Battle of Cape Ecnomus - Prelude

Prelude

Following the conquest of Agrigentum, the Roman Republic decided to build a fleet and threaten Carthage's supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea. Rome's initial disadvantage in experience was compensated for by the use of the corvus in the ship's prows. The resulting series of Roman victories in naval battles such as Mylae, inspired an attempt to invade the Carthaginian lands in North Africa.

Such an operation demanded an enormous number of ships to transport the legions and their equipment to Africa. To complicate the logistical problem, Carthage's fleet was patrolling the coasts of Sicily which forced Rome to transport its army in military vessels like triremes and quinqueremes which had little space for cargo. Therefore Rome built a large fleet, of about 200 ships, to make the crossing of the Mediterranean with safety. The two consuls of the year, Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus, were given command of the fleet. But the Carthaginians were not going to let this threat pass unchallenged and launched an equally large fleet to intercept the Romans, commanded by Hanno the Great and Hamilcar the later victor of Drepanum (not to be confused with Hamilcar Barca).