Battle of Mylae : Roman Triumph over Carthaginian Navy (First Punic War)

Battle of Mylae was fought between two Mediterranean super powers Rome and Carthage in 260 BC. It was one of the most important battles of First Punic War (264-241 BC) which ended in Roman victory. In this battle the innovative ideas and equipment applied by Roman navy took the upper hand over much more experienced Carthaginian navy. The defeat weakened Carthaginian fleet and showed the strength of Roman navy.

Battle of Mylae

Prelude : After defeating Carthage in Battle of Agrigentum (262 BC), Roman confidence in their capability was highly increased. Rome didn't challenge Carthaginian navy before and was reluctant to do that. Carthage controlled the Mediterranean water for centuries. They were Phoenician people and had a long history and experience in naval warfare. Challenging them in naval battle could be disastrous for Rome but they had no option. As long as Carthaginian navy was active in Sicily, the roman control would always be in threat. That time Rome didn't have proper ships for battle also. They borrowed some quinqueremes from Greeks but countering Carthaginian quinqueremes with that would be a problem. One story said Romans captured a wrecked Carthaginian quinquereme and replicated the design to build their fleet of 150 quinqueremes and triremes. However, the first encounter with Carthage didn't go well for Rome. Carthaginians defeated and captured 17 Roman quinqueremes in Battle of the Lipari Islands (260 BC). Though it was a skirmish between two sides (Only 17 and 20 Ships from both sides engaged) but Rome learned the lesson. They realized that the Carthaginian navy could be countered if Rome was able to utilize their superior heavy infantry in naval battle. So, they invented "Corvus". Corvus was a hook like boarding device. By using it Romans could pull Carthaginian ships and board them. After boarding the Carthaginian ships, roman heavy infantry could finish the job. Consul Gaius Duilius became the commander of roman navy after Battle of Lipari Islands. The roman fleet encountered Carthaginian fleet near northern Mylae and battle started.

Map

Naval Strength : Rome had 103 quinqueremes and some triremes at the beginning of the battle. The strength of the roman fleet was around 120 ships. Carthaginian fleet had 130 ships as stated by Greek historian Polybius.

Corvus

The Battle : The battle was a disaster for Carthage. Unaware of new roman boarding device (Corvus) they attacked the roman fleet in conventional straight line. Romans were awaiting for that and hooked first 30 Carthaginian ships which were closed enough and captured those. Now Carthaginians tried to flank the roman fleet to attack them from side or behind but unfortunately that also didn't work. Romans captured 20 more ships in the process. After witnessing that Hannibal, the Carthaginian general (Same from Battle of Agrigentum), retreated with his remaining 80 ships and for the first time Rome got his naval victory over Carthage.

Battle of Mylae

Aftermath : Capturing 70 ships with almost no damage increased the size of roman fleet. The victory also boosted the confidence of roman navy. On the other hand Carthage couldn't find the solution to counter that new roman technique. After that defeat Carthaginian navy was in back foot for the first time. Though they still had a considerable number of ships but their confidence and moral was affected by that defeat. It was the second major battle of First Punic war but the war was still on. I will cover the next important battle of this war in my next post.