Siege of Syracuse (311–309 BC)

The Carthaginians were blockading the harbor of Syracuse with a fleet of triremes which greatly outnumbered the sixty ships of Agathocles had manned. Agathocles had to wait for a suitable opportunity to leave Syracuse. This moment came when a few grain ships en route for the harbor of Syracuse arrived. When the Carthaginian fleet temporarily lifted the blockade to chase the grain ships, Agathocles quickly led his fleet out of the port.[4]

The Carthaginians at first thought Agathocles intended to rescue the grain ships, so they turned to face him in a battle formation. When they noticed the Greek fleet was escaping and getting a headstart, they proceeded to pursue it. Meanwhile, the grain ships entered the port and brought welcome relief to the city, were food was already becoming scarce. The Greek fleet was almost overtaken by the Carthaginians, but was saved when night set in, making further pursuit impossible. A solar eclipse which was observed the next day allows for pinpointing the date of August the 15th in 310 BC.[5]

When Agathocles arrived in Libya, he burned his fleet to remove any means of escape for his soldiers. Also, he did not want to leave a part of his force to guard the triremes or allow them to be captured by the Carthaginians.[6] When Agathocles had left the landing site, the Carthaginians took the bronze beaks of the burnt Greek ships to Carthage.[7] Agathocles proceeded to loot and destroy the cities of Megalepolis and White Tunis[8] and defeated the Carthaginians in the Battle of White Tunis in the same year.

After their defeat in the battle of White Tunis the Carthaginians sent messengers to Hamilcar in Sicily. They asked him for assistance as soon as possible and delivered him the bronze beaks of the Greek ships. Hamilcar sent some of the messengers to Syracuse with the bronze beaks. They presented the beaks as evidence to convince the Syracusans that the army of Agathocles had been destroyed and to ask for their surrender. Many inhabitants believed the story and mourned their lost relatives, but the magistrates were in doubt and turned away the Carthaginian messengers. Even so, some desperate citizens fled the city and were offered safety by Hamilcar. Hamilcar, thinking that the morale of the Syracusans was broken and that they lacked men to defend the city, prepared to assault the walls of Syracuse.[9]

Hamilcar offered safety to Antander and the other leaders if they surrendered the city. However Erymnon the Aetolian, who had been appointed co-ruler with him by Agathocles, disagreed. He convinced the leading men to wait until they had more certainty of the fate of Agathocles. Meanwhile, Agathocles had built two ships and sent them to Syracuse to bring news of his victory in Libya. As they approached Syracuse they were spotted by Carthaginian ships, which pursued them. The Greek ships barely managed to escape and entered the port of Syracuse. There, the inhabitants of the city, including those who defended the walls, quickly gathered to hear the news.[10]

Hamilcar noticed the walls were now undefended when the inhabitants flocked to the port and exploited this mistake. He sent his strongest troops to the walls with scaling ladders and climbed the walls without being noticed. When they were about to occupy the walls, they were spotted and attacked by Greek guards on patrol. The guards were quickly joined by other defenders, who arrived before the Carthaginian reinforcements. The Greeks got the upper hand and killed some of the attackers, who retreated. Hamilcar withdrew his army from the walls. Because he had not been able to take Syracuse that day, he decided to send 5000 soldiers to the aid of Carthage in response to the request of the messengers.[10]

At this point the siege had progressed to 309 BC. Hamilcar had by now occupied the area around the Olympieum (which was situated south of the city on the shore of the Great Harbour, near the mouth of the Anapus River) and prepared a second attack on the walls. When the Syracusans learned of this, they sent 3,000 infantry and 400 cavalry to Euryalus Castle, which was part of the defensive walls.[11] The Carthaginian army was much larger, with 120,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry.[12] In opposition to this estimate of Diodorus Siculus, a modern estimate for the size of the Carthaginian army is 30,000 to 36,000 infantry and 4,000 to 4,500 cavalry.[13]

The Carthaginians advanced towards the walls at night to avoid being seen, with Hamilcar at the front. He was followed by the Syracusan exile Deinocrates, who commanded the cavalry. The infantry was divided in two groups, one composed of Carthaginians and the other with the Greek allies of Carthage. They were followed by an unruly crowd of camp followers who wished to profit from the eventual plunder of Syracuse. Because the roads were rough and narrow, fights broke out between the camp followers and the baggage train over the right of way. This created significant confusion and disorder in the Carthaginian ranks.[14]

The chaotic advance of the Carthaginian army had not gone unnoticed by the Syracusans at Euryalus Castle. They sallied forth and capitalized on the confusion of their enemy, attacking them from higher ground. Because of the darkness of night the Carthaginian army thought they were being attacked by a much larger force. Being in disarray, in a disadvantaged position and unaware of the terrain, the Carthaginian army routed. Because the roads were narrow, some of the Carthaginian infantry were trampled by their own cavalry. In the darkness some of them even fought among themselves because they took each other for enemies. Hamilcar himself stood his ground, but he was captured alive by the Syracusans as the soldiers around him fled.[15]