260 BC

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Year 260 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asina and Duilius (or, less frequently, year 494 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 260 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Sicily

• The Roman advance continues westward from Agrigentum with their forces relieving the besieged cities of Segesta and Macella. These cities have sided with the Roman cause, and have come under Carthaginian attack for doing so.
• Hannibal Gisco returns to fight in Sicily as the admiral in charge of the Carthaginian fleet in the Strait of Messina. With the Romans about to launch their first ever navy, Carthage is determined that this innovation be thwarted. Gisco defeats part of the Roman fleet and captures the Roman consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina in an encounter near Lipari; the consul's nickname Asina (which means donkey) is earned in this encounter. However, this Carthaginian victory is of limited practical value as the bulk of the Roman fleet continues to manoeuvre in the surrounding waters.
• Confident in Carthage's superiority at sea, Hannibal Gisco deploys his ships for the Battle of Mylae in the traditional long line arrangement. Although inexperienced in sea battles, the Romans, led by consul Gaius Duilius Nepos, heavily defeat the Carthaginian fleet, mainly due to the innovative use of land tactics in naval warfare (including the use of the grappling irons and the corvus boarding bridge).
• Having lost the confidence of his peers, Hannibal Gisco is subsequently executed for incompetence shortly afterwards, together with other defeated Punic generals.
• In the north of Sicily, the Romans, with their northern sea flank secured by their naval victory in the Battle of Mylae, advance toward Thermae. They are defeated there by the Carthaginians under Hamilcar.

Egypt

• Callimachus of Cyrene, learned poet and grammarian, becomes chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria.

China

• In the Battle of Changping, the army of the Qin state routs the army of Zhao, establishing its military superiority over all other Chinese states during the Warring States period. The battle, in which Zhao forces are led by Lian Po and Zhao Kuo, while Qin is led by Wang He and Bai Qi, takes place near modern-day Gaoping in Shanxi and hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Zhao are executed after the battle.

Births

• Zheng, who will later become King of the State of Qin, and then later the First Emperor of China (d. 210 BC)

Deaths

• Hannibal Gisco, Carthaginian military commander in charge of both land armies and naval fleets (b. c. 300 BC)

References