Siege of Akragas (406 BC)

Siege of Akragas (406 BC)
Part of The Sicilian Wars

Siege of Akragas 406 BC – generic representation of a possible scenario
DateApril–December 406 BC
Location
Result Carthaginian victory
Territorial
changes
Akragas sacked
Belligerents
Carthage Akragas
Syracuse
Commanders and leaders
Hannibal Mago
Himilco Hanno
Daphnaeus
Dexippus
Strength
60,000
120 triremes
1,000 transport ships
35,000
40 triremes
Supply convoy
Casualties and losses
6,000 killed
15 triremes lost
8 triremes sunk
Supply convoy captured
Population massacred

The siege of Akragas took place in 406 BCE in Sicily; the Carthaginian enterprise ultimately lasted a total of eight months. The Carthaginian army under Hannibal Mago[1] besieged the Dorian Greek city of Akragas in retaliation for the Greek raids on Punic colonies in Sicily. The city managed to repel Carthaginian attacks until a relief army from Syracuse defeated part of the besieging Carthaginian army and lifted the siege of the city.

During the siege, Hannibal and a large number of Carthaginian soldiers perished from the plague, and the survivors were in dire straits after the Greeks managed to cut their supply lines. The Carthaginians, now led by Himilco, a Magonid kinsman of Hannibal, managed to capture a Greek supply convoy of ships using the Carthaginian fleet, which forced the Greeks to face the threat of starvation in turn. This caused first the Sicilian Greek detachment, then most of the population of Akragas to leave the city, enabling Himilco to capture and sack the city.

  1. ^ A king of Carthage of the Magonid family, not the famous Hannibal of the Barcid family.