Small boats filled with archers were hoisted on top of the ships' masts, which surpassed the height of the parapet.
Upon the beginning of the Gothic War (535–554), a Byzantine army of 7,500–9,000 men under Belisarius, supported by a fleet, landed in Sicily and took over Catania with little trouble.
[2] The Ostrogoth garrison at Panormus was confident behind the protection of its walls and refused summons to surrender.
[2][3] Belisarius considered a land-based siege impossible and ordered his fleet to sail into the city harbor, which was right next to the walls but outside them and without Ostrogoth guards.
[2][3] The fire from above from the Byzantine archers threw the Ostrogothic garrison into panic and convinced them to surrender.