Siege of Tauromenium ( 394 BC ) The Siege of Tauromenium was laid down by Dionysius , tyrant of Syracuse , in the winter of 394 BC , in the course of the Sicilian Wars against Carthage . After defeating the Carthaginians at the Battle of Syracuse in 396 BC , Dionysius had been expanding his territory and political influence by conquering Sicel lands and planting Greek colonies in northeastern Sicily . Tauromenium was a Sicel city allied to Carthage and in a position to threaten both Syracuse and Messina . Dionysius laid siege to the city in the winter of 394 BC , but had to lift the siege after his night assault was defeated . Carthage responded to this attack on their allies by renewing the war , which was ended by a peace treaty in 392 BC that granted Dionysius overlordship of the Sicels , while Carthage retained all territory west of the Halycals and Himera rivers in Sicily . Background . Carthage had intervened in favor of Segesta in 409 BC against Selinus , which led to the sack of both Selinus and Himera in 409 BC . This led to Hermocrates raiding Punic territory , and the retaliation of Carthage saw the destruction of Akragas , Gela and Camarina by 405 BC , when a peace treaty ended the war with Carthage in control of much of Sicily and Dionysius to power in Syracuse . After strengthening Syracuse between 404 - 398 BC , Dionysius attacked the Phoenician city of Motya with an army of 80 , 000 infantry and 3 , 000 cavalry , along with a fleet of 200 warships and 500 transports carrying his supplies and war machines in 398 BC , igniting the first of four wars he was to lead against Carthage . After Dionysius sacked Motya , Himilco arrived in Sicily with an army numbering 50 , 000 men along with 400 trireme s and 600 transports . Himilco first stormed Motya , where the mostly Sicel garrison under Biton was easily overcome , then lifted the siege of Segesta , and Dionysius retired to Syracuse instead of offering battle in Western Sicily against a superior army . Himilco returned to Panormus , garrisoned the Carthaginian territories , and then sailed to Lipara and collected 30 talents of silver as tribute . The Carthaginian force next sailed for Messana and easily captured and sacked the city . The occupation of Messana gave the Carthaginians control over the Strait of Messina and a harbor that could house their entire fleet , and also put them in a position to hinder naval traffic between Italy and Sicily . The Greeks had controlled this strategic position since 725 BC . The Carthaginians were also in a position to alley with Rhegion , which was hostile to Syracuse . Strategic considerations . Himilco chose not to set up base at Messana , he probably was not confident about holding the city this far away from Carthage . Furthermore , majority of the Greeks of Messana were holed up in the hill fortresses nearby , and reducing them required time , which in turn would enable Dionysius to strengthen himself for the coming battle . The ultimate Carthaginian goal was the defeat of Syracuse , Messana was just a sideshow . Bringing reinforcements from Carthage would be time consuming as Carthage had no standing army and would need time to raise fresh mercenaries , while dividing the field army to Guard Messana would decrease his striking power against Dionysius . Himilco on the other hand could not entirely ignore the hostile Greek fortresses in his rear , as they might cause problems once he left the site . His solution was simple and ingenious at the same time , something that is termed indirect approach . The solution . Himilco chose to plant a city at Mt . Taurus , where some Sicels had already settled , and populated it with allied Sicels and fortified the place , and in doing so killed several birds with a single stone . The city was near enough to block any Greek movements from Messana but was far enough away to fall victim to a surprise attack , and it could serve as a future base of operations . Furthermore , all the Sicels hated Dionysius and except those from Assorus , they now abandoned the Greeks and either joined Himilco or went to their respective homes , decreasing the strength of Dionysius without Carthaginians striking a single blow . Epaminondas of Thebes in 370 BC used the same strategy when he rebuilt Messene and founded Megalopolis in Spartan territory after failing to take Sparta by force , and decreased their territory and manpower successfully . Sicels and Greeks : mixed relations . Before Himilco built Tauronemium , Dionysius had permitted the Sicels to settle at Naxos , a nearby Greek city Dionysius had sacked and depopulated , an act that apparently did not impress the Sicels , and they chose to join Himilco at the first opportunity . Their past history with the Greeks may have been a reason . Naxos was the first Greek colony in Sicily , settled in 734 BC on Sicel land . From that date Sicels had been the victims of Greek aggression . Leontini was the next colony , settled by Naxos , where the Greeks promised to live in peace with the Sicels . The Greeks at Leontini got colonist from Megara ( who later founded Megara Hyblea ) to drive the Sicels out of that city . On the other hand Sicels also lived on friendly terms with Greeks , Hippocrates had hired Sicel mercenaries to fight both Sicels and Greeks and slaughtered the Sicel mercenaries when convenient , Sicels and Greeks of Camarina also banded together to fight Syracuse , and much of Greek culture was absorbed by Sicel communities . The Greeks joined hands to defeat Ducetius , a Sicel warlord who tried to create a united Sicel state in the 440s . Dionysius had attacked the Sicels towns of Herbessus , Henna and Herbita prior to starting the war with Carthage , so the Sicels had cause to hate him . Sicily during 396 - 394 BC . The Carthaginians moved south towards Catana after the Sicels were secure at Tauromenium . Dionysius moved his forces to Catana also but , due to the rash tactics of his brother Leptines , the Greek fleet was heavily defeated at the naval battle of Catana . The Sicilian Greek cities which had become tributary to Carthage after 405 BC had all revolted in 398 BC , and along with the Sicels and the Sikans had joined Dionysius in his attack against Motya . After the defeat at Catana the Sicilian Greek soldiers returned to their respective homes when Dionysius decided to withstand a siege in Syracuse against their wishes . The Sicels had also turned against Dionysius after the establishment of Tauromenium and had sent soldiers to help Himilco during the siege of Syracuse in 397 BC . Himilco besieged Syracuse itself in the autumn of 397 BC . After the Carthaginian forces were devastated by a plague , Dionysius managed to decimate the Punic fleet and shut up the army survivors in their camp in the summer of 396 BC . Himilco , after bribing Dionysius , fled to Africa with Carthaginian citizens , while Dionysius enslaved the abandoned Carthaginian soldiers . Carthage : plagued by problems . The return of Himilco after abandoning his troops at the mercy of Dionysius did not sit well with the Carthaginian citizens or their African subjects . Himilco publicly took full responsibility for the debacle , dressed in rags visited all the temples of the city pleading for deliverance and finally committed suicide . The divine was not mollified as a plague swept through Africa weakening Carthage further , and to top things off , the Libyans , angered by the desertion of their kinsmen in Sicily , gathered an army numbering 70 , 000 men and besieged Carthage itself . Mago , the victor of Catana , ( and possibly a member of the Magonid family ) took command . The standing Punic army was in Sicily and recruiting a new one would have been time consuming and probably very costly ( Himilco ' s abandonment of mercenaries would have made mercenaries wary ) , so he rallied Carthaginian citizens to man the walls while the Punic navy kept the city supplied , as the Libyans had no ships to counter the Carthaginian fleet . Mago then used bribes and other means to quell the rebels . Mago in Sicily . After securing the safety of Carthage , Mago moved to Sicily , where the Punic city of Solus had been sacked by Dionysius sometime in 396 BC . Carthage was unwilling or unable to provide Mago with additional forces , and he had to make do with the Punic garrison left by Himilco and whatever forces he could gather in Sicily . The Carthaginians caught a break when Dionysius chose not to invade the Punic territories in Western Sicily immediately lifting the siege of Syracuse . The Elymian s had stayed loyal to Carthage since the start of the war , while the Sicilian Greeks and Sikans were not threatening and most of the Sicels were not hostile when Mago arrived in Sicily . Instead of trying to recover the lost Punic conquests through force , Mago adopted a policy of cooperation and friendship , giving aid to Greeks , Sikans , Sicels , Elymians and Punics regardless of their prior standing with Carthage . Many of the Greeks had been victims of the duplicity and aggression of Dionysius ( he had destroyed Greek cities Naxos , Leontini and Catana and driven out the population ) and even preferred to live under Punic rule . The Carthaginians allowed Greeks from Naxos , Catana and Leontini , made refugees by Dionysius , along with Sicels and Sikans to settle in Punic territory , while alliances were made with Sicel tribes being threatened by Dionysius . The Greeks cities , free of Carthaginian over lordship since 398 BC , now moved from a pro Syracuse position to a neutral one , either feeling threatened by Dionysius or because of the activities of Mago . Syracuse : Dionysius secures position . Dionysius did not immediately attack Punic Sicily after lifting the siege of Syracuse in 396 BC , although no formal treaty had been made ending the war with Carthage . The war had been costly and he may have been short of money , he also had to deal with a revolt of his mercenaries , and furthermore , he feared a fight to the finish with Carthage as it might end up finishing him . After securing Syracuse and resettling the rebellious mercenaries at Leontini ( or having them killed after taking them to Leontini in the pretext of handing the town to them ) , Dionysius began to secure his position in Eastern Sicily . Campaigns of Dionysius . The city of Rhegion , which is situated across Messana in the Italian mainland , was hostile to Dionysius because the tyrant was responsible for the destruction of Naxos , Catana and Leontini , fellow Ionian Greek cities of Sicily . Rhegion had aided the Syracusan rebels in 403 BC against Dionysius ( ironically Carthage helped bail Dionysius out ) and had launched an unsuccessful campaign against Syracuse in c400 BC . Furthermore , Dionysius held a personal grudge : The citizens of Rhegion told him to marry their hangman ' s daughter when he sought a wife from Rhegion . The destruction of Messana had left Rhegion in a position to dominate the Strait of Messina , and Carthage with an opportunity to join hands with Rhegion and threaten Syracuse from the north , just as Anaxilas of Rhegion had done in 480 BC against Syracuse before the 1st battle of Himera . Securing the north . Dionysius chose not to attack Carthaginians in western Sicily while the threat of Rhegion forcing a two front war on him existed , instead he rebuild and repopulated Messana with 1 , 000 colonists from Locri and 4 , 000 Medma from Italy and some from Messene in mainland Greece , who were later relocated to Tyndaris when Sparta objected to settling the Messenians in Messana . The original inhabitants of Messana , homeless since the sack of their city in 397 BC , were settled at Tyndaris , another city built by Dionysius after he forced the Sicel city of Abacaenum to cede lands to the new colony in 395 BC , which eventually housed 5 , 000 citizens . The founding of Messana and Tyndaris helped secure the north eastern coast of Sicily for Dionysius . Rhegion , fearing Dionysius might use Messana as a base against them , planted the Greek colony of Mylae between Messana and Tyndaris and populated the city with the refugees of Naxos and Catana , thus reducing the territory of Messana . The colonists of Mylai , aided by Rhegion and led by the exiled Syraccusan general Heloris , attacked the acropolis of Messana , but the Mesanians , aided by some mercaneries of Dionysius , was victorious ; the Messanians then attacked Mylae , which surrendered , the inhabitants were allowed to leave , and many took refuge with the Sicels . Prelude to Tauromeniun . Dionysius attacked the Sicels and took Smeneous ( exact location unknown ) and Morgantina , around which the Punic city Solus and Sicel city Cephaleodium was betrayed to him , the Sicel town Enna was sacked and the booty fattened his coffers . Syracusan territory by now had expanded to border Agyrium . Agyris , tyrant of Agyrium was a ruthless man , having become rich after killing the leading citizens of Agyrium , commanded 20 , 000 citizens and many fortresses and was second only to Dionysius in Sicily . Furthermore , Agyris had aided the Campanian mercenaries sent by Carthage to rescued Dionysius in 403 BC ( when the Greek rebels had him besieged in Syracuse and he was close to capitulating ) , so Dionysius had a personal debt to consider . Sicel allies of Syracuse . Dionysius chose not to provoke Agyris or Damon , ruler of Centuripae but made alliances with the Sicel cities of Agyrium , Centuripae , Herbita , Assorus ( this city had stayed loyal to Syracuse after other Sicels had deserted to Himilco when Tauromenium was founded in 397 BC ) and Herbessus . creating a buffer zone for Syracuse in central Sicily . Thus having created a buffer in Central Sicily , Dionysius resolved to deal with Rhegion . Tauromenium was sitting between the territory controlled by Syracuse and could hinder Syracusan army / fleet movements , so Dionysius chose to attack the enemy nearest to Syracuse first in the winter of 394 BC . Opposing forces . Dionysius had mustered an army of 40 , 000 foot and 3 , 000 horsemen , from both citizens and mercenaries ( at least 10 , 000 , if not more ) for attacking Motya in 398 BC , perhaps along with 40 , 000 Greek , Sicel and Sikan volunteers . At Catana in 397 BC Dionysius commanded 30 , 000 foot and 3 , 000 horse , perhaps he was short of cash to hire mercenaries and part of his forces were manning Syracuse . The exact size of the Greeks army in 394 BC is not known , nor is the role played by the Greek fleet . Greek forces . The mainstay of the Greek army was the Hoplite , drawn mainly from the citizens by Dionysius had a large number of mercenaries from Italy and Greece as well . Sicels and other native Sicilians also served in the army as hoplites and also supplied peltasts , and a number of Campanians , probably equipped like Samnite or Etruscan warriors , were present as well . The Phalanx was the standard fighting formation of the army . The cavalry was recruited from wealthier citizens and hired mercenaries . Dionysius also had the services of a number of Iberian troops , former members of Himilco ' s army . 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 . Dionysius probably had an army which was predominantly made of mercenaries , as Greek citizens liked short campaigns and were reluctant to fight during off season . Sicel warriors . The number of Sicels soldiers present at Tauromenium is not known . Large Sicilian cities like Syracuse and Akragas could field up to 10 , 000 – 20 , 000 citizens , while smaller ones like Himera and Messana between 3 , 000 – 6 , 000 soldiers . Tauromenium probably could field a similar numbers like Messana . The Sicels may have come from Italy and their forces may have displayed Oscan influence . The Sicel tribes lived in villages around a hilltop fort , their citizen force probably built around units of 100 like the Oscans and Latins . Sicel soldiers armed themselves , and may have adopted some Greek style equipment . Poorer citizens formed the infantry while wealthier citizens the cavalry . Like the Samnites , Sicels probably had troops armed with 2 javelins ( for poking and throwing ) , while some may have carried longer spear for thrusting , while hide covered round shields carried by both type of troops , who also wore helmets , shin guards and a square breastplate , with wide belts protecting their middle . Some Sicels may have borrowed the cuirass , kepis and greaves from the Greeks . Cavalry wore bronze armor and carried swords and lances . Sicels may have favored open order ambushes and raids in their mountain homeland , but also formed battle lines when needed with the javelinmen in front and lancers backing them up and cavalry protecting the flanks . Light troops were also used , and in sieges women and children could be sued as impromptu peltasts hurling tiles , bricks and other missiles . The campaign begins . The Syracusan army approached the city from the south and encamped at the ruins of Naxos and set about cutting off the access to the city . The Sicels put up a stubborn defence , the city was pearched on cliffs which were not accessible by siege engines unless siege ramps could be built . Dionysius was not interest in starving the Sicels out and set about planning an assault of the city . Dionysius chose to attack extend the siege in winter , which was unusual in ancient times as it often meant combating both the elements and the enemy , logistics were also a prime concern as the scope for foraging ( crops were not ready for harvest ) was limited . However , Dionysius may have based his decision on the fact that the Carthaginians and Rhegians , most likely source of help for the Sicels would not be prepared for a winter campaign , and the Sicels would be caught off guard as well . Defenses at Tauronemium . The city of Tauromenion was built atop the 200 m high Mt . Taurus , surrounded by ravines and walls covered the most vulnerable places . The main acropolis was built on the highest point and overlooks the town , being 212 m from sea level . The Sicel town is said to have another acropolis , which probably occupied the place of the Greek Theater . The western gate of the city was situated on the south wall . The city overlooked the site of Naxos , which was the first Greek colony in Sicily , and from that place the aggression of the Greeks against Sicels began . The Sicels were determined to hold on to Tauromenium , which was gift from Carthaginians who had never attacked them , and had enabled them to recapture the lands of their forefathers . Night commando . The most famous siege in Greek history , that of Troy , was resolved by a night attack . Dionysius was no stranger to night operations , having twice pulled off the feat at Motya and Syracuse . He had nothing like the Trojan Horse to dupe the Sicels with and was about to find out third time may not be " charmed " for him . The Sicels had refused to contest the siege openly so the Greeks settled in at Naxos . The snow covered the heights of Mt . Taurus as winter solstice approached , and the Greeks observed that the guard was slack on one of the forts of Tauromenium . Dionysius chose a moonless , stormy night to scale the walls of the fortress , probably situated on the peak where the Greek Theatre now stands with a picked group of mercenaries . The cold and the jagged sides of the cliff took their toll in the dark and Dionysius suffered cuts to his face , but the detachment managed to successfully scale the heights and take possession of the acropolis without difficulty . Urban warfare . If Dionysius hoped to avoid a fierce urban battle by launching a surprise attack he failed , because just as the Greeks entered the town led by Dionysius the Sicels woke up and began to gather , more soldiers from the Acropolis on Mt . Taurus swelled their ranks and they launched a counterattack . The soldiers of Dionysius , probably tired from their arduous climb , got clobbered , 600 Greeks were immediately were cut down and the Sicels sent the survivors tumbling down the side of the mountain . As the Greeks rolled of scrambled down the sides many lost their armor , Dionysius were one of the few who retained their breastplate – a small consolation but a matter of pride for him . Tauromenium remained untaken ; Dionysius packed up and went home . Aftermath . The defeat at Tauromenium had serious consequences . The Greeks cities of Akragas and Messana deposed the supporters of Dionysius from power when the news of the debacle became known . The situation worsened when Mago gathered up his forces and raided Messana , but Dionysius defeated the Carthaginians at the Abacaenum to prevent further damage befalling him . Tauromenium remained free for 2 more years before falling victim to super power politics . Caught in a jam at the Battle of Chrysas in 392 BC , both Mago and Dionysius agreed to terms formally concluding the war which started in 398 BC . One on the conditions was Carthage agreeing to Syracusan over - lordship of Sicels . Dionysius occupied Tauromenium in 391 BC , expelled the Sicels and installed his mercenaries on the site . In 358 BC a Greeks town was founded there , and it remained Greek until passing into Roman hands . After settling his affairs in Sicily , Dionysius began a campaign against Rhegion in 390 BC . He failed to take the city in 390 and 389 BC and finally succeeded in 387 BC . 3 years later , again he started a war with Carthage that lasted until 375 BC and ended in his defeat .