Hanno

Hanno (, ) was a Carthaginian general, prominent in the events leading to the start of the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC).

The Strait of Messina, the Italian mainland in the distance.

Appeal for assistance from the Mamertines In 265 BCE, the Mamertines who were occupying Messana were being threatened by Hiero II of Syracuse. Consequently, they sent appeals for assistance to Rome and Carthage. The Carthaginians were first to respond, dispatching a small force commanded by Hanno to occupy the citadel of Messana and patrol the strait of Messina. The Roman consul Appius Claudius Caudex, desiring personal glory, persuaded the Roman People with promises of profit to vote in favour of intervening in Messana. Gaius Claudius, a military tribune, was sent in advance by the consul Appius Claudius Caudex with a few ships to Rhegium, a city allied to the Romans on the opposite side of the strait, on the Italian mainland.

Expulsion from Messana Gaius Claudius commenced negotiations with Hanno, but negotiations must have broken down and Gaius unsuccessfully tried to force passage across the strait, in the process losing some triremes to the skillful Carthaginian sailors. Gaius Claudius, it would seem, ignored the gesture and tried again to cross the strait to Messana; this time successfully. The Mamertines urged Hanno to descend from the citadel and parley with the Romans. Hanno reluctantly agreed, but the talks failed again. The Romans seized Hanno and imprisoned him. Hanno was thus compelled to withdraw the Carthaginian garrison from Messana.