First Punic War

The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) was a 23 year Naval and Land War fought for the control of Sicily. Battles were either Naval conflicts or sieges of the coastal cities of Sicily.
The Punic Wars (264-146 BCE) were a series of wars fought between the Sea Power of Carthage and the Roman Republic.

The Romans had annexed Magna Graecia after the Pyrrhic War (290-275 BCE), and were now keen to possess Sicily, which was controlled by Carthage.

At the start of the war, the Carthaginians controlled North Africa in an alliance with the Numidians, southern Iberia, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta and western Sicily.
Rome controlled Italy and the former Greek cities in Sicily.

The Navy consisted of Quinqueremes and Triremes.
Throughout the war, as the Roman Army besieged Carthaginian cities in Sicily, the Carthaginian Navy was used very successfully as blockade runners to supply the cities from the sea.

The Roman Navy was a new concept, created almost overnight in 261 BCE, with the construction of 100 Quinqueremes and 20 Triremes.

The Roman Army’s first success was in capturing Messina.
They then formed an alliance with Syracuse and besieged the main Carthaginian fortress of Agrigentum. The Carthaginians sent a force of 50,000 with cavalry and war elephants to relieve the siege, but were defeated resulting in the first Roman Army victory.

This was the first Naval Battle of the war.
The Romans experienced their first Naval defeat when 17 Roman galleys were easily captured by 20 Carthaginian galleys.

After the previous disaster, the Romans decided on a Tactic of Boarding and invented the Corvus to achieve this. The Corvus was a heavy gangplank with a spike positioned in the ship’s prow in a raised position. When it was dropped on the enemy’s deck, the two galleys were locked together allowing the marines to board and overpower the enemy vessel.
The Romans succeeded in overwhelming the Carthaginian Fleet which was forced to withdraw.
An inscription on a victory column in honour of the Consul Duilius states that 31 ships were captured and 13 sunk. The inscription is now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

After the success of the Battle of Mylae, the Roman Navy confronted the Carthaginian Fleet off Sardinia where they succeeded in sinking a large number of vessels.
Although they failed to capture the island, the Carthaginian garrison was effectively prevented from reinforcing its counterpart in Sicily.

Tindaris was occupied by a Carthaginian Garrison and was besieged by a Roman Fleet that lay anchored in front of the town.
When a Carthaginian Fleet sailed passed, the Roman Commander gave orders to pursue it, but the fleet didn’t wait to assemble. The first ships to make contact were quickly overwhelmed and 9 vessels were sunk.
However, the rest of the Roman Fleet succeeded in assembling and forming into a line astern, then attacking the Carthaginians and sinking 8 vessels whilst capturing 10.

This was one of the largest Naval Battles in the Ancient World involving 680 warships.
In 256 BCE the Romans assembled a Fleet at Ostia of 330 vessels equipped with the Corvus, some towing transports, and embarked 25,000 legionaries before setting sail for Carthage.
The Carthaginians, hearing of this, sent a Fleet of 35o warships to intercept it as it passed the southern coast of Sicily.
The Fleets met and broke up into three separate battles. Eventually, as each Roman squadron defeated its opposing Carthaginian squadron, it was free to reinforce its fellow Roman squadrons.
Finally, the Carthaginian Fleet was defeated with the loss of 30 vessels sunk, 64 captured and 30,000 men lost compared to the Roman loss of 10,000 men.

The Fleet then landed its army in Africa led by Regulus, which forced Carthage to withdraw Hamilcar and his army of 5,500 men from Sicily.
After several successes, the Carthaginians agreed to a Peace, but Regulus’ terms were so harsh, they went back to war, forcing the Roman Fleet to evacuate Regulus and his army.

When the Roman Fleet arrived it was met by the Carthaginian Fleet in 255 BCE at the Battle of Cape Hermaeum where it was completely defeated by the Roman Fleet.
The Roman Fleet then sailed back to Rome, but all 384 vessels with 100,000 men were lost in a storm.

By 250 BCE the Roman Army had occupied most of Sicily, except for the two Carthaginian Fortress cities of Lilybaeum and Drepana.
These were then attacked but their walls were too strong, so they were besieged for the next 9 years.

To prevent the Carthaginian Fleet supplying the city of Lilybaeum by sea, a Roman Fleet of 200 vessels maintained a Blockade. However, the Carthaginian Fleet based at Drepana managed to operate as blockade runners and resupplied the city.
The Roman Commander, Pulcher, then decided on a surprise attack to catch the Carthaginian Fleet in its harbour at Drepana. During the night voyage, the Roman Fleet broke formation and lost the element of surprise, allowing the Carthaginian Fleet under Adherbal to escape from the harbour and line up for battle.
The result was the greatest Naval victory of the war for Carthage, with 93 ships lost and 20,000 men captured or killed.
For seven years the Carthaginians ruled the sea until the Romans finally built a new fleet in 243 BCE.

By 243 BCE the war had ruined both Rome and Carthage in terms of manpower and economically.
Unable to finance replacement vessels, the Senate asked wealthy aristocrats to fund one warship each. A new fleet was built and all Carthaginian ports on Sicily were blockaded.
The Carthaginians had also built a new fleet designed to relieve the Blockade by bringing supplies to the Carthaginian Armies.
The two Fleets met at the Battle of the Aegates Islands 242 BCE, and the ill prepared Carthaginian Fleet was defeated. This ended the First Punic War.

In 241 BCE, the Treaty of Lutatius obliged the Carthaginians to pay War Reparations of 3,200 Talents of silver and secede Sicily, which became a Roman Province.
Rome became a major Sea Power in the Western Mediterranean for the first time which led to the Second and Third Punic Wars:
- Second Punic War (218-201 BCE)
- Third Punic War (149-146 BCE)