Treaty with Rome Carthage concluded treaties with several states, most notably with
Rome. Signed in 509 BC, the treaty formalized a division of influence and commercial activities. This treaty is the first known source suggesting that Carthage had gained control over
Sicily and
Sardinia, as well as Emporia and the area south of Cape Bon in Africa. Carthage may have signed the treaty with Rome, then an insignificant backwater, because Romans had treaties with the Phocaeans and Cumae, who were aiding the Roman struggle against the Etruscans at that time. Carthage had similar treaties with Etruscan, Punic and Greek cities in Sicily. By the end of the 6th Century BC, Carthage had conquered most of the old Phoenician colonies e.g.
Hadrumetum,
Utica and
Kerkouane, subjugated some of the
Libyan tribes, and had taken control of parts of the North African coast from modern
Morocco to the borders of
Cyrenaica. It was also fighting wars to defend its Punic colonies and commerce. However, only the details of her struggle against the Greeks have survived, which has led to the impression that Carthage seemed "obsessed with Sicily".
First Sicilian War The island of Sicily, lying at Carthage's doorstep, became the arena on which this conflict played out. From their earliest days, both the Greeks and Phoenicians had been attracted to the large island, establishing a large number of colonies and trading posts along its coasts. Small battles had been fought between these settlements for decades. Carthage had to respond to at least three Greek incursions, in 580 BC, in 510 BC (involving
Dorieus the Spartan, brother of
Cleomenes I) and, according to
Diodorus Siculus, a war in which the city of
Heraclea Minoa was destroyed. The Punic domain in Sicily by 500 BC contained the cities of Motya,
Panormus and
Soluntum. By 490 BC, Carthage had concluded treaties with the Greek cities of
Selinus,
Himera, and
Zankle in Sicily. Gelo, the
tyrant of Greek
Syracuse, backed in part by support from other Greek
city-states, was attempting to unite the island under his rule since 485 BC. When
Theron of Akragas, father in law of Gelo, deposed the tyrant of Himera in 483 BC, Carthage decided to intervene at the instigation of the tyrant of
Rhegion, who was the father-in-law of the deposed tyrant of Himera. Hamilcar prepared the largest Punic overseas expedition to date and after three years of preparations, sailed for Sicily. This enterprise coincided with the expedition of
Xerxes against mainland Greece in 480 BC, prompting speculation about a possible alliance between Carthage and Persia against the Greeks, although no firm evidence of this exists. The Punic fleet was battered by storms en route, and the Punic army was destroyed and Hamilcar killed in the
Battle of Himera by the combined armies of Himera, Akragas and Syracuse under Gelo. Carthage made peace with the Greeks and paid a large indemnity of 2000 silver talents, but lost no territory in Sicily. ==Weakening of kings==