Battle of Drepana - Actions and Consequences

Actions and Consequences

Pulcher, the senior consul then decided to launch a surprise attack on the harbour of Drepana, where the defiant ships were garrisoned. The fleet sailed north from Lilybaeum in a moonless night. Carthaginian scouts did not spot the Roman ships but low visibility conditions compromised the battle formation. When they reached Drepana at sunrise, the fleet was scattered in a long, disorganized line with Pulcher's ship in the rear. Punic scouts saw the clumsy approach and the advantage of surprise was lost.

Meanwhile in the flagship, some sources such as Cicero claim that Pulcher performed the inspection of the omens for the battle, according to Roman religious tradition. The method ascribed for the situation was investigating the feeding behaviour of the sacred chickens, on board for that purpose. If the chickens accepted the offered grain, then the gods would be favourable to the battle. However, in that particular morning of 249 BC, the chickens refused to eat – a horrific omen. Confronted with the unexpected and having to deal with the superstitious and now terrified crews, Pulcher quickly figured an alternative interpretation. He threw the sacred chickens overboard, directly into the Mediterranean, saying, Let them drink, since they don't wish to eat. (Bibant, quoniam esse nolunt)(Cicero, De Natura Deorum, where it is reported in "indirect discourse." The Latin here reflects what Pulcher's actual words would have been).

However, it is not entirely clear if this actually occurred. The contemporary historian Polybius fails to mention it, instead crediting the victory to the superior maneuverability of Carthaginian warships, making the truthfulness of this incident at least somewhat dubious.

In the harbour, the Carthaginians did not wait to see what the Romans intended. Admiral Ad Herbal had similar, though less controversial, quick thinking and ordered the evacuation of Drepana before the blockade was unavoidable. Carthage's ships thus sailed out of Drepana, passing south of the city and around two small islands in the coast to the open sea. Seeing the plan of a surprise attack fail, Pulcher ordered his fleet to regroup into battle formation. However, by then, everything was against him. The coast of Sicily was at his back and the Punic fleet ready for battle at his front.

Herbal saw a chance for victory and ordered the attack. He ordered his right flank to attack the rear-most Roman ships. The result was an utter Roman defeat, with almost all ships commanded by Pulcher sunk.