Editing Punic Wars (section)

====Sicily, 255–241 BC====
[[File:Pompeii, Statuette of a war elephant.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|alt=A small, white statuette of an elephant with a mahout|{{center|Roman statuette of a [[war elephant]] recovered from [[Pompei]]{{sfn|Sogliano|1897|pp=23–27}}}}]]
The war continued, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage.{{sfn|Scullard|2006|p=559}} The Carthaginians attacked and recaptured Akragas in 255{{spaces}}BC, but not believing they could hold the city they razed and abandoned it.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|pp=114–116, 169}}{{sfn|Rankov|2015|p=158}} The Romans rapidly rebuilt their fleet, adding 220 new ships, and captured Panormus (modern [[Palermo]]) in 254{{spaces}}BC.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=80}} The next year they lost another 150 ships to a storm.{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=189–190}} On Sicily the Romans avoided battle in 252 and 251{{spaces}}BC, according to Polybius because they feared the war elephants which the Carthaginians had shipped to the island.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=118}}{{sfn|Rankov|2015|p=159}} In 250{{spaces}}BC the Carthaginians advanced on Panormus, but in a [[Battle of Panormus|battle outside the walls]] the Romans drove off the Carthaginian elephants with javelins. The elephants routed through the Carthaginian infantry, who were then charged by the Roman infantry to complete their defeat.{{sfn|Rankov|2015|p=159}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=169}}

Slowly the Romans had occupied most of Sicily; in 250{{spaces}}BC they besieged the last two Carthaginian strongholds{{snd}}[[Lilybaeum]] and [[Drepana]] in the extreme west.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=190}} Repeated attempts to storm Lilybaeum's strong walls failed, as did attempts to block access to its harbour, and the Romans [[Siege of Lilybaeum (250–241 BC)|settled down to a siege]] which was to last nine years.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=127}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=84–86}} They launched a surprise attack on the Carthaginian fleet, but were defeated at the [[battle of Drepana]]; Carthage's greatest naval victory of the war.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=117–121}} Carthage turned to the maritime offensive, inflicting another heavy naval defeat at the [[battle of Phintias]] and all but swept the Romans from the sea.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=88–91}} It was to be seven years before Rome again attempted to field a substantial fleet, while Carthage put most of its ships into [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] to save money and free up manpower.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=121–122}}{{sfn|Rankov|2015|p=163}}