Battle of Panormus

Significance

The Battle of Panormus was fought in Sicily in 250 BC during the First Punic War, pitting a Roman force of two Roman and two allied legions under Lucius Caecilius Metellus against a substantially larger Carthaginian army of 30,000 men and a contingent of war elephants, numbering between 60 and 142, commanded by Hasdrubal son of Hanno. The Roman defenders of Panormus defeated this larger Carthaginian force, a result that carried operational weight given the disparity in numbers and the Carthaginian reliance on war elephants, which had posed a consistent threat to Roman formations throughout the Sicilian campaigns of the First Punic War. The outcome demonstrated that a Roman force holding a defended position could overcome both numerical disadvantage and the tactical challenge presented by elephant-equipped Carthaginian armies, reinforcing Rome's capacity to contest Carthaginian dominance in Sicily.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)