Battle of Syracuse (859)
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| Battle of Syracuse (859) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Muslim conquest of Sicily | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Aghlabid dynasty | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Al-Abbas ibn al-Fadl | Constantine Kontomytes | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 300 ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 killed (Per Ibn al-Athir) | 100 ships captured | ||||||
The Battle of Syracuse was a military engagement between the Aghlabids and the Byzantines near Syracuse. The Byzantines launched an expedition to re-establish their control over Sicily. The expedition ended in disaster for the Byzantines.
After the fall of Castrgiovanni to the Aghlabids in 859. News spread to the Christian inhabitants of the island, whether in Muslim control or not. At first, such news struck them with great fear, since for thirty years they had looked to the fortress of Castrogiovanni as a pledge of liberation from the Muslim rule. But the Sicilians were moved to urge Emperor Michael III to make a military effort. The Byzantines prepared an expedition to retake the island. The emperor recruited troops from the theme of Cappadocia. With a large fleet numbering 300 ships. The emperor placed the patriarch, Constantine Kontomytes, as the leader of the expedition. Although Byzantine chronicles do not mention this event.[1][2][3]
Battle
The Byzantine navy arrived at Syracuse in the autumn of the same year, 859; the Byzantines landed and soon moved, accompanied by the fleet, toward the northern coast. The Aghlabid governor of Sicily, Al-Abbas ibn al-Fadl ibn Ya'qub al-Fazari, according to the historian Ibn al-Athîr, learned of their approach and left Palermo to meet the enemy. There he intercepted them and managed to rout them utterly. The Byzantines fled back to their ships all while being slaughtered from behind by the Arabs. In the ensuing disaster, the Arabs captured 100 ships of the enemy while losing 3 men killed by arrows, according to Ibn al-Athîr.[4][5][6]