Battle of Panormus

Overview

The Battle of Panormus was fought in Sicily in 250 BC during the First Punic War between a Roman army led by Lucius Caecilius Metellus and a Carthaginian force led by Hasdrubal, son of Hanno. The Roman force of two Roman and two allied legions defending the city of Panormus defeated the much larger Carthaginian army of 30,000 men and between 60 and 142 war elephants.

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

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)