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Ducetius (died 440) was a
Hellenized leader of the Sicels and founder of a united Sicilian state and
numerous cities. It is thought he may have been born around the town of Mineo.
His story is told through the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in the 1st
century, who drew on the work of Timaeus. He was a native Sicilian, but his
education was Greek and was very much influenced by Greek civilization in
Sicily. He is sometimes known by the Hellenized name of Douketios.
The Sicel revolt:
Sicily at this time was under the tyranny of Gelo and his brother Hiero. After
the death of Hiero in 467, Syracuse became a democracy. There were however,
troubles in the aftermath of the tyranny's collapse. War had broken out between
Syracuse and its former colony Catana in 460 . Ducetius assisted Syracuse
because Catana had occupied Sicel land, and together defeated them. Ducetius
went on to found the city of Menai (today Mineo) and occupy Morgantina. By 452
he had united central Sicily and founded the city of Palice, the seat of his
power, near Lago Naftia], then two holy crater lakes and site of a sanctury of
a pair of Sicel gods called the Palici. The city grew quickly as it became a
place of refuge for runaway slaves. Ducetius then conquered Aetna, southwest of
Mount Etna, before moving into Agrigentum. Syracuse, although an ally, became
concerned by Ducetius' unchecked expansion. However, Ducetius did not
necessarily pose a threat to Syracuse in the same way Carthage had. But with
Ducetius' taking in 451 of Motyon, a stronghold held by Agrigentum, Syracuse
decided to assist Agrigentum, but was not able to defeat him. It was in this
year that Ducetius' Sicel empire was at its height. Only a year later in 450 ,
it would be decisively defeated at Nomae. His surviving army was scattered
amongst the Sicel cities, and Ducetius was left with only a handful of
followers. Agrigentum retook Motyon and Ducetius fled to Syracuse. Ducetius was
tried by a general assembly in Syracuse. They voted to pay to have him exiled
to Corinth, Syracuse's mother-city, on the condition that he never return to
Sicily.
The foundation of Kale Akte (Caleacte):
However, Ducetius did return and, according to Diodorus, in 446 founded the
city of Kale Akte (in the province of Messina), supposedly on the instructions
of an oracle. The city comprised both Sicel and Corinthian settlers. In 440,
Ducetius died of illness. This traditional version is, however, not without
problems. Diodorus Siculus, in another passage, says that Ducetius colonised
Kale Akte in 440, the same year he died. Thus, the date of foundation seems to
be uncertain. In addition, recent excavations at Caronia, the site of the
Hellenistic and Roman Caleacte, have revealed only very sparse remains from the
5th century , and show that a Sicel settlement already existed in the early 5th
century . Possibly, Ducetius died before a more lasting colony could be
established, and in the aftermath of his death, the Sicels revolted against
Syracuse. The Sicel federation fell apart almost immediately after Ducetius'
death, and Palice was sacked shortly thereafter and its inhabitants sold into
slavery. Thus, the particular conditions of concord which had existed after the
return of Ducetius between the Sicels and Syracuse vanished. Some scholars have
hypothesised that Ducetius returned without the consent of Syracuse, but this
is very improbable. He must have had the permission of Syracuse to end the
exile at Corinth (the mother city of Syracuse), and, according to Diodorus, he
brought partly Corinthian settlers for the colonising project at Kale Akte.
Syracuse would have had an interest of establishing an allied Sicel-Greek
colony on the north coast, without risking too much in a potentially hostile
Sicel-dominated area.
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