Battle of the crime thriller
In the battle of the Krimisos (today's Belice ) a river in western Sicily , fought in June 341 or 340 BC. Chr. The Syracusans under Timoleon against the Carthaginians .
The Carthaginian force consisted of a. from the famous " Holy Band ", formed by the rich citizens of Carthage. Timoleon, whose career Adcock describes as perhaps the most significant triumph of character in the history of the Greek city-states, could only oppose this numerically superior army with a small force consisting of hoplites , light infantry ( peltasts ) and cavalry . For the battlefield , he selected the tactically most favorable point: the banks of the Krimisos River .
With the initiative on their side, the Carthaginians began to cross the calm river. When the majority of the Carthaginians were wading through, a sudden change in the weather changed the course of the battle: it began to rain in torrents and the crime novels turned into a deadly stream. The Holy Company, incapacitated by the mud, was destroyed by the Syracuse light infantry . Timoleon seized the favor of fate and completely annihilated the Carthaginians.
Napoleon's saying “Qui ne risque rien, n'attrappe rien” can be applied comprehensively to Timoleon's brave decision to face the Carthaginians. The subjugation of Syracuse by Carthage was temporarily averted with this battle, but it could not prevent the African great power from gaining dominance in Sicily and holding it until the end of the 1st Punic War .
literature
- Frank Ezra Adcock: The Greek and Macedonian Art of War
- David G. Chandler: Military History Tables