Sicilian Wars

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Sicilian Wars,(480 BC-307 BC) were a series of wars fought between the Carthaginean Empire and the Greek City-States of Magna Grecia, headed by Syracuse, over control of Sicily. Carthage's economic successes, and its dependence on shipping to conduct most of its trade, for the empire's southern border was surrounded by desert, led to the creation of a powerful Carthaginian navy to discourage both pirates and rival nations. They had inherited their naval strength and experience from the Phoenicians, but had increased it because, unlike the Phoenicians, the Punics didn't want to rely on a foreign nation's aid. This, coupled with its success and growing hegemony, brought Carthage into increasing conflict with the Greeks, the other major power contending for control of the central Mediterranean. The Greeks, just as the Phoenicians, were expert sailors and had set up trade posts throughout the Mediterranean.The island of Sicily, lying at Carthage's doorstep, became the arena on which this conflict played out. From their earliest days, both the Greeks and Phoenicians had been attracted to the large island, establishing a large number of colonies and trading posts along its coasts. Small battles had been fought between these settlements for centuries. The Carthagineans didn't keep many records or accounts, so most of what we know comes from Greek historians.

[edit] The First Sicilian War (480 BC)

By 480 BC Gelo, the tyrant of Greek Syracuse, backed in part by support from other Greek city-states, was attempting to unite the island under his rule. This imminent threat could not be ignored, and Carthage - the theory that there was an alliance with Persia is unlikely, for Carthage didn't like any other nation's involvement in their wars and they didn't want to contribute unless they had something to gain out of it, then engaged in a war with Greece - fielded its largest military force to date, under the leadership of the general Hamilcar. Traditional accounts give Hamilcar's army a strength of three hundred thousand men; This seems unlikely because, even at its peak, the Carthaginean Empire would have only been able to muster a force of about fifty thousand to one hundred thousand at the max. It would have had a hard time maintaining an army of that size. If there was an alliance with Persia, they may have been able to get mercenaries and aid, which the Persians undoubtably had, but there is no evidence to support this other than they shared a common enemy; it must nonetheless have been of formidable force. En route to Sicily, however, Hamilcar suffered losses (possibly severe) due to poor weather. Landing at Ziz, the Punic name for Panormus (modern-day Palermo), he was then decisively defeated by Gelo at the Battle of Himera, which is thought to have been on the same days as the Battle of Salamis. He was either killed during the battle or committed suicide in shame. The loss severely weakened Carthage, and the old government of entrenched nobility was ousted, replaced by the Carthaginian Republic. The king still remained, but he had very little power and most was entrusted with the Council of Elders.

[edit] The Second Sicilian War(410 BC-340 BC)

By 410 BC Carthage had recovered after serious defeats. Just one year after its embarrassing defeat at Himera, it had conquered much of modern day Tunisia, the northern fertile half, strengthened and founded new colonies in North Africa, such as Leptis and Oea, (modern Tripoli), and sponsored Mago Barca's, not the same as Hannibal's brother, journey across the Sahara Desert, as far as Cyrenica, and Hanno the Navigator's journey down the African coast. Although, in that year, the Iberian colonies, with the help of the Iberians, seceded—cutting off Carthage's major supply of silver and copper—Hannibal Mago, the grandson of Hamilcar, began preparations to reclaim Sicily, while expeditions were also led into Morocco and Senegal, and also into the Atlantic, possibly as far as the Azores.In 409 BC, Hannibal Mago set out for Sicily with his force. He was successful in capturing the smaller cities of Selinus (modern Selinunte) and Himera, where his grandfather had been defeated 79 years earlier, before returning triumphantly to Carthage with the spoils of war. But the primary enemy, Syracuse, remained untouched, and in 405 BCE Hannibal Mago led a second Carthaginian expedition, this time to claim the island in its entirety. This time, however, he met with fierce resistance and ill-fortune. During the siege of Agrigentum, the Carthaginian forces were ravaged by plague, Hannibal Mago himself succumbing to it. Although his successor, Himilco, successfully extended the campaign by breaking a Greek siege, capturing the city of Gela and repeatedly defeating the army of Dionysius, the new tyrant of Syracuse, he, too, was weakened by the plague and forced to sue for peace before returning to Carthage. In 398 BC, Dionysius had regained his strength and broke the peace treaty, striking at the Carthaginian stronghold of Motya. Himilco responded decisively, leading an expedition which not only reclaimed Motya, but also captured Messina. Finally, he laid siege to Syracuse itself. The siege met with great success throughout 397 BC, but in 396 BC plague again ravaged the Carthaginian forces, and they collapsed. Over the next sixty years, Carthaginian and Greek forces engaged in a constant series of skirmishes and several major plague outbreaks. By 340 BC, Carthage had been pushed entirely into the southwest corner of the island, and an uneasy peace reigned over the island.

[edit] The Third Sicilian War(315 BC-307 BC)

In 315 BC Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, seized the city of Messene (present-day Messina). In 311 BC he invaded the last Carthaginian holdings on Sicily, breaking the terms of the current peace treaty, and laid siege to Akragas. Hamilcar, grandson of Hanno the Navigator, led the Carthaginian response and met with tremendous success. By 310 BC he controlled almost all of Sicily and had laid siege to Syracuse itself. In desperation, Agathocles secretly led an expedition of 14,000 men to the mainland, hoping to save his rule by leading a counterstrike against Carthage itself. In this, he was successful: Carthage was forced to recall Hamilcar and most of his army from Sicily to face the new and unexpected threat. The two armies met in battle outside Carthage and the Carthaginean army, under Hanno and Hamilcar, are defeated. They laid seige to Carthage, but its walls were impregnable. The Syracusinans, however, occupied Northern Tunisia for 2 years. Although Agathocles' army was eventually defeated in 307 BC, Agathocles himself escaped back to Sicily and was able to negotiate a peace which maintained Syracuse as a stronghold of Greek power in Sicily, though it had lost much of its power and the strategic city of Messene.

In some respects, the Pyrrhic War(280 BC-275 BC) and Mamertime Revolt(288 BC-265 BC), which ultimately lead to the Punic Wars, can be considered in the series, but they are not as there were outside forces involved, namely Rome and Epirus.