![]() ![]() Hannibal quickly organized his own army and battle commenced. One morning, the African cavalry began harassing the Roman camp and Sempronius pulled his entire force of roughly 42,000 and began advancing on the enemy. Learning about of Sempronius’ inexperience and rash personality, Hannibal devised a plan where he would have his cavalry draw the Roman Army into open battle at the time and place of his choosing. The other consul already there, Publius Cornelius Scipio, was the more experienced of the two but was injured during a previous skirmish with the Carthaginians and was unable to take charge. The Romans sent consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus ahead of several legions to reinforce the already existing troops. Even though he suffered heavy losses while making the treacherous mountain passing, his ranks were bolstered by the Gauls living under Roman occupation in northern Italy. With the start of the Second Punic War in 218 BC, we have the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal march his forces into what is now present-day Spain and over the Alps into Italy. He was convicted and sent into exile where he died soon after – probably by suicide. He was charged with treason – not for his defeat in battle, mind you, but because of the chicken incident. ![]() Pulcher did manage to escape and returned to Rome in shame. Though their numbers were of roughly equal size, some 120 ships each, the Romans lost 93 while the Carthaginians lost none. Because of the local geography, the Romans soon found themselves pinned between the Sicilian coast and the Carthaginian fleet. In the meantime, the Carthaginians managed to evacuate the port of ships. Since the chickens refused to eat, which was a bad omen, Pulcher threw them overboard saying “Let them drink, since they don’t wish to eat.” This divination involved several sacred chickens and their feeding behavior. Before the battle, Pulcher performed a divination to see whether the gods were on their side. But because of poor visibility, the Romans reached their destination in a scattered formation and could not effectively perform a surprise attack. The Roman fleet lifted the blockade and left in the dead of night. Pulcher then decided to launch a surprise attack on the port of Drapana, also in western Sicily, where those ships were garrisoned. What’s more, the Carthaginian ships also made it back through the Roman blockade without a scratch and repeated this maneuver several more times over the following weeks. Yet despite their best efforts, the Romans were unable to stop some Carthaginian ships from slipping through the blockade in broad daylight and supplying the besieged fortress. Ahead of 120 ships, Publius Claudius Pulcher, the Roman consul at the time, blockaded the Carthaginian fortress of Lilybaeum, present-day Marsala in western Sicily. The Battle of Drepana (249 BC)įollowing a string of naval victories as part of the First Punic War against the Carthaginians, Rome felt emboldened and eager for a fight. After it, however, a series of military reforms were enacted, laying the foundation for what was to come. To be fair to the Romans, this battle happened before they began perfecting their army. ![]() After several more months of besieging the Capitol Hill and with a disease spreading through their ranks, the Gauls retreated, but only after receiving a hefty ransom. The majority of the population did manage to escape in the night, however. The Gauls then advanced on the city, plundering and raising it to ground. ![]() Two thirds of the Roman army is said to have perished, either by drowning in the river or being mowed down from behind in their complete panic and disarray. What is certain, however, is the fact that the Romans were completely crushed under the brute force of the marching Celtic army. Historical sources contradict each other on the exact size of the two armies and we can’t even say for sure who had the numerical advantage. Offended, the Gauls marched their forces from the gates of Clusium and on to Rome. This did not happen, however, as the three influential Fabii brothers went on to become “ military tribunes with consular powers. They then sent ambassadors and asked the Roman Senate to hand over the three envoys, part of the previous negotiation. After some terrible negotiations, where one Roman envoy killed a Gallic chieftain, the tribesmen retreated in order to deliberate their next move. The Etruscans asked Rome for help in mediating the situation. It all started when a tribe of Celts from what is now Northern Italy descended upon the Etruscan town of Clusium. Rome’s first major military defeat came in 380 BC at the confluence of the rivers Tiber and Allia, some ten miles north of the city. ![]()
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