Athenion had been a herdsman or leader of bandits (or both) in Cilicia, and was captured there and sold into slavery, and shipped off to Sicily.
Five days later, they had liberated 800 more slaves from nearby slavemasters, and his army ultimately grew to 10,000.
[3] Ancient sources call out that Athenion was an advanced strategic thinker, and did not unilaterally accept all western slaves into his army, and compelled many to keep at their former tasks, mostly farming, in order to insure the continuity of the army's supply chain.
[1] By the aid of his strategy of resource management and his own supposed astrological powers, Athenion cemented his leadership position and became the "king" of these freed slaves in the western part of Sicily.
[2][4] After a fruitless attack upon Lilybaeum, he joined Tryphon, who, under the influence of a suspicious jealousy, threw Athenion into prison initially, but afterwards released him.