Siege of Segesta (397 BC) 397 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 397 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 | 37.9407, 12.8376 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Segesta took place either in the summer of 398 BC or the spring of 397 BC. Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, after securing peace with Carthage in 405 BC, had steadily increased his military power and 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 catapults and quinqueremes for the first time in history. In 398 BC he attacked and sacked the Phoenician city of Motya despite a Carthaginian relief effort led by Himilco II of Carthage. While Motya was under siege, Dionysius besieged and assaulted Segesta unsuccessfully. Following the sack of Motya, Segesta again came under siege by Greek forces, but the Elymian forces based in Segesta managed to inflict damage on the Greek camp in a daring night assault. When Himilco of Carthage arrived in Sicily with the Carthaginian army in the spring of 397 BC, Dionysius withdrew to Syracuse. The failure of Dionysius to secure a base in western Sicily meant the main events of the Second Sicilian war would be acted out mostly in eastern Sicily, sparing the Elymian and Phoenician cities the ravages of war until 368 BC.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Segesta (397 BC) (revision 1375988770), 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
- Siege of Motya 398 BC
- Battle of Catana (397 BC) 397 BC
- Battle of Messene 397 BC
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- 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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