Carthage with its round Harbor around 300 BC
One of the passions in my life is reading maps. I find them most informative. They convey often more historical information than an entire book. The online encyclopaedia worldhistory.org led map making to new peaks. Simeon Netchev’s pieces are informative and thought provoking. They are also well researched.
Simeon Netchev's Map of Achaemenid Empire at the Time of Darius the Great in 500 BC
One of his maps made me wonder why Persia never conquered Crete even though it was controlled by Dorians – the very same people who fought them in Rhodes or in the Thermopylae (Spartans). But the Dorian towns on Crete stayed neutral during the Persian wars. There was thus no need for an invasion as in Rhodes. But why were they neutral in the first place?
The Dorians all over Greece mobilized against the Persian Empire – on the Greek mainland though only. The wealthy Dorian colonies in Magna Graecia (today’s Sicily, Calabria and Apulia), bigger and more powerful than their parent towns, stayed away. Their contingents would have made a difference. All these colonies had sizeable armies and fleets.
Phoenician Settlers with their colonies dominated the Mediterranean already in 800 BC
To find the answer, we need to look at a bigger picture than just the Aegean. Most of us know about the Phoenicians, the ancient people living in the coastal cities of Tyre, Beirut, Tripoli, Byblos or Akko. From the 12th to the 2nd century BC, they dominated maritime trade in the Mediterranean. Tyre was their most important town. It made big contributions to navigation, building ships and engineering. Tyre set up colonies too. The most prominent was Kiton in Cyprus which allowed Tyre to dominate the copper island. In 814 BC, its traders founded Carthage, half way to Spain from where they sourced tin for making bronze. Whilst iron had replaced bronze as metal of choice for swords, arrow heads and lances, bronze was used for helmets, shields, body armor, the rams for war ships and a plethora of household goods. The copper and tin trade was a lucrative commercial activity in the first millennia BC.
The Babylonian Empire before it was conquered by Persia
Whilst the Phoenicians built their ever-expanding trade network – about 300 years before the Greek started colonizing – the power dynamics in the Levant changed. Smaller kingdoms were absorbed by bigger ones. The Age of Empire started. In the 7th century, the Babylonian conquered Syria, then Cilicia, followed by the Levant and Israel. We all know the story of the Israelites who were forced into exile to Babylon. In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II showed up before Tyre. After a 12 years long bloody siege, the two parties came to terms. Wealthy Tyre agreed to pay taxes to Nebuchadnezzar. He withdrew his forces. Tyre’s independence was gone. When the Babylonians succumbed to the Persian King of King Darius in 539 BC, Tyre became a Persian vassal – giving the Persians access to maritime know how, manpower and ships which were later used for the attacks on Greece.
Carthage expanded throughout the Western Mediterranean with its Colonies
Despite Tyre’s loss of independence, Carthage continues to pay annual tribute to its parent town. It also sent home loot from successful campaigns in the Western Med. We also know that Darius’ father, Cambyses had plans to unite his conquest of Egypt with the Phoenician colonies on North Africa's shores. There is a myth of a Persian Army lost in Egypt’s desert which was the background story for the movie “The English Patient”. But there was more important business for Cambyses. Given Tyre’s control of Carthage, this project could wait.
Xerxes' Campaign in Greece in 480 BC with Crete staying neutral
Fast forward 50 years, we find ourselves in the second Persian campaign against the rebellious Greek (480 BC). Over three years, Xerxes, the Persian King of Kings, amassed an army of 200’000 men and a fleet of 1’000 ships. The last thing he wanted was the colonies from Magna Graecia joining Athens, Sparta and Corinth. The colonies were wealthier and more powerful than the Greek states themselves. Athens had 200’000 inhabitants at its peak. Syracuse in Sicily had 500’000.
Sicily in the 6th Century BC with the Greek Settlements
It is not a farfetched idea that Xerxes “encouraged” Hamilcar I, the Carthaginian ruler, to invade Sicily to settle old scores with the Greek settlers. Carthage’s colonies on Sicily were on the island’s western side. The Dorians from Greece had settled on the east coast. Their biggest and most successful foundation was Syracuse. In the early 5th century BC, its ruler Gelon, tried to conquer all of Sicily and send the Carthaginians packing. Sicily was a worthy price. The farming was rich and its fish stock plentiful - tuna pass Sicily's west on their annual migration. Due do its location, it also controlled the access to the Western Med and thus the tin trade from Spain and Cornwall – the metal needed for bronze.
Archeologists recently found the gruesome Mass Graves from the Battle of Himera
I don’t have enough space to cover the first Sicilian War in details. Due to bad weather and bad luck, Hamilcar’s army of 50’000 men suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Himera on Sicily's north coast in 480 BC. The same year Xerxes, Persia’s King of King, lost his fleet at Salamis which deprived him of the means of transport to supply his invading army.
The Persian Fleet was decisively beaten in the Narrows of Salamis in 480 BC
In the Greek world, everybody celebrated the double victory over Persia. Whilst no direct evidence survived of a formal alliance between Carthage and Persia, I believe it was highly probable. There was plenty of time to formalize it, coordinate war plans and exchange time schedules. With the Phoenicians ruling the waves, there was continued communication between Carthage and Tyre. Actually, the plan had the desired effect. The two Greek forces were split and never united. Xerxes’ scheme only failed due to Greek's determination to fight - even under the worst circumstances as at the Battle of Thermopylae.
The Secret Persian Pincer Attack in 480 BC - photo from the YouTube clip: https://youtu.be/xKR7bi4IUys?si=yaAAUINP9dpF4pjt
That the island of Crete - under these circumstances - stayed neutral is understandable. In this fight of giants there was little to win and nobody would have come to help the Cretans when attacked by the Persian - Phoenician Fleet. They controlled the sea plus the lands to the east, west and south. Crete’s contribution would have made no difference in the outcome of the war between Persia and Greece but dragged the island into a conflict that it could not win.
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