Xanthippus was a Spartan who fortunately arrived in Carthage at just the right time to buck them up. He proceeded to make no secret of his disdain for Punic generalship. Put up or shut up, he was told. He was given command of the army. He trained it and Read more…
Here is the story of one of the great naval battles of the First Punic War. In 256 B.C., Rome sent a huge fleet of 330 galleys and transports to pick up most of its Sicilian army and drop it in North Africa. The fleet sailed along the southern coast Read more…
The First Punic War began in 264 B.C. and early on it became apparent it would be a war fought for control of Sicily. Since Sicily is an island, Carthage was confident it would win because of its powerful navy. The fact that Rome did not even have a navy Read more…
In the First Punic War, all warships were wooden, oared galleys. The standard tactic was called the diekplus (“break through”). Fleets advanced line abreast (the galleys would approach in a side by side line). A few of the galleys would attempt to speed through a gap in the enemy line Read more…
The quinquereme was the dominant oared galley in the Punic Wars. Dionysius of Syracuse is credited with inventing it. Five referred to the five oarsmen that rowed a bank of oars. It is believed that this meant two oars (the top and middle) had two men apiece and one oar Read more…