Winter 262 – 261 BC
Hanno’s relief army
Carthage sends a relief army from Africa under Hanno, son of Hannibal. Polybius gives it about 50 elephants with Numidian cavalry and mercenaries, Diodorus 50,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and 60 elephants. Hanno gathers his army at Heraclea Minoa, about 40 km to the west, and takes the Roman supply base at Herbesos, which brings hunger and disease into the Roman camps.
The ridge of the Valley of the Temples, where the southern wall of Akragas ran, with the Temple of ConcordiaWikimedia Commons, Cayambe, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Valle dei Templi – towards Temple of Concordia.jpg)
His Numidian cavalry then ride at the Roman cavalry and turn back in a feigned retreat. The Romans pursue them onto the main Carthaginian column and lose many men. Hanno camps on the hill of Toros, about 1.5 km from the Roman lines, and for two months the armies skirmish without a battle.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 1, 18 to 19.
- Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, book 23.
- John Lazenby, The First Punic War (1996).
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