Battle of Himera (480 BC)

Battle of Himera
Part of the Sicilian Wars

Romanticised representation of the Battle of Himera
Date480 BC
Location
Himera, Sicily
37°58′26.39″N 13°49′26.35″E / 37.9739972°N 13.8239861°E / 37.9739972; 13.8239861
Result
  • Greek victory
  • Syracusan hegemony of Sicily
Belligerents
Syracuse
Akragas		 Carthage
Commanders and leaders
Gelo
Theron		 Hamilcar †
Strength
Unknown
50,000 infantry[1]
5,000 cavalry[1]		 Unknown
300,000[1] Modern sources estimate around 50,000
Casualties and losses
Minimal Heavy
Battle of Himera (480 BC) is located in Mediterranean
Battle of Himera (480 BC)
class=notpageimage|
Location within Mediterranean
Battle of Himera (480 BC) is located in Italy
Battle of Himera (480 BC)
Battle of Himera (480 BC) (Italy)

The Battle of Himera (480 BC), supposedly fought on the same day as the Battle of Salamis,[2] or at the same time as the Battle of Thermopylae,[3] saw the Greek forces of Gelon, King of Syracuse, and Theron, tyrant of Agrigentum, defeat the Carthaginian force of Hamilcar the Magonid, ending a Carthaginian bid to restore the deposed tyrant of Himera. The alleged coincidence of this battle with the naval battle of Salamis and the resultant derailing of a Punic-Persian conspiracy aimed at destroying the Greek civilization[4] is rejected by modern scholars.[5] Scholars also agree that the battle led to the crippling of Carthage's power in Sicily for many decades.[6][7] It was one of the most important battles of the Sicilian Wars.

The discovery in 2007 and 2008 of mass graves from the battle has confirmed the location and nature of the battle.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ a b c Diodorus Siculus XI.20
  2. ^ Herodotus, 7.166
  3. ^ Diodorus Siculus, 11.24.1
  4. ^ Diodorus Siculus, XI.1
  5. ^ Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. IV. pp. 773–774.
  6. ^ Baker, G. P. (1999). Hannibal. pp. 15–17. ISBN 0-8154-1005-0.
  7. ^ Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. IV. p. 775.
  8. ^ Bertolino, Francesco; Alaimo, Flavia; Vassallo, Stefano (2015). "Battles of Himera (480 and 409 b.c.): Analysis of Biological Finds and Historical Interpretation. Experiences of Restoration in the Ruins of Himera 2008–2010". Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage. 15 (2): 27–40. doi:10.6092/issn.1973-9494/7115.
  9. ^ "This 2500-year-old mass grave of troops from the second Battle of Himera in Sicily hides a Revelation About Ancient Greece". The Archaeologist. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  10. ^ Lidz, Franz (2022-10-04). "Hidden in 54 Corpses, a Revelation About Ancient Greece". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-11-30.