Battle of Marsala: The First Punic War
...Campanians. Inspired the take over in Messana they too turned upon the city they were suppose tp protect. At the time the Romans were occupied by the wars of Pyrrhus and Tarentum, and were not able to avenge until 271 BC when an army went south to defend Rhegium. The defeat of Tarentum had confirmed Roma control over the predominantly Greek southern Italy, making it all more important to show their new allies that Romes’ faith would not escape punishment. Rhegium was captured after a long battle and the 300 Campanians taken alive were sent to Rome for public punishment. The Mamertines in Sicily were under increasing pressure as a new leader emerged in Syracuse. Hiero served as an officer under Pyrrhus, the Greek adventurer who briefly controlled Syracuse was popular for his campaigns against the Campanians. Hiero's ascent to power began when he was elected co-commander of Syracusan armed forces. Initially elected to power by the army, Hiero made his position more stable by marrying the daughter of one of the city’s leading politician. In 265 BC Hiero thought it time to make an end of the Mamertine pirates. The power of the Mamertines was broken, and saw no prospect of salvation without external aid. “The Mamertines decided to call for help from Rome, but when it took too long for them to come they turned to Carthage.” (internet source: www.barca.fsnet.co.uk) The Roman senate hesitated, partly because they felt it was improper to support what was virtually a robber-state, and also because interference would be a breach of the treaty which forbade Roman entry into the Sicilian territory. The Roman senates initial thoughts were to abandon the Mamertines. Carthage, was expecting this, and was encouraged by the thought of gaining control of Messana quickly sent the requested help. The Carthaginians, were first to arrive, occupied Messana and decided to reconcile with Hiero. Some of the Mamertines were uncomfortable with that, and once again requested Roman assistance against the Carthaginians. They sent an embassy to Rome, asking help in removing the Carthaginian army by arguing on the fact that they were their fellow-countrymen. Both Rome and Carthage has a desire to hold Messana as their own. For Carthage, it would be and ideal port in their continuing dominance of the Mediterranean. For Rome, it would be an outpost in an strengthening land defense policy. Carthage had already controlled North Africa, parts of Spain, Sardinia and the lesser islands of the western Mediterranean. “ Control of Messana might well lead to a conquest of all Sicily and would give them a great command of an easy route to conquer Italy.” (Pg 68 The Punic Wars) Although, the two powers had no quarrel before, they also had no shared racial or cultural heritage. It would be inevitable that one nation would dominate. “The First Punic War was a mutual fear in both Carthage and Rome of the others’ growing power”. (pg 70 The Punic Wars) The Mamertines were not Greeks, and could make themselves very useful to Carthage, whose traditional enemy was all things Greek. On the other hand, they were of Italian origin, and Rome now stood as the conscious and very efficient protector of all Italian interests. The Mamertines offered themselves and their Sicilian city to the Romans and thereby brought Rome itself to the cross-roads of destiny In the first part of the war, Rome won the alliance of the town Hieron in northeast Sicily. This offensive was led by Caudius and Marcus Valerius Messalla in 262 BC. “The Romans won further in 262 BC with the towns of Segesta and Agrigentum. Agrigentum was won after a long and costly siege.” (internet source: www.barca.fsnet.co.uk) Since the Carthaginians fought fiercely at every stop, Rome realized then that victory could only be achieved by controlling all of Sicily. In order to control Sicily, Rome would have to win battles at sea, up to this point , Rome had no working navy. Unfortunately for Rome , the Carthaginians were descendants of the Phoenicians, who were the masters of the sea.. Regardless of that fact Rome built a navy using a wrecked Carthaginian galley as a model, 160 ships were built equipped with land bridges that dropped onto enemy ships. This helped prevent the success of the enemy, and allowed Rome to use soldiers in a land battle on a ship. Rome managed to win supremacy of the seas, despite having many of their ships destroyed storms, Rome had yet to figure out where to harbor their ships. In 255 BC the Romans decided that an invasion of the Carthaginian homeland in Africa was necessary to end the war. “ A Roman army of invasion landed in Tunis, North Africa with 20,000 troops and 40 ships.” (internet source: www.barca.fsnet.co.uk) The Carthaginians started the battle with an attack by the elephants. The elephants broke the Roman ranks, and the Roman army was completely destroyed. The Roman cavalry was outnumbered four to one, and was quickly defeated. 500 Roman soldiers were captured, 3000 escaped, and the rest were killed. “The defeat, and a serious disasters in storms at sea, ended any chance that Rome would defeat Carthage in Africa, and made sure that the rest of the war was fought on Sicily land and at sea.” (Pg 84 Punic Wars) This was one of two battles won by the Carthaginian. Meanwhile, Hamilcar Barca commander of the Carthaginian forces continued to raid Roman allies in Sicily. At this point Carthage had lost to Rome all its Sicilian possessions except Lilybaeum and Drepanum. In 250 BC the Romans decided to rebuild their fleet again with 120 ships. Before they could leave Italy, they got word of a major Carthaginian defeat. A force had tried to retake Panormus, which was captured in 254 BC by the Romans. 20,000 of 30,000 Carthaginian mercenaries were lost in the Roman victory. The Romans were elated, and decided to use their new fleet in attempting to take Lilybaeum, the most important Carthaginian base in Sicily. The town of Lilybaeum was extremely fortified, and the Roman siege dragged on. In 249 BC it was known that the Carthaginians were going to send out a fleet of reinforce the troops in this crucial base. The Roman fleet was commanded by C. Claudius Pulcher, son of Appius Claudius Caudex the man who started the war. The Carthaginians had a fleet at Drepana, twenty-five miles north of Lilybaeum, and Pulcher decided to attack it before the Carthaginian reinforcements could arrive. “The Carthaginian admiral, Adherbal, sighted the leading Roman ships as they approached the harbor and did the only thing he could. He ordered his fleet out to sea, so that they would not be trapped without being able to maneuver in the narrow spaces of the harbor.” (pg 120 Punic Wars) The Carthaginian ships made a rush for the open sea, arriving in disorder, but they were saved by the fact that the Romans were in even more confusion. With their admiral a mile behind, and the enemy fleeing from the harbor, what were the leading ships to do now? The Roman line had been told to enter the harbor. Without any counter orders they did just that, ship following vanguard until they were as crowded together as the Carthaginians had been. When word reached Pulcher that the vanguard was entering the harbor, he immediately sent a fast ship forward to tell them to come out again. But with the center of the Roman line now pushing their way into the harbor and the vanguard trying to force their way out again there was indescribable confusion, with many ships ramming into each other and snapping off their banks of oars. Roman morale, which had never been high, sank before they even engaged an enemy ship. The battle that never began was already lost. The Roman captains desperately tried to form up in a battle line. With some ships in the harbor, and all of the others in the shallow waters along the shore, the Carthaginians attacked. As Adherbal bore down on them some Roman ships ran aground, while others could not maneuver because their oars had been destroyed in the earlier confusion. Claudius, meanwhile, was leading the retreat. The Carthaginians caught up with him, and he backed his ships against the shore so as only to fight the Carthaginians from one direction. The results were disastrous. Some 93 Roman galleys were sunk or taken, with 20,000 prisoners. Only the 27 ships of the rear with Pulcher in command managed to escape. This was the Romans' most serious naval defeat in the First Punic War. By 243-242 BC the Romans has recovered from the defeat of 249 BC in Drepana. Once again persistently they built yet another fleet of 200 ships. The Romans commanded by Gaius Lutatius Catulus appeared off the coast of Sicily in Drepana, surprisingly there were no Carthaginian ships there. This allowed the Romans to take the harbor at Drepana. The Carthaginians managed to reactivate their fleet and send a force of 170 ships. They loaded their ships with grain and sought to relieve Hamilcar's troops in Eryx but, the fleet was out of practice, and burdened with supplies for the troops. Even so, the ...