Battle of Alalia

Coordinates: 42°06′15″N 9°33′10″E / 42.1041973°N 9.55267913°E / 42.1041973; 9.55267913
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Battle of Alalia
Phoenicians
DateSome time between 540 BC and 535 BC
Location
Off the coast of Corsica
Result Greek victory[1]
Territorial
changes		 The Greeks evacuated Corsica, which was captured by the Etruscans, while Carthage maintained its hold on Sardinia
Belligerents
The Greek Phocaean Colonies of Alalia
Etruscans
Strength
60 Pentekonters Around 120 Ships
Casualties and losses
Almost 40 Pentekonters Unknown
For other uses of "Alalia", see Alalia (disambiguation).

The naval Battle of Alalia took place between 540 BC and 535 BC off the coast of

Phocaean ships defeated a Punic-Etruscan fleet of 120 ships while emigrating to the western Mediterranean and the nearby colony of Alalia (now Aléria
).

Background

The

Etruscans
emerged as a local power in the 8th century BC, spreading their trade to Corsica, Sardinia and Iberia and creating a powerful navy to guard their interests. The Phoenicians and Etruscans became trading partners and rivals, exchanging goods with and engaging in opportunistic raids against each other. The situation changed with the beginning and growth of Greek activity in the western Mediterranean from around 750 BC onward.

Greek colonisation of the western Mediterranean

The second (quite possibly the third) wave of Greek colonization efforts in this area started with the planting of Cumae in Italy by 750 BC and Naxos in Sicily by 735 BC. Within the next 100 years, several Greek cities had planted colonies along the coast of southern Italy and most of Sicily, creating a position to control trade routes around these areas and dominating the Strait of Messina. Etruscans clashed with the Greeks, but were unable to stop the process. Although the colonization process was not done according to any master plan, with several Greek cities acting simultaneously, it probably seemed to the Phoenicians and Etruscans that a flood of Greeks were drowning the Tyrrhenian seacoast.

The Greek-colonized zone encompassing Sicily and Southern Italy came to be known as Magna Graecia. The Greeks living in this area behaved in a similar way to the mainland Greeks, expanding their political and commercial domain at the expense of their neighbors while keeping the Ionian–Dorian feud alive. The colonization offered greater opportunities for increased trade, piracy and other conflicts among the Etruscans, Phoenicians and Greeks competing for control of seaborne trade of the area.

Carthaginian hegemony

Carthage created her hegemony in part to resist Greek encroachments in the Phoenician sphere of influence. Phoenicians initially (750–650 BC) did not resist the Greeks, but after the Greeks had returned to Iberia sometime after 638 BC, being virtually absent for at least two centuries, Carthage emerged as the leader of the Phoenician resistance. During the 6th century BC, mostly under the leadership of the

Lilybaeum in 580 BC, the first such recorded incident in Sicily. These cities remained independent until becoming part of the Carthaginian hegemony after 540 BC.[3]

Prelude: Phocaeans

The Phocaean Greeks from

Asia Minor (modern Turkey) had founded the colony of Massalia around 600 BC,[4] which the Carthaginians had tried and failed to prevent.[5] Massalia became a thriving trading center and a major rival of Carthage for the Spanish markets and the tin trade through Gaul[citation not found]. The Phocaeans also planted a colony in Alalia on Corsica around 562 BC. When the city of Phocaea itself fell to Cyrus the Great
of Persia in 546 BC, most Phoceans moved to Alalia, partly because they were on good terms with the Greek colonies along the Strait of Messina and had even been granted toll-free passage. Later, after the battle, in 540 BC, they founded
Magna Grecia
).

The Phocaeans had managed to establish their base at a time when Carthage was engaged in defending Punic colonies in Sicily (Greeks had started to encroach on Punic cities in 580 BC) and conquering territory in Sardinia,

Etruscan League
or with individual Etruscan cities.

The battle

It is assumed that the Phocaean Greeks had 60

Rhegion in Italy. Carthaginian and Etruscan battle losses are not known. A legend describes how Greek prisoners were stoned to death at Caere
by the Etruscans, while the Carthaginians sold their prisoners into slavery. This battle is also known as "The Battle of Sardinia Sea".

Aftermath

Battle of Alalia and aftermath

Corsica passed into Etruscan hands, while Carthage retained Sardinia. Carthage would fight two more major naval battles with Massalia, losing both,

Agrigentum
under Theron to challenge the Carthaginians in Sicily.

That set the stage for the Sicilian Wars (480–307 BC) between Carthage and the Greeks. According to Herodotus, it was only after the battle that Phocaeans moved to Italy where they founded Elea.[7]

Some authors consider that the Greek defeat and consequent lack of Greek traders in the Gibraltar Strait led to the collapse of the

Tartessian civilization in Southern Spain, while the Punic presence remained undisturbed. The uncontested, and more lucrative, river trade with the interior of Gaul became the focal point of the Greek cities of modern southern France, such as Massalia (modern Marseille
).

Notes

  1. ^ Herodotus, Histories, I, 166.
  2. ISBN 0-520-22614-3
  3. ^ Freeman, Edward A., History of Sicily, Volume 1, p283-297 – public domain book
  4. ISBN 978-90-04-18604-0
    . Massalia, founded by Phokaians around 600 BC, imported Attic vessels from its inception.
  5. ^ Thucidydes, I.13.60
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-691-01477-9
    .
  7. ^ a b Herodotus (1920) [c. 430 BC]. "Book 1, chapter 166". The Histories. Translated by A.D. Godley. Cambridge University Press – via perseus.tufts.edu.
  8. ISBN 0-8154-1005-0

42°06′15″N 9°33′10″E / 42.1041973°N 9.55267913°E / 42.1041973; 9.55267913

References

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