Venetans found to their cost. For the Romans, fastening sharp hooks or sickles to the end of long poles, pulled alongside, hooked them over the halyards of their yards and sails, and, rowing away for all they were worth, contrived to cut them through, when down came the yards, and the Venetan vessels became unmanageable. To make matters worse, when a flat calm fell they could not get away to their hiding-places on the coast, and the Romans obtained a complete victory—probably by boarding and fighting at close quarters, when their armour and discipline would tell heavily in their favour. It is interesting to note, by the way, that, according to Vegetius, a fifteenth-century writer on naval and military matters, they painted their scouting-vessels blue, masts, sails, and all, and dressed their crews in the same colour. He adds that Pompey, after defeating Cæsar, called himself "The Son of Neptune", and "affected to wear the blue or marine colour". As for the Veneti, we may, perhaps, regard them as the original "Bluejackets", Veneti being the plural of the Latin venetus, "bluish", "sea-coloured".