city state · Italy

Himera

648 BCE – 409 BCE (approx.) · capital Himera

The first Greek city on Sicily's north coast, site of the great Greek victory over Carthage in 480 BCE and destroyed by Carthage in revenge in 409 BCE.

Origins

Settlers from Zancle, joined by exiles from Syracuse, founded Himera in 648 BCE at the mouth of the Himera river, on Sicily's northern coast. As the westernmost Greek city on that coast, it faced the Phoenician towns of Panormus and Soloeis and the Elymians.

Rule and society

Himera spoke a mixture of Chalcidian and Doric Greek and was home to the poet Stesichorus. Its tyrant Terillus was expelled by Theron of Acragas around 483 BCE and appealed to Carthage. In 480 BCE Gelon of Syracuse and Theron crushed the Carthaginian army of Hamilcar outside the city, and the Victory Temple was built in thanks. Theron's son then governed Himera, and later it was a democracy.

Decline and legacy

In 409 BCE Hannibal Mago, grandson of Hamilcar, took Himera, razed it and is said to have executed 3,000 prisoners on the spot where his grandfather had died. Survivors and Carthaginian settlers founded Thermae Himeraeae nearby in 407 BCE. The ruins and battlefield cemeteries have been excavated.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Himera. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/himera
MLA
“Himera.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/himera. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Himera.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/himera.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Himera’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/himera (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻