In 480 BC Theron, tyrant of Agrigento, moved against Himera in order to achieve his dream of an outlet on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was thanks to his alliance with Hiero I, tyrant of Syracuse, that he managed to defeat the Carthaginian army.
The Greeks of Sicily had a crushing victory in the battle.
Following this, the great availability of manpower provided by the Carthaginian slaves allowed for the beginning of a real monumentalisation of Agrigento through the construction of great works such as the Kolymbetra Pool and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
