First Punic War

Battle of the Aegates
Battle of the Aegates ©Image Attribution forthcoming. Image belongs to the respective owner(s).
241 BCE Mar 10

Battle of the Aegates

Aegadian Islands, Italy

The Battle of the Aegates was a naval battle fought on 10 March 241 BCE between the fleets of Carthage and Rome during the First Punic War. It took place among the Aegates Islands, off the western coast of the island of Sicily. The Carthaginians were commanded by Hanno, and the Romans were under the overall authority of Gaius Lutatius Catulus, but Quintus Valerius Falto commanded during the battle. It was the final and deciding battle of the 23-year-long First Punic War.


The Roman army had been blockading the Carthaginians in their last strongholds on the west coast of Sicily for several years. Almost bankrupt, the Romans borrowed money to build a naval fleet, which they used to extend the blockade to the sea. The Carthaginians assembled a larger fleet which they intended to use to run supplies into Sicily. It would then embark much of the Carthaginian army stationed there as marines. It was intercepted by the Roman fleet and in a hard-fought battle, the better-trained Romans defeated the undermanned and ill-trained Carthaginian fleet, which was further handicapped by being laden with supplies and having not yet embarked its full complement of marines.

Last Updated: Thu Feb 01 2024

HistoryMaps Shop

Shop Now

There are several ways to support the HistoryMaps Project.
Shop Now
Donate
Support Page

What's New

New Features

Timelines
Articles

Fixed/Updated

Herodotus
Today

New HistoryMaps

History of Afghanistan
History of Georgia
History of Azerbaijan
History of Albania