Sicilian Wars

The Sicilian Wars were a series of conflicts between Carthage and Greek states in Sicily, especially Syracuse, from the sixth to third centuries BCE.

Battle of Himera (480 BCE): A battle in which Greek forces led by Gelon of Syracuse defeated a Carthaginian army in Sicily in 480 BCE. This early Greek victory became a celebrated turning point in the island's struggle against Carthage.
Ancient Greek trireme: A fast ancient warship propelled mainly by three banks of oars on each side. Naval power let Syracuse contest Carthaginian movement and supply across the straits.
Greek colonization: The establishment of Greek settlements around the Mediterranean and Black Sea from the eighth century BCE onward. Greek colonies created the Sicilian cities whose competing interests drew them into conflict with Carthage.
Treaty of Lutatius: The treaty of 241 BCE that ended the First Punic War and required Carthage to leave Sicily. It ended Carthaginian rule on the island and established Rome as Sicily's dominant power.
Punic Wars: A series of three wars between Rome and Carthage fought from 264 to 146 BCE. The First Punic War grew out of Sicilian tensions but involved Rome as Carthage's main opponent.
Dionysius I of Syracuse: A Syracusan tyrant who ruled from 405 to 367 BCE and fought repeated wars against Carthage. His campaigns and fortifications made Syracuse the leading Greek military power in Sicily.
Siege warfare in the ancient Mediterranean: The methods ancient Mediterranean armies used to capture fortified settlements. Repeated attempts to take Syracuse and other strongholds made sieges central to these wars.
Syracuse: An ancient Greek city-state on Sicily's southeastern coast, founded by settlers from Corinth in 734 BCE. Syracuse became Carthage's principal Greek rival and the island's strongest city-state.
Roman Sicily: The Roman province established in Sicily after Rome's victory over Carthage in 241 BCE. The end of Carthaginian control completed a shift in island power begun by the wars.
Battle of Himera (409 BCE): A Carthaginian victory over the Greek city of Himera in 409 BCE, followed by the city's destruction. Unlike the celebrated Greek victory at Himera in 480 BCE, this campaign marked renewed Carthaginian success.

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