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- The historian Polybius said that this war was the most destructive war in terms of casualties in the
history of wars up to this time, including the wars of Alexander the Great.
- 120 soldiers were awaiting the drawbridge to board the enemy ship and fight.
- Carthaginian warships had underwater battering rams.
- The navigators used the sun, moon and stars to calculate their position in
the sea.
- There were huge lighthouses at the biggest harbors including the massive
Lighthouse of Alexandria.
- The main cause of the first outbreak of the War between Carthage and Rome was a crisis in the city of Messana (Messina) who had applied for
help to both Rome and Carthage. The Carthaginians arrived first and brought
somewhat of a solution. The arriving Roman commander, forced his way into the city
and seized the Carthaginian admiral during a discussion and forced him to
withdraw. This aggression involved Rome in war with Carthage and Syracuse.
- The Romans overcame the Carthaginians at Messana. In 262 they besieged and
captured the Carthaginian base at Agrigentum on the south coast of the island.
The first years of the war left little doubt that Roman had intentions beyond
the protection of Messana.
- In 260 the Romans built their first large fleet of standard battleships. At
Mylae (Milazzo), off the north Sicilian coast, their admiral Gaius Duilius
defeated a Carthaginian squadron of more maneuverable ships by grappling and
boarding.
- A large Roman fleet sailed out in 256and defeated the entire Carthaginian
fleet off Cape Ecnomus (near modern Licata), and established a fortified camp on
African soil at Clypea (Kélibia in Tunisia).
- Rome only lost one naval battle in the entire war but lost a serious amout
of ships to storms
The History of Rome - Part One 743 - 136 B.C. © Bible History Online (http://www.bible-history.com) |