Siege of Akragas (406 BC)

Siege of Akragas (406 BC)
Part of The Sicilian Wars
Siege of Akragas 406 BC – generic representation of a possible scenario
Date April–December 406 BC Location Akragas Result Carthaginian victory Territorial changes Akragas sacked
Belligerents
Carthage	Akragas Syracuse
Commanders and leaders
Hannibal Mago Himilco Hanno	Daphnaeus Dexippus
Strength
60,000 120 triremes 1,000 transport ships	35,000 40 triremes Supply convoy
Casualties and losses
6,000 killed 15 triremes lost	8 triremes sunk Supply convoy captured Population massacred

The siege of Akragas took place in 406 BCE in Sicily; the Carthaginian enterprise ultimately lasted a total of eight months. The Carthaginian army under Hannibal Mago^[1] besieged the Dorian Greek city of Akragas in retaliation for the Greek raids on Punic colonies in Sicily. The city managed to repel Carthaginian attacks until a relief army from Syracuse defeated part of the besieging Carthaginian army and lifted the siege of the city.

During the siege, Hannibal and a large number of Carthaginian soldiers perished from the plague, and the survivors were in dire straits after the Greeks managed to cut their supply lines. The Carthaginians, now led by Himilco, a Magonid kinsman of Hannibal, managed to capture a Greek supply convoy of ships using the Carthaginian fleet, which forced the Greeks to face the threat of starvation in turn. This caused first the Sicilian Greek detachment, then most of the population of Akragas to leave the city, enabling Himilco to capture and sack the city.