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The Story of

Tunisia

255 BCE – 2020

Country in North Africa

  1. Battle of Bagradas

    255 BCE

    The Battle of the Bagradas River (the ancient name of the Medjerda), also known as the Battle of Tunis, was a victory by a Carthaginian army led by Xanthippus over a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus in the spring of 255 BC, nine years into the First Punic War. The previous year, the newly constructed Roman navy established naval superiority over Carthage.

  2. Siege of Aspis

    255 BCE

    The siege of Aspis or Clupea was fought in 256 BC between Carthage and the Roman Republic. It was the first fighting on African land during the First Punic War.

  3. Battle of Adys

    255 BCE

    The battle of Adys (or Adis) took place in late 256 BC during the First Punic War between a Carthaginian army jointly commanded by Bostar, Hamilcar and Hasdrubal and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. Earlier in the year, the new Roman navy had established naval superiority and used this advantage to invade the Carthaginian homeland, which roughly aligned with modern Tunisia in North Africa.

  4. Battle of Utica

    240 BCE

    The Battle of Utica took place early in 240 BC between a Carthaginian army commanded by Hanno and a force of rebellious mutineers possibly led by Spendius. It was the first major engagement of the Mercenary War between Carthage and the combined forces of mutinous ex-Carthaginian troops and rebellious African cities which broke out in the wake of the First Punic War.

  5. Mercenary War

    240 BCE – 238 BCE

    The Mercenary War, also known as the Truceless War, was a mutiny by troops that were employed by Carthage at the end of the First Punic War (264–241 BC), supported by uprisings of African settlements revolting against Carthaginian control. It lasted from 241 to late 238 or early 237 BC and ended with Carthage suppressing both the mutiny and the revolt.

  6. Battle of the Bagradas River

    240 BCE

    The Battle of the Bagradas River was fought between a Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca, who was victorious, and a rebel force led by Spendius. The battle in 240 BC was fought in what is now northeast Tunisia.

  7. Siege of Tunis

    October 238 BCE

    During the siege of Tunis in October 238 BC a rebel army under Mathos was besieged by a Carthaginian force under Hamilcar Barca and Hannibal. A portion of the Carthaginian army, which had served in Sicily during the First Punic War, mutinied in late 241 BC in the wake of Carthage's defeat, starting the Mercenary War.

  8. Battle of the Great Plains

    203 BCE

    The battle of the Great Plains was fought in 203 BC in modern Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio, and allied Carthaginian and Numidian armies commanded by Hasdrubal Gisco and Syphax respectively. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in a heavy defeat for Carthage.

  9. Battle of Utica

    203 BCE

    The battle of Utica was fought in 203 BC between a Roman army commanded by Publius Cornelius Scipio and the allied armies of Carthage and Numidia, commanded by Hasdrubal Gisgo and Syphax respectively. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in a heavy defeat for Carthage.

  10. Battle of Zama

    19 October 202 BCE

    The Battle of Zama was fought in 202 BC in what is now Tunisia between a Roman army commanded by Scipio Africanus and a Carthaginian army commanded by Hannibal. The battle was part of the Second Punic War and resulted in such a severe defeat for the Carthaginians that they capitulated, while Hannibal was forced into exile.

  11. Battle of Oroscopa

    151 BCE

    The Battle of Oroscopa was fought between a Carthaginian army of more than 30,000 men commanded by the general Hasdrubal and a Numidian force of unknown size under its king, Masinissa. It took place in late 151 BC near the ancient town of Oroscopa in what is now north western Tunisia.

  12. Third Punic War

    149 BCE – 146 BCE

    The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome. The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in what is now northern Tunisia.

  13. Siege of Carthage

    149 BCE – 146 BCE

    The siege of Carthage was the main engagement of the Third Punic War fought between Carthage and Rome. It consisted of the nearly three-year siege of the Carthaginian capital, Carthage (a little northeast of Tunis).

  14. Second Battle of Nepheris

    147 BCE

    The Battle of Nepheris was the second battle of the Third Punic War that took place at Nepheris in late 147 BC. The battle was fought between the forces of the Roman Republic, commanded by Scipio Aemilianus, and the forces of Carthage who were commanded by Diogenes of Carthage. After the Roman defeat at the Battle of the Port of Carthage, Scipio Aemilianus decided to destroy the Carthaginian army at Nepheris, a stronghold south of the capital where the previous year the Romans had suffered a defeat at the First Battle of Nepheris against Hasdrubal the Boetharch.

  15. Siege of Thala

    108 BCE

    The siege of Thala, part of the Jugurthine War, was an invasion of the Numidian town of Thala by a Roman army. The Romans were commanded by the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus, the Thalans by an unknown Numidian commander.

  16. Battle of Utica

    49 BCE

    The Battle of Utica (49 BC) in Caesar's Civil War was fought between Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio and Pompeian legionaries commanded by Publius Attius Varus supported by Numidian cavalry and foot soldiers sent by King Juba I of Numidia. Curio defeated the Pompeians and Numidians and drove Varus back into the town of Utica.

  17. Battle of Ruspina

    4 January 46 BCE

    The Battle of Ruspina was fought on 4 January 46 BC in the Roman province of Africa, between the Republican forces of the Optimates and forces loyal to Julius Caesar. The Republican army was commanded by Titus Labienus, Caesar's former lieutenant during the Gallic Wars who had defected to the Republican side at the beginning of the civil war.

  18. Battle of Thapsus

    6 April 46 BCE

    The Battle of Thapsus was a military engagement that took place on April 6, 46 BC near Thapsus (in modern Tunisia). The forces of the Optimates, led by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio, were defeated by the forces of Julius Caesar.

  19. Capture of Carthage

    19 October 439

    The Battle of Carthage of 439 was when the city of Carthage was captured by the Vandals from the Western Roman Empire on 19 October 439. Under their leader Genseric, the Vandals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into Africa and captured Hippo Regius in August 431, which they made the capital of their kingdom.

  20. Battle of Ad Decimum

    13 September 533

    The Battle of Ad Decimum took place on 13 September 533 between the armies of the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, and the Byzantine Empire, under the command of General Belisarius. The Vandal Kingdom under King Hilderic maintained close ties with Emperor Justinian I, but Hilderic's acceptance of Chalcedonian Christianity over Arianism led to his overthrow by his cousin Gelimer in 531.