26.39
During
this period the privations of the Roman garrison in the citadel of Tarentum
had become almost insupportable; the men and their commandant M. Livius
placed all their hopes in the arrival of supplies sent from Sicily. To secure a
safe passage for these along the coast of Italy, a squadron of about twenty
vessels was stationed at Regium. The fleet and the transports were under the
command of D. Quinctius. He was a man of humble birth, but his many
deeds of gallantry had gained him a high military reputation. He had only five
ships to begin with, the largest of these -two triremes -had been assigned to
him by Marcellus; subsequently, owing to the effective use he made of these,
three quinqueremes were added to his command, and at last, by compelling
the allied cities, Regium, Velliea and Paestum to furnish the ships which they
were bound by treaty to supply, he made up the above-mentioned squadron
of twenty vessels. As this fleet was setting out from Regium, and was
opposite Sapriportis, a place about fifteen miles from Tarentum, it fell in
with a Tarentine fleet, also of twenty ships, under the command of
Democrates. The Roman commander, not anticipating a fight, had all sail set;
he had, however, got together his full complement of rowers while he was in
the neighbourhood of Croton and Sybaris, and his fleet was excellently
equipped and manned, considering the size of the vessels. It so happened
that the wind completely died down just as the enemy came into sight, and
there was ample time to lower the sails and get the rowers and soldiers into
readiness for the approaching conflict. Seldom have two regular fleets gone
into action with such determination as these small flotillas, for they were
fighting for larger issues than their own success. The Tarentines hoped that
as they had already recovered their city from the Romans after the lapse of
nearly a century, so they might now rescue their citadel, by cutting off the
enemy's supplies after they had deprived them of the mastery of the sea. The
Romans were eager to show, by retaining their hold on the citadel, that
Tarentum had not been lost in fair fight. but by a foul and treacherous
stroke. So, when the signal was given on each side, they rowed with their
prows straight at each other; there was no backing or maneuvering, nor did
they let go of any ship when once they had grappled and boarded. They
fought at such close quarters that they not only discharged missiles, but even
used their swords in hand-to-hand fighting. The prows were locked together
and remained so while the hinder part of the vessel was pushed about by the
oars of hostile ships. The vessels were so crowded together that hardly any
missile failed to reach its aim or fell into the water. They pressed forward
front to front like a line of infantry, and the combatants made their way from
ship to ship. Conspicuous amongst all was the fight between the two ships
which had led their respective lines and were the first to engage.
Quinctius himself was in the Roman ship, and in the Tarentine
vessel was a man named Nico Perco, who hated the Romans for private as
well as public grounds, and who was equally hated by them, for he was one
of the party who betrayed Tarentum to Hannibal. Whilst Quinctius was
fighting and encouraging his men, Nico took him unawares and ran him
through with his spear. He fell headlong over the prow, and the victorious
Tarentine springing on to the ship dislodged the enemy, who were thrown
into confusion by the loss of their leader. The foreship was now in the hands
of the Tarentines, and the Romans in a compact body were with difficulty
defending the hinder part of the vessel, when another of the hostile triremes
suddenly appeared astern. Between the two the Roman ship was captured.
The sight of the admiral's ship in the enemy's hands created a panic, and the
remainder of the fleet fled in all directions; some were sunk, others were
hurriedly rowed to land and were seized by the people of Thurium and
Metapontum. Very few of the transports which were following with supplies
fell into the enemy's hands; the rest, shifting their sails to meet the changing
winds, were carried out to sea. An affair took place at Tarentum during this
time which led to a very different result. A foraging force of 4000 Tarentines
were dispersed through the fields, and Livius, the Roman commandant, who
was always looking out for a chance of striking a blow, sent C. Persius, an
able and energetic officer, with 2500 men from the citadel to attack them. He
fell upon them while they were dispersed in scattered groups all through the
fields, and after inflicting great and widespread slaughter, drove the few who
escaped in headlong flight through their half-opened gates into the town. So
matters were equalised as far as Tarentum was concerned; the Romans were
victorious by land, and the Tarentines by sea. Both were alike disappointed
in their hopes of obtaining the corn which had been within their view.