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1. Son of Deinomenes, tyrant of Gela, and afterwards of Syracuse. He was descended from one
of the most illustrious families in his native city, his ancestors having been among the
original founders of Gela, and having subsequently held an important hereditary priesthood.
(ad Pind. Nem. 9.95.) He appears to have held undisturbed rule over Gela for
some ears, until the internal dissensions of Syracuse afforded him an opportunity to interfere
in the concerns of that city. The oligarchical party (called the Geomori, or Gamori) had been
expelled from Syracuse by the populace, and taken refuge at Casmenae. Gelon espoused their
cause, and proceeded to restore them by force of arms. On his approach the popular party
opened the gates to him, and submitted without opposition to his power (Frag. 87,
ed. Paris, 1841.)
There is some uncertainty with regard to the conduct that he actually pulsued. According to
Herodotus, he sent Cadmus of Cos with a sum of money to await at Delphi the issue of the
approaching contest, and should it prove unfavourable to the Greeks, to make offers of
submission to the Persian monarch. But the same historian adds, that the Sicilian Greeks
asserted him to have been ad Pind. Pyth. 1.146). The
expedition of the Carthaginians is attributed by the lastmentioned historian (l.c.), as well as by Diodorus (Lect. on Rom. Hist.
vol. i. p. 105, ed. Schmitz), but the leading facts are unquestionable. The Carthaginian
general Hamilcar arrived at Panormus with an army, as it is said, of 300,000 men, and
advancing without opposition as far as Himera, laid siege to that place, which was, however,
vigorously defended by Theron of Agrigentum. Gelon had previously formed an alliance and
matrimonial connection with Theron, having married his daughter Demarete (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 2.1, 29) : no sooner, therefore, did he hear of his danger than
he advanced to his succour at the head of a force of 50,000 foot and 5000 horse. In the battle
that ensued the Carthaginians were totally defeated, with a loss, as it is pretended, of
150,000 men, while nearly the whole of the remainder fell into the hands of the enemy as
prisoners. Hamilcar himself was among the slain, and a few ships, which had made their escape
with a number of fugitives on board, perished in a storm, so that scarcely a messenger
returned to bear the disastrous news to Carthage. (Schol. Pind. Pyth. 1.146;
So great a victory naturally raised Gelon to the highest pitch of power and reputation : his
friendship was courted even by those states of Sicily which had been before opposed to him,
and, if we may believe the accounts transmitted to us, a solemn treaty of peace was concluded
between him and the Carthaginians, by which the latter repaid him the expenses of the war.
(Schol. Pind.
Pyth. 2.3.) A stipulation is said by some writers to have been inserted that the
Carthaginians should refrain for the future from human sacrifices, but there can be little
doubt that this is a mere fiction of latertimes. (Theophrast. ap. Schol. Pind.
l.c. ; Plut. Apophth. p. 175, de ser. Num.
vind. p. 552.) Gelon applied the large sums thus received, as well as the spoils taken
in the war, to the erection of several splendid temples to adorn his favoured city, at the
same time that he sent magnificent offerings to Delphi, and the other sanctuaries in Greece
itself. (Pol. 5.9 ; Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. 1.89; Plnt. de Pyth. Orac. p. 403.) It
appears from Aristotle (ad Pind. Nem. 9.95) that he left an infant son, notwithstanding
which, according to Diodorus, he on his deathbed appointed his brother Hieron to be his
successor.
We know very little of the internal administration or personal character of Gelon : it is
not unlikely that his brilliant success at Himera shed a lustre over his name which was
extended to the rest of his conduct also. But he is represented by late writers as a man of
singular leniency and moderation, and as seeking in every way to promote the welfare of his
subjects; and his name even appears to have become almost proverbial as an instance of a good
monarch. (Dion. 5, de ser. Num. vind. p. 551.) He was, however, altogether
illiterate (
Concerning the chronology of the reign of Gelon see Clinton (F. H. vol.
ii. p. 266, &c.), Pausanias (Rom. Hist. vol. ii. p. 97, note 201). The
last writer adopts the date of the Parian chronicle, which he supposes to be taken from
Timaeus, according to which Gelon did not begin to reign at Syracuse until