the city was founded by the elymians. it was created to serve as a port for the nearby city, erice. the city was first called "drépanon" (from the greek word for sickle). carthage captured the city in 260 bc, and made it an important naval base. the city was then captured by the roman republic after the battle of the aegates. the area would later be captured by the vandals, ostrogoths, byzantine empire, arabs and the normans.