Battle of Phintias

The naval Battle of Phintias took place in 249 BC during the First Punic War near modern Licata, southern Sicily between the fleets of Carthage under Carthalo and the Roman Republic under [[[Lucius Junius Pullus (consul 249 BC)|Lucius Junius Pullus]]. The Carthaginian fleet had intercepted the Roman Fleet off Phintias, and had forced it to seek shelter. Carthalo, who heeded the warning of his pilots about impending storms, had retired to the west. The Roman fleet did not take any precautions and subsequently were destroyed with the loss of all but two ships. The Carthaginians exploited their victory by raiding the coasts of Roman Italy in until 243 BC. The Romans did not mount a major naval effort until 242 BC.

Prelude

The string of Roman naval victories, such as Mylae and Ecnomus, gave them the confidence to make a direct attack on the Carthaginian stronghold of Lilybaeum governed by Himilco. The city was blockaded by a fleet commanded by the year's consuls Publius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Junius Pullus. Carthage had managed to resupply Lilybaeum through the exploits of a small squadron led by a commander named Hannibal, son of Hamilcar, who managed to break the siege in broad daylight and deliver supplies to the garrison of Lilybaeum. In the night, Hannibal left the city carrying the useless cavalry horses and sailed to the harbour of Drepana, before the Romans knew what was happening. This was repeated several times it negated the whole effect of the siege, since the garrison was being fed and kept in contact with Carthage. Shortly after, a brave sailor, identified as Hannibal the Rhodian, openly defied the Roman fleet by sailing around the fleet in order to spy on the town and relay the news of the goings on inside of Lilybaeum to the Carthaginian Senate and the Carthaginian commander at the battle, Adherbal. This provoked the Roman Commander into attacking the harbour of Drepana, where the Roman Fleet was crushed with the loss of 93 ships, leaving the Carthaginian fleet free to take the battle to the Romans.

Carthage in Control

Adherbal sent Roman prisoners and some of the captured ships to Carthage. Hannibal, who had commanded the relief operations at Lilybaeum, then sailed to Panormus with 30 ships and captured Roman transports carrying supplies for the Roman land forces besieging Lilybaeum, which were sent to the Carthaginian garrison defending Lilybaeum by Adherbal. He next reinforced the 70 ship fleet under Carthalo, which had arrived from Carthage, with another 30 ships from his own fleet. Carthalo sailed at night from Drepana and attacked the Roman ships at anchor near Lilybaeum at dawn, burning some of them and towing some back as trophies, while Himilco, the garrison commander at Lilybaeum, sortied against the Romans simultaneously to prevent them from interfering with the fleet operation . Carthalo, probably hearing of the Roman fleet had sailed from Syracuse, sailed to Heraclea Minoa in anticipation of intercepting the Lilybaeum bound Roman convoy, while Adherbal kept his fleet at Drepana to guard against any Roman naval activity. Consul Lucius Junius Pullus was in Italy when Pulcher lost his fleet. He sailed with 60 warships and other relief ships to Messina, where he was joined by another contingent of ships from Sicily, bringing his fleet up to 120 warships and nearly 800 transports, which carried the supplies for the land army. Given that Rome had lost a supply fleet at Panormus, success of this convoy was crucial for maintaining the Roman army in Sicily. Junius first sailed to Syracuse, then sent half of the transports, under the command of Quaestores, west towards Lilybaeum to ease the supply situation of the army. He stayed in Syracuse for some time with the remainder of the Roman fleet andthe other transports, to round up stragglers and gather more supplies. This convoy sailing to Lilybaeumwas either escorted by a few warships (Polybius 1.52.6-8) or by the bulk of the Roman war fleet (Diodorus 24.1.7-9).

The Battle

Carthalo meanwhile had anchored at Heraclea Mino and posted lookouts to keep watch for the Roman fleet. Alerted by his lookouts of the approach of the Roman fleet, he sailed out to intercept them. What transpired next is recorded differently by Polybius and Diodorus. According to Polybius(1.53.8), the Roman scout ships alerted their fleet in time for the Quaestors to turn back, avoid engaging the Carthaginians and sail east to the town of Phintias (Diodorus 24.1.7). Here the Roman fleet anchored, and the Quaestors obtained mangonels and catapults, and posted them of the hill to protect the fleet. When the Carthaginian fleet arrived, Carthalo approached the Roman fleet with the intention of blockading them. However, after seeing their defensive preparations, he opted not to endanger his ships, captured a few of the Roman transports, then sailed to the mouth of a nearby river, anchored his ships and waited for the Romans to set sail again. The Roman fleet from Syracuse under Consul L. Junius showed up before the Roman ships at Phintias made any moves. Carthalo, warned of the arrival of Junius, sailed to engage the Romans as far from Phintias as possible. If the Romans at Phintias had received any advance news of the arrival of their Consul’s fleet, they did not make any move to join him. The Consul refused battle and anchored his fleet along the shore further east, while the Carthaginian fleet anchored somewhere along the coast between the two Roman fleets. This was unusual because the combine Roman fleet could have surrounded the Carthaginians by coordinating their movements. Before Carthalo chose his next moves, Carthaginian ship captains familiar with the local weather warned him of approaching storms. Carthalo now sailed away, however, the Roman fleet probably was slow to move and was later destroyed when the storm finally broke, although the Consul survived the calamity. Diodorus gives a different version of the events. He states (24.1.7-9) that the questors led the bulk of the Roman fleet (probably 84 out of te 120 Roman ships plus any allied squadrons), which was intercepted by the Carthaginian fleet off Gela. The panicked Romans sailed west and took refuge at Phintias, Carthalo gave chase, and off Phintias his ships attacked the Romans, sinking 50 transports and 17 warships and while 13 warships were crippled. Carthalo sailed west and anchored near the mouth of River Halykos. When Consul Junius arrived at Phintias with 36 warships and the remainder of the provision ships, Carthalo again arrived at Phintias with his fleet. Junius burned the 13 damaged ships and sailed for Syracuse with Carthalo presumably giving chase. Warned by his captains of impending bad weather, Carthalo managed to round Cape Pachynon and ride out the storm. The Roman fleet encountered the storm off Canmarina, losing all but two ships. The Consul was among the survivors, and he managed to sail to Lilybaeum safely.

Aftermath

Lucius Junius set about his duties after taking command at Lilybaeum. Supplies for the army overland was arranged, and he occupied the city of Eryx and fortified a place called Akellos, where he was captured by Carthalo. Lucius Junius was freed in 247 during a prisoner exchange, he returned to Rome committed suicide to avoid standing trial in Rome. His colleague, Publius Claudius Pulcher had returned to Rome after his defeat at Drepana. The capture of Junius led to him being asked to nominate a dictator. He arrogantly nominated a low born freedman, who was forced to resign by the Senate before he could nominate his master of horse. This incident hastened Pulcher’s trial in court for his sacrilege due to the chicken incident. He was convicted and sentenced to exile, with his political career finished The situation was so desperate that the Senate appointed Aulus Atilius Calatinus as dictator and sent him to the island to control the land warfare. Rome had previously rebuilt her fleets even after losing 284 to 600 ships in a storm in 255 BC and another 150 ships in 253 BC. The Drepana defeat and loss of the fleet so demoralized the Romans that they waited seven years before building another fleet. Carthage, now in total command of the sea, made no effort to conquer Sicily or attack Italy. Nothing is known of the subsequent activities of Adherbal, and Hannibal, the naval commanders who had driven the Romans from the sea, aided by the weather. Carthalo raided Italy in 248 BC, but the Carthaginians steadily withdrew ships from Sicily and by 242 BC, there were no fleet stationed in the island. Romans continued their siege of Drepana and Lilybaeum, and in 247 BC, Carthage sent Hamilcar Barca (general Hannibal's father) to Sicily. Hamilcar did not have a navy and his army was not large enough to defeat the Romans. Hi brilliant campaign imposed a heavy burden the finances of both states, so much so that by 244 BC, Carthage was forced to seek a loan of 2000 talents from Egypt, which was turned down, while by 243 BC, Rome was broke. Carthage also was expanding her territory in Africa to secure ta and tribute to finance the. Both countries was on their last legs, however, when Rome borrowed money from it’s private citizens to finance and train a fleet in 243, it’s neglect of its navy saw Carthage getting caught on the wrong foot.

Bibliography

• The Fall of Carthage, by Adrian Goldsworthy, Cassel
• The Rise of the Roman Empire, by Polybius

See also

• Drepana
• Siege of Drepana