Battle of Agrigentum

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Agrigentum


caption=Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Agrigentum (modern Agrigento).
partof=the First Punic War
date=261 BC
place=Agrigentum
result=Roman victory
combatant1=Roman Republic
combatant2=Carthage
commander1=L. Postumius Megellus
Q. Mamilius Vitulus
commander2=Hanno
Hannibal Gisco
strength1=40,000
strength2=50,000
(Plus the garrison of Agrigentum)
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=3,000

The battle of Agrigentum (Sicily, 261 BC) was the first pitched battle of the First Punic War and the first large-scale military confrontation between Carthaginians and the Republic of Rome. The battle was fought after a long siege which started in 262 BC and resulted both in a Roman victory and the beginning of the Roman control of Sicily.

Prelude

In 288 BC, the Mamertines, a group of Italian mercenaries, occupied the city of Messina on the north-eastern tip of Sicily, killing all the men and taking the women as their wives. From this base, they ravaged the countryside and collided with the expanding regional empire of the independent city of Syracuse. In response to attacks from Hiero II of Syracuse, the Mamertines applied for help to two states: Carthage and the Roman Republic.

In order to oppose Carthaginian forces in Sicily, Rome sent an army to the area. For the Romans, who did not possess a navy at the time, it was their first involvement in a campaign outside Italy. The initial assistance to Messina eventually expanded into a contest for the entire island. In the following years, there were a few skirmishes between the armies, with the two opponents testing the terrain and learning how to manoeuvre in the hilly grounds of Sicily. During this time, Rome established control over the eastern portion of the island, in alliance with Syracuse.

iege of Agrigentum

In 262 BC, the Romans sent a new army of 40,000 men to Sicily, organized into four legions and associated "alae" (cavalry formations) commanded by the consuls Lucius Postumius Megellus and Quintus Mamilius Vitulus. These reinforcements were a response to the major recruiting and training being done by the Carthaginian side. Supported with supplies from Syracuse, the Roman army marched in June to Agrigentum on the south-western coast of Sicily. This city was intended to be the base camp for the expected Carthaginian army, but at the time was occupied only by the local garrison, commanded by Hannibal Gisco.

Gisco responded to the threat by barricading the population of Agrigentum and his garrison within the walls, along with all the supplies they could gather from the surrounding area. The city was prepared for a long siege and all he had to do was to wait for the Carthaginian reinforcements already being prepared. At the time, siege engineering and the construction of assault devices such as towers were arts foreign to the Romans. Blockade was the only way at their disposal to conquer a fortified city like Agrigentum. Thus the army camped outside the city walls and prepared to wait the necessary time for the city to starve. With the logistical help guaranteed by Syracuse, their own supplies were not a problem.

A few months later, Gisco was beginning to feel the strain of the blockade and appealed for urgent help from Carthage. The Carthaginian reinforcements, composed of 50,000 men, 6,000 cavalry and 60 war elephants commanded by Hanno, landed in Heraclea Minoa at the beginning of the winter of 262-261 BC. The Carthaginians then marched south to rescue their allies and, after a few minor cavalry confrontations, which were won by Hanno, they camped very close to the Romans. Hanno immediately deployed his troops in battle formation, but the Romans declined the invitation to fight. Instead, they fortified their camp with a line of contravallation. The Agrigentum blockade continued, but now the Romans were themselves besieged.

Battle of Agrigentum

With Hanno camped outside their own camp, the Roman's line of supply from Syracuse was no longer available. With their own army at risk of starvation, the consuls chose to offer battle. This time it was Hanno's turn to refuse, probably with the intention of defeating the Romans by hunger. Meanwhile, the situation inside Agrigentum after more than six months of siege was close to desperate. Hannibal Gisco, communicating with the outside by smoke signals, sent urgent pleas for relief and Hanno was forced to accept a pitched battle. The details of the actual fighting are -- as is common with ancient records -- variously reported by several sources.

Hanno deployed the Carthaginian infantry in two lines, with the elephants and reinforcements in the second and the cavalry probably placed in the wings. The Roman battle plan is unknown but they probably organized in the typical "triplex acies" formation. All sources agree that the fighting was long and that Romans managed to break the Carthaginian front. This caused panic in the rear ranks and the Carthaginian reserves fled the battlefield. It is also possible that the elephants panicked and in their flight disorganized the Carthaginian formation. In any case, the Romans routed the enemy and were victorious. Their cavalry attacked the Carthaginian camp and captured several elephants. However, the battle was not a complete success. Most of the Carthaginian army fled and Hannibal Gisco with the garrison of Agrigentum managed to break the Roman line and escape.

Aftermath

Following this battle (the first among four pitched land battles fought in the First Punic War), the Romans occupied Agrigentum and sold the whole population into slavery. Though acts of brutality like this were commonplace, it proved counterproductive. It hardened the attitude of many other towns which might otherwise have proven friendly to Rome. The two consuls were victorious, but possibly because of Gisco's escape were not awarded with a triumph on their return.

After 261 BC, Rome controlled most of Sicily and secured the grain harvest for its own use. This victory in the first large-scale campaign fought outside Italy gave the Romans extra confidence to pursue overseas interests.

References

* "The Fall of Carthage", by Adrian Goldsworthy, Cassel