Battle of the Elleporus

The Battle of the Elleporus was fought in 389 BC between the forces of Dionysius I of Syracuse and the armies of the Italiote League. The armies of Syracuse triumphed, and Dionysius' control was extended into Southern Italy.[2][3]

Battle of the Elleporus
Date389 BC
Location
Stilaro river, Calabria
Result Syracusan Victory
Belligerents
Syracuse Italiote League
Commanders and leaders
Dionysius I of Syracuse Heloris †
Strength
20,000-23,000 25,000 and 2000 Cavalry[1]
Casualties and losses
7,000, 10,000 surrendered

After arriving in Italy, with a force of 20,000 men, 3000 horses, and a fleet of 40 galleys, Dionysius decided to lay siege to Caulonia, a city belonging to Locri. To force Dionysius into relaxing his siege, Heloris decided to leave his camp and marched north towards Eleporus with his army numbering 25,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalrymen mostly composed of other Syracusan exiles, Dionysius then lifted the siege and decided to march his army to Eleporus 7 km (4.3 mi) away from the enemy. The two armies were ignorant of each other's whereabouts until Dionysius acquired intelligence about Heloris's whereabouts from one of his scouts. Exploiting the advantage he ordered his forces to surprise attack the enemy at the dawn. Dionysius used his overwhelming numerical superiority to form a tight noose around their group. The disorganized and scattered forces of Heloris become easy prey to Dionysius's well organized phalanx, the Greeks fled after hearing that their leader Heloris had fallen, the fleeing Greeks sought refuge on a hill, but were surrounded by Dionysius later 10,000 Greeks surrendered.[4] Dionysius I of Syracuse successfully managed to conquer southern Italy (Magna Graecia), crushing the Italiote (Greek) League and Heloris at the Battle of the Elleporus.[5]

See also

Notes
  1. "The Cambridge Ancient History: The fourth century B.C". Cambridge University Press. July 4, 1994 – via Google Books.
  2. Tucker (2010), p. 52.
  3. Meister, Klaus (Berlin) (2006-10-01). "Heloris". Brill's New Pauly. doi:10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e507230.
  4. Roisman, Joseph (2017-01-30). The Classical Art of Command: Eight Greek Generals Who Shaped the History of Warfare. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-998583-8.
  5. The Encyclopedia of World History by Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer Page 68 ISBN 0-395-65237-5

References
  • Tucker, Spencer C. (2010). A Global Chronology of Conflict: from the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East; Volume I: ca. 3000 BCE - 1499 CE. Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-667-1.


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