Battle of Agrigentum in 362 BC was the first major battle of First Punic War (264 - 241 BC). This battle was a severe blow to the Carthaginian dream of expansion in Sicily and Sardinia. Significance of this battle was the superiority of Roman infantry upon Carthaginian mercenary army. It showed and proved the roman strength in land battles. It was just the beginning of a long and bloody rivalry and wars between these two superpowers of the ancient world.
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| Battle of Agrigentum |
Prelude : After Carthage acquired their strong foothold as Messana in Sicily they started their expansion in the island. Their primary opposition was strong and formidable Greek city of Syracuse and other small Greek colonies in that island . Romans were not in the picture at first but presence of Carthage in Sicily alarmed the roman senate. If they did not take any step against that, the future expansion would be Italian mainland and Rome itself. So, they had to act and declared war on Carthage. Some small battles were fought between these two factions here and there but the real full scale battle never took place. After Carthage tried to expand their territory in lands under roman sphere of influence they decided to send an expeditionary force under Lucius Postamius Magellus and Quintus Mamilius Vitulus. Both were consuls of Roman republic. Consuls were the main generals of Roman republic and sending Consuls meant the matter was serious. Romans landed on Sicily with combined force of 40000 men and besieged the Carthaginian main base of operation in the island Agrigentum.
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| Agrigentum |
Siege of Agrigentum : Hannibal Gisco was in charge of the Carthaginian operation in Sicily when Romans besieged the city. Hannibal didn't have many soldiers while Romans showed up at the area. So, he quickly recruited local militias and retreated inside the city wall. Romans expected a pitch battle but Hannibal didn't give them that chance. Roman soldiers camped outside the area and started harvesting the crops in that area to resupply themselves. Hannibal was waiting for this and attacked unarmed roman soldiers with his army. Initially they inflicted a notable damage on Romans but later somehow stopped the Carthaginian attempt of invading their camp and repelled them. Hannibal lost a notable number of men and was reluctant to attack the Romans in future with inexperienced militia heavy army. Romans realized that to force Hannibal in open battle they had to besiege the city. So, they cut the supply lines of Agrigentum and built posts around the city. The shortage of food supply became imminent and for relief Hannibal sent message to Carthage and plead for help. Soon a big Carthaginian army of 50000 under Hanno arrived and cut the roman supply line with Syracuse. Now Romans were facing the food problem. Hanno wanted to fight the roman in his terms and had a plan to force the trapped and weakened Romans to attack him. But Agrigentum was besieged for more than six months and the situation in the city was dire. Hannibal understood the situation was going out of hand and sending signals after signal to Hanno for breaking the siege. Soon, witnessing the situation in the city Hanno forced to attack the Romans and battle began.
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| First Punic War |
The Armies : Roman army was infantry heavy army. Around 35000 were infantry with a notable number of cavalry. The Hanno's army was around 45000 infantry with 4000-5000 cavalry and a lot of war elephants (Number varied from 30-60). The garrison of few thousand from Agrigentum also joined the fight.
The Battle : As per sources, Hanno deployed his army in two lines against roman triplex system. He deployed himself and his elephants in second line and cavalry on the wings. Hanno planned a coordinated attack with the garrison from Agrigentum but Romans also expected that. So, they set an ambush for Hanno and attacked him from rear and front. They also prevented Hannibal's garrison to join with Hanno's army. Carthaginian infantry was outmatched against roman heavy infantry and after a long fight Romans broke the Carthaginian first line. The second line was panicked by this and fled the battle. Romans pursued the fleeing Carthaginian army and captured the Carthaginian camp with several elephants. Hanno retreated with his remaining army. One day later Hannibal also fled the city in middle of night. Romans captured the undefended city and sold the citizens to slavery.
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| Battle of Agrigentum |
Casualties : The Roman loss was much higher in the battle compared to Carthaginian. As per sources, they lost around 15000 to 30000 men in this campaign. Carthage lost around 7000 men and 40 elephants. Despite that heavy loss Romans achieved their goal and drove out Carthage from Sicily and Sardinia.
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| Fall of Agrigentum |
Aftermath : Battle of Agrigentum was first victory of Rome outside Italian mainland. It boosted their confidence and could be treated as the stepping stone of their great future empire. Loosing Agrigentum shattered the Carthaginian dream of acquiring Sicily and Sardinia. The Carthaginian army was still large and Hanno and Hannibal both were able to retreat with their men. The First Punic War was just started and the power struggle was still on. Both factions would meet soon in Battle of Mylae (260 BC).
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