The Battle of Agrigentum was a battle fought in 38 BC during the civil war between Octavian's Rome and Lepidus' Rome. Octavian and his Legio III Gemina reclaimed the Sicilian town of Agrigentum from the Lepidian Legio II Alaudae after a Lepidian naval attack had captured the city just weeks after a failed first assault.
Background[]
In late 39 BC, following Octavian's betrayal of their alliance and his seizure of the whole of Sicily, the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus ordered a counterattack to recapture Sicily and punish Octavian for his abuse of power. Lepidus sent Legio II Alaudae to capture the port town of Agrigentum in southern Sicily as his fleet provided support; however, this first assault met with disaster, and the legion was nearly destroyed and forced to retreat to Malta. There, Lepidus appointed Marcus Atrius Sura to assume command of its remnants, and, aided by Lepidus' fleet, Sura sailed north and launched a second assault on Agrigentum. The city's brave garrison of 1,387 troops was destroyed, 1,203 of them being killed and another 184 being captured; of the 2,134 Lepidian troops who had participated in the assault, 329 were killed. Sura's Legio II Alaudae occupied the town, while Lepidus' fleet menaced Sicily's southern coast, and threatened to reinforce the Lepidian beachhead on the island.
Battle[]
Hearing of Agrigentum's capture, Octavian marched south from Panormus (Palermo) with his full-strength, 2,560-strong Legio III Gemina to meet the invaders. The ensuing battle would prove to be a one-sided slaughter, as Octavian's legion far outnumbered the depleted legion and under-manned garrison defending Agrigentum. Octavian deployed his legion in a long battle line outside the city, and his skirmishers were deployed to screen the left flank of his army. These skirmishers harried the town's defenders facing Octavian's left flank, showering them with javelins and ultimately routing half of the Lepidian army before swords and shields could begin to meet in battle. Octavian proceeded to order an all-out assault on the Lepidian army, and his battle-hardened legionaries slaughtered the under-strength Lepidian force. Only 19 of Octavian's soldiers were killed, while his army killed 411 Lepidians and captured another 89. Legio II Alaudae was crushed, as was the small Lepidian garrison army and fleet. Lepidus, now threatened with a decisive battle with Octavian's victorious army should he attempt a landing in Sicily, withdrew to Africa with his Legio III Apollinaris, preparing to defend Africa against Octavian's general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. While the Lepidian general Gaius Sepurcius Mergus' greatly-depleted Legio I Africana would continue a guerrilla campaign in western Sicily, Lepidus would never again attempt to reclaim Sicily, as the momentum of the war turned against Lepidus and Africa became the new battleground for Octavian and Lepidus' armies. Peace was restored to Sicily when Octavian trapped and destroyed Mergus' legion near Palermo in the winter of early 37 BC.
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