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The siege of Motyum IN 451 was the first
known attempt by the Sicel leader Ducetius to conquer an area held by one of
the major Greek powers of Sicily, and led to his greatest victory over the
Greeks at the battle of Motyum. Earlier in his career Ducetius had attacked the
Greek city of Catana IN 461, but this had been in alliance with Syracuse. He
had then spent the next few years securing his control over the Sicels, and by
451 BC was the leader of a powerful league. In 451 he turned on the Greeks
again. His first target was Aetna, the city founded by the defeated colonists
of Catana. He then turned south and besieged the city of Motyum, in the
territory of Akragas. The exact location of Motyum is unknown, but one
suggestion is Vassallaggi, west of Caltanissetta where the remains of a Greek
settlement have been found. This would put it north-east of Akragas and west of
Ducetius's main strongholds. This direct attack on one of the main Greek powers
of Sicily provoked a powerful response. Akragas and Syracuse each sent an army
to try and lift the siege, but their combined force was defeated at the battle
of Motyum in 451. Although Diodorus doesn't explicitly state that Ducetius went
on to capture Motyum, the city's fortress was in his hands in the following
year, so it is safe to assume that the garrison surrendered after the failure
of the relief army.
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