Beginning of the First Punic War

The Mamertini, Italian mercenaries, captured the city of Messana at the death of Agathocles of Syracuse in 288 BC.  From Messana, which controls the strait of Messina, the Mamertini raided the surrounding lands.  In 265 BC, Hiero of Syracuse attacked and besieged the Mamertini.  Different factions within Messana appealed to both Rome and Carthage, and Carthage sent its own force.  Although originally unwilling to become involved, Rome responded to Carthage by sending its own force, and the Carthaginian general fled back to Carthage, where he was executed for embarrassing Carthage.  Carthage then allied itself with Hiero of Syracuse and the Mamertini while sending its own army to aid them against the Romans.  The Romans however pushed back the Carthaginian army and allied itself with Syracuse.  In this manner the First Punic War began.

The First Punic War

In 262 BC Rome besieged Carthaginian forces at Agrigentum.  While the Romans were besieging Agrigentum, another Carthaginian force arrived and surrounded the Romans.  The Romans won the following battle and took the city.  This contained the remaining Carthaginians on Sicily to the western portion.  Meanwhile, Rome built up a navy to challenge the Carthaginians’.  The Romans secured their first naval victory at the battle of Mylae.  Since they were inexperienced sailors, the Romans put a boarding ramp, the corvus, which they would use to engage their enemies in hand to hand combat (rather than ramming the enemy). Next, Rome sent a fleet fleet to Africa, which was able to land the consul Regulus with a large army after defeating the Carthaginians at the naval battle of Cape Ecnomus.  Although the Romans first won the battle of Adys, Carthage assembled an army under the mercenary Xanthippes which defeated Regulus at the battle of Tunis.  Since the Romans lost many fleets to storms, they concentrated on conquering Sicily.  They had reduced the Carthaginians to only holding the city Lilybaeum and the naval base at Drepanum when the Carthaginians sent Hamilcar Barca to Sicily in 247 BC.  Hamilcar was able to resist the Roman sieges and conquer much of inland Sicily.  The Carthaginians were able to regain naval superiority for some time until their peace faction (under Hanno the Great) dissembled much of the fleet in 244 BC.  In 241 BC, the Romans defeated the main Carthaginian fleet in the Battle of Aegates Islands.  This battle destroyed the Carthaginian fleet and cut off Hamilcar from Carthage.  Without reinforcements or supplies, Hamilcar was forced to surrender soon after.  The First Punic War was over.
 

Results of the First Punic War

In the First Punic War, Rome replaced Carthage as the major power of the Mediterranean, took control of Sicily, and expanded the power of its ally Hiero of Syracuse.  Rome forced a harsh peace treaty on Carthage: Carthage had abandon Sicily and other small surrounding islands, not attack Syracuse, pay Rome 3200 talents, and return its prisoners of war for free (while paying for Rome’s).  Shortly afterward, during the mercenary war of Carthage, Rome took advantage of Carthage’s military lapse and seized control of Corsica and Sardinia.