On This Day In Roman History, March 10
The Battle of the Aegates takes place between the Roman Republic and Carthage on March 10, 241 BCE. This conflict took place off the coast of the Aegadian Islands and would mark the historic end of the conflict known as the First Punic War. By early 241, the conflicts involving the Roman Republic were somewhat calm, mostly due to Rome lacking any real naval power. Most military maneuvers at this point were taking place within Sicily. The problem of naval supremacy was solved by a populous movement in which wealthy Roman citizens raised money and donated to personally purchase ships for the state, both at the individual and group level. The result was some 200 quinqueremes and their men being constructed, all at the expense of personal donation. During the ensuing battle, a Carthaginian fleet weighed down by all the required equipment and men to adequately run a foreign attack on the Romans, payed against the minimally loaded Roman ships. Before setting sail in the new fleet, the Roman naval commander Gaius Lutatius Catulus made the important decision to sacrifice time for experience; he spent months drilling and training this Roman fleet in order to compete with rather renowned Carthaginian sailors. These two factors proved to help and win the battle for the Romans, who managed to capture or destroy over half of the opposing fleet. This battle would mark the conclusion of Carthaginian willingness to fight and a peace offer was set, known as the Treaty of Lutatius. This treaty was much more favorable to the Romans than it was to the defeated Carthaginians.
Did you know?
The quinquereme was the most famous Hellenistic/ early classical-era warship due to its heavy utilization by both the Romans and Carthaginians. The credit for its invention dates back to 399 BCE, where Dionysius I dictated they be created and used in a navy to fight Carthaginians. The Greek historian, Polybius (200-118 BCE), wrote that the Romans captured a sinking quinquereme from Carthage, using its blueprint to create their own successful ship. Modern archaeologists have found numerous naval rams and ship remains allowing us to understand how these ships operated at a detailed level.
Pictured: Bronze Carthaginian naval ram dated from or before the Battle of the Egadi Islands, First Punic War (241 B.C.). Discovered in 2010 at a depth of 80 meters. Shows damage in the form of V-shaped scratches, attributed to frontal collision(s) with Roman ships (ram against ram). A single line of Punic letters with 35 characters, offered as a supplication to the god Baal, is present. Picture by Wikipedia user Sb2s3, via Wikimedia Commons.
Although the Roman quinqueremes were nearly identical copies of the Carthaginian's ships, they were much heavy and constructed with higher quality materials. These ships crewed some 420 men, with 300 of them being rowers. The ships would have 45 oars protruding from either side and the decks would rise about 3 meters (just under 10 feet) above the seas. The other 120 men were divided into 100 marines and another 20 deck hands who were responsible for the ultimate movement and operational control of the ship.
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! This is so close to the time period I truly love in Roman history; Punic Wars! Technology was growing faster than ever before, even if it seems pretty slow by today's standards. Naval warfare was no exception and better ships/ naval combat techniques were popping up constantly. The introduction of the quinqueremes over the older, smaller triremes proved to be one of these revolutionary upgrades. These ships could be compared today to modern fighter aircraft. They are pretty expensive to both construct and maintain, not even mentioning to supply and man it. The Carthaginian senate was just not comfortable funding the re-construction of yet another fleet to potentially be destroyed at the hands of the Romans. As peace was pursued, the Romans exploited this and really did win the First Punic War, even if things were no where near clear cut as to who the ultimate winner would be in the decades to come.
Sources
Goldsworthy, A. (2009). The fall of Carthage: the Punic Wars 265 - 146 BC. London: Phoenix.
Lazenby, J. F. (2003). The first Punic War: a military history. London: Routledge.
Morrison, J. S. (2004). The age of the galley: Mediterranean oared vessels since pre-classical times. London: Conway Maritime.
Further Reading:
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