Battle of Panormus 251 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 251 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | First Punic War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 38.1167, 13.3667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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.
The war had commenced in 264 BC with Carthage in control of much of Sicily, where most of the fighting took place. In 256–255 BC the Romans attempted to strike at the city of Carthage in North Africa, but suffered a heavy defeat by a Carthaginian army strong in cavalry and elephants. When the focus of the war returned to Sicily, the Romans captured the large and important city of Panormus in 254 BC. Thereafter they avoided battle for fear of the war elephants which the Carthaginians had shipped to Sicily. In late summer 250 BC Hasdrubal led out his army to devastate the crops of the cities of Rome's allies. The Romans withdrew to Panormus and Hasdrubal pressed on to the city walls.
Once he arrived in Panormus, Metellus turned to fight, countering the elephants with a hail of javelins from earthworks dug near the walls. Under this missile fire the elephants panicked and fled through the Carthaginian infantry.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Panormus (revision 1370271469), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the First Punic War
- Battle of Tyndaris 257 BC
- Battle of Cape Ecnomus 256 BC
- Battle of Adys 255 BC
- Battle of the Bagradas River (255 BC) 255 BC
- Siege of Aspis 255 BC
- Siege of Lilybaeum (250–241 BC) 250 BC
- Battle of Drepana 249 BC
- Battle of the Aegates 241 BC
All 14 battles of the First Punic War →
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