249 BC
Carthalo and the storm
Shortly after the battle Carthalo joins Adherbal with 70 ships. Adherbal brings Carthalo’s squadron up to 100 and sends Carthalo to Lilybaeum, where he burns several Roman ships. Later in the year Carthalo meets a Roman supply convoy off Phintias, 800 transports escorted by 120 warships, and harries it until a storm sinks every Roman ship but two.
Pulcher is recalled to Rome and tried for treason. He is convicted of the lesser charge of sacrilege over the chickens, narrowly escapes a death sentence and goes into exile. Unchallenged at sea, Carthage lays up most of its fleet, and Rome’s next large fleet sails only in 242 BC.
Sources
- Polybius, Histories, book 1, 52 to 54.
- John Lazenby, The First Punic War (1996).
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