§1.22.1οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι μετὰ ταῦτα συνεγγίσαντες τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν τόποις καὶ συνέντες τὸ γεγονὸς σύμπτωμα περὶ τὸν Γνάιον παραυτίκα μὲν διεπέμποντο πρὸς Γάιον Βίλιον τὸν ἡγούμενον τῆς πεζῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τοῦτον ἀνέμενον, §1.22.2ἅμα δʼ ἀκούοντες οὐ μακρὰν εἶναι τὸν τῶν πολεμίων στόλον ἐγίνοντο πρὸς παρασκευὴν τοῦ ναυμαχεῖν. §1.22.3ὄντων δὲ τῶν πλοίων φαύλων ταῖς κατασκευαῖς καὶ δυσκινήτων, ὑποτίθεταί τις αὐτοῖς βοήθημα πρὸς τὴν μάχην τοὺς ἐπικληθέντας μετὰ ταῦτα κόρακας ὧν συνέβαινε τὴν κατασκευὴν εἶναι τοιαύτην. §1.22.4στῦλος ἐν πρώρρᾳ στρογγύλος εἱστήκει, μῆκος μὲν ὀργυιῶν τεττάρων, κατὰ δὲ τὸ πλάτος τριῶν παλαιστῶν ἔχων τὴν διάμετρον. §1.22.5οὗτος αὐτὸς μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς τροχιλίαν εἶχεν, περιετίθετο δʼ αὐτῷ κλῖμαξ ἐπικαρσίαις σανίσι καθηλωμένη, πλάτος μὲν ποδῶν τεττάρων, τὸ δὲ μῆκος ἓξ ὀργυιῶν. §1.22.6τὸ δὲ τρῆμα τοῦ σανιδώματος ἦν παράμηκες καὶ περιέβαινε περὶ τὸν στῦλον μετὰ τὰς πρώτας εὐθέως τῆς κλίμακος δύʼ ὀργυιάς.
After this, the Romans, having approached the regions near Sicily and having learned of the disaster that had befallen Gnaeus, immediately sent messengers to Gaius Bilius, the commander of the land forces, and awaited him. At the same time, hearing that the enemy's fleet was not far off, they set about preparing for a naval battle. Since their ships were poorly constructed and difficult to maneuver, someone suggested to them a device to aid them in the battle, which was afterwards called the "raven", the construction of which was as follows. A round pillar stood on the prow, four orgyiae in length, and having a diameter of three palaestae in width. This pillar itself had a pulley at its top, and around it was fitted a ladder nailed with transverse planks, four feet in width and six orgyiae in length. The aperture in the planking was oblong and went round the pillar immediately after the first two orgyiae of the ladder.
εἶχεν δὲ καὶ δρύφακτον αὕτη παρʼ ἑκατέραν τὴν ἐπιμήκη πλευρὰν εἰς γόνυ τὸ βάθος. §1.22.7ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ πέρατος αὐτοῦ προσήρμοστο σιδηροῦν οἷον ὕπερον ἀπωξυσμένον, ἔχον δακτύλιον ἐπὶ τῆς κορυφῆς, ὡς τὸ ὅλον φαίνεσθαι παραπλήσιον ταῖς σιτοποιικαῖς μηχανήσεσιν. §1.22.8εἰς δὲ τοῦτον τὸν δακτύλιον ἐνεδέδετο κάλως, ᾧ κατὰ τὰς ἐμβολὰς τῶν πλοίων ἐξαίροντες τοὺς κόρακας διὰ τῆς ἐν τῷ στύλῳ τροχιλίας ἀφίεσαν ἐπὶ τὸ κατάστρωμα τῆς ἀλλοτρίας νεὼς ποτὲ μὲν κατὰ πρῶρραν, ποτὲ δʼ ἀντιπεριάγοντες τὰς ἐκ τῶν πλαγίων προσπιπτούσας ἐμβολάς. §1.22.9ὅτε δὲ ταῖς σανίσι τῶν καταστρωμάτων ἐμπαγέντες οἱ κόρακες ὁμοῦ συνδήσαιεν τὰς ναῦς, εἰ μὲν πλάγιαι παραβάλοιεν ἀλλήλαις, πανταχόθεν ἐπεπήδων, εἰ δὲ κατὰ πρῶρραν, διʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κόρακος ἐπὶ δύο συνεχεῖς ἐποιοῦντο τὴν ἔφοδον· §1.22.10ὧν οἱ μὲν ἡγούμενοι τὴν κατὰ πρόσωπον ἐπιφάνειαν ἐσκέπαζον ταῖς τῶν θυρεῶν προβολαῖς, οἱ δʼ ἑπόμενοι τὰς ἐκ τῶν πλαγίων ἠσφάλιζον πλευρὰς ὑπὲρ τὸν δρύφακτον ὑπερτιθέμενοι τὰς ἴτυς τῶν ὅπλων. §1.22.11οὗτοι μὲν οὖν τοιαύτῃ κεχρημένοι πα
This ladder also had a railing along each of its long sides to the height of a man's knee. At the end of it was fastened a sharp-pointed iron instrument like a pestle, which had a ring at its top, so that the whole apparatus looked very like the machines used in bread-making. To this ring was attached a rope, with which, at the moment of the ships' collision, they raised the "ravens" by means of the pulley on the pillar and let them drop onto the deck of the enemy's ship, sometimes over the prow, and sometimes swinging them round to meet attacks from the sides. When the "ravens" had driven into the planks of the decks and locked the ships together, if they lay side by side, they boarded from all sides, but if they met prow to prow, they made their attack two abreast right down the "raven" itself. Of these, the leaders protected their front by holding their shields before them, while those following secured their sides by placing the rims of their shields over the railing. So they, having made use of such a preparation...