# Hanno (at the Aegates)
Hanno was a Carthaginian admiral who commanded the relief fleet intercepted and defeated by the Roman consul Gaius Lutatius Catulus at the [Battle of the Aegates Islands](https://www.edgepedia.org/battle-of-the-aegates-islands) in 241 BC.[1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) • [2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) According to the tradition reported by the specialist prosopography (study identifying and linking historical individuals from records) at Livius.org, he returned to Carthage after the defeat and was crucified.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Carthaginian admiral commanding the relief fleet of 241 BC[1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) |
| Date | Fl. March/spring 241 BC; died 241 BC[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) |
| Fleet | 250 warships, outnumbering the Romans, but encumbered with transports[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) |
| Losses | Polybius: 50 ships sunk, 70 captured; Diodorus: 117 sunk[3](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/Sicily-Malta/EgadiBattle-Campbell2021.pdf) |
| Fate | Crucified at Carthage after the defeat[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) |
| Consequence | Carthage sued for peace, ceding Sicily and paying 2,200 talents, raised by 1,000[4](https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_aegates_islands.html) |
## The name Hanno: a problem of identity
Hanno was among the commonest names in the Carthaginian elite, and several officers of that name served in the [First Punic War](https://www.edgepedia.org/first-punic-war) alone. The admiral of 241 BC is distinguished in modern prosopography from **[Hanno](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanno-carthaginian-commander-at-agrigentum) son of Hannibal** (also called Hanno the Elder), the general defeated before Agrigentum in 262 BC who commanded alongside Hamilcar at Ecnomus in 256 BC;[5](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-2/) • [6](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhanno-bio-9) and from **Hanno called "the Great"** in later sources, the commander in Africa in the latter years of the war and leader of the anti-Barcid faction at Carthage.[7](https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2932?product=orecla) Whether the Agrigentum commander is the same as Diodorus's Hanno "the elder" (ὁ πρεσβύτερος) is itself unproven, as the nineteenth-century dictionary of Smith notes, which illustrates how hard it is to separate these men.[6](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhanno-bio-9)
## Carthage in 241 BC: the supply run through the blockade
By 241 BC the war on Sicily had narrowed to a siege. [Hamilcar Barca](https://www.edgepedia.org/hamilcar-barca)'s army held positions round Eryx, and Carthage determined that its troops should not run short of provisions: it fitted out ships, loaded them with corn and other supplies, and appointed Hanno to command.[1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) In March or spring 241 BC the fleet sailed east and was intercepted near the Aegates Islands, immediately west of Drepana.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/)
Hanno's plan was to reach the Aegates, then dash to Hamilcar's base at Eryx, unload the supplies and embark experienced mercenaries as marines before offering battle.[4](https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_aegates_islands.html) What hinged on the run was the survival of the Sicilian army: if the fleet failed, there was no hope to reinforce, relieve, or recall Hamilcar's soldiers.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/)
## The Battle of the Aegates Islands
Hanno put to sea and arrived first at the island called Holy Isle (Hiera), waiting there for the weather.[1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) At daybreak Lutatius found a strong breeze on the stern of the enemy and a rough, boisterous sea, which made an advance in the teeth of the wind difficult for his own ships.[1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) He reasoned that if he engaged at once, during the storm, he would have to contend only with Hanno and raw levies of sailors on ships still heavily laden with stores; he attacked.[1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) His battle-ready ships with experienced crews and carefully selected marines crushed Hanno's heavily burdened ships and their inexperienced crews.[4](https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_aegates_islands.html) An afternoon wind then allowed the surviving part of the Carthaginian fleet to raise sail and escape.[3](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/Sicily-Malta/EgadiBattle-Campbell2021.pdf)
## By the numbers
Hanno commanded 250 warships, which outnumbered the Roman navy, but he also had heavy transports to defend, which handicapped him.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) Polybius records 50 Carthaginian ships sunk and 70 captured; Diodorus states 117 Carthaginian ships sank against 80 Roman vessels. The two accounts have not been reconciled.[3](https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/Sicily-Malta/EgadiBattle-Campbell2021.pdf)
The defeat ended Carthage's ability to reinforce, relieve, or recall Hamilcar's soldiers.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) Carthage negotiated peace through Hamilcar: it would evacuate Sicily and pay an indemnity of 2,200 talents; commissions sent from Rome added another 1,000 talents and forbade Punic warships from entering Italian waters.[4](https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_aegates_islands.html)
## Hanno's fate: crucifixion
Hanno returned to Carthage, where he was crucified.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) The military-history reference at historyofwar.org likewise records that Hanno was executed for his failure in the battle.[4](https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_aegates_islands.html) The penalty contrasts with that imposed on the Hanno defeated before Agrigentum in 262 BC, who was recalled by the Carthaginian senate and compelled to pay a fine of 6,000 pieces of gold; six years afterwards, in 256 BC, he reappears associated with Hamilcar in command of the Carthaginian fleet at the battle of Ecnomus.[6](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhanno-bio-9)
## Accountability for defeat at Carthage and Rome
Carthaginian penalties for failed commanders varied from a fine (Agrigentum) to execution (the Aegates), and the same officers could survive a defeat and return to high command.[6](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhanno-bio-9) Hanno's blame in 241 BC is hard to separate from the condition of his fleet: he outnumbered the Romans but had to defend laden transports with raw crews.[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/) • [1](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60) A hint of that material exhaustion comes from the battle site itself: one theory for a Punic-inscribed ram among rams bearing Roman inscriptions is that Carthage, equipping a fleet at short notice, used ships captured from the Romans in earlier battles.[8](https://www.attalus.org/docs/cil/add_4.html)
## References
1. Polybius, *Histories*, book 1, ch. 60 (Perseus Digital Library). https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0234%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D60
2. "Hanno (3)", Livius.org. https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-3/
3. "Egadi Battle" (Campbell 2021), ancientportsantiques.com. https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/Sicily-Malta/EgadiBattle-Campbell2021.pdf
4. "Battle of the Aegates Islands, 241 BC", historyofwar.org. https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_aegates_islands.html
5. "Hanno (2)", Livius.org. https://www.livius.org/articles/person/hanno-2/
6. "Hanno" (son of Hannibal), *A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology* (Smith), Perseus Digital Library. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dhanno-bio-9
7. "Hanno (2), 'the Great', Carthaginian commander", Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford Research Encyclopedia). https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2932?product=orecla
8. Additional Inscription 4: Rams from Aegates Islands (Attalus/CIL). https://www.attalus.org/docs/cil/add_4.html
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Periods and civilizations › Ancient Near East, Egypt, Nubia, and the Punic world › Phoenicia and Carthage › Carthage in the Punic Wars › Carthage in the Punic Wars: officials, priests, and private persons*
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