Dionysius I of Syracuse - Conquests

Conquests

He fought a war with Carthage from 397 BC to 392 BC with mixed success; his attempts to drive the Carthaginians entirely out of the island of Sicily failed, and at his death they were masters of at least a third of it. He also carried on an expedition against Rhegium, capturing it and attacking its allied cities in Magna Graecia. In one campaign, in which he was joined by the Lucanians, he devastated the territories of Thurii and Croton in an attempt to defend Locri.

After a protracted siege, he took Rhegium in 386 and sold the inhabitants as slaves. He joined the Illyrians in an attempt to plunder the temple of Delphi and pillaged the temple of Caere (then allied with Rome) on the Etruscan coast. In the Adriatic, to facilitate trade, Dionysius founded Ancona, Adria and Issa. After him, the Adriatic became a sea of Syracuse. In the Peloponnesian War, he joined the side of the Spartans and assisted them with mercenaries.

In 385 BC, Alcetas of Epirus was a refugee in Dionysus' court. Dionysus wanted a friendly monarch in Epirus, so he sent 2,000 Greek hoplites and 500 suits of Greek armour to help the Illyrians under Bardyllis in attacking the Molossians of Epirus. They ravaged the region and killed 15,000 Molossians, and Alcetas regained his throne. Sparta intervened under Agesilaus, however, and with aid from Thessaly, Macedonia, and the Molossians themselves, the Spartans expelled the Illyrians.