Mazara del Vallo
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settlement, but after the founding of the town of Selinunte it became a port for the latter. At the same time the River Mazaro formed the border against the Phoenicians of Motya and the Elymians of Segesta and was therefore frequently disputed. In 409 B.C. Hannibal seized Mazara at the beginning of his expedition against the Greek towns of southern Sicily. Further destruction was brought about by the Romans during the first Punic War (264-241 B.C.). In the ensuing period Mazara was no more than an unimportant harbor settlement.

In 827 the conquest of Sicily was begun here by the Arabs, who made Mazara capital of one of their three Sicilian provinces, Val di Mazara, which covered western Sicily (the others being Val di Noto in the southeast and Val Démone in the northeast). In 1072 they were driven out by the Normans. Roger of Hauteville established his provisional government here, made the town a bishopric and convened the first parliament of noblemen at Mazara.