ng been given on both sides, they
charged each other with the beaks of their ships, and neither did they
draw back their own, nor allow the ships of the enemy with which they
were engaged to separate from them, having thrown then grappling
irons, and thus the battle was carried on in such close quarters, that
they fought not only with missile weapons, but in a manner foot to
foot even with their swords. The prows joined together remained
stationary, while the sterns were moved round by the force of their
adversaries' oars. The ships were crowded together in so small a
compass, that scarcely one weapon fell into the sea without taking
effect. They pressed front against front like lines of troops engaging
on land, and the combatants could pass from one ship to another. But
the contest between two ships which had engaged each other in the van,
was remarkable above the rest. In the Roman ship was Quinctius
himself, in the Tarentine, Nico, surnamed Perco, who hated, and was
hated by, the Romans, not only on public grounds, but also personally,
for he belonged to that faction which had betrayed Tarentum to
Hannibal. This man transfixed Quinctius with a spear while off his
guard, and engaged at once in fighting and encouraging his men, and he
immediately fell headlong with his arms over the prow. The victorious
Tarentine promptly boarded the ship, which was all in confusion from
the loss of the commander, and when he had driven the enemy back, and
the Tarentines had got possession of the prow, the Romans, who had
formed themselves into a compact body, with difficulty defending the
stern, suddenly another trireme of the enemy appeared at the stern.
Thus the Roman ship, enclosed between the two, was captured. Upon this
a panic spread among the rest, seeing the commander's ship captured,
and flying in every direction, some were sunk in the deep and some
rowed hastily to land, where, shortly after, they became a prey to the
Thurians and Metapontines. Of the storeships which followed, laden
with provisions, a very few fell into the hands of the enemy; the
rest, shifting their sails from one side to another with the changing
winds, escaped into the open sea. An affair took place at Tarentum at
this time, which was attended with widely different success; for a
party of four thousand men had gone out to forage, and while they were
dispersed, and roaming through the country, Livius, the commander of
the citadel and the Roman garrison, w