The Battle of Scilla was the first battle of the Syracusan-Rhegian War, fought in southern Calabria in 381 BC. In that battle, the armies of Rhegion advanced north from their capital city (present-day Reggio Calabria) to confront two invading Syracusan armies which had crossed the Strait of Messina from the Sicilian port of Messini; in the ensuing fight, the Syracusans smashed Rhegion's two largest armies and cleared the way for a siege of Rhegion.
Background[]
In 389 BC, the Syracusan capture of the Sicilian city of Agrigento marked the completion of Dionysius I of Syracuse's project of unifying Sicily under Syracusan Greek rule. With Sicily firmly under his control, and with his coffers brimming with gold from his realm's great wealth, Dionysius next set his sights on two projects: the destruction of Carthage in North Africa, and the conquest of Magna Graecia in southern Italy. Throughout the 380s BC, Syracuse quietly built up its military strength while basking in the splendor of wealth and cultural achievements; in 382 BC, Dionysius moved his general Hilarion's "Defenders of Olympus" army from Entella (Contessa Entellina) to Messina, while having his admiral Dolops raise "The Winds of Ouranos" fleet in Messina to facilitate a crossing of the Strait of Messina into Calabria.
In the spring of 381 BC, Dionysius decided to launch his long-awaited invasion of the neighboring polis of Rhegion. His and Hilarion's armies were ferried across the Strait of Messina by Dolops' fleet, and Dionysius proceeded to declare war on Archon Euphemios of Rhegion, making it clear that his two armies wished to challenge Euphemios' armies to battle in the grassland north of Rhegion (Reggio Calabria). The Rhegian generals Akakios and Epistor accepted the Syracusans' challenge, marching north from Rhegion with their armies and meeting the two Syracusan armies at Scilla (the purported location of the mythological beast Scylla).
Battle[]
The two armies were evenly matched in terms of numbers; Dionysius and Akakios' armies faced off against each other first, with Epistor's reinforcements coming up behind Akakios' army and Hilarion's Syracusan army marching onto the battlefield to threaten the Rhegians' left flank. The two Rhegian armies combined forces before Hilarion's Syracusan army attacked the Rhegians from the flank and rear, and the battle devolved into a confused melee as Dionysius struggled to assume command over both Syracusan armies. However, the Syracusans ultimately got the better of their encircled foes, inflicting heavy losses and all but destroying their foes. The remnants of the Rhegian armies fell back to Rhegion, enabling Dionysius and Hilarion to besiege Rhegion itself as Dionysius' son Dionysius the Younger marched north to capture Locri, the birthplace of his mother Doris of Locri.
Gallery[]
