Drawing, Sketchbook Page with A Serpent Taken by the Romans During the Punic War, ca. 1590 (CH 18109073)

Horizontal rectangle. Obverse: Warriors on horseback and on foot attack a serpent with bows and arrows, and other machines of war. Reverse: at right, a serpent has been trapped in a cave, the entrance covered by a net. a large number of soldiers, on horseback and on foot, surround it, blowing trumpets, beating drums, and readying their weapons for action. Observe: "a serpent 120 feet in length was taken by the Roman army near Regulus, being beseiged, like a fortress, by means of balistae and other engines of war." (Plinius, Nat. History, Book VIII, Ch. 14). Reverse: story of Ptolemus and the Serpent (Diodorus Sicilus).