Epic Sea Battles: The First Punic War

How did the Romans ambush a massive Carthaginian fleet from behind a Sicilian island to win one of history's fiercest sea battles? For over 20 years, Rome and Carthage fought a brutal war for supremacy over Sicily. Tristan Hughes is joined by Carthage expert Dr. Eve MacDonald to explore the epic First Punic War; a conflict defined by titanic naval clashes, lethal boarding bridges, war elephants...sacred chickens! 0:00 Introduction 1:24 The scale of the First Punic War 2:49 Carthage’s territory and presence in Sicily 8:58 The rise of Rome in central Italy 11:13 The Pyrrhic War 15:02 The Mamertines and the dispute over Messina 18:07 Rome invades Sicily 23:44 The Siege of Agrigentum 26:29 The Battle of Mylae and the Corvus 29:24 The Battle of Cape Ecnomus 34:02 The Roman invasion of Africa 37:06 Xanthippus reorganises the Carthaginian army 43:20 Hamilcar Barca and guerilla tactics in Sicily 45:51 The sacred chickens and the Battle of Drepana 53:05 The Battle of the Aegates Islands 56:39 Treaty of Lutatius and the aftermath of the war Presented by Tristan Hughes. Producers are Joseph Knight & McKenna Fernandez, senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. Editor is Matthew Wilson. Channel manager is Vilde Øksnes. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. All music from Epidemic Sounds. History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™ #HistoryHitPodcast #TheAncients #AncientRome