Battle of Agrigentum

Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Agrigentum (modern Agrigento)

Date	262 BC
Location	Agrigentum
Result	Roman victory

Belligerents

Roman Republic

Carthage

Commanders and leaders

Lucius Postumius Megellus (consul 262 BC)
Quintus Mamilius Vitulus

Hanno
Hannibal Gisco

Strength

40,000

50,000
Plus the garrison of Agrigentum

Casualties and losses

1,200

3,000

The Battle of Agrigentum (Sicily, 262 BC) was the first pitched battle of the First Punic War and the first large-scale military confrontation between Carthage and the Roman Republic. The battle was fought after a long siege which started in 262 BC and resulted both in a Roman victory and the beginning of the Roman control of Sicily.

Agrigentum is a city on the island of Sicily, two and a half miles (4.18 kilometers) from the southern coast. It is on a plateau, surrounded by steep slopes on all sides except the west. The city was protected by the Hypsas River (Drago) to the west and the Akragas River to the east. The natural barriers meant the only way to attack the city was from the west, making the city easily defensible. The city commanded a main route along the southern coast and also routes leading northwards and eastwards to other cities. The major status of Agrigentum meant that it was a target for invading forces, and in 262 BC the Romans attacked the city to prevent the Carthaginians from holding it and using it as a staging ground for a possible attack on Rome.

In 288 BC, the Mamertines, Italian mercenaries that were hired to attack the Carthaginians, went to the city of Messana to protect it but instead massacred its men, took the land, and forced the women to become their wives. They then used the city as a base of operations for raiding neighboring cities.Hiero II, then leader of Syracuse, campaigned against the Mamertines. At some time between 268 and 265, Hiero II decisively defeated the Mamertines at the Longanus River, which caused the Mamertines to appeal to Carthage and Rome, the other major powers in the region besides Syracuse, for military aid. A Carthaginian commander in Sicily responded and sent a small force to garrison Messana’s citadel. Hiero II did not want openly to attack the Carthaginians and invite a war, so he retreated back to Syracuse.

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