Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/243

 984 GELA. TiiL 25. Exc. Vat. p. 11 ; Gallim. ap. Sckol Pmd. I c. ; Virpr. Aen, iii. 702; Sil. Ital. xiv. 218.) Like moBt of the Greek colonies in Sicilyi we have very little information as to its history for nearly two cen- turies after its foundation. Some obscure notices of its struggles with the barbarians of the interior (Pans. viii. 46. § 2; »Schol. Find. L c), and of in- ternal dissenaons between conflicting factions, in one of which Telines, the ancestor of Gelon, bore a conspicuous part (Herod, vii. 153), are all that we hear of it during this period. But the fact that in B. c. 582 the Geloans were able to found the powerful colony of Agrigentum, may be taken as a proof that they themselveSf at that period, were in a flou- rishing condition. Tim new colony, indeed, rapidly outstripped its parent city, and rose for a time, under Phalaris, to be the most powerful state in Sicily [Aoiugentum] :. but Gela subsequently obtained Its turn of prosperity, if not of supremacy, under the rule of Hippocrates. The form of government at Gela had at first been oligarchical, as was the case with most of the Gri'ek cities in Sicily (Arist. PoL T. 12).; and this constitution continued till it was subverted by Oleander, who raised himself to de- spotic power. We have scarcely any information con- cerning the circumstances of his reign ; but we know that he ruled seven yeaiv (b.g.505 — 498), and trans- mitted the sovereign power, without opposition, to his brother Hippocrates, who, during a reign of about the same duration (b.c.498 — 491), raised Gela toa pitch of power and prospcri^ far surpassing what it had previously attained, and even extended his dominion over a great part of Sicily. He successively reduced Leontiiii, Callipolis, and Naxos under his yoke, took the city of Zanck, which he made over to the Siunians [Mbssana], and waged successful war against the Syracusans themselves, who were compelled to pur- chase peace by the cession of Camarina. (Herod, vii. 1 53, 1 54.) At the death of Hippocrates (a. c. 49 1 ) Gelon succeeded to the sovereign power, and rapidly followed in the same career of successful aggrandise- ment ; till, in b. c. 485, he succeeded in making himself master of Syracuse itself. [Gblon, Bioffr, Diet'] But this event, which seemed likely to raise Gela to the position of the first city in Sicily, became, on the contraiy, the cause of its decline. Gelon from this time despised his native city, and directed all his efforts to the aggrandisement of his new capital, with which object he even compelled half of the inhabitants of Gela to migrate to Syracuse. (Herod, vii. 156.) His successor Hieron also appears to have driven a large number of the citizens of Gela into exile: but after the expulsion of Thrasybuliis (n.c. 466) all the»e returned to their native city, and Gela not only became itself re[)eopled, but was able to settle a fresh colony at Camarina^ which had been rendered desolate by Gelon. (Died, xi. 76.) The period which followed, from the restoration of its liberty to the Carthaginian invasion (b.c. 466—406), seems to have been one of great pi-osperity for Gela, as well as for the rest of Sicily. The Geloans appear to have adhered uniformly to the same line of policy with the other Doric cities in the island : and hence they were among the first to promise their support to the Syracusans on the approach of the Athenian expedition (b.c. 415). Immediately after the ar- rival of Gylippus, the Geloans sent a small body of troops to his support, and, after the first successes of the Syracusan arms, they furnished a more consi- derable force of 600 troops, with a squadron of five ships. (Thuc. vii. 33, 58; Diod. xiii. 4, 12.) GELA. A few yean later the great Cartb^imaii kngkm brought destruction on Gela, as it had prevuiBlj done on Himera, Selinns, and Agrigentum. After tbt capture of the hist city (B.a406), the GeksBs afforded a temporary refuge to its iidu^tanti^ aad treated them with the utmost kindness: at the an time they urgently applied to the Syracosais far assistance; but Dionysius, who was at that time jut rising to power, though he visited Gela, and bvo^ht about a democratic revolution in the city, took do further steps for its protection. (Diod.ziiL89,^) The next spring (b. c. 405) the Carthaginians ip. peared before Gek, and laid si^;e to the city, vindi was a place of no natural strength, and not well fiv- tifie^; notwithstanding which| the inhabitants ttaik a gallant resistance, and were able to repabe all tk attacks of the enemy till the arrival of Diooysios st the head of a large army to their relief. But Uiat general, having been defeated in his fint attack m the Carthaginian camp^ renounced all further effivti, and compelled the Geloans to follow the example of the Agrigentines, and abandon their dty with thor wives and families. The unhappy exiles witUrev to Leontini, while Gela itself was plundered sod bid waste by the Carthaginians. (Diod. xiiL 106 — III, 113.) By the peace which Dionyaiua soon after cod- cluded with Himilco, the Geloans were pennitted to return to their own city, on condition of noi restoriog its fortifications, and of paying tribute to Carthage (Diod. xiii. 114), and there is no doubt that thgr availed themselves of these terms; but Gela, thn|li repeopled, never rose agun to its former prospmtf. In B. c. 397 the citizens gladly declared tl>ein8eh» free from the Carthaginian y<^e, and joined I^ysiu in his expedition against the western citie of Sidlj (Id. xiv. 47): and, notwithstanding the various ricis- situdes of fortune tlmt marked the wan bctweea t]» Syracusan despot and the Carthaginians, they ca»- ceeded in maintaining their independence of the htter people, which was secured to them by the tratj cf B. c 383 (Id. XV. 17). Of their subsequent fortnoa we hear nothing for some time ; but they are ma- tioned as among the first to join the standard of Dion, when he landed in Sicily, b. g. 357 (Plot. Dion. 26). and, after Um victory of Taoskxm (b. g. 338), Gek, which was at that tiu^e io t very decayed state, was re{denished with a fresh body of colonists, composed in part of her old inlu- bitimt^, «ith the addition of new settlen fitn the island of Ceos. (Plut. Tmol. 35.) This eokny i^ pears, for a time, to have restored Gela to a toienble degree of prosperity; and it figui^es in the wan of Agathocles as an independent city, possessing coo- siderable resources. But a severe blow was ^ais inflicted on it by that tyrant, who, in B.G. 31 1, bciif apprehensive of its defection to the Carthsgioiusi contrived to introduce a body of troops into the oij, and massacred above 4000 of the principal citizeo^ (Diod. xix. 7 1, 107.) By this means he established his power there for the time, and after his grvt defeat at Ecnomus he took refuge with theremsiosof his army at Gehi, where he washable to defy the mns of the Carthaginians. (Id. xix. 110.) Bat in B.C. 309, when the Agrigentines, under Xenodicos, nised the standard of independence, and proclsimed the freedom of the separate cities, the Geloans were the first to join them, and took an active part in their enterprise. (Id. xx. 31.) Gela appears to bsTe,st this time, recovered a considerable degree of powtf and prosperity, but we hear nothing more of it dorw^