Greeks and Carthaginians had disputed the island of Sicily for several centuries without reaching a decisive result. The Etruscans maintained an alliance with Carthage, which allowed them for some time to control the Tyrrhenian, until a naval defeat marked the beginning of Etruscan decadence and allowed Greek expansion into the western Mediterranean.Sicily became a battleground not only between Greeks and Carthaginians, but also between the powerful Delos League headed by Athens and its rival Sparta. From that conflict the ...
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Greeks and Carthaginians had disputed the island of Sicily for several centuries without reaching a decisive result. The Etruscans maintained an alliance with Carthage, which allowed them for some time to control the Tyrrhenian, until a naval defeat marked the beginning of Etruscan decadence and allowed Greek expansion into the western Mediterranean.Sicily became a battleground not only between Greeks and Carthaginians, but also between the powerful Delos League headed by Athens and its rival Sparta. From that conflict the city of Syracuse emerged as the main Sicilian force, and managed to reject some Carthaginian offensives.In the 3rd century BC the conflict seemed to have reached a point of equilibrium, with some advantage for Carthage, which controlled most of Sicily.Then a third force emerged on the horizon: Rome.The new power had subdued the Italian peninsula after several centuries of fighting, and even Pyrrhus and the cities of Magna Grecia were defeated by the Roman legions that now, stopped at the edge of the sea, directed their first looks towards Sicily.
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