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The Carthaginians hoped to appease the Romans, but despite the Carthaginians surrendering all of their weapons, the Romans pressed on to besiege the city. The Roman campaign suffered repeated setbacks through 149 BC, only alleviated by Scipio Aemilianus, a middle-ranking officer, distinguishing himself several times. A new Roman commander took ...
The Romans now controlled the outer city but the remainder of the population of Syracuse had quickly fallen back to the fortified inner citadel, offering continued resistance. The Romans now put siege to the citadel and were successful in cutting off supplies to this reduced area.
The most reliable source for the Punic Wars [note 1] is the historian Polybius (c. 200 – c. 118 BC), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage. [2] He is best known for The Histories, written sometime after 146 BC.
[14] The reaction of the Carthaginians to Roman intervention, however, is easily explained: Sicily had always been fundamental for Carthaginian control of the seas. In any case, the fact that the Romans ultimately conquered the island makes it difficult to produce a balance reconstruction of conditions on Sicily in this period. [15]
Meeting the besiegers in battle, the Romans quickly defeated the Syracusans, then moved against the Carthaginians. The light infantry skirmished but soon fell back. The Roman and Carthaginian infantry engaged in the centre, while the cavalry fought on the flanks. However, the Romans gained the upper hand, and the Carthaginians retreated. [4]
The Romans rapidly rebuilt their fleet, adding 220 new ships, and captured Panormus (modern Palermo) in 254 BC. [83] The next year they lost 150 ships to another storm. [84] Slowly the Romans had occupied most of Sicily; in 249 BC they besieged the last two Carthaginian strongholds – in the extreme west. [85]
In 204 BC the Romans landed near the Carthaginian port of Utica with four legions. The Romans defeated two large Carthaginian scouting parties, besieged Utica and set up a fortified camp. The Carthaginians and their Numidian allies each set up their own camps about 11 kilometres (7 mi) from the Romans but close to each other. The Romans were ...
3: Romans capture Tunis (256 BC) 4: Xanthippus sets out from Carthage with a large army (255 BC) 5: Romans are defeated at the battle of the Bagradas River. (255 BC) 6: Romans retreat to Aspis and leave Africa. (255 BC) The Romans followed up on their victory and captured numerous towns, including Tunis, only 16 km (10 mi) from Carthage.