Battle of Tunis (255 BC) was also known as Battle of Bagrades River. In this battle Carthaginians defeated the roman expeditionary force and ended the roman attempt to beat Carthage in Africa. Xanthippus, a spartan general, made it possible. In his command Carthage was able to defeat superior roman infantry.
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| Battle of Tunis |
Prelude : After a successful landing in Africa the roman expeditionary force performed really well under the leadership of Marcus Atilius Regulus. They won two important battles against Carthage in Battle of Aspis (255 BC) and Battle of Abys (255 BC). After witnessing the poor performance of its infantry Carthage finally took a decision to hire a specialist who could improve the situation. Sparta was the most dared and respected city state of ancient world. Their reputation in battle was legendary. So, Carthage sought to hire a spartan regarding the improvement of its infantry. A renowned mercenary spartan general Xanthippus was hired to assist Carthage against romans. Xanthippus reached Carthage and started his improvement methods. A Spartan style drill system and discipline soon evolved Carthaginian infantry to a strong force. Carthage was now ready to face the roman threat in African soil. On the other hand two easy victories and poor performance of the Carthaginian infantry made roman general Regulus over confident. He was now pursuing glory for himself and wanted to end the war by besieging Carthage before anyone could do it before him. So, he marched towards it. Carthage knew that situation would come so they were prepared and met the Romans near Tunis and the battle began.
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| The Expedition |
Armies : As per the sources, the roman army was consisted of 15500 infantry and only 500 cavalry. On the other hand the Carthaginian army had 12000 infantry, 4000 cavalry and around 100 elephants. Rome relied on their heavy infantry, which was their strength so far while Carthage relied on their superior cavalry and elephants and their infantry was also ready under leadership of Xanthippus.
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| Xanthippus |
Deployment : The deployment of the roman army was similar to its previous engagements with Carthage. Same traditional infantry in the middle and outnumbered cavalry on the flanks. Xanthippus deployed elephants on first line, infantry on second line and cavalry was divided on two flanks. The Carthaginian phalanx was deployed in the center of infantry line and mercenaries on the right.
The Battle : The battle was a disaster for Romans. Xanthippus knew the phalanx formation was invincible if it got large open terrain. It would help the phalanx to maintain its cohesion and momentum. It would also allow him to use his cavalry and elephants more effectively. That battlefield delivered him all he wanted. The battle started with a elephant charge from Carthage which kept the Roman line busy. The superior Carthaginian cavalry outnumbering their roman counterpart 8:1. So, it routed the later in no time. Roman infantry somehow managed the elephant charge but only a few small groups got passed it and attacked the Carthaginian phalanx but defeated. Roman infantry got some success though on Carthaginian mercenary line. They routed them and reached their camp but the battle was already lost that time. The Carthaginian cavalry returned and attacked the roman flanks and the battle was over. The 2000 men who defeated Carthaginian mercenaries only escaped the battlefield and later rescued by the roman fleet.
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| Xanthippus |
Casualties : The loss on roman side was huge. Their total expeditionary force was crushed only a portion was able to escape. Around 12000 men were died and 500 were captured including Regulus. The loss on Carthaginian side was minimal. Only 800 men died. What happened to Regulus was controversial. Some historians said he was tortured and died after that but many others opposed it. Like Diodorus said his death was natural.
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| Regulus |
Aftermath : This battle showed that Carthage still had power to withstand roman offense and couldn't be defeated in African soil so easily. On the roman side their future plan of invasion in Africa was halted. So, the African theater was excluded from rest of the war and the future battles all took place in sea or in Sicily.
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