First Punic War

War began in 264 BC

The First Punic War started in 264 BC. It lasted for 23 years, ending in 241 BC. It was the first of three wars fought between ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. They were rivals for trade and influence in the Mediterranean. For more than 20 years the two powers struggled for supremacy. Key areas were the island of Sicily and its surrounding waters, and also North Africa. Rome eventually won control of Sicily.

With the help of her own allies and rebels among the indigenous African allies of Carthage, Rome won the First Punic War after 23 years. In the end it became the dominant naval power of the Mediterranean. To get terms for peace, the Carthaginians had to pay a large amount of money (in silver), and give up a number of islands in the Mediterranean. They kept Sardinia and Corsica.

First Punic War Media

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  Polybius, ancient Greek historian
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  An aerial photograph of the remains of the naval base of the city of Carthage. The remains of the mercantile harbour are in the centre and those of the military harbour are bottom right. Before the war Carthage had the most powerful navy in the western Mediterranean.
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  Detail from the Ahenobarbus relief showing two Roman foot-soldiers from the second century BC
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  The corvus, the Roman ship boarding device
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  Sicily, the main theatre of the war
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  Continued Roman advance 260–256 BC

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  Depiction of the position of the rowers of the three different oars in a Greek trireme
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  1: Romans land and capture Apsis (256 BC)*2: Roman victory at Adys (256 BC)*3: Romans capture Tunis (256 BC)*4: Xanthippus sets out from Carthage with a large army (255 BC)*5: Romans are defeated at the Battle of Tunis. (255 BC)*6: Romans retreat to Apsis and leave Africa. (254 BC)

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  Roman attacks 253–251 BC
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  Denarius of C. Caecilius Metellus Caprarius, minted in 125 BC. The reverse depicts the triumph of his ancestor Lucius Caecilius Metellus, with the elephants he had captured at Panormus.