37.30
And
now both fleets were everywhere in action. On the side of the Romans eighty
ships were engaged, twenty-two of which were Rhodian vessels. The enemy
fleet numbered eighty-nine, and of the largest classes of ships they had three
with six tiers of oars and two with seven. The Romans were far superior in
the stoutness of their ships and the bravery of their men; the Rhodians
equally had the advantage in the handiness of their vessels, the skill of their
helmsmen, and the training and discipline of the oarsmen. But they created
the greatest alarm among the enemy by their fire-ships; the one thing which
saved them at Panhormus proved here also the most effective means of
victory. When the king's ships swerved aside through fear of the flames, they
were unable to ram the hostile ships with their beaks, and at the same time
laid themselves open to be struck on the side; any ship that did close with
another was covered with the fire poured upon it, and they were thrown into
greater confusion by the fire than by the actual fighting. Still, as usual, the
fighting power of the soldiers was the main factor in the contest. The
Romans broke through the enemy's centre, and then working round they
attacked from the rear the ships which were engaged with the Rhodians, and
in a very short space of time Antiochus' centre and the ships of the left
division were being surrounded and sunk. Those on the right, as yet intact,
were more alarmed at the defeat of their comrades than at any danger which
threatened them. But when they saw their other vessels in the midst of the
enemy ships and Polyxenidas deserting his fleet and fleeing with all sails set,
they promptly hoisted their topsails, as the wind was favourable for those
making for Ephesus, and took to flight, after losing forty-two ships in the
battle, thirteen of which fell into the enemy's hands, the rest being either
burnt or sunk. Two Roman ships were complete wrecks, several were
damaged. One Rhodian vessel was captured through a remarkable accident.
On ramming a Sidonian vessel the blow shook the anchor out of the ship on
to the prow of the other, which it held with its fluke as though with a
grapple. In the confusion which followed the Rhodians backed water to get
clear of the enemy, but the anchor chain dragged, and becoming entangled
with the oars, swept off all those on one side of the ship. Thus weakened it
was captured by the very ship which had been rammed and made fast to it.
Such, in its main features, was the sea fight at Myonnesus.