Battle of Gela (405 BC) - The Battle

The Battle

The plan depended on precise coordination between the three Greek detachments, or risked a defeat in detail for the Greeks. As things turned out, coordination was horrible: the sea-borne troops under Leptines achieved total surprise and together with the hoplites attacking along the coast broke into the Carthaginian Camp. While this group fought with the Campanians and Iberians, the northern group was slow in arriving and did not launche their attack in time. This gave the Carthaginians time to first defeat the Greeks attacking in the south, where Leptines lost 1,000 men before giving way. The Carthaginians gave chase to the retreating Greeks, Greek ships poured missiles on the advancing Carthaginains, which aided the fleeing Greeks to reach Gela safely. Some of the Glan soldiers aided the Greeks, but most held back because they feared to leave the city walls undefended.

The northern Greek detachment meanwhile had attacked the camp, and had driven back the Africans, who had come out to oppose them, inside the camp. Ath this juncture Himilco and the Carthaginian citizens counterattacked, and the Campanians and Iberians also came up, routing the northern prong of the attack, with the loss of another 600 Greeks. The force under Dionysius got entangled in the narrow streets of the city amid the population and never attacked. The Greek cavalry was never engaged and the Carthaginians chased the Greeks back to the city. After the fighting ceased, Himilco had won the day.

While the Greek army was far from beaten, its morale had suffered and Dionysius faced political unrest in Syracuse. The army may have been unwilling to resume the harassing campaign, and if the Greeks garrisoned Gela and was bottled up by the Carthaginians, political enemies of Dionysius might take the chance to stage a coup in Syracuse. Dionysius chose to evacuate Gela, and requested a truce to bury the dead. He slipped out that very night with the entire army and population, leaving the battle dead unburied. A group of 2,000 light troops stayed behind, where they lit large campfires to dupe the Carthaginians into thinking the Greeks were staying put. In early morning this troop also marched for Gela. The Carthaginians entered and sacked the near empty city the following day.