But in 403 BC it fell into the power of Dionysius I of Syracuse, who plundered the city and sold its citizens as slaves, after which he populated it with Campanian mercenaries. These, however, quit in 396 BC and retired to Aetna, on the approach of the great Carthaginian armament under Himilco and Mago. After the great naval Battle of Catana (397 BC) which was fought off Catania and in which the latter defeated Leptines of Syracuse, the city fell into the hands of the Carthaginians.