The Battle of the Lipari Islands

Aeolian Islands

The Aeolian Islands or Lipari Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Sicily, named after the demigod of the winds Aeolus. The locals residing on the islands are known as Eolians . The Aeolian Islands are a popular tourist destination in the summer, and attract up to...

or Lipara (Lipara harbour, 260 BC

260 BC

Year 260 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asina and Duilius...

) was the first encounter between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 during the First Punic War

First Punic War

The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...

. The Carthaginian victory was a result of an ambush, rather than a fixed battle.

Prelude

After the land successes in Sicily such as the conquest of Agrigentum

Battle of Agrigentum

The Battle of Agrigentum was the first pitched battle of the First Punic War and the first large-scale military confrontation between Carthaginians and the Republic of Rome...

, the Romans felt confident enough to build and equip a fleet that would allow them to control the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. The Republic ordered, built and drilled the crews of a fleet of about 150 quinquereme

Quinquereme

From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly bigger and heavier, including some of the largest wooden ships ever constructed...

s and trireme

Trireme

A trireme was a type of galley, a Hellenistic-era warship that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans.The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar...

s in a record two months. The patrician Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio

Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina

Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina was a Roman politician involved in the First Punic War.Scipio Asina was a patrician member of the Scipiones branch of the famous Cornelii, a family with a history as old as the Roman Republic itself. He was son of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus and brother of Lucius...

 (the year's senior consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

) was given the command of the first 17 ships produced and sailed to Messana to prepare for the fleet's arrival and the crossing to Sicily.

The battle

While Scipio was at the strait, he received information that the garrison of Lipara was willing to defect to the Roman side. What happened next is usually described as a treacherous act of the Carthaginians, but the sources do not give much detail and are usually pro-Roman. Though at sea most likely to let the crews gain some experience, the consul could not resist the temptation of conquering an important city without a fight and sailed to Lipara. As the Romans entered the harbour with their brand new ships, a part of the Carthaginian fleet, commanded by Hannibal Gisco

Hannibal Gisco

Hannibal Gisco was a Carthaginian military commander in charge of both land armies and naval fleets during the First Punic War against Rome...

 (the general defeated in Agrigentum) and Boodes, was either waiting in ambush (pro-Roman sources), or received word of the Roman fleet's position and surprised them. Boodes led about 20 ships to block the Romans inside the harbour. Scipio and his men offered little resistance. The inexperienced crews panicked and fled and the consul himself was captured. His credulity earned him the pejorative cognomen Asina, which means donkey in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

.

Aftermath

The Lipara incident did not put an end to the First Punic War or Scipio Asina's career. Shortly afterwards, the junior consul, Gaius Duilius

Gaius Duilius

Gaius Duilius was a Roman politician and admiral involved in the First Punic War.Not much is known about his family background or early career, since he was a novus homo, meaning not belonging to a traditional family of Roman aristocrats. He managed, nevertheless, to be elected consul for the year...

, avenged the humiliation by winning the battle of Mylae

Battle of Mylae

The Battle of Mylae took place in 260 BC during the First Punic War and was the first real naval battle between Carthage and the Roman Republic. This battle was key in the Roman victory of Mylae as well as Sicily itself...

at the head of the rest of the fleet.