9. But there seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle to the ambitious views of Rome, as they had no fleet, or at least none that deserved the title; while the Carthagin'ians had the entire command at sea, and kept all the maritime towns in obedience.[1] 10. In such a situation, under disadvantages which nature seemed to have imposed, any people but the Romans would have rested; but nothing could conquer or intimidate them. 11. A Carthagin'ian vessel happened to be driven on shore, in a storm, and this was sufficient to serve as a model. They began to apply themselves to maritime affairs; and though without shipwrights to build, or seamen to navigate a fleet, they resolved to surmount every obstacle with inflexible perseverance. 12. The consul Duil'ius was the first who ventured to sea with his new-constructed armament; he proceeded in quest of the enemy, whom he met near the Lipari islands; and by means of grappling-irons, he so connected the ships of the Carthaginians with his own, that the combat became a sort of land-fight. By this manoeuvre, though his own force was far inferior to that of the enemy, he gained for Rome her first naval triumph, taking from the Carthaginians fifty ships, and what they valued still more, the undisturbed sovereignty of the sea. At Rome medals were struck and a column was erected in commemoration of the victory. This column, called Columna Rostrata, because adorned with the beaks of ships, was struck down by lightning in the interval between the second and third Punic wars. A new column was erected by the Emperor Claudius, and the inscription restored, though probably modernized. It still exists in a state of partial preservation.