In Appian's version, in 282 BC ten Roman ships appeared close to Tarentum, in the north-eastern part of the Gulf of Taranto. Allegedly, Publius Cornelius Dolabella (one of the two consuls for 283 BC) was sailing along the coast of Magna Graecia, sight-seeing. A demagogue reminded the townsfolk about an old treaty in which Romans had bound themselves not to sail beyond the promontory of Lacinium, which was near Croton, on the opposite side of the gulf. He persuaded them to attack the ships: four were sunk and one was captured "with all on board". This would have happened in 282 BC, the year after Dolabella's consulship, because that year he was fighting in central Italy. Appian did not explain why the consul was sight-seeing with so many ships.