Battle of Abacaenum: Difference between revisions

place=[[Abacaenum]]|Sicily

The '''Battle of Abacaenum''' took place between the Carthaginian forces under Mago and the GreekSiceliot army under Dionysius in 393 BC near the Sicilian town on Abacaenum in northeasternnorth-eastern Sicily. Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, had been expanding his influence over Sicels' territories in Sicily,. andAfter after hisDionysius' unsuccessful siege in 394 BC of [[Tauromenium]], a Carthaginian alley in 394ally, Mago decided to invadeattack Messana. TheHowever, the Carthaginian army was defeated by the Greeks near the town of Abacaenum and had to retire to the Carthaginian territories in Western Sicily. Dionysius did not attack the Carthaginians but continued to expand his influence in eastern Sicily.

Carthage had intervened in favorfavour of Segesta in 409 BC against [[Selinus]], which led to the sack of both [[Selinus]] and [[Himera]] in 409 BC. This led to [[Hermocrates]] raiding Punic territory, andwith theCarthage retaliationretaliating of Carthage wasthrough the destruction of [[Siege of Akragas (406 BC)|Akragas]], [[Battle of Gela (405 BC)|Gela]] and [[Camarina]]. byIn 405, whenBC, a peace treaty ended the war, with Carthage in control of much of Sicily and Dionysius toretaining power in Syracuse. After strengthening Syracuse's between 404 -398defences, Dionysius attacked the Phoenician city of [[Motya]] with an army of 80,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, along with a fleet of 200 warships and 500 transports carrying his supplies and war machines in 398 BC, igniting the first of four wars he was to lead against Carthage.<ref>Church, Alfred J., ''Carthage'', p47</ref> After the [[Siege of Motya (398 BC)|sack of Motya]], Dionysius retired to Syracuse, while Himilco of Carthage arrived in Sicily in 397 BC with 50,000 men along with 400 triremes and 600 transports to continue the war.<ref name="Caven, Brian, Dionysius I, pp107">Caven, Brian, ''Dionysius I'', pp107</ref> in 397.

Himilco stormed Motya, where the mostly Sicel garrison under Biton was easily overcome,<ref>Diod. X.IV.55</ref> then lifted the siege of [[Segesta]], and Dionysius retired to Syracuse instead of offering battle in Western Sicily against a superior army.<ref>Kern, Paul B., ''Ancient Siege Warfare'', pp183</ref> Himilco returned to Panormus, garrisoned the Carthaginian territories, and then sailed to Lipara with 300 warships and 300 transports. After collecting 30 talents of silver as tribute from Lipara,<ref>Freeman, Edward A., ''Sicily'', pp173</ref> the Carthaginian force sailed for MessanaMessene and [[Battle of Messana (397 BC)|easily captured and sacked the city]]. After founding the city of [[Tauromenium]] and populating it with allied Sicels, the Carthaginians moved south towards Catana.<ref>Freeman, Edward A., ''Sicily'', p173</ref> Dionysius moved his army and fleet to Catana to attack the Carthaginians but, due to the rash tactics of his brother [[Leptines]], the Greek fleet was heavily defeated at the [[Battle of Catana (397 BC)|Catana]],.<ref name="Church, Alfred J. p53-54">Church, Alfred J., ''Carthage'', p53-54</ref> Himilco next besieged Syracuse itself in the autumn of 397 BC. After the Carthaginian forces were devastated by the plague, Dionysius managed to decimate the Punic fleet and shut upsurround the survivors in their camp. Himilco, after bribing Dionysius, fled back to Africa with Carthaginian citizens, while Dionysius enslaved the abandoned Carthaginian soldiers and their allies.

The Sicilian Greek cities which had become tributarytributaries to Carthage after 405 BC had all revolted inby 398 BC, and along with the Sicels and the Sikans had joined Dionysius in his attack against Motya. But in 396 BC the situation had changed. After the defeat at [[Battle of Catana (397 BC)|Catana]] the Sicilian Greek soldiers had returned to their respective homes when Dionysius decided to withstand a siege in Syracuse instead of fighting a pitched battle against the Carthaginian army in 397 BC. The Sicels had also turned against Dionysius and had sent soldiers to help Himilco during the [[Siege of Syracuse (397 BC)|Carthaginian siege of Syracuse in 397 BC]].

The return of Himilco to Carthage after abandoning his troops at the mercy of Dionysius did not sit well with the Carthaginian citizens or their African subjects. Although the council of 104 did not crucify him, as unsuccessful Carthaginian commanders normally were, Himilco decided to do the deed himself. He publicly took full responsibility for the debacle, dressed in rags visited all the temples of the city pleading for deliverance and finally bricked himself shut inside his house and starved himself to death.<ref name="Church, Alfred J. p53-54"/> A plague swept through AfricaCarthage's African territories weakening Carthage further,. and to top things off,Then the Libyans, angered by the desertion of their kinsmen in Sicily, gathered an army numbering 70,000 men and besieged Carthage itself.

Mago, the victor of Catana, took command. The standing Punic army was in Sicily and recruiting a new one would have been time-consuming and probably very costly (Himilco's abandonment of his mercenaries in Sicily would have made mercenariesthem wary), so he rallied the Carthaginian citizens to man the walls while the Punic navy kept the city supplied, as the Libyans had no ships to counter the Carthaginian fleet. Mago then used bribes and other means to quell the rebels.<ref name="Church, Alfred J. p53-54"/>

After securing the safety of Carthage, Mago moved to Sicily, where the threat of a Syracusan invasion of Carthaginian western Sicily was ever-present, andwith the Punic city of [[Soluntum|Solus]] hadhaving been sacked by Dionysius in 396 BC. Carthage was unwilling or unable to provide Mago with additional forces, and he had to make do with the Punic garrison left by Himilco and whatever forces he could gather in Sicily.<ref>Freeman, Edward A., ''History of Sicily'' Vol IV, p169</ref> The Carthaginians caughtgained asome breaktime when Dionysius chose not to invade the Punic territories in Westernwestern Sicily immediately after the disaster at Syracuse. Mago chose to use the opportunity wisely. The [[Elymian]]s had stayed loyal to Carthage, the Sicilian Greeks and Sikans, were not threatening and most of the Sicels were not hostile.

Mago chose not to try to recover the lost Punic conquests of 405 BC through force. Instead, he adopted a policy of cooperation and friendship, giving aid to Greeks, Sikans, Sicels, Elymians and PunicsElymians regardless of their prior standing with Carthage.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.90">Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.90</ref> Many of the Greeks had been victims of the duplicity and aggression of Dionysius (he had destroyed Greek cities Naxos, LeontniLeontini and Catana and driven out the population) and even preferred to live under Punic rule.<ref>Freeman, Edward A. ‘’History''History of Sicily Vol. 4 ’’'' pp58&nbsp;– pp59</ref>

The Carthaginians had allowed Greeks who had fled from Akragas, Gela and Camarina to resettle and reclaim their properties,<ref>Diod. X.IV.41</ref> and Mago now began to pursue a policy of friendship in earnest. Many of the Greeks from Naxos, Catana and Leontini, left as refugees by Dionysius, along with Sicels, Sikans, and other Sicilian Greeks, were allowed to settle in Punic territory, alliances were also made with Sicel tribes being threatened by Dionysius.<ref>Diod. X.IV.90</ref> The Greeks cities, who had thrown off Carthaginian over lordshipcontrol after the war started in 398 BC, now moved from a pro -Syracuse position to a neutral one, either feeling threatened by Dionysius or because of the activities of Mago.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.88">Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.88</ref> This peaceful policy continued until Dionysius attacked Tauromenium in 394 BC.

Dionysius did not immediately attack Punic Sicily after lifting the siege of Syracuse in 396 BC although no formal treaty had been made with Himilco ending the war. The war had been costly and he may have been short of money, he also had to deal with a revolt of his mercenaries, and furthermore, he feared a fight to the finish with Carthage as it might endlead upto his finishingown himdemise.<ref>Freeman, Edward A. ‘’History''History of Sicily Vol. 4 ’’'' pp149&nbsp;– pp151</ref> After securing Syracuse and resettling the rebellious mercenaries at Leontini (or having them killed after taking them to Leontini inon the pretext of handing the town to them),<ref>Polyainos V.2.1)</ref> Dionysius began to secure his position in Easterneastern Sicily.

The destruction of Messana by Carthage had left [[Rhegion]], a Greek city hostile to Dionysius, in a position to dominate the straits of Messana, and Carthage with an opportunity to ally with Rhegion and threaten Syracuse from the north. Dionysius rebuildrebuilt and repopulated Messina with colonists from [[Lorci]], and Medma from Italy and some from Messene, who were later relocated to [[Tyndaris]] when Sparta objected to settling the Messenians in Messana. The original inhabitants of Messana were settled in [[Tyndaris]], another city built by Dionysius. Dionysius forced the Sicel city of Abacaenum to cede its territory to the inhabitants of Tyndaris. The founding of Messana and Tyndaris helped secure the northeasternnorth-eastern coast of Sicily for Dionysius. Rhegion, fearing Dionysius might use Messana as a base of operation against thenthem, plantedestablished Mylae between Messana and Tyndaris and populated the city with the refugees of Naxos and Catana.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.88"/>

Abacaenum was not the only Sicel town to be a victim of Dionysius. He attacked and took Smeneous (exact location unknown) and Morgantina, around the same time that the Punic city Solus and the Sicel city Cephaleodium were betrayed to him. The booty captured from these cities filled his coffers. The Sicel town of Enna was sacked next. Dionysius chose not to provoke Agyris, tyrant of Agyrium and second only to Dionysius in Sicily.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.88"/> Alliances were made with the Sicel cities of Agyrium, Herbita, Assorus and Herbessus.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.78</ref> In 394 BC, Messanians defeated a Rhegion attack on Messana and took Mylae, and Dionysius besieged [[Tauromenium]] in the winter of that year. The Sicels of Tauromenium defeated the night assault Dionysius launched on their city and forced him to lift the siege.<ref name="Diodorus Siculus, X.IV.88"/>

Himilco had brought 50,000 men along with 400 triremes and 600 transports<ref name="Caven, Brian, Dionysius I, pp107"/> to Sicily in 397 BC. The majority of the army had been destroyed at Syracuse, and the size of the force Mago commanded in 393 BC is not known but would have been significantly smaller than that available to Himilco.

The Libyans supplied both heavy and light infantry and formed the most disciplined units of the army. The heavy infantry fought in close formation, armed with long spears and round shields, wearing helmets and linen cuirasses. The light Libyan infantry carried javelins and a small shield, same as Iberian light infantry. The Iberian infantry wore purple-bordered white tunics and leather headgear. The heavy infantry fought in a dense phalanx, armed with heavy throwing spears, long body shields and short thrusting swords.<ref>Goldsworthy, Adrian, ''The fallFall of Carthage'', p 32 {{ISBN|0-253-33546-9}}</ref> Campanian, Sardinian, Sicel and Gallic infantry fought in their native gear,<ref>Makroe, Glenn E., ''Phoenicians'', p 84-86 {{ISBN|0-520-22614-3}}</ref> but often were equipped by Carthage. Sicels and other Sicilians were equipped like Greek [[Hoplites]], as were the Sicilian Greek mercenaries. Carthage at this time did not use elephants, but Libyans provided bulk of the heavy, four horse war chariots for Carthage.<ref>Warry, John (1993). ''Warfare in the Classical World''. pp. 98-99.</ref>

The Libyans, Carthaginian citizens and the Libyo-Phoenicians provided disciplined, well-trained cavalry equipped with thrusting spears and round shields. Numidia provided superb light cavalry armed with bundles of javelins and riding without bridle or saddle. Iberians and Gauls also provided cavalry, which relied on the all out charge. Carthage at this time did not use elephants, and there is no mention of war chariots being present in Mago’sMago's army. Carthaginian officer corps held overall command of the army, although many units may have fought under their chieftains.

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*[https://booksarchive.google.comorg/details/books?id=agdbub_gb_agd-eLVNRMMC&printsec=titlepage Diodorus Siculus translated by G. Booth (1814)] Complete book (scanned by Google)

[[Category:Battles involving ancient Syracuse]]