First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
The Roman fleet that won the First Punic War wasn't paid for by Rome. Wealthy citizens funded 200 warships out of their own pockets after the treasury went broke from 23 years of fighting Carthage. At the Aegates Islands off Sicily, these privately-funded galleys caught the Carthaginian fleet loaded down with supplies for their starving troops. The Romans sank 50 ships and captured 70 more in a single morning. Carthage sued for peace immediately. They'd lost their entire western Mediterranean empire because Rome's richest families made what amounted to a massive patriotic loan. War had become a venture capital investment.
March 10, 241 BC
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on March 10
Maximian rode into Carthage celebrating victory over the Berbers, but he'd actually spent five years struggling to control tribes who knew every mountain pass a…
Liu Zhiyuan waited just sixteen days after the Khitan invaders abandoned Kaifeng before declaring himself emperor and founding the Later Han dynasty. The former…
Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain, leaving his brother Bartholomew to govern the fledgling settlement of Santo Domingo. This departure solidified the first …
The bishop ran out of wind. Fray Tomás de Berlanga was sailing from Panama to Peru in 1535 when his ship hit the doldrums — dead calm for six days straight. Oce…
The pretender won because his enemy's spiritual leader insisted on joining the battlefield. Abuna Petros II, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, rode al…
Charles I of England dissolved Parliament in 1629, launching an eleven-year stretch where he governed without legislative consent. This Personal Rule allowed hi…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.