Cape Ecnomo Battle
Sicily was at the centre of the clash between Romans and Carthaginians in the Punic wars. In particular, the Battle of Cape Ecnomo, which took place in Licata Sea in 256 B.C. during the First Punic War and which was called the “largest naval battle” of antiquity. The Roman fleet defeated the Carthaginian troops for the domination of the Mediterranean, asserting supremacy. The Romans won the day thanks to their strategic wedge-shaped formation, as opposed to the Carthaginian line deployment. Still today, there are wrecks in our sea, waiting to be identified in their precise position and be studied. The Ecnomo is identified with the historic mountain where the polis of Finziade stood. In this battle the Roman consul Marco Attilio regolo, who was commander of the Roman fleet, played an important role. According to a legend, he was taken prisoner by the Carthaginians and locked in a barrel bristling with nails and rolled down from Mount Ecnomo until arriving near the sea in the current square Attilio regolo. But the story tells, that he was later defeated by the Carthaginians and returned to Rome did not comply with the proposals they wanted for the ransom of prisoners. So he returned to Carthage, where he died.
