Editing First Punic War (section)

==Primary sources==
[[File:Stele des Polybios.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|alt=A monochrome relief stele depicting a man in classical Greek clothing raising one arm|{{center|[[Polybius]], ancient Greek historian}}]]
The term ''Punic'' comes from the Latin word {{lang|la|Punicus}} (or {{lang|la|Poenicus}}), meaning "[[Phoenicia]]n", and is a reference to the Carthaginians' Phoenician ancestry.{{sfn|Sidwell|Jones|1997|p=16}} The main source for almost every aspect of the First Punic War is the historian [[Polybius]] ({{circa|200}} – {{circa|118}}&nbsp;BC), a Greek sent to [[Rome]] in 167&nbsp;BC as a hostage.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=20}}{{sfn|Tipps|1985|p=432}} His works include a now-lost manual on military tactics,{{sfn|Shutt|1938|p=53}} but he is known today for [[The Histories (Polybius)|''The Histories'']], written sometime after 146&nbsp;BC or about a century after the end of the war.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=20}}{{sfn|Walbank|1990|pp=11–12}} Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral as between Carthaginian and Roman points of view.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|pp=x–xi}}{{sfn|Hau|2016|pp=23–24}}

Carthaginian written records [[Siege of Carthage (c. 149–146 BC)|were destroyed]] along with their capital, [[Carthage]], in 146&nbsp;BC and so Polybius's account of the First Punic War is based on several, now-lost, [[Greek language|Greek]] and Latin sources.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=23}} Polybius was an analytical historian and wherever possible personally interviewed participants in the events he wrote about.{{sfn|Shutt|1938|p=55}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=21}} Only the first book of the 40 comprising ''The Histories'' deals with the First Punic War.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=20–21}} The accuracy of Polybius's account has been much debated over the past 150 years, but the modern consensus is to accept it largely at face value, and the details of the war in modern sources are almost entirely based on interpretations of Polybius's account.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|pp=x–xi, 82–84}}{{sfn|Tipps|1985|pp=432–433}} The modern historian Andrew Curry considers that "Polybius turns out to [be] fairly reliable";{{sfn|Curry|2012|p=34}} while [[Craige B.&nbsp;Champion]] describes him as "a remarkably well-informed, industrious, and insightful historian".{{sfn|Hoyos|2015|p=102}} Other, later, histories of the war exist, but in fragmentary or summary form.{{sfn|Tipps|1985|p=432}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=22}} Modern historians usually take into account the fragmentary writings of various Roman annalists, especially [[Livy]] (who relied on Polybius), the Sicilian Greek [[Diodorus Siculus]], and the later Greek writers [[Appian]] and [[Cassius Dio]].{{sfn|Mineo|2015|pp=111–127}} The classicist [[Adrian Goldsworthy]] states that "Polybius' account is usually to be preferred when it differs with any of our other accounts".{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=21}}{{#tag:ref|Sources other than Polybius are discussed by Bernard Mineo in "Principal Literary Sources for the Punic Wars (apart from Polybius)".{{sfn|Mineo|2015|pp=111–127}}|group=note}} Other sources include inscriptions, terrestrial archaeological evidence, and empirical evidence from reconstructions such as the trireme [[Olympias (trireme)|''Olympias'']].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=23, 98}}

Since 2010, 19 bronze warship [[Naval ram|rams]] have been found by archaeologists in the sea off the west coast of Sicily, a mix of Roman and Carthaginian. Ten bronze helmets and hundreds of [[amphorae]] have also been found.{{sfn|RPM Foundation|2020}}{{sfn|Tusa|Royal|2012|p=12}}{{sfn|Prag|2013}}{{sfn|Murray|2019|}} The rams, seven of the helmets, and six intact amphorae, along with a large number of fragments, have since been recovered.{{sfn|Tusa|Royal|2012|pp=12, 26, 31–32}} It is believed the rams were each attached to a sunken warship when they were deposited on the seabed.{{sfn|Tusa|Royal|2012|p=39}} The archaeologists involved stated that the location of artefacts so far discovered supports Polybius's account of where the [[Battle of the Aegates Islands]] took place.{{sfn|Tusa|Royal|2012|pp=35–36}} Based on the dimensions of the recovered rams, the archaeologists who have studied them believe they all came from [[trireme]]s, contrary to Polybius's account that all the warships involved were [[Hellenistic-era warships#Hellenistic-era warships|quinqueremes]].{{sfn|Murray|2019|}}{{sfn|Tusa|Royal|2012|pp=39–42}} However, they believe that the many amphorae identified confirm the accuracy of other aspects of Polybius's account of this battle: "It is the sought-after convergence of the archaeological and historical records."{{sfn|Tusa|Royal|2012|pp=45–46}}