Sicily Timeline

Definition

The Mediterranean island of Sicily, with its natural resources and strategic position on ancient trading routes, aroused the intense interest of successive empires from Carthage to Athens to Rome. Consequently, the island was never far from centre-stage in regional politics and was very often a theatre of war throughout the Classical period. Invasions, tyrants, and battles did, though, eventually give way to centuries of relative peace and prosperity as a Roman province. Sicily's historical legacy today includes some of the most impressive and best-preserved ancient monuments in the Mediterranean, testimony to the island's rich cultural history.

More about: Ancient Sicily

Timeline

c. 750 BCE
Phoenicians found the colony of Motya on Sicily.
734 BCE
Chalcis founds the colony of Naxos on Sicily.
733 BCE
Corinth founds the colony of Syracuse in Sicily.
c. 720 BCE
Chalcis founds the colony of Rhegium in Sicily.
c. 689 BCE
Rhodes and Cretans found Gela in Sicily.
c. 630 BCE
Messana founds the colony of Himera on Sicily.
c. 630 BCE
Selinus is founded by colonists from Megara Hyblaea, Sicily.
580 BCE - 376 BCE
Carthage and Greece fight for dominance in Sicily.
580 BCE - 576 BCE
War between the Sicilian city-states of Segesta and Selinus.
580 BCE - 560 BCE
The main temple of the acropolis, Temple C, was built at Selinus.
c. 580 BCE
Agrigento in Sicily is founded by colonists from Gela, Crete and Rhodes.
c. 570 BCE - c. 549 BCE
The tyrant Phalaris rules Agrigento, expanding its territory.
491 BCE - 478 BCE
Gelon is tyrant of Syracuse.
491 BCE - 478 BCE
Reign of Gelon, tyrant of Gela on Sicily.
c. 489 BCE - c. 473 BCE
The tyrant Theron rules Agrigento.
480 BCE
Tyrant of Syracuse Gelon defeats the Carthaginians at the battle of Himera.
480 BCE
Agrigento defeats Carthage at the battle of Himera.
c. 480 BCE
The huge temple of Zeus is built at Agrigento.
478 BCE - 467 BCE
Hiero I is tyrant of Syracuse.
458 BCE
A treaty of cooperation is signed between the Sicilian city-state of Segesta and Athens.
450 BCE - 430 BCE
The Temple of Concordia is built at Agrigento.
416 BCE
War breaks out again between rival Sicilian city-states Segesta and Selinus.
415 BCE - 413 BCE
Athenian expedition to attack Syracuse.
415 BCE
Athens launches an expedition against Sicily, the pretext being protection of Segesta.
c. 415 BCE
Alcibiades persuades the Athenian assembly to send a military expedition to Sicily.
413 BCE
The Athenian expedition in Sicily ends in disastrous defeat and the Athenian generals Nicias and Demosthenes are executed.
413 BCE
Agrigento remains neutral in the war between Athens and Syracuse.
406 BCE
A Carthaginian army sacks Gela on Sicily.
406 BCE
Agrigento is attacked and destroyed by Carthage.
405 BCE
Dionysius becomes tyrant in Syracuse, Sicily.
c. 398 BCE - c. 380 BCE
Plato travels in Egypt, Cyrene, Italy, Syracuse and Sicily.
396 BCE
The Carthaginian city of Lilybaeum is founded on Sicily.
367 BCE
Dionysius II becomes tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily.
356 BCE
Dion becomes tyrant of Syracuse.
346 BCE
Dionysius II is once again tyrant of Syracuse.
344 BCE
Timoleon defeats Dionysius II of Syracuse and establishes an oligarchy government.
c. 341 BCE
Timoleon defeats a Carthaginian army at the battle of Crimisus in Sicily.
339 BCE
Gela on Sicily is rebuilt by the Corinthian general Timoleon.
338 BCE
Timoleon agrees a peace treaty with Carthage over their control of Sicily.
317 BCE
Agathocles takes power in Syracuse.
311 BCE
A Carthaginian army defeats Agathocles of Syracuse near Gela, Sicily.
309 BCE
Syracuse defeats a Carthaginian army in Sicily and kills their general Hamilcar.
306 BCE
Agathocles declares himself king of Syracuse.
306 BCE
Carthage and Agathocles of Syracuse sign a peace treaty and divide Sicily between them.
289 BCE
Agathocles of Syracuse dies from poison or illness.
288 BCE
Hicetus becomes tyrant of Syracuse.
282 BCE
Gela, on Sicily, is destroyed by Phintias, the tyrant of Agrigento.
270 BCE - 215 BCE
Hiero II is tyrant of Syracuse.
264 BCE
The Mamertines at Messana on Sicily call for Carthaginian and then Roman help in defence against Syracuse, sparking the First Punic War.
264 BCE - 241 BCE
First Punic War. Carthage cedes Sicily to Rome.
263 BCE
Segesta joins the Roman cause in the First Punic War.
262 BCE
Rome besieges and sacks Agrigento on Sicily in one of the first actions of the First Punic War.
254 BCE
Romans capture Palermo during the First Punic War.
250 BCE
Selinus on Sicily is abandoned.
Jun 250 BCE
A Carthaginian army led by Hasdrubal is defeated by Roman consul Metellus near Palermo in the First Punic War.
247 BCE
Hamilcar Barca raids southern Italy and then lands on Sicily during the First Punic War.
244 BCE
Hamilcar Barca captures Eryx on Sicily during the First Punic War.
213 BCE - 212 BCE
Roman commander Marcus Claudius Marcellus lays seige to and ultimately sacks Syracuse.
212 BCE
A Carthaginian army is defeated in Sicily by a Roman army led by Marcellus. Syracuse falls to Rome who now control the island.
210 BCE
Rome attacks Agrigento.
201 BCE
Syracuse joins the Roman Republic, province of Sicily is formed.
189 CE
Septimius Severus is proconsul of Sicily. Birth of Geta, his second son.
535 CE
Belisarius conquers Sicily and Naples.
1035 CE
The Emir of Sicily, Ahmad al-Akhal, makes a treaty with the Byzantines rendering Sicily a virtual protectorate.
1038 CE
Byzantine forces under George Maniakes invade Muslim Sicily.