__NOTOC__ Adherbal ( xpu, 𐤀𐤃𐤓𐤁𐤏𐤋, ; died 230BC), also known as Atarbas ( grc-gre, Ατάρβας, ''Atárbas''), was the admiral of the Carthaginian fleet which battled the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

for domination of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

during the First Punic War (264–241BC). Polybius identified Adherbal during the

Battle of Drepana The naval Battle of Drepana (or Drepanum) took place in 249 BC during the First Punic War near Drepana (modern Trapani) in western Sicily, between a Carthaginian fleet under Adherbal and a Roman fleet commanded by Publius Claudius Pulch ...

as the Carthaginian commander-in-chief. He led the Carthaginian fleet to Drepana in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and inflicted a crushing defeat on the

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

P. Claudius Pulcher during the naval battle in 249BC.

Battle of Drepana

Encouraged by previous victories, the new consul for 250 Gaius Atilius Regulus launched a campaign to attack the last Punic strongholds on the island of Sicily: Lilybaeum and Drepana. For this surprise attack, which was carried out in 249, the Romans mustered a fleet of 123

quinqueremes From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly large and heavy, including some of the largest wooden ships hitherto con ...

. Adherbal was tasked to defend Drepana with the assistance of Hannibal the Rhodian and

Carthalo __NOTOC__ Carthalo ( xpu, 𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤇𐤋𐤑, ,. "Saved by Melqart";. grc-gre, Καρθάλων, ''Karthálōn''; died around 209BC) was an officer in Hannibal's army during the Second Punic War. Life Carthalo led the Numidian cavalry in a ...

. In their desire for stealth, the Romans attacked at night causing them to lose their formation. Adherbal commanded the Punic fleet and immediately ordered his forces to set to sea when the straggling line of Roman galleys approached the shore by dawn. His defense cost the Romans 93 ships while Carthage lost nothing. Adherbal's conduct during the siege was documented by historians such as Polybius and

Leonardo Bruni Leonardo Bruni (or Leonardo Aretino; c. 1370 – March 9, 1444) was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. ...

. The latter, for instance, described the admiral delivering an ''

oratio obliqua Indirect speech, also known as reported speech, indirect discourse (US), or ( or ), is the practice, common in all Latin historical writers, of reporting spoken or written words indirectly, using different grammatical forms. Passages of indirec ...

'' before his forces as he led them to meet the Romans. He would later write that Adherbal "won great praise as the man who, by virtue of his courage and skill, restored to his fellow Carthaginians their lost reputation as a sea power."

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* . {{Famous Carthaginians Carthaginian commanders of the First Punic War Admirals 3rd-century BC births 230 BC deaths Year of birth unknown 3rd-century BC Punic people