before this could be achieved. In September 191, the Roman fleet defeated the Seleucids in the Battle of Corycus, enabling it to take control of several cities including Dardanus and Sestos on the Hellespont. Following the Battle of Corycus, the Roman–Pergamene fleet at Canae was made up of 77 Roman and 50 Pergamene ships, half of the latter being (merchant galleys capable of fighting). The main Seleucid fleet under admiral Polyxenidas consisted of 23 large ships, 47 triremes and approximately 100 and was stationed at Ephesus, Hannibal had amassed a second fleet in Cilicia. Separating the two Seleucid fleets was the Rhodian navy which numbered 75 large ships, mainly quadriremes. In spring 190, a Rhodian squadron united with the Roman fleet off Samos, where Roman admiral Lucius Aemilius Regillus took overall command. When the Rhodians raised concerns about the threat of the Seleucid Cilician fleet, Aemilius assembled a mixed squadron with the intention of seizing Patara, a key Seleucid naval base in the region. The amphibious attack on Patara was repelled by the city's garrison. During the course of 190, Hannibal focused his attention on building the Cilician fleet from scratch, his first major military command after spending five years in the Seleucid court. Hannibal believed that the Romans would continue using boarding tactics and therefore focused on purchasing large, multi-oared vessels. Although Phoenician territories like Tyre and Sidon possessed the necessary combination of raw materials, technical expertise and experienced personnel, it took much longer than expected for the fleet to be completed. The delay was most likely due to wartime shortages. Battle In July 190, Hannibal ordered his fleet of three septiremes, four hexaremes, 30 quinqueremes and 10 triremes to set sail from Seleucia Pieria along the southern Asia Minor coast. The fleet's advance was hampered by contrary winds and the need for additional training maneuvers. Upon being informed of Hannibal's advance to the west, Rhodian admiral Eudamus gathered a squadron of 13 warships at Samos. Eudamus picked up individual warships on his way south until he was reinforced by a second Rhodian squadron commanded by Pamphilidas off Megiste, their fleet now numbering 32 quadriremes, 2 quinqueremes and 4 triremes. The Rhodians then sailed to Phaselis, a location of strategic importance which would enable them to block any fleet trying to attack their kingdom from Lycia. In August, after a number of Rhodian sailors caught a disease which spread