Battle of the Bagradas River (240 BC) 240 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 240 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Tunisia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Mercenary War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ancient Carthage, mercenary | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 37.1100, 10.1300 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Bagradas River was fought between a Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca, who was victorious, and a rebel force led by Spendius. The battle in 240 BC was fought in what is now northeast Tunisia. Carthage was fighting a coalition of mutinous soldiers and rebellious African cities in the Mercenary War, which had started late the previous year in the wake of the First Punic War. The rebels were blockading Carthage and besieging the northern ports of Utica and Hippo (modern Bizerte). A Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno had attempted and failed to relieve Utica earlier that year. A second army was assembled in Carthage and entrusted to Hamilcar, who had commanded Carthaginian forces on Sicily for the last six years of the First Punic War.
The new Carthaginian army left Carthage and evaded the rebel blockade by crossing the Bagradas River (present-day Medjerda River) at its mouth. Rebel armies commanded by Spendius, from both the Utica siege and a camp guarding the only bridge over the lower Bagradas River, marched towards the Carthaginians. When they came into their sight, Hamilcar ordered his men to feign a retreat. The rebels broke ranks to chase after the Carthaginians and this impetuous pursuit caused them to fall into confusion.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Bagradas River (240 BC) (revision 1372008200), 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.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Utica 240 BC · 8 km
- Battle of the Great Plains 203 BC · 8 km
- Battle of Utica (49 BC) 49 BC · 8 km
- Siege of Utica 204 BC · 8 km
- Battle of Utica (203 BC) 203 BC · 8 km
- Raoued Operation 2014 · 18 km
Other battles of the Mercenary War
- Battle of Utica 240 BC
- Siege of Tunis (Mercenary War) 238 BC
All 3 battles of the Mercenary War →
Browse more: battles in Tunisia · Africa · Ancient battles