It was founded by the Carthaginians as a trading station, and after a period of decline became under the Romans one of the more important towns in the province of Hispania Baetica.

They were defeated there by the Carthaginians under Hamilcar ( a popular Carthaginian name, not to be confused with Hannibal Barca's father, with the same name ) in 260 BC.

* 480 BC: Battle of Himera — The Carthaginians under Hamilcar are defeated by the Greeks of Sicily, led by Gelon of Syracuse

Roman and Numidian forces under the leadership of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio and his Numidian ally, Masinissa, defeat a combined army of Carthaginians and their Numidian allies under the command of Hannibal and forces Carthage to capitulate.

It then passed under the control of Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, before being occupied by the Arabs in the year 827.

They are defeated there by the Carthaginians under Hamilcar.

Scipio is unable to stop the combined forces of the Carthaginians under Hasdrubal Gisco and the Numidians under their chief, Syphax, and he is forced to lift his siege of Utica.

* The Romans under Publius Cornelius Scipio defeat the Carthaginians under their commander Hasdrubal Barca at Baecula ( Bailen ) in Baetica.

* The Carthaginians under Hamilcar take advantage of their victory at Thermae in Sicily by counterattacking the Romans and seizing Enna.

The destruction of the Roman Empire | Roman army ( red ) by Carthage | Carthaginians under Hannibal ( blue ) at the Battle of Cannae.

The Carthaginians no longer believed a treaty advantageous, and rebuffed it under much Roman protest.

The Carthaginians under Hannibal defeated the Romans under the consul Gaius Flaminius.

However, Scipio ’ s first encounter with the enemy in the Battle of the Lipari Islands led to the loss of 17 ships and an embarrassing surrender to the Carthaginians under the general Senator Boodes and the naval commander Hannibal Gisco.

Since the soldiers were fighting under both consuls, who were taking part in the battle in person, they felt even more encouraged to fight with their entire strength and defeated the Carthaginians after an extensive fight.

The Carthaginians put 50 ships out from Africa under the command of Hannibal, to try to save the city by charging towards the center of the harbor.

* Fearing personal legal penalties under the Romans and Carthaginians, Spendius and Mathos raise dissent among the Libyan conscripts, and are appointed generals.

In the First Punic War Enna is repeatedly mentioned ; it was taken first by the Carthaginians under Hamilcar, and subsequently recaptured by the Romans, but in both instances by treachery and not by force.

During the course of the war, Rome continued to be victorious at sea: victories at Sulci ( 258 BC ) and Tyndaris ( 257 BC ) were followed by the massive Battle of Cape Ecnomus, where the Roman fleet under the consuls Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius inflicted a severe defeat on the Carthaginians.

In the last battle of the war, at Aegates Islands in 241 BC, the Romans under Gaius Lutatius Catulus displayed superior seamanship to the Carthaginians, notably using their rams rather than the now-abandoned corvus to achieve victory.

During the Second Punic War the city allied itself with the Carthaginians, but were defeated by the Romans under proconsul Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus in 181 BC.

Carthage, seeking to make up for the recent territorial losses and a plentiful source of silver to pay the large indemnity owed to Rome, turned its attention to Iberia, and in 237 BC the Carthaginians, led by Hamilcar Barca, began a series of campaigns to expand their control over the peninsula.

Though Hamilcar was killed in 229 BC, the offensive continued with the Carthaginians extending their power towards the Ebro valley and founding " New Carthage " in 228 BC.

The causes leading the Selinuntines to abandon the cause of the other Greeks, and take part with the Carthaginians during the great expedition of Hamilcar ( 480 BCE ) are unknown ; they had even promised to send a contingent to the Carthaginian army, which, however did not arrive till after its defeat

The Carthaginians in the following spring ( 409 BCE ) sent over a vast army amounting, according to the lowest estimate, to 100, 000 men, with which Hannibal Mago ( the grandson of Hamilcar that was killed at Himera ) landed at Lilybaeum, and from thence marched direct to Selinunte.

The Carthaginians had gained command of the sea after their victory in the Battle of Drepanum in 249 BC, but they only held two cities in Sicily: Lilybaeum and Drepanum by the time Hamilcar took up command.

But the Carthaginians were not going to let this threat pass unchallenged and launched an equally large fleet to intercept the Romans, commanded by Hanno the Great and Hamilcar the later victor of Drepanum ( not to be confused with Hamilcar Barca ).

The Carthaginians were positioned in a long horizontal line with Hamilcar in the center and two slightly advanced sides.

Hence it was against Himera that the first efforts of Hamilcar were directed: but Theron, who had thrown himself into the city with all the forces at his command, was able to maintain its defence till the arrival of Gelon of Syracuse, who, notwithstanding the numerical inferiority of his forces, defeated the vast army of the Carthaginians with such slaughter that the Battle of Himera ( 480 BC ) was regarded by the Greeks of Sicily as worthy of comparison with the contemporary victory of Salamis.

Hamilcar, grandson of Hanno the Great, led the Carthaginians, while the Greeks were led by Agathocles of Syracuse.

After the fall of the latter city, we are told that Hermocrates, the Syracusan exile, who had established himself on its ruins with a numerous band of followers, laid waste the territories of Motya and Panormus ; and again during the second expedition of the Carthaginians under Hamilcar ( 407 BCE ), these two cities became the permanent station of the Carthaginian fleet.

It was next captured by the Carthaginians under Hamilcar Barca ; legend has it that this is the place where he made his son Hannibal swear an oath that he would never be a friend of Rome.

The Carthaginians are led by Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal Barca, and the Roman armies are led by the consuls Marcus Livius Salinator and Gaius Claudius Nero.

The Carthaginians were led by Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal Barca, who was supposed to bring the siege equipment and reinforcements needed in order for Hannibal to defeat Rome.

The Lusitani are mentioned for the first time in Livy ( 218 BC ) and are described as fighting for the Carthaginians ; they are reported as fighting against Rome in 194 BC, sometimes allied with Celtiberian tribes.

They are called the " Punic Wars " because Rome's name for Carthaginians was Punici, due to their Phoenician ancestry.

* After crossing the Rhône River and meeting with friendly Gallic leaders headed by the northern Italian Boii, whose knowledge of the Alpine passes are of assistance to Hannibal, the Carthaginians cross the Durance River.

The islanders are allies of the Carthaginians against Rome.

The Selinuntines are again mentioned in 397 BCE as declaring in favor of Dionysius during his war with Carthage ; but both the city and territory were again given up to the Carthaginians by the peace of 383 BCE ( Id.

With the help of Gelo, the tyrant of Syracusae, and Theron of Akragas, the Carthaginians are defeated in the Battle of Himera.

He built a mole across the gulf into the harbour, the Carthaginians dug a canal from their inner harbour basin to the coast and put to sea with a full fleet, but they are defeated in a naval engagement.

Then, sweeping down on the forces that the Carthaginians and their allies, the Numidians, are trying to muster on the Great Plains near the upper Bagradas River ( in modern Tunisia ), he smashes that army in the Battle of the Great Plains.

* After being an ally of Carthage and fighting with them, Numidian chieftain, Masinissa switches sides when the Carthaginians are driven from Spain and offers to assist Rome.

* The Carthaginians are forced to abandon their siege of Syracuse ( begun in 398 BC ), but destroy Messina.

The Carthaginians are victorious, effectively destroying Centenius Penula's army.

After fierce fighting in the Battle of Panormus, the Carthaginians, led by Hasdrubal, are defeated and the city falls.

The Romans are now determined to drive the Carthaginians out of Sicily.

The Carthaginians are inclined to come to terms with Pyrrhus, but he demands that Carthage abandon all of Sicily and make the Libyan Sea the boundary between Carthage and the Greeks.

As his ship left the island, he turned and, foreshadowing the Punic Wars, said to his companions: " What a wrestling ground we are leaving, my friends, for the Carthaginians and the Romans.

What happened next is usually described as a treacherous act of the Carthaginians, but the sources do not give much detail and are usually pro-Roman.

:“ The Roman customs and principles regarding the acquisition of wealth are better than those of the Carthaginians.