Carthage vs the Greeks: The Naval Battle of Catana 397 BC

"The Carthaginians are more exercised in maritime affairs than any other people." - Polybios of Megalopolis, Book 6, 2nd century BC.

During its 7-century-long hegemony, Carthage established a renowned and utterly feared reputation for excelling in naval warfare in the ancient world, especially against the Greeks.

In fact, prior to the First Punic War vs Rome, Carthage never lost a single recorded major naval battle against them, battling countless Greek city-states and kingdoms throughout the centuries:

- Battle of Alalia 535 BC vs the Greek city-state of Massalia in Corsica
- Battle of Drepana 367 BC vs. Syracuse
- Battle of the Straits of Messina 276 BC vs the Greek kingdom of Epirus under Pyrrhos
- and many more smaller-scale encounters.

The worst defeat that a Greek navy ever suffered in Antiquity, however, was at the battle of Catana in 397 BC vs. Syracuse at its prime under Dionysius I., also known as the warlord of Sicily. At this time, Syracuse had engineered the most powerful navy in the entire Greek world, having previously smashed Athens's navy during the Peloponnesian War 16 years prior.

They fielded 180 Quinqueremes (a new ship type that Syracuse specifically developed to combat the feared Carthaginians) powered by around 60,000 marines and sailors, while Carthage, having previously conquered and sacked the city of Messina in Northern Sicily, was sailing southbound with 200 classical Triremes powered by 40,000 Marines and sailors towards Syracuse.

They hoped to overpower the smaller Punic ships with their raw mass and superior numbers of marine troops, but it was in vain since the faster & more agile Punic Triremes outmanoeuvred & relentlessly rammed their Greek counterparts into oblivion through superior coordination and seamanship.

The result was fatal, with the entire fleet being shattered: Over 100 Greek ships were destroyed, another 40 captured, and over 20,000 Greeks killed or drowned during the fray.

According to Diodorus, the entire coast around the town of Catana was littered with the bodies of fallen seamen and stranded wreckages.

Sources:

"The Carthaginians" by Dexter Hoyos
"Carthage's Other Wars" by Dexter Hoyos
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/14D*.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2Ye4m6ZG5JrWVnAfNnV4XAitamJ7bTh0un9Dg4BxSojJ-WAtN3br1prNs_aem_aCOno-CDRDqYA_9_yhVK8Q
Book 14, Chapter 58

The article first appeared in Archaeology & Civilizations.

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