First Punic WarNaval WarfareJIMMY WILSON

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JACOB BORLAND

What was the First Punic War?

The First Punic War was the first of three major wars fought between the Roman Republic and Carthage. During this time period, 7 major battles were fought at sea.

Testing the Waters

The Romans, with no previous naval warfare experience, had to quickly develop a maritime strategy. They began with their naval arsenal. Instead of ramming ships, which was the most common form of naval attack, the Romans developed the "Corvus", a special boarding device. The corvus was a way for the Romans to bring land military tactics to sea.

The Corvus

As stated before, the Romans were new to naval warfare, so in order to combat their inexperience, they developed the “crow”, or corvus. It was a ladder type bridge that would be deployed once the Roman ship maneuvered close enough to the Carthaginian ship. There were hooks located on the end of the plank that were shaped like a crow’s beak, that would pierce the deck of the ship, allowing for safe passage across the corvus, allowing Roman troops to board the ship and overwhelm the underpowered and confused crew of the Carthaginian ship.

The Corvus cont.

The Corvus was proven useful in the first few naval battles of the Punic war, but was soon found to be to encumbering and heavy. Two Roman fleets were lost to storms due to the weight of the Corvus. Because of this, the corvus was abandoned by the end of the war as Roman naval tactics developed.

The Roman Fleet

The first major Roman fleet was constructed after the Battle at Agrigentum in 261 BC. Since Rome lacked naval technology, it is believed that they modeled most of their fleet after beached or captured Carthaginian trimemes and quinquermemes.

Battle of Liparis Islands

This was the first of several naval battles, the battle began in 260 BC with general Boodes and general Hannibal Gisco leading Carthage to victory over Rome’s general Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina.

This battle consisted of only around 20 ships per side, however Carthage captured the roman fleet while only suffering 20 casualties.

Battle of Mylae

Fought in 260 BC off the coast of Mylae, the battle was the second significant of those fought in the first Punic War.

The roman fleet of around 190 ships, lead by general Gaius, defeated general Hannibal and his 130 ships with Carthaginian casualties near 50,while the Romans suffered as little as 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KEbfA3vK5Y

Battle of Sulci

The battle of Sulci was fought in 258BC. Generals Gaius and Hannibal are once again pitted against each other near the island of Sulci, Sardinia. The romans once again prevailed over Carthage.

Battle of Tyndaris

For the third consecutive time, the romans, lead by general Gaius, defeated the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, in 257bc, offshore Tindaris, Sicily.

Battle of Ecnomus

The year 256bc marks the 5th naval battle of the Punic wars. This time, different generals take the stage, on the roman side, generals Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus fought Carthaginian generals Hamilcar and Hanno offshore Ecnomus, Sicily.

As the largest naval battle fought in the Punic wars, About 330 roman ships and approx. 140,000 rowers and marines faced off against around about 350 ships and an excess of 150,000 rowers and marines, the romans won with only 24 casualties to the Carthaginian's 95.

Cape Ecnomus Strategy

Battle of Drepana

In 249bc, near Drepana city, the Carthaginian generals, Ad Herbal and Hamicar lead their fleets of around 120 ships to victory over Roman general Publius Claudius Pulcher with no losses, while capturing or sinking over 90 roman ships

Battle of Egadi

As the 7th and final battle of the naval portion of the Punic war, Roman general Gaius won a decisive victory over Carthaginian general Hanno the Great.

Despite Gaius only having around 200 ships to the opposition’s 250, the romans suffered only 30 loss of ships while enforcing over 120 to the enemy.