In the battle the flagship of Philip V of Macedon, a very large galley bireme or trireme with ten banks of rowers, accidentally rammed one of her own ships when it strayed across her path, and giving her a powerful blow in the middle of the oarbox, well above the waterline, stuck fast, since the helmsman had been unable in time to check or reverse the ship's momentum.

The Macedonian navy outnumbered the allied fleet but lacked experience for Philip had raised it just a few years prior to the battle.

Philip captured Attalus’s ship, and towed it back through the battle, convincing the rest of the Pergamene fleet that the king was dead.

He only avoided capture because he left his immense riches on board his vessel, which distracted his Macedonian pursuers long enough for him to get away.

The Battle of Lade (201 BCE) was a continuation of the same hostilities by the belligerent parties (Mommsen, Bk III, Ch VIII).