Battle of Himera ( 409 BC ) The Second Battle of Himera was fought near the city of Himera in Sicily in 409 BC between the Carthaginian forces under Hannibal Mago ( A king of Carthage of the Magonid family , not the famous Hannibal of the Barcid family ) and the Ionian Greeks of Himera aided by an army and a fleet from Syracuse . Hannibal , acting under the instructions of the Carthaginian senate , had previously sacked and destroyed the city of Selinus after the Battle of Selinus in 409 BC . Hannibal then attacked the city of Himera , site of the great Carthaginian defeat of 480 BC and utterly destroyed that place . Himera was never rebuilt , a new city of Thermae was built to the west of the ruined city , which contained a mixed population of Greeks and Phoenicians . Background . Phoenicians of Western Sicily had aided the Elymian s against the Dorian Greeks of Selinus in 580 BC , when a Greek colonization attempt of Lilybaeum was defeated . The invasion of Spartan Dorieus was again defeated by Carthage near Eryx in 510 BC , and a war followed where Carthage destroyed the city of Hereclea Minoa . Carthage had signed treaties with the cities of Selinus , Himera and Zankle by 490 BC . The pretext for launching the great Punic Sicilian expedition of 480 BC was the restoration of the deposed tyrant of Himera . The Sicilian Greeks under the tyrants Gelo of Syracuse and Theron of Akragas had crushed the Punic expedition in the 1st battle of Himera in 480 BC . Carthage had stayed away from Sicilian Greek affairs following the defeat for 70 years , during which time Greek culture started to penetrate the Elymian , Sikanian and Sicel cities . The political landscape in Sicily also changed as Greek tyrants were replaced by democracy and oligarchy , the domain of Syracuse shrunk and infighting between Greek cities flared up in Sicily . Athens had sent fleets to Sicily in 427 , 425 and 424 BC to intervene , which caused Hermocrates of Syracuse requesting all Sicilian Greek cities to remain at peace at the congress of Gela in 424 BC . The Elymian city of Segesta had clashed with Selinus over territorial rights and marriage issues , and had been worsted in the conflict . After an appeal to Carthage was turned down in 415 BC , Athens heeded the plea for help and sent over an expedition that was ultimately defeated at Syracuse in 413 BC . Faced with renewed hostility from Selinus , Segesta again appealed to Carthage in 410 BC . The Carthaginian Senate , after some debate , agreed to intervene . This appeal came at a time when the mainland Greek cities were locked in the Peloponnesian War , and Syracuse , an ally of Sparta , was not focused on Sicily . The Syracusan fleet was operating in the Aegean Sea . Prelude . Hannibal Mago sent two expeditions to Sicily , the first one in 410 BC which drove the Selinute army from Segestan territory , and the second one obliterated Selinus after besieging the city in 409 BC . The mission given to Hannibal by the Carthaginian Senate was fulfilled with the fall of Selinus . However , Hannibal chose to march on Himera and avenge the defeat of his grandfather 70 years ago . Opposing forces . Carthage is said to have mobilized 120 , 000 men , including 4 , 000 cavalry , recruited from Africa , Sardinia , Spain and even Sicilian Greeks for the Selinute campaign in 409 BC , but a realistic estimate is around 40 , 000 soldiers . The Carthaginian army , after the battle of Selinus , had been reinforced by 20 , 000 Sicel and Elymian soldiers on the way to Himera , boosting its strength to 50 , 000 soldiers at that point . Carthaginian Cohorts . The Carthaginian army was made up of many nationalities . The Libyans supplied both heavy and light infantry and formed the most disciplined units of the army . The heavy infantry fought in close formation , armed with long spears and round shields , wearing helmets and linen cuirasses . The light Libyan infantry carried javelins and a small shield , same as Iberian light infantry . The Iberian infantry wore purple bordered white tunics and leather headgear . The Heavy infantry fought in a dense phalanx , armed with heavy throwing spears , long body shields and short thrusting swords . Campanian , Sicel , Sardinian and Gallic infantry fought in their native gear , but often were equipped by Carthage . Sicels and other Sicilians were equipped like Greek Hoplites . The Libyans , Carthaginian citizens and the Libyo - Phoenicians provided disciplined , well trained cavalry equipped with thrusting spears and round shields . Numidia provided superb light cavalry armed with bundles of javelins and riding without bridle or saddle . Iberians and Gauls also provided cavalry , which relied on the all out charge . Carthage at this time did not use elephants , but Libyans provided bulk of the heavy , four horse war chariots for Carthage , which was not present at Himera in 409 BC . Carthaginian officer corps held overall command of the army , although many units may have fought under their chieftains . Greek forces . The mainstay of the Greek army was the Hoplite , drawn mainly from the citizens and mercenaries . Sicels and other native Sicilians also served in the army as hoplites and also supplied peltasts , which is a unit where the poorer citizens also served . The Phalanx was the standard fighting formation of the army . The cavalry was recruited from wealthier citizens and hired mercenaries . Large Sicilian cities like Syracuse and Akragas could field up to 10 , 000 – 20 , 000 citizens , while smaller ones like Himera and Messana mustered between 3 , 000 – 6 , 000 soldiers . Syracuse had sent a relief force , originally recruited for aiding Selinus to Himera , it included 3 , 000 soldiers from Syracuse , 1 , 000 from Akragas and probably 1 , 000 mercenaries . Battle . Hannibal marched to Himera probably using the same route taken by the Selinus horsemen in 480 BC and set up his main camp on the west of the city , while about a third of the army encamped to the south of Himera . The city of Himera sits on top of a hill 300 – 400 feet high on the western bank of the River Himera . The hill is steep in the northern , western and eastern sides but gradually slopes to the south . There are hills to the west and south of the city . Instead of building a circumventing wall and fully investing the city , The Carthaginians assaulted the walls with the help of siege towers and battering rams after setting up their camps . However , the city walls withstood the attack and no breaches could be made for the Punic infantry to exploit . Hannibal then sent sappers , who dug tunnels under the walls and collapsed sections of it by setting fire to the wooden support beams . Carthaginian infantry then attacked through the gap , but The Himerans repulsed the Punic assault on the city , and then threw up makeshift walls to close the breaches . Sometime after this event , Syracusan general Diocles arrived with 3 , 000 Syracusan hoplites , 1 , 000 soldiers from Akragas and another 1 , 000 mercenaries and entered the city . Joining the Himeran force of about 10 , 000 troops ( majority hoplite s with some cavalry and peltast s ) , the Greeks launched a surprise attack on the Punic lines , probably on the forces posted on the south of the city . The Greeks achieved total surprise and in the confusion , Carthaginian troops fought each other as well as Greeks . As the Carthaginians ultimately broke and fled after losing about 6 , 000 soldiers , Greek soldiers went after the scattered remnants of their enemy . At this point , Hannibal launched a counterattack with the force he had held in reserve at the other camp ( to the wast of Himera ) , routed the Greeks and chased them back into the city , with 3 , 000 Greeks losing their lives in the debacle . The main Syracusan fleet was away from Sicily , but 25 trireme s had arrived at Himera after the battle from Syracuse . As the Carthaginian fleet was at Motya , their arrival gave the Greeks command of the sea around Himera . Hannibal spread a false report that the Punic army was going to attack Syracuse after sailing there from Motya , as the main army of Syracuse was approaching Himera , thus leaving their city unguarded . This convinced the Syracusans to leave Himera for their mother city . The city of Himera had little chance of withstanding the Carthaginians on their own , so they decided to evacuate the city . Diocles marched out of the city with half the men and all his troops at night , the Syracusan ships evacuated as many of the women and children as possible . The Carthaginians resumed their assaults the next day . The city managed to hold out for 1 day . Just as the Syracusan fleet was returning and was within sight of the city the following day , the Carthaginians broke through . Iberian troops of the Punic army had managed to secure a gap in the wall , and also the sections of the wall flanking the gap . This held off the Greeks until the Carthaginian army stormed the city through the gap , and the reduced garrison of Himera was overcome by weight of numbers . Acts of Vengeance . Hannibal sacrificed 3 , 000 Greek prisoners at the place where Hamilcar , his grandfather and leader of the 480 BC expedition , had fallen . The city of Himera was utterly destroyed , even all the temples were flattened to the ground , and the women and children were enslaved . Hannibal did not , however , divert a river over the city site ( like the Greeks did at Sybaris in 511 BC ) to complete his revenge . The spoils of war were divided among his troops , and the prisoners were sold into slavery . The Italian mercenaries , who mostly led the assault , complained that they had been abused by their commander and that their payment was not sufficient . They were subsequently discharged . Ironically , they took service with the Greeks . Aftermath . Hannibal did not go after Akragas or Syracuse , the Sicilian cities mainly responsible for the humiliation at Himera at 480 BC after sacking Himera . He disbanded his army ( the remaining Italian mercenaries chose to take service with Syracuse ) , garrisoned the Punic territory with sufficient troops and returned to Carthage with the fleet , where he was received with honors . Himera as a city would never be rebuilt again . The survivors of Himera built a city called Thermae nearby , which housed a mixed population of Greeks and Phoenicians . The Greek response to the sack of Himera was mild . Syracuse chose to expand her fleet and Akragas began to expand her army , but no official action was taken against Carthage or the Punic territory in Western Sicily . Hermocrates , a Syracusan general , chose to use the sack of Himera to set up a base at Selinus around 407 BC and raid the territories of Motya and Panormus , which provoked a strong Carthaginian response and almost the whole of Sicily fell under Carthaginian domination by 405 BC .