Siege of Motya 398 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 398 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Greco-Carthaginian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 37.8683, 12.4686 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Motya took place in summer 398 BC in western Sicily. Dionysius, after securing peace with Carthage in 405 BC, had steadily increased his military power and had tightened his grip on Syracuse. He had fortified Syracuse against sieges and had created a large army of mercenaries and a large fleet, in addition to employing the catapult and quinqueremes for the first time in history. In 398 BC, he attacked and sacked the Phoenician city of Motya despite the Carthaginian relief effort led by Himilco. Carthage also lost most of her territorial gains secured in 405 BC after Dionysius declared war on Carthage in 398 BC.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Motya (revision 1370743710), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Second Greco-Carthaginian War
- Battle of Catana (397 BC) 397 BC
- Battle of Messene 397 BC
- Siege of Segesta (397 BC) 397 BC
- Battle of Abacaenum 393 BC
- Siege of Lilybaeum (368 BC) 368 BC
- Battle of the Crimissus 341 BC
All 7 battles of the Second Greco-Carthaginian War →
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