.

Polybius, the Greek historian, states that the Romans did indeed build an entire fleet within the space of two months. For narrative purposes the Roman fleet in Ship of Rome consisted entirely of triremes however it is generally accepted that the majority of the fleet were quinqueremes based on a captured Carthaginian galley. Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, the Senior Consul in 260 BC, was given command of the fleet while Gaius Duilius, the Junior Consul, was given command of the army.

Roman history records that the Carthaginians tricked Scipio into sailing a small detachment of approximately twenty galleys to Lipara in the belief the city was poised to defect to the Roman cause. The Carthaginians, commanded by Gisco and Boodes, were lying in ambush and the inexperienced Roman crews promptly panicked and surrendered. Scipio was captured and was thereafter given the cognomen Asina to signify his foolhardy mistake.

Little is known of Gaius Duilius before his election to Consulship in 260 BC. As a novus homo , a new man, his family lineage was not of historical importance. After the capture of Scipio at Lipara, Duilius was elevated to command the new fleet and led them into battle at Mylae.

The Battle of Mylae took place in late 260 BC. The sides were evenly matched although the Carthaginians anticipated victory given their superior experience. The inventor of the corvus is not recorded however the device is similar to the one described. It was this that assured the Roman fleet’s first victory, an invention that allowed them to deploy their superior soldiers at sea.

Gisco escaped after the Battle of Mylae although his flagship was lost in addition to half his fleet. The remaining Carthaginian galleys fled to Sardinia where Gisco was relieved of his command by his own men. He was subsequently crucified for his incompetence. A commander named Hamilcar replaced Gisco although it was not Hamilcar Barca as stated in Ship of Rome. I have introduced Barca at this earlier stage in the war for narrative purposes.

Scipio was shamed upon his return to Rome but his career survived and he subsequently returned to power. Duilius enjoyed a triumphal parade for his victory and a column was raised in the Forum in his honour, the remains of which are enshrined in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Although he secured Rome’s first naval victory he never again commanded the fleet.

The command structure on board a Roman galley was as described, with a naval captain and a marine centurion sharing authority. It involved a delicate balance, a partnership between career officers, men like Atticus and Septimus.

The Battle of Mylae was a significant victory for Rome but the Carthaginians were far from beaten. They would reform and challenge the Classis Romanus again and within a short time the two fleets would meet in the largest naval battle of the ancient world, the Battle of Cape Ecnomus.