Siege of Syracuse (397 BC)

Siege of Syracuse (397 BC)
Part of The Sicilian Wars
Punic siege of Syracuse 397 BC. Political boundaries and path of troop movement are inexact because of lack of primary source data.
Date Summer of 397 BC to summer of 396 BC Location Syracuse, Sicily, Italy Result Greek victory
Belligerents
Syracuse Sicilian Greeks	Carthage
Commanders and leaders
Dionysius Leptines	Himilco Mago
Strength
30,000 troops 80 quinqueremes 30 triremes	50,000 troops 40 quinqueremes 200 triremes 2,000 transports
Casualties and losses
Unknown, less than the Carthaginians	Unknown, plague killed majority of troops

The Siege of Syracuse in 397 BC was the first of four unsuccessful sieges Carthaginian forces would undertake against Syracuse from 397 to 278 BC. In retaliation to the Siege of Motya by Dionysius of Syracuse, Himilco of the Magonid family of Carthage led a substantial force to Sicily. After retaking Motya and founding Lilybaeum, Himilco sacked Messana, then laid siege of Syracuse in the autumn of 397 BC after the Greek navy was crushed at Catana.

The Carthaginians followed a strategy which the Athenians had used in 415 BC, and were successful in isolating Syracuse. A pestilence broke out in the Carthaginian camp in the summer of 396 BC, which killed the majority of the troops. Dionysius launched a combined land and sea attack on the Carthaginian forces, and Himilco escaped with the Carthaginian citizens after an underhand deal with Dionysius. The surviving Libyans were enslaved, the Sicels melted away while the Iberians joined Dionysius. Dionysius began expanding his domain, while Carthage, weakened by the plague, took no action until 393 BC against Syracusan activities.

Carthage had previously invaded Sicily in 406 BC, in retaliation of Greek raids on Phoenician lands. This expedition was first commanded by Hannibal Mago who, after the Siege of Akragas by his kinsman Himilco, had managed to capture and sack the cities of Akragas, Gela and Camarina by the summer of 405 BC. These defeats had caused political turmoil in Syracuse, and had ultimately brought Dionysius to power as tyrant. Himilco and Dionysius signed a peace treaty in 405 BC, which left Carthage in direct or indirect control of 60% of Sicily. The cities of Messina and Leontini were left independent, and Dionysius was acknowledged as the ruler of Syracuse by Carthage.

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