+Parallel Passage.+ Florus ii. 2 says that ‘Claudius was overthrown, not by the enemy, but by the gods themselves, whose auspices he had despised.’
+The Defeat off Drepana.+ ‘The reason of the defeat lay in the superiority of the Carthaginian admiral and seamen, and the inexperience of Claudius and of his crews, consisting mainly of landsmen who knew nothing of the sea. This disaster and the destruction of the fleet of Junius crowned the series of misfortunes which befell the Romans in the year 249 B.C., the most dismal time of the whole war.’ --Ihne.
_Victory of Lutatius off the Aegates Insulae, 241 B.C._
A. Interim Carthaginienses classe apud insulas Aegates a C. Lutatio, consule Romanorum, superati statuerunt belli facere finem, eamque rem arbitrio permiserunt Hamilcaris. Ille, etsi flagrabat bellandi cupiditate, tamen paci serviendum putavit, quod { 5} patriam, exhaustam sumptibus, diutius calamitates belli ferre non posse intellegebat, sed ita, ut statim mente agitaret, si paulum modo res essent refectae, bellum renovare Romanosque armis persequi, donicum aut virtute vicissent aut victi manus dedissent. { 10}
[Linenotes: 1. +apud insulas Aegates+, the Goat Islands, off the W. Coast of Sicily, between Drepana and Lilybaeum (Marsala). 3. +statuerunt belli facere finem.+ This victory led to the close of the First Punic War. 5. +paci serviendum+ = _to devote himself to (obtaining) peace_. 9. +donicum+ (= _donec_), lit. ‘_at the time of day when ----_’ 10. +virtute vicissent+ = _they (the Romans) should have conquered by (superior) prowess_.]
Hic dum stagnosi spectat templumque domosque Literni ductor, varia splendentia cernit Pictura belli patribus monumenta prioris 655 Exhausti: nam porticibus signata manebant, Quis inerat longus rerum et spectabilis ordo. . . . . . . . Addiderant geminas medio consurgere fluctu Aegates: lacerae circum fragmenta videres 685 Classis et effusos fluitare in gurgite Poenos. Possessor pelagi pronaque Lutatius aura Captivas puppes ad litora victor agebat.
[Linenotes: 653-654. +stagnosi Literni.+ Town and River on the coast of Campania, N. of Cumae. The River flows through a marsh = Literna palus. 654. +ductor+ = Hannibal. 654-657. Silius (who closely imitates Vergil) makes Hannibal view the sculptured memorials of the First Punic War, just as Aeneas sees carved the tale of Troy. Verg. _Aen._ i. 445-493.]