The Phoenicians had established trading posts all over the coast of Sicily after 900 BC, but had never penetrated far inland. They had traded with the
Elymians,
Sicani and
Sicels and had ultimately withdrawn without resistance to
Motya,
Panormus and
Soluntum in the western part of the island when the Greek colonists arrived after 750 BC. These Phoenician cities remained independent until becoming part of the Carthaginian hegemony some time after 540 BC.
Carthaginian hegemony Carthage created its hegemony in part to resist Greek encroachments in the established Phoenician sphere of influence. Phoenicians initially (750–650 BC) did not choose to compete with the Greek colonists, but after the Greeks had reached Iberia sometime after 638 BC, Carthage emerged as the leader of Phoenician imperialism. During the 6th century BC, mostly under the leadership of the
Magonid dynasty, Carthage established an empire which would commercially dominate the western Mediterranean until the 2nd century BC. The Phoenicians in Sicily and the Elymians had united to defeat the Greeks of Selinus and Rhodes near
Lilybaeum in 580 BC, the first such recorded incident in Sicily. The next known Greek incursion took place 70 years later.
Greek settlement The Greek-colonized zone encompassing Sicily and southern Italy came to be known as
Magna Graecia. The Greeks living in this area behaved pretty much like the mainland Greeks, expanding their political and commercial domain at the expense of their neighbours while keeping the feud between the
Ionians and the
Dorians alive. In Sicily, the Ionian Greeks on the whole had friendly relations with native Sicilians and the Phoenicians, but the Dorian Greek colonies were comparatively more aggressive, expanding inland from the coast at the expense of the natives to expand their domain. Conflicts among the Greek colonies and between the natives and Greeks had erupted, but these were mostly localized affairs. Trade also flourished between the natives, the Greeks and the Phoenicians, and the Greek colonies became prosperous. This prosperity enabled some of the Greek cities to start to expand their territories again, ultimately leading to the events known as the First Sicilian War.
Carthage joins the fight The Carthaginian
Malchus is said to have "conquered all Sicily" and sent captured booty to
Tyre some time after 540 BC, which probably meant that Motya, Panormus and Soluntum had fallen under Carthaginian control. The growth of Selinus and Himera during this period indicates the Carthaginians and Greeks did not confront one another at this time. Thirty years later Prince
Dorieus, having lost the Spartan throne, showed up to colonize
Eryx – after being expelled from Libya by Carthage in 511 BC following a three-year struggle. Carthage aided
Segesta to defeat the expedition of Dorieus in 510 BC. The surviving members of Dorieus' expedition then founded
Heraclea Minoa. Sicilian Greeks (probably the cities of Akragas, Gela and Selinus) fought an undated war of revenge against Carthage, which led to the destruction of Minoa and a treaty which brought economic benefits for the Greeks. An appeal for aid to avenge the death of Dorieus was ignored by mainland Greece, even by the brother of Dorieus
Leonidas of Sparta, famous for his role at
Thermopylae in 480 BC. This episode possibly demonstrated the futility of opposing Carthage by single Greek cities or the unreliability of aid from mainland Greece, a situation that would change with the rise of the Greek tyrants in Sicily. Two Greeks from
Gela, Cleander and Gelo, had been involved in this war and they would become the catalysts of the events that followed.
Sicilian Greek tyrants While the events in western Sicily played out and Carthage remained engaged in Sardinia, most of the Greek colonies in Sicily fell under the rule of tyrants. The tyrants of Gela,
Akragas and
Rhegion, expanded their respective dominions at the expense of native Sicilians and other Greek cities between 505 and 480 BC, with the Dorian city of Gela being the most successful.
Dorian Greeks become dominant in Sicily Cleander of Gela (505-498 BC) and his brother
Hippocrates (498-491) took over both
Ionian and Dorian Greek territory, and by 490 BC,
Zankle,
Leontini,
Catana,
Naxos, besides neighbouring Sicel lands and
Camarina had fallen under Gelan control.
Gelo, successor of Hippocrates, captured
Syracuse in 485 BC and made the city his capital. By using ethnic cleansing, deportation and enslavement, Gelo transformed the former Ionian cities into Dorian ones and made Syracuse the dominant power in Sicily. Meanwhile, Akragas had taken over Sikan and Sicel lands under the tyrant
Theron of Acragas (488-472 BC). To forestall any conflicts between Akragas and Syracuse, Gelo and Theron married into each other's families, creating a united front against the Sicels and Ionian Greeks of Sicily. The major part of the resources and manpower of Greek Sicily was thus concentrated in the hands of these two aggressive tyrants, a threat to all other Sicilian powers.
Ionian Greeks call on Carthage To counter this Doric threat,
Anaxilas of Rhegion from Italy, who had captured Zankle from Gelo in 490 BC, allied himself with Terrilus, the tyrant of
Himera, and married his daughter. Himera and Rhegion next became allies of Carthage, the nearest foreign power strong enough to provide support.
Selinunte, a Doric city whose territory bordered Theron's domain, also became a Carthaginian ally – perhaps the fear of Theron and the destruction of
Megara Hyblaea (mother city of Selinus) by Gelo in 483 BC, had played a part in this decision. Thus, three blocs of power were delicately balanced in Sicily by 483 BC – Ionians dominating the north, Carthage the west, Dorians the east and south. The Sicels and Sikans, sandwiched in the middle, remained passive, but the Elymians joined the Carthaginian alliance. ==First Sicilian War (480 BC)==