siege, ancient

Siege of Syracuse

Name: Siege of Syracuse
Location: Syracuse, Italy

Siege of Syracuse was a siege conducted in 397 BC at Syracuse, in what is now Italy. The recorded result: Greek victory. Recorded strength: 30,000 troops; 80 quinqueremes; 30 triremes against 50,000 troops; 40 quinqueremes; 200 triremes; 2,000 transports.

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This map represents the Punic siege of Syracuse in 397 BC. Maglorbd (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fought397 BC

WhereSyracuse, Italy37.069N, 15.287E

OutcomeGreek victory

BelligerentsSyracuse; Sicilian GreeksagainstCarthage

Casualties and lossesUnknown, less than the CarthaginiansandUnknown, plague killed majority of troops

Record

Date	397 BC (year precision)
Place	Syracuse, Italy 37.069N, 15.287E
Kind	Siege, ancient
Strength	30,000 troops; 80 quinqueremes; 30 triremes	50,000 troops; 40 quinqueremes; 200 triremes; 2,000 transports
Casualties and losses	Unknown, less than the Carthaginians	Unknown, plague killed majority of troops
Commanders	Dionysius I of Syracuse Leptines of Syracuse	Himilco (general) Mago II of Carthage

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Siege of Syracuse AD 827, same recorded site
Siege of Syracuse AD 877, same recorded site
Siege of Syracuse 278 BC, same recorded site
Siege of Syracuse 311 BC, same recorded site
Siege of Syracuse AD 868, same recorded site

Contested ground: this site was fought over 14 times between 415 BC and 1943.

Elsewhere in 397 BC

Siege of Syracuse is one of 143 engagements of the 4th century BC in the atlas and one of 1,038 in present-day Italy.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2409157, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Syracuse (397 BC), revision 1370745573, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.