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The Siege of Motya took place
either in 398 or 397 in western Sicily. Dionysius, after securing peace with
Carthage in 405, had steadily increased his military power and had tightened
his grip on Syracuse. He had fortified Syracuse against sieges and had created
a large army of mercenaries and a large fleet, in addition to employing the
catapult and quinqueremes for the first time in history. In 398, he attacked
and sacked the Phoenician city of Motya despite the Carthaginian relief effort
led by Himilco. Carthage also lost most of her territorial gains secured in 405
after Dionysius declared war on Carthage in 398.
Opponents:
Syracuse and Sicilian Greeks versus Carthage
Commanders and leaders:
Syracuse - Dionysius I ,Leptines
Carthage - Himilco
Strength:
Syracuse - 80,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, 200 ships, 500 transports
Carthage - 100,000, 100 triremes
Casualties and losses: Both Unknown Unknown
Background:
Carthage had stayed away from Sicilian affairs for 70 years after the defeat at
Himera in 480. However, Carthage, responding to the appeal for aid of Segesta
against Selinus, had sent an expedition to Sicily, resulting in the sacking of
Selinus and Himera in 409 under the leadership of Hannibal Mago. Responding to
Greek raids on her Sicilian domain, Carthage launched an expedition that
captured Akragas in 406 and Gela and Camarina in 405. The conflict ended in 405
when Himilco and Dionysius, leader of the Carthaginian forces and tyrant of
Syracuse respectively, concluded a peace treaty.
Peace of 405:
Exactly why Himilco agreed to peace is unknown; it is speculated that a plague
outbreak in the Punic army may have been the reason. Dionysius, as future
events would indicate, merely chose peace as an opportunity to gather strength
and renew the war later. The treaty secured the Carthaginian sphere of
influence in western Sicily, and made the Elymians and Sicani part of
Carthaginian sphere of influence. The Greek cities of Selinus, Akragas, Gela
and Camarina (Greeks were allowed to return to these cities) became tributary
to Carthage. Both Syracuse and Carthage pledged to respect the independence of
the Sicels, Leontini and the city of Messana.
A tyrant triumphs:
Dionysius, who had obtained his power by condemning and executing his fellow
Greek generals, faced discontent among the Greeks after he had evacuated both
Gela and Camarina after the Battle of Gela in 405. Some Syracusans tried to
stage a coup in 405, but Dionysius had managed to defeat the rebels through
speedy action and enemy bungling. After the treaty with Carthage was signed,
Syracuse was hemmed in by the territories of Camarina and Leontini, the former
a vassal of Carthage and the latter hostile to Syracuse, while the Syracusan
rebels settled in the city of Aetna.
Between 405 and 397, Dionysius increased the might of Syracuse, dealt with
attempts to overthrow him, and made Syracuse the best defended city in the
whole Greek world. His activities, briefly, were as follows: Enhancing
Syracusan defenses: Dionysius populated the island of Orytiga (where the old
city of Syracuse stood) with loyal mercenaries and close supporters, and built
a wall on the isthmus connecting it with the mainland. Two new forts were
built, one on the isthmus and one on the far end of the Epipolae Plateau at
Euryalos.
He incorporated the walls built during the Athenian Expedition into the city
for settling the people in Achradina. Finally in 402, Dionysius started
building a wall that would enclose the whole Epipolae Plateau, which was
completed by 399. Employing tens of thousands of workers working on different
sections of the wall, with Dionysius working alongside and offering prizes to
the best workers, the wall was speedily completed.
Syracuse became the best fortified city of the Greek world, and Dionysius
ensured his own security by building a fortress manned by loyal supporters
within the city walls. Enhancing combat effectiveness: Dionysius continuously
increased the size of his army by hiring mercenaries and building new ships.
Greek citizen soldiers normally supplied their own arms and armor, but
Dionysius hired workmen from Italy, Greece and Africa to supply his soldiers
with arms. Over 140,000 sets of arms, helmets and mails were made. By supplying
soldiers with standard issue arms and opening recruitment to all social
classes, Dionysius managed to increase the size of his army (prior to this,
only mercenaries and citizens able to supply their own arms were the backbone
of the army). These workmen also constructed catapults and quinqueremes, giving
him a battlefield advantage for a while. Dionysius also built 200 new warships,
refitted 110 old ones, and also commissioned 160 transports. A secret harbour
was created at Laccium covered with screens, which could house 60 triremes.
Expanding Syracuse's domain: Dionysius broke the peace treaty in 404 by
attacking the Sicel city of Herbessus. Carthage did nothing, but part of the
Syracusan army joined the Syracusan rebels from Aetna, and with help from
Messina and Rhegion, managed to besiege Dionysius in Syracuse. Dionysius
thought about fleeing the beleaguered city, and only the bungling of the rebels
and the help of some Italian mercenaries saved the day for him.
Between 403 and 398, Dionysius destroyed the Ionian Greek cities of Catana,
which was given to the Campanians, and Naxos, whose Greek citizens he sold into
slavery, and gave the city to the Sicels. Lastly, he conquered Leontini, which
surrendered without resistance. Dionysius also strengthened his ties with the
Italian Greeks by marrying a Locrian lady. His overtures of friendship with
Rhegion fell on deaf ears, however. Carthage did nothing to stop these
violations of the peace treaty, namely the attacks on the Sicels and the
conquest of Leontini. In 398 BC, Dionysius sent an embassy to Carthage to
declare war unless they agreed to give up all the Greek cities under their
control. Before the embassy returned from Carthage, Dionysius let loose his
mercenaries on Carthaginians living in Syracusan lands, putting them to the
sword and plundering their property. Then he set out for Motya with his army,
accompanied by 200 warships and 500 transports carrying supplies and war
machines.
Siege of Motya: initial steps:
As Dionysius and his army marched west along the southern coast of Sicily,
Greek cities under Carthaginian control rebelled, killed Carthaginians living
in their cities, looted their property, and sent soldiers to join Dionysius.
Sicels, Sikans, and the city of Messene also sent contingents, so by the time
Dionysius reached Motya, his army had swelled to 80,000 infantry and 3,000
cavalry. Dionysius sent his navy under his brother Leptines to blockade Motya,
and himself moved with the army to Eryx, which surrendered to him. Even the
city of Threame declared for him, leaving only the cities of Panormus, Solus,
Ancyrae, Segesta, and Entella loyal to Carthage in Sicily. Dionysius raided the
surrounding areas near the first three, then placed Segesta and Entella under
siege. After these cities had repulsed several assaults, Dionysius himself
returned to Motya to oversee the progress of the siege. It was assumed that the
cities would surrender once Motya was captured.
Fortifications at Motya:
The Phoenician city of Motya was situated on a small island in the middle of a
mostly shallow lagoon. It was surrounded by a wall which included at least 20
watch towers, and the walls often rose from the water's edge to a height 8 to 9
metres (26 to 30 ft) and thickness of 6 metres (20 ft). Lack of space had
compelled the citizens to construct houses often six floors high, which often
towered over the walls. It seemed that Motya had no standing navy, and may have
had a Carthaginian garrison stationed in the city. The island was connected to
the mainland by a mole 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) long and 10 metres (33 ft) wide
on the northern side of the island, with a gate flanked by two towers on the
island end. A mixed population of Phoenicians and Greeks lived inside the city.
The citizens cut up the mole and prepared for a siege before the Greeks arrived
to start the blockade.
Carthage comes calling:
Little is known of the activities of Carthage during 405–397 except that a
plague had swept through Africa, which had been carried by the returning army
in 405, weakening Carthage. Himilco was again given the task of responding to
the threat. While raising a mercenary army (Carthage did not maintain a
standing army) Himilco sent ten triremes to raid Syracuse itself. The raiders
entered the Great Harbour of Syracuse and destroyed all the ships they could
find. Lacking an army, Himilco was unable to pull off a feat similar to the one
Scipio African accomplished at Carthago Nova in 209: attack an almost
undefended city while the main army was away and capture it.
Himilco next manned 100 triremes with picked crews and sailed to Selinus in
Sicily, arriving at night. From there, the Punic navy sailed to Motya the
following day and fell on the transports beached near Lilybaeum, destroying all
that lay at anchor. Then the Carthaginian fleet moved into the area between
Motya and the peninsula to the west of the lagoon, trapping the beached Greek
fleet on the northern shallows of the lagoon.
Trappers trapped:
In 405, the Spartan navy under Lysander had managed to capture the majority of
the Athenian navy in the Battle of Aegospotami
while it lay at anchor. It is unknown why Himilco chose to go after the
transports instead of attacking the beached Greek warships to the north of
Motya. The loss of the war fleet would have forced Dionysius to lift the siege,
giving Himilco a chance to carry the war to Syracuse.
Himilco, however, had managed to put the Syracusan navy in a similar position
the Persians were in at the Battle of Salamis: while the Carthaginian ships had
room to maneuver, the Greeks did not, which nullified the numerical superiority
and heavier Greek ships (the Greeks had quinqueremes, the Carthaginians did
not). Had Dionysius sent ships south to meet the Carthaginians, the depth of
the lagoon would mean a small number of his ships would have emerged to the
south of Motya to face the entire Carthaginian fleet. Himilco would then have
the advantage of numbers and room to maneuver and could destroy the Greek ships
in detail. Dionysius in response launched his ships with a great number of
archers and slingers and supported them with his land-based catapults. While
these dueled with the archers and slingers on board the Carthaginian triremes,
taking a heavy toll and preventing Himilco from reaching the beached ships,
Dionysius hatched a scheme. He had his men construct a road of wooden planks on
the northern isthmus, on which 80 triremes were then hauled to the open sea to
the north of the isthmus. Once properly manned, these ships sailed south along
the peninsula. The Carthaginian fleet now facing encirclement, Himilco chose
not to fight a two-front battle against superior numbers, and sailed away to
Carthage. He had accomplished little except making a sizable dent in Syracusan
shipping.
Assault on Motya:
Without interference from the Carthaginian fleet, work on the mole progressed
smoothly. As Motya herself lacked ships, they could do little until the mole
came within range of arrows from their walls. Once the mole was completed,
Dionysius set forward his siege towers, which were taller than the walls of
Motya and equaled the height of the tallest buildings in the city. A storm of
arrows and projectiles from archers and catapults cleared the wall of
defenders. Then battering rams were employed against the gates. The Phoenicians
countered by putting men on ship masts and protecting them with breastworks
built on the walls. These "crows' nests" were then put beyond the
walls, and from these, flax, covered in burning pitch, was dropped on the siege
engines, burning them. However, the Greeks learned to douse the flames with
firefighting teams, and the engines finally reached the walls despite
Carthaginian efforts.
Urban warfare:
Forcing holes in the wall itself was only the first step in reducing the city.
As the Greek troops advanced, the Phoenicians launched a storm of projectiles
(arrows, stones) from the rooftops and houses and took a heavy toll on the
attackers. The Greeks next pushed the siege towers next to the houses closest
to the walls and sent troops on the roofs using gangways, who forced their way
into the houses. A fierce hand-to-hand struggle began, the desperate resistance
of the Phoenicians (who expected no mercy from the Greeks) taking a heavy toll
on the attackers. For several days, the grim contest continued within the
beleaguered city from dawn to dusk. Unable to gain anything in this slugging
contest, Dionysius decided to change tactics. The battle usually started at
daybreak and continued until nightfall, when the Greeks withdrew to rest. One
day, Dionysius sent a picked group of mercenaries under a Thurian named
Archylus at night with ladders to secure vantage points. Under cover of
darkness, this commando detachment managed to take hold of the positions before
the Phoenicians discovered what was going on. Thus the Greeks gained the
advantage, and now the weight of numbers was enough to overcome all resistance.
Dionysius had intended to secure as many prisoners as possible for the slave
market, but the Greeks vented their frustrations by indiscriminate killing of
the population. Dionysius could only save those who sought refuge in the
temples.
Aftermath:
Dionysius crucified all the Greeks who had fought on the side of Carthage. It
is not known if these were mercenaries employed by Carthage or citizens of
Motya. Dionysius sacked the city and divided the vast spoils among his troops.
He garrisoned the ruins with an army made mostly of Sicels under an officer
named Biton, and then marched away to continue the siege of Segesta and
Entella. It is not known what he did there, but the cities continued to resist.
The majority of the fleet sailed back to Syracuse, while Leptines remained
behind with 120 ships at Eryx. Motya as a city was never rebuilt. Himilco chose
to resettle the survivors at Lilybaeum, which would become the main base of
Carthage in future. That city would never fall to siege or assault by Greeks or
Romans while in Carthaginian possession. Carthage, however, sent an army and
fleet to Sicily under Himilco, who had been elected "king" in 397.
Himilco chose to sail to Panormus, from where the attack on Syracuse and her
allies would take place, which would culminate in the siege of Syracuse.
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