Battle of Carteia (naval)

Coordinates: 36°09′37″N 5°24′54″W / 36.1603°N 5.4151°W / 36.1603; -5.4151
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the land battle, see Battle of Carteia.
Battle of Carteia
Part of the Second Punic War
Date206 BC
Location
Carteia
36°09′37″N 5°24′54″W / 36.1603°N 5.4151°W / 36.1603; -5.4151
Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Roman Republic Carthage
Commanders and leaders
Gaius Laelius
Adherbal
Strength
1 quinquereme
7 triremes		 1 quinquereme
8 triremes

The Battle of Carteia was a

Adherbal
. The battle resulted in a Roman victory.

Context

After the Carthaginian defeat at the

Battle of Guadalquivir
ensued resulting in another Carthaginian defeat.

Gaius Laelius was, at this time, in command of a small fleet of one

Punic population conspired to provide access to their city to the Romans. Mago discovered their conspiracy and the responsible parties were detained, locked up, and deported to Carthage
by a fleet commanded by Adherbal, the governor of Gades. This fleet was composed of one quinquereme and eight triremes.

The battle

When the Carthaginian navy was spotted leaving Carteia, Laelius' fleet gave battle in a formation where his own quinquereme was at the head of his fleet. He successfully surprised Adherbal, who was obliged to fight as the sea currents made an escape impossible.

The clashing of the fleets was a chaotic affair as the triremes jockeyed about with difficulty. There were numerous smaller battles between the ships and acts of bravery on both sides. After some time, Laelius' quinquereme was able to sink two of the Carthaginian triremes and to incapacitate a third.

Adherbal, conceding defeat, aimed his ship's bow towards the African coast and fled the action. Laelius made his way back to Carteia, where he was informed that the conspiracy at Gades had been discovered and that the responsible parties had been sent off to Carthage.

Consequences

Scipio gave Laelius and Marcius orders to retire. Mago embarked the last of his forces, consisting of a few thousand troops, and departed for

Cartago Nova. There he anchored his fleet and disembarked his troops to lay siege to the city, which was under Roman control. The Carthaginian army was repulsed at the Battle of Cartagena in 206 BC.[1]

Mago returned to Gades, where he found that the local population had shut the gates on him, as they had been in negotiations with the Romans. Shortly thereafter, Mago abandoned the city and sailed to the

Maó-Mahón. The following year, he sailed north to Italy, where he hoped to instigate the Ligures to revolt against the Romans.[2]

See also

References

  1. History of Rome
    , xxviii. 36.
  2. ^ Revista Cartagena Historica, La conquista Bárcida
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