 Otherwise they avoided battle in 252 and 251 BC, according to Polybius because they feared the war elephants which the Carthaginians had shipped to Sicily.In late 251 or early 250 BC the Carthaginian commander, Hasdrubalwho had faced Regulus in Africahearing that one consul had left Sicily for the winter with half of the Roman army, advanced on Panormus and devastated the countryside.The Roman army, which had been dispersed to gather the harvest, withdrew into Panormus.