The Betrayal of Acragas occurred in 390-389 BC when the Sicilian Greek city-state of Syracuse, ruled by Tyrant Dionysius I, betrayed and quickly conquered the allied city-state of Acragas following the expulsion of the Carthaginians from Sicily in 393 BC. Entella and Panormos (Palermo) fell to Syracuse in the autumn of 390 BC, followed by the capital of Acragas in the winter. The Acragantine archon Philippos, who had escaped from Acragas aboard his fleet, landed at Mazzara in 389 BC and marched north to attack the Syracusan-held city of Motya (Marsala), but his sizable mercenary army was defeated by the Syracusan garrison and Philippos slain. Philippos' defeat and death prevented the restoration of Acragantine independence, and, within a few years, the city of Acragas and its former colonies were enjoying high public order and prosperity under Syracusan rule.
Background[]
At the turn of the 4th century BC, the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I made plans to unify the Greek city-states of Sicily under his rule to present a united front against the expansionist North African empire of Carthage. To this end, he allied with the city-state of Acragas to provide a western buffer against Carthage as he conquered the northern city-state of Agyrion, which refused to accept Syracusan overlordship. The Syracusan-Agyrian War resulted in the Syracusan conquest of eastern Sicily by 396 BC, and, at the same time, the Acragantines and Carthaginians engaged in a series of seesaw battles for control of the western town of Entella. With eastern Sicily under his control, and friendly diplomatic and trade relations established with Rhegion across the Strait of Messina, Dionysius then decided to focus on western Sicily. Dionysius decided not to make a move on his Acragantine allies until the Carthaginian threat was erased, so he masterminded a two-pronged offensive with the dual purpose of dividing Carthage's attention and weakening the Acragantine military: he sent his general Hipparinus to march from Kephaloidion (Cefalu) west to the Carthaginian city of Motya (Marsala), which he was to seize in a land assault. Meanwhile, Archon Hermolaos of Akragas was to send a sizable naval expedition to attack the Carthaginian city of Kerkouane in North Africa (present-day Tunisia) to draw Carthaginian naval and land forces back to Africa. After an initial failure in 394 BC, Hipparinus was able to take Motya by storm in the early months of 393 BC, driving the Carthaginians from Sicily. At the same time, Acragas lost the flower of its military and navy in a decisive naval battle off Kerkouane, in which the Carthaginian ruler Himilco II and his admiral Surulio annihilated the Acragantine fleets. This left Acragas weakened, and Dionysius decided to take advantage of the situation to send an embassy to Acragas asking for Acragas to become a Syracusan client state. Acragas refused, but Hermolaos did not suspect a betrayal, and he agreed to Dionysius' request to personally lead a large army in another expedition against Kerkouane. Meanwhile, Dionysius marched his army from Messini (Messina) in the northeast to the outskirts of Entella as his general Hipparinus marched from Motya (Marsala) in the west to the outskirts of Panormos (Palermo) in the north, lying in wait for the chance to strike.
War[]
Once Dionysius had determined that Hermolaos' fleet was far enough out at sea that the Archon would not be able to return in time to intercede, Dionysius gave the order for his armies to attack. Hipparinus' 2,280-strong army captured Panormos with 291 losses, while Dionysius' 2,680-strong army took Entella with a mere 121 losses. In spite of Syracuse's lightning victories, Hermolaos decided to finish his expedition against Kerkouane before he could return to save Acragas; he deputized this task to his generals Neoptolemus and Philippos, whose fleets guarded the city's harbor. In the winter of early 389 BC, Dionysius and Hipparinus' armies joined forces for a combined assault on Acragas, taking the city with 1,284 losses. In spite of the heavy Syracusan casualties, Acragas fell, and the death of Hermolaos in another failed naval attack on Kerkouane left Philippos - still at sea with his badly-bruised army - as the de jure Archon of Acragas.
Philippos made his unceremonious return to Sicily in the summer of 389 BC, landing at Matsara (Mazara del Vallo) with the remnants of his army. Philippos used the last of the Acragantine treasury to hire a large number of Sicilian mercenaries (with a small contingent of African cavalry), and he marched north to attack the seemingly undefended Syracusan city of Motya (Marsala). However, the garrison consisted of well-trained Syracusan soldiers and sailors, and, in the ensuing Battle of Motya, the garrison defeated the Acragantine mercenary army without the need for support from either Dionysius or Hipparinus. Philippos and the vast majority of his men were killed, putting an end to the Acragantine cause.
Aftermath[]
The fall of Acragas left Sicily under the full control of Syracuse, and Dionysius proceeded to embark on an ambitious and prestigious campaign of infrastructrual improvements across the island, building massive and thriving harbors, expanding Sicily's cities, sending out colonists to forge new Greek colonies, improving the quality of his armies' armor and weapons, and overseeing fast-paced technological research which made Sicily a thriving, united island. At the same time, Dionysius was in a position to interfere with matters back in Greece, sending a proficient admiral to aid Sparta in a naval campaign in 388 BC, sending weapons experts to help supply Sparta's new recruits in 387 BC, sending food to Corinth to offset the impact of foreign raids on Corinthian grain supplies in 386 BC, sending master builders to Corinth in 384 BC to help the Corinthians build a new barracks, and sending wise men to educate Sparta's commanders in philosophy in 383 BC. Hoping to prevent Carthage from returning to Sicily, Dionysius also sent the spy Dorothea of Gela to establish contact with the Nuragic tribes of Sardinia, who were resisting the Carthaginian conquest of their island, and he concluded trade agreements with the Nuragic peoples. In 383 BC, Syracuse was finally in a position to expand out of Sicily, resulting in the Syracusan capture of Kerkouane in North Africa in 382 BC.