Chapter 46

When Vatinius observed that neither in the size nor the number of his ships was he. a match for a chance engagement, he chose rather to trust to luck. And so he attacked first, charging with his own quinquereme the quadrireme which was the flagship of Octavius. The latter rowed forward against him with the utmost speed and bravery, and the two ships ran together with their beaks head-on so violently that Octavius’ ship had its beak smashed away and was locked to the other by its timbers. Elsewhere a fierce engagement took place, with particularly sharp fighting near the leaders; for with each individual captain trying to support his own leader, a great battle developed at close range in the narrow sea. The more closely interlocked the ships—whenever the opportunity was afforded for such fighting—the more marked was the superiority of the Vatinians; for they displayed admirable courage in leaping without hesitation from their own ships on to those of the enemy, and where the fighting was on equal terms their markedly superior courage brought them success. Octavius’ own quadrireme was sunk, and many besides were either captured or else rammed, holed and sunk: some of his combat troops were cut down on the ships, others dived overboard. Octavius himself took refuge in a pinnace; and when too many others sought safety in it and it capsized, wounded as he was he swam to his own light galley. There he was taken safely aboard and, when night put an end to the action, took to flight, sailing in a stiff squall. He was followed by not a few of his own ships, which chance had delivered from that hazard.