The Siege of Lilybaeum was an action of the Pyrrhic War in 278 BC, when an Epirote-Syracusian army led by Pyrrhus of Epirus attempted to capture the port city of Lilybaeum held by the Carthaginian Empire.Postponing his Italian campaign, Pyrrhus sails for Sicily to fight the Carthaginians who were besieging Syracuse. He evaded the Carthaginian fleet, landed in Catana and entered Syracuse where he was proclaimed commander-in-chief.