Battle of Milazzo (888)
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| Battle of Milazzo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muslim conquest of Sicily | |||||||
 Map of the Arab–Byzantine naval conflict in the Mediterranean, 7th–11th centuries | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Byzantine Empire | Aghlabids | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Variously 5,000–7,000 killed | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Milazzo was a naval battle fought in 888 between the Byzantine and Aghlabid fleets off northeastern Sicily. The battle was a major Aghlabid victory. It is sometimes known as the Second Battle of Milazzo, counting the Battle of Stelai as the First Battle of Milazzo.[1]
In 888, the Aghlabids mounted a new expedition aimed at Byzantine Calabria, with ships from Sicily as well as Ifriqiya. Off Milazzo, the fleet met a Byzantine squadron of the Imperial Fleet of Constantinople. The ensuing battle is not mentioned by any Byzantine source, but only by Ibn Idhari's al-Bayan al-Mughrib as well as the Cambridge Chronicle. Both agree that it was a crushing Aghlabid victory—their first in open sea combat: reportedly 5,000 Byzantines drowned, and 7,000 in total (or 7,000 more, depending on the translation from the Arabic) were killed.[2]