The Carthaginian sack of Selinus in 409 BC opened the Second Sicilian War and began Hannibal Mago's campaign to avenge the Carthaginian defeat at Himera in 480 BC.
Key Facts
- Date
- Early 409 BC
- Duration of siege
- Ten days
- Conflict
- Second Sicilian War
- Carthaginian commander
- Hannibal Mago (Magonid dynasty)
- Trigger
- Selinus defeated Segesta in 411 BC; Segesta appealed to Carthage
- Outcome for Selinus
- City besieged and sacked; later rebuilt but diminished
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Selinus had repeatedly defeated the Elymian city of Segesta, most recently in 411 BC. Segesta appealed to Carthage for aid. Carthage, which also sought to avenge its defeat at the first Battle of Himera in 480 BC, offered negotiations to Selinus; when the Greeks refused, Carthage resolved to attack.
Early in 409 BC, Carthaginian forces under Hannibal Mago, a king of Carthage from the Magonid family, besieged the Greek city of Selinus in Sicily. After a ten-day siege, Carthaginian troops broke into the city, sacking it and defeating its Dorian Greek defenders in what became the opening engagement of the Second Sicilian War.
Selinus was sacked and fell from prominence. Though the city was later rebuilt, it never recovered its former status. The battle marked the first step in Hannibal Mago's broader campaign of revenge for Carthage's earlier defeat at Himera, setting the stage for further Carthaginian offensives in Sicily.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Hannibal Mago.
Side B
1 belligerent