Dionysius I of Syracuse has warred against Carthage with mixed success; his attempts to drive the Carthaginians entirely out of Sicily fail, and they are masters of at least a third of the island at his death in 367 BCE.

Syracuse, despite the mandatory payments to Carthage, prospers during the long reign of Dionysius, a patron of the arts who has erected many buildings and has made his fleet the most powerful in the Mediterranean.

His troops, in support of Sparta, continue in the early 360s BCE to operate against Thebes.

Dionysius launches a fourth war against Carthage, scoring victories until …

…Dionysius dies during the blockade of Lilybaeum (present Marsala), which permits a Carthaginian victory.

Dionysius II, Dionysius' son and successor as tyrant, halts the conflict in 367 on the same unfavorable terms established after his father's defeat in the third war with Carthage from 383 BCE to about 375 BCE.