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Greek city of
Gela
in
Sicily
Bronze Tetras or Trionkion 16mm (3.28 grams) Struck circa 420-405 B.C.
Reference: HGC 2, 380; Jenkins, Gela, Group VIII-IX, 507; CNS 17;
Bull advancing right; olive branch above; mark of value, three pellets, in
exergue below.
ΓΕΛΑΣ, Horned head of Gelas right.
Throughout most of the latter part of the 5th Century Gela
enjoyed great prosperity; but in 405 B.C. the city was destroyed by the
Carthaginians, a disaster from which it never fully recovered.
Then the city was destroyed by the Mamertini in
circa 282 B.C., the survivors moving to the newly-founded Phintias.
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River-gods were represented often on Greek, Greek Imperial
(Roman Provincial) and Roman Imperial coins, as a personification of a river
that flowed through that area, as it was an important feature of a city. The
coins of the Roman Republic do not have any representations of river gods. Some
river gods represented on ancient coins were that of the Tiber, Nile, Danube and
many more. River gods on ancient Roman coins are most often depicted on Roman
provincial issues (another term for Greek Imperial). There are also Greek coins
that depicted personifications of river-gods usually as the head of that god. On
Greek Imperial coins, the river-god is usually depicted reclining, holding
reeds, and leaning on over-turned jug from which water flows.
The city Gela in Sicily was founded around 688
BC
by colonists from
Rhodos
(Rhodes) and
Crete
, 45 years after the founding of
Syracuse
. The city was named after the
river Gela
. The Greeks had many colonies in the
south of what is now Italy, and for many centuries the Greeks had a major
influence on the area. Gela flourished and, after only a century, a group of
Geloi founded the colony of
Agrigento
. The expansion, however, led to
economic and social strains, which led the plebs to leave the city and settle in
nearby Maktorion
. However, the revolt was opposed by
the great priest of
Diana
and the exiled plebs returned to Gela.
For over a century no further mention is made about the internal politics of
the city, until the ancient historians note that a tyrant,
Cleander
, ruled Gela between 505 BC and 498 BC.
After his death, power transferred to his brother
Hippocrates
, who conquered Callipoli,
Leontini
,
Naxos
, Hergetios and Zancles, the current
Messina
. Only
Syracuse
, with the help of her former
colonizing city, Corinth
and
Corcyra
, managed to escape the Gelese
expansion. When
Camarina
, a Syracusan colony, rebelled in 492
BC, Hippocrates intervened to wage war against Syracuse. After having defeated
the Syracusan army at the Heloros river, he besieged the city. However, in the
end he was convinced to retreat in exchange for the possession of Camarina. The
tyrant lost his life in 491 in a battle against the
Siculi
, the native Sicilian people.
Hippocrates was succeeded by
Gelo, who, in 484, conquered Syracuse and moved his seat of
government there. His brother
Hiero
was given control over Gela. When
Theron
of Agrigento conquered
Himera
and a
Carthaginian
army disembarked in Sicily to
counter him, he asked for help from Gela and Syracuse. Gelo and Hiero were
victorious in the subsequent
battle of Himera
, in which the Carthaginian
leader Hamilcar lost his life.
After the death of Gelo (478 BC), Hiero moved to Syracuse, leaving Gela to
Polyzelos. Thenceforth the history of the city becomes uncertain: it has been
suggested that the citizens freed themselves from the rule of tyrants and
established a democratic government.
Many of the Geloi returned from Syracuse in this period, and the city
regained part of its power:
Aischylos
died in this city in 456 BC. Gela was
at the head of the Sicilian league that pushed back the
Athenian
attempt to conquer the island in 424
(see
Sicilian Expedition
).
In 406 the Carthaginians conquered Agrigento and destroyed it. Gela asked for
the help of
Dionysius I of Syracuse
. However, for unknown
reasons, the latter did not arrive in time and, after heroic deeds, Gela was
turned into ruins and its treasures sacked (405). The survivors took refuge in
Syracuse. In 397 they returned home and joined
Dionysius II
in his struggle for the freedom
from the invaders, and in 383 BC they saw their independence acknowledged.
Under Agathocles
(317-289 BC) the city suffered again
for internal strife between the general population and the aristocrats. When the
Carthaginians arrived in 311 BC, they met little resistance and captured the
city with the help of the aristoi. In 282 BC
Phintias
of Agrigento, who had founded a city
next to the modern Licata
, destroyed ruthlessly Gela to crush
forever its power.
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