Battle of the Lipari Islands 260 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 260 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 |
| Participants | Ancient Carthage, Ancient Rome | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.4725, 14.9608 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Lipari Islands or Battle of Lipara was a naval encounter fought in 260 BC during the First Punic War. A squadron of 20 Carthaginian ships commanded by Boödes surprised 17 Roman ships under the senior consul for the year Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio in Lipara Harbour. The inexperienced Romans made a poor showing, with all 17 of their ships captured, along with their commander.
The Romans had recently built a fleet in order to contest the Carthaginians' maritime control of the western Mediterranean and Scipio had impetuously ventured to the Liparas with the advance squadron. The battle was little more than a skirmish, but is notable as the first naval encounter of the Punic Wars and the first time Roman warships had engaged in battle. Scipio was ransomed after the battle and known thereafter as Asina (Latin for "female donkey"). The Romans went on to win the two, larger, naval encounters that followed and establish a rough sea-going parity.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Lipari Islands (revision 1370600720), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Mylae 260 BC · 37 km
- Battle of Milazzo (1860) 1860 · 37 km
- Battle of Cape Orlando 1299 · 41 km
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Other battles of the First Punic War
- Battle of Messana 264 BC
- Battle of Agrigentum 261 BC
- Battle of Mylae 260 BC
- Battle of Sulci 258 BC
- 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
- Battle of Panormus 251 BC
All 14 battles of the First Punic War →
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