This year's ancient naval game is the battle of Drepana: consul Publius Pulcher is skirting the south coast of Sicily sailing into Drepana (behind the hill) when he realizes that the carthaginians under Adherbal have sallied out of the harbour and are readying themselves for battle. The consul, frustrated with the sacred chicken (who were too seasick to eat the ritual grain) threw them overboard, purportedly incurring the wrath of the gods and defeat.
GALLOS IACTOS, CONSUL PUGNAVIT
Roman fleet
Adherbal in his hexres
The carthaginians have the first turn and turn around while their rear moves behind the battleline
The romans move in diagonal
The light vanguard ships aim for the enemy monoremes
Both lines begin to close in
The punic rear is swiflty boarded and sunk
However the romans have advanced too eagerly, and the punics turn around and begin to ram the vulnerable sides of the galleys
crunch!
The enemy van is still sailing ahead of the romans
The last quinquereme in the line is swamped by foes
A roman ship launches a boarding action with help of the Corvus
Badly damaged by a ram, a roman five grapples her enemy with the assault bridge
The flagship of Pulcher is sunk by the hexres, sending the consul to swim with the chicken
The foremost five sunks a defenceless trireme
Fire is no obstacle for roman assaults
In the rear the badly damaged romans try to strike back in close quarters
The haughty Adherbal is set upon by two roman ships intent on vengeance
In the center a galley has been devastated by a ram to the side but her compatriots come to the rescue
One of the galleys in the rear burns out her last damage and sinks
After several rounds of combat, a battered punic flees
Adherbal and his elite bodyguards are undaunted by the atackers and win one round of combat, sending a monoreme to the bottom
Whenever they can the roman ships nail the enemy with their corvi
A monoreme catches the fleeing ship and finishes off her crew
The slow grind of combat takes its toll and the carthaginians begin to lose ships
One after the other
Seeing her chance a monoreme attacks a bigger but decimated five
Destroying her thanks to superior combat skill
The punics aren't out of the picture however, and a side ram...
... sinks a roman five
The lone survivor from the roman rear battles on
As the last defenders are slain, the eagles fly over the enemy decks
Adherbal is sentenced when his overbearing ship is attacked by no less than four romans
A lone monoreme sinks as a burning hulk
The romans have conquered right and center while losing their own left flank
The final chapter of the battle is written by Adherbal who sinks with his burning ship
The battle ends then in a decisive roman victory 36 to 28 that has changed history.
The roman gods where against me in the first encounters of the battle, but once the impious Pulcher had been slain, their wrath abated and the gradual grind of boarding tipped the battle in my favour.
GALLOS VINDICATOS, DII VICTORAM AD NOS CONCESSERUNT
yank vs reb
