Battle of the Aegates
Battle of the Aegates | |
---|---|
Part of the Aegates Islands, western Sicily 37°58′N 12°12′E / 37.97°N 12.20°E | |
Result |
Roman victory Treaty of Lutatius |
Quintus Valerius Falto
50 quinqueremes damaged
70 quinqueremes captured
10,000 men captured
The Battle of the Aegates was a naval battle fought on 10 March 241 BC between the fleets of
The Roman army had been blockading the Carthaginians in their last strongholds on the west coast of Sicily for several years. Almost bankrupt, the Romans borrowed money to build a naval fleet, which they used to extend the blockade to the sea. The Carthaginians assembled a larger fleet which they intended to use to run supplies into Sicily. It would then embark much of the Carthaginian army stationed there as marines. It was intercepted by the Roman fleet and in a hard-fought battle, the better-trained Romans defeated the undermanned and ill-trained Carthaginian fleet, which was further handicapped by being laden with supplies and having not yet embarked its full complement of marines.
As a direct result, Carthage sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Lutatius, by which Carthage surrendered Sicily to Rome and paid substantial reparations. Henceforth Rome was the leading military power in the western Mediterranean, and increasingly the Mediterranean region as a whole.
Primary sources
The main source for almost every aspect of the First Punic War[note 1] is the historian Polybius (c. 200 – c.118 BC), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage.[2][3] His works include a now-lost manual on military tactics,[4] but he is known today for The Histories, written sometime after 146 BC, or about a century after the Battle of the Aegates.[2][5] Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral as between Carthaginian and Roman points of view.[6][7]
Carthaginian written records
Other sources include inscriptions, archaeological evidence, and empirical evidence from reconstructions such as the trireme Olympias.[19] Since 2010 a number of artefacts have been recovered from the battle site, and their analysis and the recovery of further items are ongoing.[20]
Background
Operations in Sicily
In 264 BC, the states of Carthage and Rome went to war, starting the First Punic War.[21] Carthage was a well-established maritime power in the western Mediterranean; mainland Italy south of the River Arno had recently been unified under Roman control. The immediate cause of the war was control of the Sicilian town of Messana (modern Messina). More broadly both sides wished to control Syracuse, the most powerful city-state on Sicily.[22]
Ships
During this period the standard Mediterranean warship was the
Vessels were built as cataphract, or "protected", ships, with a closed
The Romans had little prior naval experience; on the few occasions they had previously felt the need for a naval presence they had usually relied on small
Getting the oarsmen to row as a unit, let alone to execute more complex battle manoeuvres, required long and arduous training.
264–250 BC
Largely because of the Romans' invention of the
The Carthaginians regained command of the sea in 249 BC with victories over the blockading Roman fleet at Drepana and Phintias. These defeats so demoralized the Romans that they restricted their naval activities to small-scale operations for seven years.[47][48][49] The absence of Roman fleets probably led Carthage to gradually decommission most of her navy. Goldsworthy states that the Carthaginian navy became inactive and considers it likely that few ships were kept in commission.[50] Certainly they withdrew most of their warships from Sicily.[51][52] The Carthaginian leadership preferred to expand their area of control in North Africa at the expense of the native Numidians. Hanno the Great was put in charge of operations in Africa in 248 BC and went on to conquer considerable territory by 241 BC. The historian Nigel Bagnall considers that during this period Carthage viewed Sicily as a secondary theatre.[53]
Prelude
By 248 BC, the war had lasted 15 years, with many changes of fortune. It had developed into a struggle in which the Romans were attempting to decisively defeat the Carthaginians and, at a minimum, control the whole of Sicily.[54] The Carthaginians were engaging in their traditional policy of waiting for their opponents to wear themselves out, in the expectation of then regaining some or all of their possessions and negotiating a mutually satisfactory peace treaty. Rome had gained control of most of Sicily[55] and the Carthaginians retained only two cities on the island: Lilybaeum and Drepana; these were well-fortified and situated on the west coast, where they could be supplied and reinforced without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere.[56][57]
When Hamilcar Barca[note 3] took command of the Carthaginians on Sicily in 247 BC he was only given a small army and the Carthaginian fleet was gradually withdrawn. Hostilities between Roman and Carthaginian forces declined to small-scale land operations, which suited the Carthaginian strategy. Hamilcar employed combined arms tactics in a Fabian strategy from his base at Eryx, north of Drepana. This guerrilla warfare kept the Roman legions pinned down and preserved Carthage's foothold in Sicily.[52][53][59]
Early in the blockade of Lilybaeum and Drepana, 50 Carthaginian quinqueremes gathered off the
By 243 BC, after more than 20 years of war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted.
New Roman fleet
In late 243 BC, realizing they would not capture Drepana and Lilybaeum unless they could extend their blockade to the sea, the Roman Senate decided to build a new fleet.[67] With the state's coffers exhausted, the Senate approached Rome's wealthiest citizens for loans to finance the construction of one ship each, repayable from the reparations to be imposed on Carthage once the war was won, and to donate slaves as oarsmen. The result was a fleet of approximately 200 quinqueremes, built, equipped, and crewed without government expense.[68][69] The Romans modelled the ships of their new fleet on the vessel captured from Hannibal the Rhodian.[67] By now, the Romans were experienced at shipbuilding and with a proven vessel as a model produced high-quality quinqueremes.[50] Importantly, the corvus was abandoned,[67] which improved the ships' speed and handling but forced a change in tactics on the Romans; they would need to be superior sailors, rather than superior soldiers, to beat the Carthaginians.[70][71][72]
The new Roman fleet was completed in 242 BC and the
The garrisons of Lilybaeum and Drepana – and Hamilcar's army at Eryx – held fast, but without supplies from Carthage they could not hold out indefinitely. Carthage began to ready a fleet, fit out transports, gather supplies and train crews and marines to meet the Roman challenge. It took nine months to ready 250 warships[67] and between 150 and 350 transports. Carthage was pressed for time as supplies in their blockaded strongholds were running out. They struggled to find the 100,000 men necessary to fully crew just the warships, and did not have sufficient time to provide the extended training necessary for the crews to work together effectively as teams.[67][76]
Battle
The Carthaginian fleet was led by a commander named
The Carthaginian fleet was spotted by Roman scouts and Catulus abandoned the blockade. He took a full complement of soldiers from the besieging Roman army to act as marines on board his 200 quinqueremes.[50] The Roman fleet then sailed and anchored off the island of Aegusa (modern Favignana), 16 km (10 mi) from Sicily. Next morning, 10 March, the wind was blowing strongly from the west, and the current was running the same way.[78] Hanno immediately set sail. Catulus measured the risk of attacking with the wind in his bow versus the risk of letting Hanno reach Sicily to relieve Lilybaeum, Drepana and Hamilcar's army at Eryx. Despite the unfavourable conditions, the proconsul decided to intercept the Carthaginians and ordered his fleet to prepare for battle.[79] He had the Roman ships stripped of their masts, sails and other unnecessary equipment to make them more seaworthy in the rough conditions.[78][80] Catulus himself was unable to join the battle because of injuries suffered in an earlier engagement, so in the battle the ships were commanded by his second in command, Falto.[80]
The opposing fleets met to the west of the island of Phorbantia (modern Levanzo).[82] Many fragments of lead anchors have been recovered from near the island of Levanzo, causing the archaeologist Sebastiano Tusa to speculate that the Roman fleet paused here and that its ships then deliberately cut their anchors, to reduce the weight they carried (each anchor weighed 270 kg (600 lb).[14]). The Romans formed a single line of ships and rowed into the wind, through a heavy swell, towards the Carthaginians. Having little choice, the Carthaginians lowered their sails and engaged.[78][83]
In the ensuing battle the Romans enjoyed far greater mobility, since their vessels were carrying only the bare necessities, while the Carthaginians were burdened with the equipment necessary for sustained travel and provisions for the Sicilian garrisons. The Carthaginian crews had also been hurriedly levied and so were inexperienced, and their ships were short of marines, as it had been intended that these would be supplemented from Hamilcar's soldiers.[84][85] It was the second time that a Roman fleet had fought the Carthaginians without employing the corvus – the first time, at the Battle of Drepana, they were badly beaten – [86] but they quickly gained the upper hand, using their ships' greater manoeuvrability to ram the Carthaginian vessels. The Roman ships were a match for their opponents, modelled as they were on one of the best of the Carthaginians', and their crews were superior.[87] The Romans sank 50 Carthaginian ships, 20 of them with all hands, and 70 were captured along with 10,000 men.[67][80] However, the battle was hard-fought, and the Romans lost 30 ships sunk and another 50 damaged. The rest of the Carthaginian fleet was saved only by an abrupt change in the direction of the wind, allowing them to flee; as the Romans had left their masts, sails and rigging ashore, they were unable to pursue. The Carthaginian remnants returned to Carthage, where their unsuccessful commander was crucified.[78][88]
Aftermath
Catulus was granted a triumph to celebrate his victory, while Falto was granted a separate and slightly junior triumph.[89] To celebrate the victory, Catulus built a temple to Juturna in the Campus Martius, in the area of Rome currently known as the Largo di Torre Argentina.[90]
After achieving this decisive victory over the Carthaginian fleet, Catulus continued the land operations in Sicily against Lilybaeum, Eryx and Drepana; which continued to be defended by Hamilcar Barca and his army.[91] The Carthaginian Senate was reluctant to allocate the resources necessary to have another fleet built and manned.[92] Carthage had taken nine months to fit out the fleet that was defeated, and if they took another nine months to ready another fleet, the Sicilian cities still holding out would run out of supplies and request terms. Strategically, therefore, Carthage would have to build a fleet capable of defeating the Roman fleet, and then raise an army capable of defeating the Roman armies in Sicily. Instead, the Carthaginian Senate ordered Hamilcar to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romans, which he left up to his subordinate commander, Gisco.[88][92] The Treaty of Lutatius was signed in the same year as the Battle of the Aegates and brought the First Punic War to its end; Carthage evacuated Sicily, handed over all prisoners taken during the war, and paid an indemnity of 3,200 talents[note 5] over ten years.[93]
Henceforth Rome was the leading military power in the western Mediterranean, and increasingly the Mediterranean region as a whole. The Romans had built over 1,000 galleys during the war; and this experience of building, manning, training, supplying and maintaining such numbers of ships laid the foundation for Rome's maritime dominance for 600 years.[94]
Marine archaeology
Since 2010, 19 (24, as of August 2022) bronze warship
Notes, citations and sources
Notes
- ^ The term Punic comes from the Latin word Punicus (or Poenicus), meaning "Carthaginian", and is a reference to the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry.[1]
- ^ Sources other than Polybius are discussed by Bernard Mineo in "Principal Literary Sources for the Punic Wars (apart from Polybius)".[18]
- ^ Hamilcar Barca was the father of Hannibal.[58]
- ^ 2,000 talents was approximately 52,000 kg (51 long tons) of silver.[65]
- ^ 3,200 talents was approximately 82,000 kg (81 long tons) of silver.[65]
Citations
- ^ Sidwell & Jones 1998, p. 16.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy 2006, p. 20.
- ^ a b Tipps 1985, p. 432.
- ^ Shutt 1938, p. 53.
- ^ Walbank 1990, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, pp. x–xi.
- ^ Hau 2016, pp. 23–24.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 23.
- ^ Shutt 1938, p. 55.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy 2006, p. 21.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, pp. x–xi, 82–84.
- ^ Tipps 1985, pp. 432–433.
- ^ a b Curry 2012, p. 34.
- ^ Hoyos 2015, p. 102.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 22.
- ^ a b c Goldsworthy 2006, p. 98.
- ^ Mineo 2015, pp. 111–127.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 23, 98.
- ^ Royal & Tusa 2019, pp. 13–18.
- ^ Warmington 1993, p. 168.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Coates 1995, p. 138.
- ^ Casson 1995, p. 283.
- ^ a b de Souza 2008, p. 358.
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 120.
- ^ Coates 1995, pp. 129–130, 138–139.
- ^ Casson 1995, p. 101.
- ^ Miles 2011, p. 179.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, p. 66.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 91–92, 97.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 97, 99–100.
- ^ Murray 2011, p. 69.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 104.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 100.
- ^ Tipps 1985, p. 435.
- ^ Casson 1995, p. 121.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 102–103.
- ^ Casson 1995, pp. 278–280.
- ^ Curry 2012, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 14.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 107–108, 110–115, 115–116.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, p. 78.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, p. 86.
- ^ Miles 2011, pp. 189–190.
- ^ Casson 1995, pp. 149–150.
- ^ Rankov 2015, p. 163.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 122.
- ^ a b c Goldsworthy 2006, p. 124.
- ^ a b Bagnall 1999, p. 92.
- ^ a b Lazenby 1996, p. 144.
- ^ a b Bagnall 1999, pp. 92–94.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 129.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 92, 96–97, 130.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, pp. 64–66.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 165.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 95.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, p. 85.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 117.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, pp. 84–86.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Bringmann 2007, p. 127.
- ^ a b Lazenby 1996, p. 158.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, p. 91.
- ^ a b c d e f g Miles 2011, p. 195.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 49.
- ^ Erdkamp 2015, p. 66.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 150.
- ^ Casson 1991, p. 150.
- ^ a b Bagnall 1999, p. 95.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 123–124.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 152.
- ^ Smith 1870, pp. 135, 138.
- ^ Bagnall 1999, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 153.
- ^ a b c d e Bagnall 1999, p. 96.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 124–125.
- ^ a b c Goldsworthy 2006, p. 125.
- ^ Crawford 1974, p. 315.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 35.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 155.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, pp. 154–155.
- ^ Miles 2011, pp. 195–196.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 151.
- ^ Lazenby 1996, p. 156.
- ^ a b Lazenby 1996, p. 157.
- ^ Dart & Vervaet 2011, p. 272.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 609.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 125–126.
- ^ a b Bagnall 1999, p. 97.
- ^ Miles 2011, p. 196.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 128–129, 357, 359–360.
- ^ Curry 2012, p. 37.
- ^ RPM Foundation 2020.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 12.
- ^ Prag 2013.
- ^ a b Murray 2019.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, pp. 12, 26, 31–32.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 18.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 45.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 39.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 26.
- ^ Royal & Tusa 2019, pp. 167–168.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, pp. 39–42.
- ^ Tusa & Royal 2012, p. 46.
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- Prag, Jonathan (2013). "Rare Bronze Rams Excavated from Site of the Final Battle of the First Punic War". University of Oxford media site. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
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- Royal, Jeffrey G.; Tusa, Sebastiano, eds. (2019). The Site of the Battle of the Aegates Islands at the End of the First Punic War. Fieldwork, Analyses and Perspectives, 2005–2015. Bibliotheca Archaeologica. Vol. 60. L'Erma di Bretschneider. ISBN 978-88-913-1835-0.
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- Tipps, G.K. (1985). "The Battle of Ecnomus". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 34 (4): 432–465. JSTOR 4435938.
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Further reading
- Caspari, Maximilian Otto Bismarck (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 649–653. . In
- Polybius. Histories, chapters 60–61". Translation available online from the University of Chicago.
- Polakowski, Mateusz (2016). Warships of the First Punic War: an Archaeological Investigation and Contributory Reconstruction of the Egadi 10 Warship from the Battle of the Egadi Islands (241 B.C.) (PDF) (Masters thesis). Greenville: East Carolina University. Retrieved 18 April 2020.