Siege of Drepana

The Siege of Drepana took place from about 249 to 241 BC during the First Punic War.

Drepana and Lilybaeum (today Marsala) were two Carthaginian naval strongholds on the western end of Sicily that came under prolonged Roman attack. During the beginning of the siege, the naval victory of the Carthaginians over the Roman Republic at the Battle of Drepana destroyed the Roman naval blockade and allowed the Carthaginians to provide support for the two besieged ports via the sea. The access by land to Drepana was controlled by Mount Eryx and was contested by both armies with the Romans eventually prevailing.

In 241, the Romans under Gaius Lutatius Catulus had rebuilt their fleet and intensified their siege to Drepana forcing the Carthaginians to send a fleet for support. The fleet from Carthago was intercepted and destroyed by the newly built Roman fleet during the Battle of the Aegates Islands ending the First Punic War.

References

Coordinates: 38°01′00″N 12°31′00″E / 38.0167°N 12.5167°E / 38.0167; 12.5167

Drepana

Drepana (Latin: Drepanum; Greek: Drepanon, sing., Drepana, pl.), a harbour-town on the west-coast of Sicily, was the site of a crushing Roman defeat by the Carthaginians, in 249 BC.

History

Was founded by the Elymians to serve as the port of the nearby city of Erice (ancient Eryx), which overlooks it from Monte San Giuliano. The city sits on a low-lying promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. The town, twenty-five miles north of Lilybaeum, had been fortified by the Carthaginians, who resettled part of the population to Eryx. In 241 it was besieged by Gaius Lutatius Catulus. and later used as a naval base

It was originally named Drépanon from the Greek word for "sickle", because of the curving shape of its harbour. Carthage seized control of the city in 260 BC, subsequently making it an important naval base. The naval battle of Drepanum, took place in 249 BC between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic.

Was ceded it to Rome in 241 BC following the Battle of the Aegates in the First Punic War.

Drepana (moth)

Drepana is a genus of insects belonging to the subfamily Drepaninae.

Species

Former species

References

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