Key Facts
- Year
- 406 BC
- Duration
- Eight months
- Cause
- Retaliation for Greek raids on Punic colonies in Sicily
- Carthaginian commanders
- Hannibal Mago (died of plague); succeeded by Himilco
- Decisive factor
- Carthaginian fleet captured Greek supply convoy, starving defenders
Strategic Narrative Overview
Akragas initially resisted Carthaginian assaults, and a Syracusan relief army succeeded in defeating part of the besieging force. However, plague struck the Carthaginian camp, killing Hannibal Mago and weakening the army. The Greeks then cut Carthaginian supply lines, but Himilco, the new Carthaginian commander, countered decisively by using his fleet to seize a Greek supply convoy of ships.
01 / The Origins
In 406 BC, Carthage dispatched an army under Hannibal Mago to besiege Akragas, a prosperous Dorian Greek city on Sicily's southern coast. The campaign was launched in direct retaliation for Greek raids on Punic colonial settlements in Sicily, reflecting the ongoing struggle between Carthage and the Sicilian Greeks for control of the island during the broader Sicilian Wars.
03 / The Outcome
The capture of the Greek supply convoy reversed the strategic situation, threatening the defenders with starvation. The Sicilian Greek relief force withdrew first, followed by most of Akragas's population abandoning the city. Himilco then entered, captured, and sacked Akragas, delivering Carthage a significant territorial and psychological victory in its campaign against the Sicilian Greeks.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Hannibal Mago, Himilco.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.