Ducetius (died 440 BC) was a Hellenized-leader of the Sicels and founder of a united Sicilian state and numerous cities.^[1] It is thought he may have been born around the town of Mineo.^[2] His story is told through the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in the first century BC, who drew on the work of Timaeus. He was a native Sicilian, but his education was Greek^[3] and was very much influenced by Greek civilization in Sicily. He is sometimes known by the Hellenized name of Douketios. The ancient Greek world circa 550 BC Ancient Greece is the period in Greek history which lasted for around one thousand years and ended with the rise of Christianity. ... According to Thucydides (vi:2), before the arrival of Greek colonists, the Sicels (or Siculi) were one of the three tribes who inhabited Sicily: the Sicels (Greek Sikeloi) in eastern Sicily (as well as southern Italy), who spoke an Indo-European language, and the Sicani (Greek Sikanoi) and Elymi (Greek... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian, Σικελία in Greek) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ... Mineo is a town and commune in the Province of Catania, part of the Sicily region in southern Italy. ... Diodorus Siculus (c. ... Timaeus (c. ...

Sicily at this time was under the tyranny of Gelo and his brother Hiero. After the death of Hiero in 467 BC, 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 Mene (today Mineo) and occupy Morgantina. By 452 BC he had united central Sicily and founded the city of Palice,^[1] the seat of his power, near the Lacus Palicorum, then two holy crater lakes and site of a temple to the Sicel gods of Palici.^[2] The city grew quickly as it became a place of refuge for runaway slaves.^[4] Ducetius then conquered Aetna, southwest of Mount Etna, before moving into Agrigentum. Syracuse, although an ally, became concerned by his unchecked expasion. However, Ducetius did not necessarily pose a threat to Syracuse in the same way Carthage had. But with his taking of Motyon, a stronghold held by Agrigentum in 451 BC Syracuse decided to assist Agrigentum, but was not able defeat him. It was in this year that Ducetius' Sicel empire was at its height. Only a year later in 450 BC, 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 politically-moderate general assembley 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. He returned however, in 446 BC, to try to rebuild Sicel influence, but turned his attention to the north of Sicily and left Syracuse and Agrigentum alone. He founded the city of Cale Acte (near modern day Messina), supposedly on the instruction of an oracle, of both Sicel and Corinthian settlers, but in 440, while attempting to unite the people of northern Sicily, he died of illness.^[5] Ducetius' federation fell apart almost immediately after his death, and Palice was sacked shortly thereafter, selling its inhabitants into slavery.^[1] In Diodorus' account, he speaks of the sacking Piacus, a city taken by Ducetius around 442 BC, by Syracuse and its allies in the same line as his death, perhaps implying the two events were related. Indeed, the Syracusans had not been idle when between 446 and 440 BC Ducetius was forming a Sicel empire to rival Syracuse. By the time Piacus had been sacked, all of its neighboring cities had already been conquered.^[6] Gelo (d. ... Hiero is the name of multiple people, in particular: Hiero I of Syracuse Hiero II of Syracuse This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Syracuse (Italian, Siracusa, ancient Syracusa - see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of the province of Syracuse, Italy. ... Location within Italy Catania is the second largest city of Sicily and is the capital of the province which bears its name. ... Mineo is a town and commune in the Province of Catania, part of the Sicily region in southern Italy. ... Panoramic photo of Morgantinas agora on the Serra Orlando ridge, looking NE. The conical peak of Cittadella is visible in the center background. ... The term Palici refers to twin gods in Roman and, to a lesser extent, Greek mythology. ... Mount Etna (also known locally as Mongibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian) is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. ... Map of central Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Agrigentum (modern Agrigento). ... Ruins of Roman-era Carthage For other uses, see Carthage (disambiguation). ... Corinth, or Korinth (Greek: Κόρινθος, Kórinthos; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is a Greek city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. ... Location within Italy Messina with a population of about 260,000 is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, Italy and the capital of the province of Messina. ... An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ...

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