Series I · 264 to 241 BC
The First Punic War
Rome and Carthage fought over Sicily from 264 to 241 BC, in the war Polybius called the longest and greatest he knew of (1.63.4). This series tells it in five episodes from his Histories, with the quotations checked against the Loeb text. Two are published. Where Polybius is doubted, or another source adds something, the episode points it out.
Where to start
Play Episode 1: How the First Punic War began, 264 to 262 BC 23:37
Two of five episodes are published. Episode 1 opens the war in 264 BC.
Mylae, as Polybius gives it
1.23.5 to 1.23.6, translated by W. R. Paton
- a“On approaching and seeing the ravens nodding aloft on the prow of each ship, the Carthaginians were at first nonplussed, being surprised at the construction of the engines.” 1.23.5
- b“But when the ships that came into collision were in every case held fast by the machines,” 1.23.6
- c“and the Roman crews boarded by means of the ravens and attacked them hand to hand on deck,” 1.23.6
The episodes
-
How the First Punic War began, 264 to 262 BC
“...when the measure had been passed by the people they appointed to the command one of the Consuls, Appius Claudius, who was ordered to cross to Messene.” 1.11.3
Episode 1
- Runtime
- 23:37
- Rests on
- Polybius 1.7 to 1.20; Diodorus, Book 23
-
The corvus and the Battle of Mylae: how Rome built a navy, 260 BC
“Making the men sit on rowers’ benches on dry land, in the same order as on the benches of the ships themselves,” 1.21.2
Episode 2
- Runtime
- 27:43
- Rests on
- Polybius 1.20 to 1.24; Pliny, Natural History 16.192
The war at a glance
| Year | Event | Polybius | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 264 BC | Rome crosses to Messana; a Carthaginian ship runs aground and is taken | 1.11 to 1.12; 1.20.13 to 1.20.15 | 2026.2 |
| 262 BC | Agrigentum falls | 1.17 to 1.19 | 2026.2 |
| 260 BC | Rome’s first fleet, the corvus, the Battle of Mylae | 1.20 to 1.23 | 2026.3 |
| 256 BC | The Battle of Ecnomus; the landing in Africa | 1.25 to 1.31 | 2026.6 |
| 255 BC | Xanthippus; Regulus defeated near Tunis; the great storm | 1.32 to 1.37 | not yet |
| 254 to 242 BC | The war in Sicily: the siege of Panormus, the long siege of Lilybaeum, the Roman defeat at Drepana | 1.38 to 1.58 | not yet |
| 241 BC | Lutatius wins at sea off the island Paton calls Aegusa; the peace | 1.59 to 1.63 | not yet |
The peace came in 241 BC, after twenty-four years of war by his count (1.63.4): Carthage was to leave Sicily and pay an indemnity over twenty years, terms the Roman people then made harder.
For the night
The First Punic War, narrated for sleep
All twenty-four years in one slow reading, for the lights off.
The first night in story order, 1:07:54
The Battle of Ecnomus, 256 BC, narrated for sleep
Four years after Episode 2: three hundred and thirty Roman ships against three hundred and fifty.
The second night in story order, 1:01:53
Rome and Carthage between the wars, narrated for sleep
After the peace: the unpaid army, the truceless war, Hamilcar in Iberia.
The third night in story order, 1:34:07