Metellus Scipio and a number of influential senators from the Optimate faction were fleeing the disastrous Battle of Thapsus when their fleet was intercepted and destroyed by Publius Sittius, a mercenary commander in the employ of the Mauretanian king Bogud, an ally of Gaius Julius Caesar's.

[1] With civil war ignited Caesar quickly gained control of the Italian Peninsula before eventually pursuing Pompey to Greece and defeating him in the Battle of Pharsalus.

After a year spent in Alexandria, Caesar began to coordinate his efforts against the remaining Optimate forces concentrated in the north of Africa.

[3][4] Despite playing such a key role in the civil war by ensuring that Scipio and Juba were unable to concentrate their forces at the opportune moment, the degree of coordination that existed between Sittius and Caesar is unclear.

[5] Following Caesar's victory at the Battle of Thapsus, Sittius managed to capture the retreating Optimate commanders Lucius Afranius and Faustus Cornelius Sulla after thoroughly defeating their 1000 strong cavalry force.

[7][4] Many of the Optimate commanders who survived the Battle of Thapsus, including Caesar's one time lieutenant Titus Labienus, managed to successfully flee from the scene and headed towards Hispania to regroup.

[8] Scipio's fleet was sailing west when a strong headwind forced them to attempt to make port at the city of Hippo Regius on the north African coast.