"naval battle fought in 258 BCE between the Roman and Carthaginian navies on the coast near the town of Sulci, Sardinia",naval battle
Roman victory at Sulci crippled Carthaginian naval power in Sardinia, preventing further major operations from the island during the First Punic War.
Key Facts
- Date
- 258 BC
- Roman commander
- Consul Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus
- Carthaginian commander
- Hannibal Gisco
- Outcome for Carthaginian fleet
- Largely sunk; remaining ships abandoned on land
- Fate of Hannibal Gisco
- Crucified or stoned to death by mutinying troops
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the First Punic War, both Rome and Carthage sought control of Sardinia as a strategic naval base. Carthage maintained a fleet operating from the island, prompting Rome to dispatch consul Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus with a Roman naval force to contest Carthaginian dominance in Sardinian waters.
In 258 BC, the Roman fleet under Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus engaged the Carthaginian navy near the town of Sulci on the coast of Sardinia. The battle resulted in a decisive Roman victory: most Carthaginian ships were sunk and the remainder abandoned ashore. The defeated Carthaginian commander, Hannibal Gisco, was subsequently executed by his own mutinying forces.
Although Rome won the naval engagement, it was subsequently defeated on land in Sardinia by a Carthaginian commander named Hanno, and the Roman attempt to capture the island failed. The destruction of the Carthaginian fleet nonetheless stripped Carthage of the capacity to mount significant naval operations from Sardinia against Rome for the remainder of that phase of the war.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Gaius Sulpicius Paterculus.
Side B
1 belligerent
Hannibal Gisco.