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| Battle of Cape Ecnomus
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| Conflict | First Punic War
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| Date | 256 BC
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| Place | Offshore Cape Ecnomus, in Sicily
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| Result | Roman victory
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| Battle before
| Battle after
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| Battle of Tindarys
| Battle of Adys
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The battle of Cape Ecnomus (offshore Cape Ecnomus , southern coast of Sicily, 256 BC) was a naval battle between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic, fought during the First Punic War. Due to the amount of ships and crews involved (about 100 rowers and 150 combat troops per ship), this battle was the largest naval battle of the ancient world, and by some definitions the largest naval battle in history.
1 Prelude
Following the conquest of Agrigentum, the Roman Republic decided to build a fleet and threaten Carthage's supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea. Rome's initial disadvantage in experience was compensated by the use of corvus in the ship's prows. The resulting series of Roman victories in naval battles such as Mylae, inspired an attempt of invasion of Carthaginian lands in Africa.
Such an operation demanded an enormous amount of ships to transport the legionsSee also Legion software and Legion forummer. The Roman legion (from the Latin legio meaning levy) was the basic military unit of ancient Rome. It consisted of about 5,000 to 6,000 (later 8,000) infantry soldiers and several hundred cavalrymen. Legions we and their gear to Africa. To complicate the logistical problem, Carthage's fleet was patrolling the coasts of Sicily, forcing the transport to be done in military vessels like triremeTriremes were ancient war galleys with three rows of oars on each side. They originated with the Phoenicians and are best known from the fleets of Ancient Greece. The trireme was a development of the pentekonter an ancient warship with a single row of 25s and quinqueremeA quinquireme was a galley, a warship propelled by oars, developed from the earlier trireme. It was used by the Greeks of the Hellenistic period and later by the Carthaginians and Romans, from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Construction In thes, with little storage space. Therefore Rome built a large fleet, of about 200 ships, to make the crossing of the Mediterranean with safety, and the two consulFor modern diplomatic consuls see Consulate general. Consul (abbrev. was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. Under the Republic, the minimum age of election to consul for patricians was 40 years of as of the year, Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso, were named to command it. But the Carthaginians were not going to let this threat to pass undisturbed and launched an equally sized fleet, commanded by Hanno and Hamilcar, to intercept the Romans.
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