The Battle of Kerkouane was a battle which was fought between the Greek city-state of Syracuse and the North African mercantile power of Carthage in 382 BC. A Greek expedition led by Hipparinus captured the North African port town of Kerkouane in an amphibious assault, threatening the city of Carthage itself.
Background[]
During the early 4th century BC, the Sicilian Greek city-state of Syracuse rose to preeminence on the island, conquering its neighboring poleis and driving the Carthaginians from the island by capturing Motya (Marsala) in 393 BC. By 389 BC, Syracuse had completed its conquest of Sicily by conquering Acragas (Agrigento), and, over the next few years, the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse presided over a series of public works projects which made Syracuse a cultural and economic powerhouse.
However, the threat of a Carthaginian invasion from North Africa lingered, a problem which Dionysius had to deal with before he could work on his ambition of invading and conquering the Greek city-states of southern Italy and becoming the overlord of Magna Graecia. Dionysius was also longing for another war to occupy his attention, as he had built up several large armies of experienced, battle-hungry men during his conquest of Sicily. In the autumn of 384 BC, he dispatched his trusted general Hipparinus with a large army, the Hecatoncheires, to embark on Praxiteles' four-ship fleet, Charybdis' Terror, and cross the Mediterranean for a landing at Cape Bon in North Africa. This expedition's objective would be to capture the coastal town of Kerkouane, establishing a foothold on the African continent and threatening Carthage itself; Dionysius believed that the capture of Kerkouane would pressure Carthage into granting Syracuse favorable peace terms, and would also draw Carthaginian attention away from the conquest of Sardinia. At the same time, Syracuse managed its external affairs by sending wise men to educate Sparta's army commanders in matters of philosophy (rather than sending Athens an admiral for a surprise attack on an enemy port, or sending veterans to reinvigorate Corinth's army), and Syracusan spies on Sardinia watched as the Carthaginian armies overwhelmed the island.
Battle[]
In the autumn months of late 383 BC, the Syracusan invasion fleet arrived off Cape Bon. In the winter months of early 382 BC, the 2,980-strong Syracusan expedition commenced its seaborne attack on Kerkouane, which had a combined land and naval garrison of 1,660 troops. The Syracusan assault took the Carthaginians by surprise, and the much larger, better-experienced Greek army easily triumphed over the smaller Syracusan garrison. The Syracusans lost only 593 dead, and Kerkouane came under Greek control.
Aftermath[]
The Syracusan capture of Kerkouane succeeded in its objective of establishing a foothold in North Africa, but the Carthaginians were resolutely unwilling to make peace with their Greek rivals. Nevertheless, Syracuse succeeded in expanding its trade routes with the establishment of a new colony; by the summer of 382 BC, Syracuse's treasury had boomed to 92,018 drachmae, with a seasonal increase of 5,909 drachmae.