Battle of Lilybaeum

Overview

The Battle of Lilybaeum was the first clash between the navies of Carthage and Rome in 218 BC during the Second Punic War. The Carthaginians had sent 35 quinqueremes to raid Sicily, starting with Lilybaeum. The Romans, warned by Hiero of Syracuse of the coming raid, had time to intercept the Carthaginian contingent with a fleet of 20 quinqueremes and managed to capture several Carthaginian ships.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Lilybaeum was the first naval engagement between Carthage and Rome in the Second Punic War. A Carthaginian force of 35 quinqueremes had been dispatched to raid Sicily, beginning with the port of Lilybaeum. The Romans received advance warning from Hiero of Syracuse, which allowed Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to position a Roman fleet of 20 quinqueremes to intercept the Carthaginian contingent. Despite being outnumbered, the Romans succeeded in capturing several Carthaginian vessels. The engagement demonstrated the operational value of allied intelligence — Syracuse's warning proved directly consequential to the Roman interdiction — and established early Roman naval activity in Sicilian waters as a feature of the wider war.

Commanders (1)