With the arrival of Mago, Carthaginian foreign policy appears to have changed dramatically. If previously Carthage had tentatively colonized the island of
Ibiza on its own, it now took the lead, establishing itself firmly as the dominant Phoenician military power in the western Mediterranean. Mago was succeeded by his son
Hasdrubal I. The next successor was
Hamilcar I, the son of Hasdrubal's brother Hanno. Carthage, always trying to rid itself of its opponent, the
Greeks, might even have entered into an alliance with the
Persian Xerxes (the accounts are unsure) in order to defeat the joint foe.
Herodotus tells that it was believed that the decisive
battle of Himera between Carthaginian and Greek forces on
Sicily took place on the very same day that the Greeks met with the Persians in the famous
battle of Salamis in 480 BCE in Greece itself. But the Greeks were victorious in both battles and Hamilcar met his death at Himera. After Hamilcar's death, the dynasty continued with Hamilcar's son
Hanno II 'the Navigator' up to 440 BCE, under whom a large part of Carthage's African dominions were conquered and more of the Atlantic coast of Africa was explored and settled. Great advances were also made in African inland trade. Meanwhile, Carthage appeared to make an effort in keeping itself out of any new wars on Sicily. This peace and newly acquired vast trading empire also helped rebuild the Carthaginian military forces. By 410 BCE
Hannibal I (son of Gisco and grandson of Hamilcar) was the king of Carthage. He immediately set out on a new campaign in Sicily, which in 409 BCE ended in the utter destruction of the city of
Selinus, ally of the powerful Greek city state of
Syracuse. Hannibal achieved true notoriety with the sheer destruction he wrought and with the cruelty with which he slaughtered thousands of prisoners. It was at the siege of the Greek city of
Agrigentum that an
epidemic swept through the Carthaginian camp which killed Hannibal. Hannibal's cousin
Himilco II (son of Hanno the Navigator and grandson of Hamilcar) now assumed the reins of power of Carthage. He was only formally crowned king in 396 BCE, but this most likely means that a Carthaginian king could only be installed in the city of Carthage itself and so he had to wait to receive his title formally until he returned home from Sicily. He spent his time on Sicily in an on-and-off war with the great Syracusan tyrant
Dionysius I of Syracuse until in 396 BCE he was disastrously defeated, fleeing Sicily with Carthaginian refugees whilst abandoning his remaining mercenary troops to be slaughtered by the victorious Greeks. Himilco later committed suicide.
Mago II, another member of this family inherited the title of leader at first. His first task was to try and quell a Libyan revolt which came close to overthrowing Carthaginian rule altogether. Thereafter he set out to Sicily again and later even to southern Italy, to occupy himself with Dionysius. What Mago II lacked in military ability he made up for with diplomatic skill. But finally he fell in the
Battle of Cabala (378/375 BCE) in southern Italy against the Syracusan army. Finally, Carthage and Syracuse agreed a peace. In 480 BCE, following Hamilcar I's death, the King lost most of his power to an aristocratic Council of Elders. In 308 BCE,
Bomilcar attempted a
coup d'etat to restore the monarch to full power, but failed, which led to Carthage becoming in name as well as in fact a republic. ==Timeline==