Gelo 160190 216457613 2008-06-01T19:19:17Z 79.146.104.62 {{otheruses [[Image:Gelon I.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Gelon.]] '''Gelo''' (or '''Gelon''', d. [[478 BC]], [[Greek language |Greek]]: ''Γέλων''), son of [[Deinomenes]], was a [[5th century BC]] ruler of [[Gela]] and [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]] and first of the [[Deinomenes|Deinomenid]] rulers. ==Biography== On the death of [[Hippocrates of Gela|Hippocrates]], tyrant of Gela ([[491 BC]]), Gelo, who had been his commander of cavalry, succeeded him; was aligned with [[Theron]] of [[Acragas]] and married his daughter Damarete; and in [[485 BC]], his aid having been invoked by the ''Gamoroi'' (the oligarchical [[landed proprietor]]s) of Syracuse who had been driven out by the populace, he seized the opportunity of making himself tyrant. [[Herodotus]] writes that this was done to strengthen Syracuse though he criticizes Gelo as antidemocratic. From this time, Gelo paid little attention to Gela, and devoted himself to the aggrandizement of Syracuse, which under his tyranny attained extraordinary wealth and influence. He moved his seat of power there, along with half the population of Gela. When the Greeks solicited his aid against [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]], he refused it, since they would not give him command of the allied forces ([[Herodotus]] vii. 171). In the same year the [[Carthage|Carthaginians]] invaded [[Sicily]], but were totally defeated in the [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera]], the result of the victory being that Gelo became effectively lord of all Sicily. After he had thus established his power, he made a show of resigning it, but his proposal was rejected by the multitude, and he reigned without opposition until his death in 478/7 BC. He was honoured as a hero, and his memory was held in such respect that when all the brazen statues of tyrants were condemned to be sold in the time of [[Timoleon]] (150 years later) an exemption was made in favour of the statue of Gelo (Herodotus vii.; [[Diodorus Siculus|Diod. Sic.]] xi. 20-38). ==References== *{{1911}} {{start box}} |width=25% align=center|'''Preceded by:'''<br>'''[[Hippocrates of Gela|Hippocrates]]''' |width=25% align=center|'''[[Tyrant]] of [[Gela]]'''<br>491 BC&ndash; 485 BC |width=25% align=center|'''Succeeded by:'''<br>'''[[Hiero I of Syracuse|Hieron I]]''' |- |width=25% align=center|'''Preceded by:'''<br>'''-''' |width=25% align=center|'''[[List of Tyrants of Syracuse|Tyrant of Syracuse]]'''<br>485 BC&ndash; 478 BC |width=25% align=center|'''Succeeded by:'''<br>'''[[Hiero I of Syracuse|Hieron I]]''' |- {{end box}} {{Ancient-Greece-bio-stub}} {{Sicily-stub}} [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:478 BC deaths]] [[Category:Sicilian Greeks]] [[Category:Ancient Greek generals]] [[Category:Monarchs]] [[Category:Sicilian tyrants]] [[Category:Gela]] [[ca:Geló I]] [[de:Gelon]] [[es:Gelón]] [[fr:Gélon]] [[it:Gelone]] [[la:Gelon]] [[nl:Gelo van Syracuse]] [[pl:Gelon]] [[pt:Gélon]] [[ru:Гелон (тиран)]] [[scn:Giluni]] [[sv:Gelon]]