Battle of White Tunis | |||||||
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Part of The Seventh Sicilian War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Carthage | Syracuse | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Hanno † Bomilcar |
Agathocles of Syracuse Archagathus | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
40,000 infantry 1,000 cavalry 2,000 chariots | Above 13,500 infantry | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Diodorus: 1,000 Justin: 3,000 Modern estimate: 3,000 |
Diodorus: 200 Justin: 2,000 Modern estimate: 500 |
The Battle of White Tunis was fought between Carthage and the tyrant Agathocles of Syracuse in 310 BC. It was the first large battle of the Agathocles' military expedition to Libya.[A] Even though heavily outnumbered by the Carthaginian army, the soldiers of Agathocles were far more experienced in warfare than the Carthaginian citizen soldiers. Another important factor was the terrain, which prevented the Carthaginians from using their numbers to outflank Agathocles. The Carthaginian suffered a serious defeat, which caused some of the Carthaginian allies to change their allegiance to Agathocles.