Battle of Mylae
\n
The
battle of Mylae (offshore Mylae
Sicily,
260 BC) was the first real naval battle between the fleets of
Carthage and the
Roman Republic, fought during the
First Punic War. The result was a decisive Roman victory.
After the
conquest of Agrigentum, the Roman Republic felt confident to pursue war with Carthage on sea. With this purpose, Rome built and equipped a fleet of about 150 ships, quinqueremes and triremes, in a record two months. The first episode of Roman naval warfare, the
battle of the Lipari Islands, was not brilliant: consul
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina managed to loose his whole squadron of 17 ships to Carthage without a fight.
Shortly afterwards this small incident, the junior consul,
Gaius Duilius, sailed with the rest of the fleet to meet the Carthaginians. A sea power for already a long time, Carthage had the experience and naval skills, but the Romans had introduced the
corvus in the prow of their ships, a boarding mechanism that would nullify this advantage. The fleets met offshore Mylae and right at the beginning of the confrontation, 30 Punic ships are conquered by Roman soldiers, boarded with the
corvi, including the Carthaginian flagship.
Hannibal Gisco, the Punic admiral, was forced to escape
in extremis in a small boat and boarded another of his vessels. He tried to outmanoeuvre the Romans and attack by astern (safe from the
corvi), but was utterly defeated.
In the aftermath of the battle, the first naval success for Rome, Gaius Duilius was revered like an hero. The consul celebrated a
Roman triumph featuring the prows of the apprehended Carthaginian ships. Afterwards, these were used to decorate the speakers platform in the
Forum, known from that day onwards as the
rostra (prows, in
Latin. Duilius retired soon from political life, in the height of his career. Hannibal Gisco was
crucified for incompetence shortly afterwards.
References
\nThe Fall of Carthage, by Adrian Goldsworthy, Cassel
Ancient Rome directory --
Military History of Rome --
List of Roman battles --
First Punic War --
Battle of Mylae\nCategory:Roman battles
