Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War) 149 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 149 BC | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Tunisia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Third Punic War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ancient Carthage, Ancient Rome | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 36.8531, 10.3231 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Carthage was the main engagement of the Third Punic War fought between Carthage and Rome. It consisted of the nearly three-year siege of the Carthaginian capital, Carthage (a little northeast of Tunis). In 149 BC, a large Roman army landed at Utica in North Africa. 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 over in 148 BC, and fared equally badly. At the annual election of Roman magistrates in early 147 BC, the public support for Scipio was so great that the usual age restrictions were lifted to allow him to be appointed commander in Africa.
Scipio's term began with two Carthaginian successes, but he tightened the siege and commenced a construction of a large mole to prevent supplies from getting into Carthage via blockade runners. The Carthaginians had partially rebuilt their fleet and it sortied, to the Romans' surprise; after an indecisive engagement the Carthaginians mismanaged their withdrawal and lost many ships.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War) (revision 1376359623), 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 Third Punic War
- Battle of Lake Tunis 149 BC
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- Battle of the Port of Carthage 147 BC
All 4 battles of the Third Punic War →
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