The siege of Aspis or Clupea was fought in 255BC between Carthage and the Roman Republic. It was the first fighting on African land during the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

Background

After defeating the Carthaginian navy sent to stop them from reaching Africa at the battle of Cape Ecnomus, the Romans landed close to Aspis, to the south of Carthage.

Battle

The Romans moved to besiege Aspis by building a trench and

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

to defend their ships. Carthage was not yet prepared to fight on land and the city fell after the garrison made a short resistance.Siege of Aspis, 256 B.C.
Rickard, J (10 May 2007), Siege of Aspis, 256 BC. Retrieved on December 13, 2008. By taking Clupea, the Romans controlled the area of land opposite to Carthage and secured their rear in order to scour the enemy before them. The Romans forced Aspis to surrender, and having left in their place a proper garrison, they sent some messengers to Rome to inform them of their success and to receive instructions on the next measures to be pursued. They then decamped with all their forces, and marched through the country to plunder it.

Aftermath

After defeating the Carthaginians, the Romans dispatched most of their fleet back to Rome except for a number of 15,000 infantry and 500 cavalry. The rest of the army, under the command of Marcus Atilius Regulus, remained in North Africa. Advancing inland and plundering the territory along the way, they stopped at the city of Adys. The resulting siege of Adys gave the Carthaginians time to gather an army, only to have that army defeated at the Battle of Adys.

References

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Aspis An aspis ( grc, ἀσπίς, plural ''aspides'', ), or porpax shield, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a hoplon ( el, ὅπλον) (a term actually referring to the whole equipment of a hoplite), was the heavy wooden shield used by the infa ...

Military history of Tunisia