many other city-states in Sicily. Military leader in failure In 410 BC, Hermocrates was forced into exile and historians believe this event gave Diocles undisputed control of Syracuse. In 409 BC, Diocles was named at the head of an army of 4000 armed men to bring relief to Himera, which was being besieged by the Carthaginians led by Hannibal Mago, who had landed in Sicily with Iberian troops and won a first victory at the Battle of Selinus. The Syracusan expedition was a failure: after the first battle at Himera, the Syracusan army was forced to turn back in fear of a Carthaginian attack against Syracuse. Himera then fell and was razed, leaving to the Syracusans the only consolation of rescuing some Himeran women and children who fled with the Syracusan army. In 408 BC, some time after the Battle of Himera, Hermocrates returned to Sicily and had some military successes against the Carthaginians, turning Syracusan public opinion against Diocles. It is known that Diocles himself was forced into exile in 408 BC and seems to vanish from the historical record. It is believed that he died shortly afterwards, and there is a legend about his death, similar to those surrounding the deaths of Zaleucus and Charondas. References Ancient Greek law 5th-century BC Syracusans Ancient legislators