Siege of Lilybaeum (250–241 BC) 250 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 250 BC | Wikidata P580 (start 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 | 37.8028, 12.4292 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Lilybaeum lasted for nine years, from 250 to 241 BC, as the Roman army laid siege to the Carthaginian-held Sicilian city of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) during the First Punic War. Rome and Carthage had been at war since 264 BC, fighting mostly on the island of Sicily or in the waters around it, and the Romans were slowly pushing the Carthaginians back. By 250 BC, the Carthaginians held only the cities of Lilybaeum and Drepana; these were well-fortified and situated on the west coast, where they could be supplied and reinforced by sea without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere.
In mid-250 BC the Romans besieged Lilybaeum with more than 100,000 men but an attempt to storm Lilybaeum failed and the siege became a stalemate. The Romans then attempted to destroy the Carthaginian fleet but the Roman fleet was destroyed in the naval Battles of Drepana and Phintias; the Carthaginians continued to supply the city from the sea. Nine years later, in 242 BC, the Romans built a new fleet and cut off Carthaginian shipments. The Carthaginians reconstituted their fleet and dispatched it to Sicily loaded with supplies. The Romans met it not far from Lilybaeum and at the Battle of the Aegates in 241 BC the Romans defeated the Carthaginian fleet.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Lilybaeum (250–241 BC) (revision 1380733366), 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 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
- Battle of Drepana 249 BC
- Battle of the Aegates 241 BC
All 14 battles of the First Punic War →
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