The First Punic War - Rome's FIRST Naval Battle! - The Battle of the Lipari Islands (260 BC) ♠

The Battle of Akragas in 262 BC was the first major battle of the Punic Wars. For the next three years, the Romans moved around Sicily, besieging several towns with varying degrees of success. In 259, the Romans advanced towards Thermae on the north coast of Sicily. After a quarrel though, the Roman troops and their allies set up separate camps. Hamilcar took advantage of this to launch a counter-attack and defeat them in detail. The disagreements on the Roman side seemed to have been over spoils and achievements on the battlefield. The quarrel heated up so much that the Roman allies refused to camp alongside the three legions. The 6,000 men built their own camp between Paropus and Thermae. As the sun rose up the next day, the allies readied their men to break camp. Hamilcar's entire army, numbering over 50,000 men, appeared over the hills. The allies, seemingly surrounded and heavily outnumbered, braced for battle. The Carthaginians fell upon them from all sides. Resistance was futile. Within less than a couple of hours, the battle turned into a slaughter. Nearly all of the allies lost their lives that day. After the Battle of Thermae, Hamilcar exploited his victory to capture Hena and Camarina with the aid of traitors in the two cities. He came dangerously close to Syracuse and to overrunning the entirety of Sicily. The Romans withdrew momentarily, but in 258 BC, they retook several settlements over lengthy sieges. Both sides refused to give battle in Sicily. The Carthaginians thought it'd be too costly and that the Romans would just keep sending more legions like in the Pyrrhic Wars and the Romans were fighting abroad having fought a very costly war just a decade earlier. The result was an uneasy status quo with both sides raiding, skirmishing and trading towns. But while the war in Sicily was cooling off, the war at sea was just warming up. In 260 BC, the Romans set out to construct a fleet to face the Carthaginian. A shipwrecked Carthaginian king Pyrrhaeum was used as a blueprint. As novice shipwrights, the Romans built copies that were heavier than the Carthaginian vessels and so slower and less maneuverable. However, they built 120 warships and dispatched them to Sicily in 260 BC for their crews to carry out basic training. Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, one of the consuls during 260 BC, was in charge of the Roman naval operations. While Scipio was at the Strait of Messina, he received information that the garrison of the city of Lipara was willing to defect to the Roman side. Lipara was the main port of the Lipari Islands and was a constant threat to Roman communications across the straits. Though his crews were still inexperienced and the newly designed and built ships were still undergoing their sea trials, the consul could not resist the temptation of conquering an important city without a fight and sailed to Lipara with 17 warships. It has been suggested by some ancient sources that the offer to surrender Lipara was a ruse inspired by Carthage to encourage the Romans to commit their ships where they could be ambushed. But the sources do not give much detail and are usually pro-Roman. When the commander of the Carthaginian fleet, Hannibal Gisco, heard of the Romans' advance to Lipara, he dispatched 20 ships to face the Roman advanced fleet. The Battle of Lipara of 260 BC started at night as the Carthaginians arrived trapping the Romans in the harbor of Lipara. The inexperienced crews were no match for the well-drilled Carthaginians and were rapidly outfought. Some Romans panicked and fled inland and the consul himself was taken prisoner, along with many of the other Roman senior officers. The battle was little more than a skirmish, but it is notable as the first naval encounter of the Punic Wars and the first ever time that the Roman warships had engaged in battle. Shortly after the Lipara victory, Hannibal Gisco was scouting with 50 Carthaginian ships when he encountered the full Roman fleet. He escaped, but lost most of his ships. Scipio was later released, probably ransomed. It is after this skirmish that the Romans installed the famous Corvus on their ships. Eager to try the new invention in battle, the other Roman consul Gaius Julius would set sail looking for an engagement. Later, still in 260 BC, he found a Carthaginian fleet at Millae. This would be Rome's first real naval battle, the Battle of Millae. Will the inexperienced Roman navy be able to defeat their Carthaginian counterparts? We'll find out on the next episode of the Punic Wars. If you enjoyed this essay on the Punic Wars, I'd suggest one of the videos on your screen right now. Have a great day. Stay wonderful. Wolf out.