Gaius Lucretius, the commander of the fleet, set off with 40 ships. He received ten vessels from allies in southern Illyria at Dyrrhachium (modern Durrës, Albania) and 54 light vessels from Gentius, which he assumed had been assembled for the Romans. He reached Cephallania (Cephalonia, an island in the Ionic Sea) where he was joined by seven ships from the Roman allies. He then went to the island of Corfu. The consul crossed the sea from Italy and encamped with his force near Apollonia, on the western coast of Greece.