Editing Elymians (section)

==History==

The Elymians maintained friendly relations (and alliances) with [[Carthage]] but came into frequent conflict with the expansionist Greek colonies of western Sicily, especially [[Selinus]]. Boundary disputes with Selinus broke out into open warfare on several occasions after 580 BC. They sought to ally first with [[Athens]] against Selinus, provoking the disastrous [[Sicilian expedition]] of 415–413 BC. Following this failure they encouraged the Carthaginians to attack Selinus in 409 BC and succeeded in obtaining the destruction of their rivals.

However, they turned on Carthage during the [[First Punic War]] and allied with [[Roman Republic|Rome]] instead. The Elymians were granted a privileged status under Roman rule and were  exempted from taxes. This was said to have been in recognition of the Elymians' claim of Trojan ancestry, which was seen as making them cousins of the Roman people, who also claimed to have been descended from the Trojans. The Elymians appear to have largely disappeared from view under Roman rule, presumably becoming assimilated into the general Sicilian population.