Roman victory leading to Panormus (modern-day Palermo) being under Roman control for the remainder of the First Punic War
Rome's defeat of Hasdrubal's elephant-led army at Panormus was the last major land battle of the First Punic War, securing Roman dominance in Sicily.
Key Facts
- Date
- 250 BC, late summer
- Carthaginian army size
- 30,000 men
- War elephants deployed
- 60 to 142
- Roman legions engaged
- Two Roman and two allied legions
- Elephants' fate
- Captured and slaughtered at the Circus Maximus
- War concluded
- 241 BC, nine years after this battle
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
After capturing Panormus in 254 BC, Rome avoided open battle due to fear of Carthaginian war elephants. In late summer 250 BC, Hasdrubal marched his large army to devastate the crops of Rome's Sicilian allies, prompting the Romans to withdraw behind Panormus's walls before Hasdrubal advanced to the city itself.
Roman commander Lucius Caecilius Metellus chose to fight from prepared earthworks near Panormus's walls, pelting the advancing Carthaginian elephants with javelins. The panicked elephants turned and stampeded through their own infantry. Metellus then launched his heavy infantry against the exposed Carthaginian left flank, causing a general rout of Hasdrubal's entire force.
The Carthaginian elephants were captured and later publicly slaughtered at the Circus Maximus in Rome. The battle proved the last significant land engagement of the First Punic War, after which fighting shifted primarily to naval operations. The war concluded nine years later in 241 BC with a Roman victory and Carthage's cession of Sicily.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Lucius Caecilius Metellus.
Side B
1 belligerent
Hasdrubal, son of Hanno.