Editing Punic Wars (section)

===Course===
Much of the First Punic War was fought on or in the waters near Sicily.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=310}} Away from the coasts its hilly and rugged terrain made manoeuvring large forces difficult, which encouraged defensive strategies. Land operations were largely confined to [[Raid (military)|raids]], [[siege]]s and [[interdiction]]; in twenty-three years of war on Sicily there were only two full-scale pitched battles.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=82}}

====Sicily, 264–257 BC====
[[File:Sicilia - prima guerra punica key en.svg|left|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=A relief map of Sicily showing the main cities at the time of the First Punic War|{{center|Sicily, the main theatre of the First Punic War}}]]

The spark that ignited the First Punic War in 264 BC was the issue of control of the independent Sicilian city-state of Messana (modern Messina),{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=74–75}}{{sfn|Warmington|1993|p=168}} with the Romans gaining control of the city and a foothold on Sicily at the [[battle of Messana]].{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=52–53}} They then pressed Syracuse, the only substantial independent power on the island, into allying with them{{sfn|Ameling|2015|p=56}}{{sfn|Barceló|2015|p=368}} and laid siege to Carthage's main base, Agrigentum (modern [[Agrigento]]) on the south coast.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=179}} A Carthaginian army of 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and 60 elephants attempted to lift the siege in 262{{spaces}}BC, but was badly defeated at the [[battle of Agrigentum]]. Carthaginian garrison escaped during the night after the battle and the Romans seized the city and its inhabitants, selling 25,000 of them [[Slavery in ancient Rome|into slavery]].{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=179–180}}

After this the land war on Sicily reached a stalemate as the Carthaginians focused on defending their well-fortified towns and cities; these were mostly on the coast and so could be supplied and reinforced without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=64–66}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=97}} The focus of the war shifted to the sea, where the Romans had less experience. On the few occasions they had previously felt the need for a naval presence greater than anti-piracy squadrons they had relied on their Latin or Greek allies for larger warships.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=179}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=66}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=91–92, 97}} But the Romans did have extensive commercial maritime experience and access to a large pool of experienced sailors and [[shipwright]]s enabling them to rapidly build a navy to challenge Carthage's,{{sfn|Harris|2017|pp=24–26}}{{sfn|Potter|2014|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Miles|2011|pp=180–181}} Using this navy and the corvus the Romans won a major victory at the [[battle of Mylae]] in 260{{spaces}}BC.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=109–110}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=65}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|pp=73–74}} A Carthaginian base on Corsica was seized, but an attack on Sardinia was repulsed; the base on Corsica was then lost.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|pp=63–65}} In 258{{spaces}}BC a Roman fleet defeated a smaller Carthaginian fleet at the [[battle of Sulci]] off the western coast of Sardinia.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=65}}

====Africa, 256–255 BC====
Taking advantage of their naval victories the Romans launched an invasion of North Africa in 256{{spaces}}BC,{{sfn|Rankov|2015|p=155}} which the Carthaginians intercepted at the [[battle of Cape Ecnomus]] off the southern coast of Sicily. The Carthaginians' superior seamanship was not as effective as they had hoped, while the Romans' corvuses gave them an edge as the battle degenerated into a shapeless brawl.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Tipps|1985|pp=435, 459}} The Carthaginians were again beaten{{sfn|Rankov|2015|pp=155–156}} in what was possibly the [[largest naval battle in history]] by the number of combatants involved.{{efn|Polybius gives 140,000 personnel in the Roman fleet and 150,000 in the Carthaginian; these figures are broadly accepted by modern historians of the conflict.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=110–111}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=87}}{{sfn|Tipps|1985|p=436}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=110–111}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=87}}{{sfn|Tipps|1985|p=436}} The invasion initially went well and in 255{{spaces}}BC the Carthaginians [[Suing for peace|sued for peace]]; the proposed terms were so harsh they decided to fight on.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=87}} At the [[Battle of the Bagradas River (255 BC)|battle of Tunis]] in spring 255{{spaces}}BC a combined force of infantry, cavalry and war elephants under the command of the [[Sparta]]n mercenary [[Xanthippus of Carthage|Xanthippus]] crushed the Romans.{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=188}} The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians opposed it at the [[battle of Cape Hermaeum]] (modern [[Cape Bon]]); the Carthaginians were again heavily defeated.{{sfn|Tipps|2003|p=382}} The Roman fleet, in turn, was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, losing most of its ships and more than 100,000 men.{{sfn|Tipps|1985|p=438}}{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=189}}{{sfn|Erdkamp|2015|p=66}} It is possible that the presence of the corvus, making the Roman ships unusually [[unseaworthy]], contributed to this disaster; there is no record of their being used again.{{sfn|Scullard|2006|p=557}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|pp=112, 117}}

====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}}

====Roman victory, 243–241 BC====
After more than 20 years of war, both states were financially and demographically exhausted.{{sfn|Bringmann|2007|p=127}} Evidence of Carthage's financial situation includes their request for a 2,000-talent loan{{#tag:ref|Several different "talents" are known from antiquity. The ones referred to in this article are all Euboic (or Euboeic) talents, of approximately {{convert|26|kg|lb}}.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=158}}{{sfn|Scullard|2006|p=565}} 2,000 talents was approximately {{convert|51|lt|kg|order=flip|abbr=off}} of silver.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=158}}|group=note}} from [[Ptolemaic Egypt]], which was refused.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=92}}{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=193}} Rome was also close to [[Sovereign default|bankruptcy]] and the number of adult male citizens, who provided the manpower for the navy and the legions, had declined by 17 per cent since the start of the war.{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=91}} Goldsworthy describes Roman manpower losses as "appalling".{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=131}}

The Romans rebuilt their fleet again in 243{{spaces}}BC after the Senate approached Rome's wealthiest citizens for loans to finance the construction of one ship each, repayable from the [[War reparations|reparations]] to be imposed on Carthage once the war was won.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=49}} This new fleet effectively blockaded the Carthaginian garrisons.{{sfn|Scullard|2006|p=565}} Carthage assembled a fleet which attempted to relieve them, but it was destroyed at the [[battle of the Aegates Islands]] in 241{{spaces}}BC,{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=196}}{{sfn|Bagnall|1999|p=96}} forcing the cut-off Carthaginian troops on Sicily to negotiate for peace.{{sfn|Scullard|2006|p=565}}{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=157}} The [[Treaty of Lutatius]] was agreed by which Carthage paid 3,200 talents of silver{{#tag:ref|3,200 talents was approximately {{convert|81|lt|kg|order=flip|abbr=in}} of silver.{{sfn|Lazenby|1996|p=158}}|group=note}} in reparations and [[Sicilia (Roman province)|Sicily was annexed]] as the first [[Roman province]].{{sfn|Miles|2011|p=196}} Polybius regarded the war as "the longest, most continuous and most severely contested war known to us in history".{{sfn|Scullard|2002|p=178}} Henceforth Rome considered itself the leading military power in the western Mediterranean and increasingly the Mediterranean region as a whole. {{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=128–129, 357, 359–360}}