The Mamertines, the band of Campanian mercenaries that has held Messana since 288, are finally defeated in a pitched battle near Mylae by Hiero, who is only prevented from capturing Messana by Carthaginian interference.

His grateful countrymen now choose Hiero …

Duilius meets Hannibal Gisco off northern Mylae in 260.

Confident in Carthage's superiority at sea, Gisco deploys his ships for the Battle of Mylae in the traditional long line arrangement.

Polybius states that the Carthaginians had one hundred and thirty ships, but does not give an exact figure for the Romans.

The loss of seventeen ships at the Lipari Islands from a starting total of one hundred and twenty ships suggests that Rome had one hundred and three remaining.

However, it is possible that this number was larger than one hundred and three, thanks to captured ships and the assistance of Roman allies.

The Carthaginians anticipate victory, especially because of their superior experience at sea.

The corvus tactics are very successful, and help the Romans seize the first thirty Carthaginian ships that get close enough.

In order to avoid the corvus, the Carthaginians are forced to navigate around them and approach the Romans from behind, or from the side.

The corvus is usually still able to pivot and grapple most oncoming ships.

Once an additional twenty of the Carthaginian ships have been hooked and lost to the Romans, Hannibal retreats with his surviving ships, leaving Duilius with a clear victory.

The new weapon, having proved its worth in the Battle of Mylae, the first Roman naval victory, will continue to do so in the following years, especially in the huge Battle of Cape Ecnomus.

The addition of the corvus forces Carthage to review its military tactics, and since the city has difficulty in doing so, Rome has the naval advantage, mainly due to the innovative use of land tactics in naval warfare.

Instead of following the remaining Carthaginians at sea, …

…Mylae, and …

Octavian and Agrippa set sail against Sextus in 36 BCE.

The fleet is badly damaged by storms and has to withdraw; Agrippa is left in charge of the second attempt.

Thanks to superior technology and training, Agrippa and his men win decisive victories at Mylae in Sicily and Naulochus in Greece, destroying all but seventeen of Sextus' ships and compelling most of his forces to surrender.

Sextus, who flees to Asia Minor; he will be captured and executed at Miletus by the Roman general Marcus Titius the following year.

The British fleet lands a small Austrian army assembled in Naples by the Austrian Viceroy Count Wirich Philipp von Daun, near Messina to lift the siege by the Spanish forces.

The Austrians attack very early in the morning of October 15, taking the Spanish by surprise.

The two Spanish Dragoon regiments (Batavia and Lusitania) stop the attack, to give the rest of the Spanish army time to deploy.

Both regiments are decimated, but their sacrifice gives Lede the opportunity to counterattack.

The Austrians are pushed back and the Spanish pursue the fleeing army, causing many casualties.

The Austrians lose fifteen hundred killed or wounded and three hundred prisoners.

The Spanish loss fifteen hundred killed or wounded and two hundred  prisoners.

Messina is taken by the Spanish, but the Marquis de Lede does not take this opportunity to drive the Austrians completely from the island, leaving them a bridgehead around Milazzo.

This bridgehead, and naval supremacy after the Battle of Cape Passaro, will give the Austrians a chance to send over more troops in the coming year.

The forces of Garibaldi defeat royal Neapolitan forces near Messina in the Battle of Milazzo on July 20, 1860, bringing nearly all of Sicily under Garibaldi's control.