. A history of Rome . a sure foot-hold in the island. Hiero, king of Syracuse,seeing that he was upon the losing side, for-sook the Carthaginians, formed an alliancewith the Romans, and ever after remainedtheir firm friend. 52. The Romans Gain their First NavalVictory (260 ). Their experience duringthe past campaigns had shown the Romansthat if they were to cope successfully withthe Carthaginians, they must be able to meetthem upon the sea as well as upon the land,so they determined to build a fleet. A Car-thaginian galley, tradition says, that had beenwrecked upon the shores of Italy serv
. A history of Rome . a sure foot-hold in the island. Hiero, king of Syracuse,seeing that he was upon the losing side, for-sook the Carthaginians, formed an alliancewith the Romans, and ever after remainedtheir firm friend. 52. The Romans Gain their First NavalVictory (260 ). Their experience duringthe past campaigns had shown the Romansthat if they were to cope successfully withthe Carthaginians, they must be able to meetthem upon the sea as well as upon the land,so they determined to build a fleet. A Car-thaginian galley, tradition says, that had beenwrecked upon the shores of Italy served as It is affirmed that within the shortspace of sixty days a growing forest was converted into a fleet ofone hundred and twenty war galleys. The consul C. Duilius was intrusted with the command of the met the Carthaginian squadron near the city and promontory ofMylae, on the northern coast of Sicily. Now, distrusting their abilityto match the skill of their enemy in naval tactics, the Romans had. Fig. 11. The Trium-phal Column of Dui-lius. (A restoration) The column was decorated with the prows of ships captured at Mylae t The Greek and Etruscan ships were merely triremes, that is, galleys with threebanks of oars; while the Carthaginian ships were quinqueremes, or vessels with fiverows of oars. The former were unable to cope with the latter, such an advantage didthese have in their greater weight and height. 5<D EXPANSION OF ROME [§53 provided each of their vessels with a drawbridge. As soon as aCarthaginian ship came near enough to a Roman vessel, thisgangway was allowed to fall upon the approaching galley; and theRoman soldiers, rushing along the bridge, were soon engaged in ahand-to-hand conflict with their enemies, in which species of encoun-ter the former were unequaled. The result was a complete victoryfor the Romans. It inspired in the more sanguine splendid visionsof maritime command and glory. The Mediterranean should speedilybecome a Roman l
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