The Battle of Ponte, also known as the Battle of Motya, was the final battle fought between the Sicilian Greek city-states of Syracuse and Acragas, occurring in the spring of 390 BC. The Acragantine archon Philippos, having landed in Sicily with the remnants of the Acragantine navy, spent the last of the Acragantine treasury on recruiting a predominantly-mercenary army of Sicilian tribesmen and slingers and African cavalry, and his army vainly attacked the seemingly undefended Syracusan city of Motya (Marsala). The attack ended in disaster, and Philippos and most of his soldiers were killed; the rest were either captured or melted away into the countryside, putting an end to the Acragantine cause. While the battle occurred in the town of Motya, the Syracusan garrison commander Asopus coined it the "Battle of Ponte" after the city's southern suburb of Ponte, as - while a sizable number of mercenaries did manage to enter Motya and wreck its marketplace during the battle - Asopus sought for the battle to be remembered as an occasion when his leadership prevented the attackers from even reaching the city of Motya itself. The final bloodshed of the battle did occur on the city's outskirts, lending credence to Asopus' claim that most of the battle was fought at Ponte.
Background[]
In 390 BC, the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I - intent on unifying Sicily under the rule of a single Greek city-state - betrayed his erstwhile ally of Acragas, his armies capturing Panormos (Palermo) and Entella (Contessa Entellina) in surprise attacks in the summer of 390 BC before marching south to besiege Acragas itself in the autumn of 390 BC. The Syracusan armies stormed Acragas in the winter of early 389 BC, and the Acragantine general Philippos was unable to relieve the city with his seaborne army, forcing his battered men to retreat to their ships and sail out to the Mediterranean Sea. From there, Philippos decided to attempt a revival of the Acragantine cause, sailing northwest and landing at Matsara (Mazara del Vallo) in southwestern Sicily. As he marched inland in the spring of 390 BC, Philippos spent the last of the Acragantine treasury on gathering a mercenary army consisting of native Sicel tribal warriors and slingers, as well as a troop of North African horsemen. This motley assortment of 1,232 Greek, Sicilian, and African warriors marched north to attack the seemingly undefended Syracusan city of Motya (Marsala) on the western coast, from which Philippos intended to lead continued resistance to Dionysius' attempts to unify Sicily.
Battle[]
However, the garrison of Motya included a city garrison of 1,400 troops and a naval garrison of 220 troops, outnumbering the mercenaries. The commander of the city's garrison, Asopus, son of Asasthenes, arranged for the fleet commander Aenesidemos, son of Amyntor to land his slingers and warriors on the beach, as he intended to utilize the whole garrison to defend the city. The first clashes occurred on the Sicilian right flank, where Sicilian tribesmen reached the outskirts of the city and clashed with Syracusan hoplites and Greek slingers. The rest of the mercenary army, however, advanced on the city from the Syracusan left flank, with the African cavalry leading the charge. Asopus led his hoplites to repel the cavalry attack, using their spears to butcher the poorly-armored Africans and their horses. The Syracusan army, which had been given orders to march out of the city and give battle, was then ordered to wheel around and attack the mercenary forces who were attacking the city on the Syracusan left flank. The rest of the battle devolved into a confused slaughter as the Syracusans rushed to attack the Sicilians before they could enter the city. The fields outside of the city were littered with the dead of poorly-armored Sicilian mercenaries who were cut down by Syracusan spears and shields, and, while Philippos and his well-armored bodyguards fought valiantly and slaughtered several Syracusan slingers sent to attack them, they were eventually overwhelmed by other slingers and common townsfolk before the rest of the Syracusan army could arrive. The Sicilian mercenaries dispersed into the surrounding countryside, and Philippos' death ended the Acragantine cause's hopes of restoring their city's independence.
Aftermath[]
Motya's marketplace after the battle
The Battle of Motya was largely symbolic, as the Greek colonists of Syracuse finally defeated the native Sicels of Sicily and unified the island under Hellenic rule for the first time. While Dionysius' reputation temporarily suffered due to his betrayal of Acragas, the cities subjugated by his armies became happy subjects of his within months, as he embarked on bold infrastructure projects which led to the port cities of Sicily prospering from trade with Magna Graecia and Sardinia, Sicily's agriculture and livestock farms generating great amounts of wealth, Sicily's great cities expanding as populations boomed and new buildings (such as amphitheatres) were built, and the Syracusan treasury skyrocketed. Within a matter of years, the animosities between the Punics, Sicels, and Greeks from the 390s BC had faded as Syracusan-ruled Sicily became an economic and cultural powerhouse.
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