Treaty of Lutatius

Treaty of Lutatius.
The Treaty of Lutatius was the agreement of 241 BC between Carthage and Rome which ended the First Punic War after 23 years. The Romans had defeated a Carthaginian fleet attempting to lift the blockade of its last strongholds on Sicily. Accepting defeat, the Carthaginian Senate ordered the local commander to negotiate a peace treaty. One was rapidly agreed, but when referred to Rome for ratification, it was rejected. Rome then sent a commission which agreed that Carthage would cede what it held of Sicily, relinquish several groups of islands nearby (map pictured), release all Roman prisoners without ransom, and pay large reparations over 10 years. In 237 BC Carthage prepared an expedition to recover the island of Sardinia, which had been lost to rebels. Cynically, the Romans announced that this was an act of war and that their peace terms were the ceding of Sardinia and Corsica and the payment of an additional indemnity; these were added to the treaty as a codicil.