mercenary Xanthippus crushed the Romans. The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians opposed it at the battle of Cape Hermaeum (modern Cape Bon); the Carthaginians were again heavily defeated. The Roman fleet, in turn, was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, losing most of its ships and more than 100,000 men. It is possible that the presence of the corvus, making the Roman ships unusually unseaworthy, contributed to this disaster; there is no record of them being used again. Sicily, 255–241 BC The war continued, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. The Carthaginians attacked and recaptured Akragas in 255BC, but not believing they could hold the city they razed and abandoned it. The Romans rapidly rebuilt their fleet, adding 220 new ships, and captured Panormus (modern Palermo) in 254BC. The next year they lost another 150 ships to a storm. On Sicily the Romans avoided battle in 252 and 251BC, according to Polybius because they feared the war elephants which the Carthaginians had shipped to the island. In 250BC the Carthaginians advanced on Panormus, but in a battle outside the walls the Romans drove off the Carthaginian elephants with javelins. The elephants routed through the Carthaginian infantry, who were then charged by the Roman infantry to complete their defeat. Slowly the Romans had occupied most of Sicily; in 250BC they besieged the last two Carthaginian strongholdsLilybaeum and Drepana in the extreme west. Repeated attempts to storm Lilybaeum's strong walls failed, as did attempts to block access to its harbour, and the Romans settled down to a siege which was to last nine years. They launched a surprise attack on the Carthaginian fleet, but were defeated at the battle of Drepana; Carthage's greatest naval victory of the war. Carthage turned to the maritime offensive, inflicting another heavy naval defeat at the battle of Phintias and all but swept the Romans from the sea. It was to be seven years before Rome again attempted to field a substantial fleet, while Carthage put most of its ships into reserve to save money and free up manpower. Roman victory, 243–241 BC After more than 20 years of war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted. Evidence of Carthage's financial situation includes their request for a 2,000-talent loan from Ptolemaic Egypt, which was refused. Rome was also close to bankruptcy and the number of adult