The string of Roman naval victories, such as Mylae and Ecnomus, had given them command of the sea and the confidence to make a direct attack on Carthage itself, which ultimately ended in the defeat of the Romans in Bagrades and the loss of their fleet in a storm off Camarina in 255 BC. The Romans avoided engaging the Carthaginian army in Sicily until 253 BC, when the Carthaginians were defeated in the Battle of Panormus in 250 BC. Romans next attacked the Carthaginian stronghold of Lilybaeum governed by Himilco. The Carthaginian commander at Drepana, Adherbal, sent out ships to raid the Sicilian and Italian coasts, while Carthaginian cavalry from Drepana ambushed Roman supply operation. The supply situation became desperate, men became ill from eating rotting meat, and only the overland grain sent by Hiero II of Syracuse warded off disaster for the Romans.