Siege of Utica 204 BC
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 204 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 | Second Punic War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ancient Carthage, Roman Republic | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 37.0569, 10.0619 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Utica took place from 204 to 201 BC when a Roman army under Publius Cornelius Scipio attempted to seize the port of Utica to use as a secure base from which to defeat the Carthaginian Empire in its North African homeland. The First Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome for 23 years, from 264–241 BC. After a 23-year interbellum, war broke out again in 218 BC as the Second Punic War. After a further 13 years of war, the Roman general Scipio, who had recently expelled the Carthaginians from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal), was assigned to Sicily with the intention of invading the Carthaginian homeland in North Africa.
Scipio's army landed in North Africa in 204 BC, pillaged a large area and laid siege to the port city of Utica, located in the northeast of present day Tunisia, intending to use it as a permanent base and a harbour proof against the winter weather. Scipio expected the city to surrender readily, but despite being attacked fiercely from land and sea it held out; the garrison and citizens assumed they would be relieved from Carthage. A large Carthaginian army, supported by a larger force of allied Numidians, set up camp 11 kilometres (7 mi) south of Utica.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Utica (revision 1370746202), 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 Second Punic War
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- Battle of Carteia 206 BC
- Battle of Carteia (naval) 206 BC
- Battle of Ilipa 206 BC
- Battles of Kroton 204 BC
- Battle of Cirta 203 BC
- Battle of Insubria 203 BC
- Battle of Utica (203 BC) 203 BC
- Battle of the Great Plains 203 BC
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Browse more: battles in Tunisia · Africa · Ancient battles