Gela was founded around 688 BC by colonists from Rhodes and Crete, 45 years after the founding of Syracuse. The city was named after the river Gela.
Gela flourished, and in 484 BC the Tyrant of Gela - Gelo - conquered Syracuse and later defeated a huge Carthagenian force, though badly outnumbered.
Syracuse soon eclipsed Gela as the chief polis, and in 282 BC Phintias of Agrigento destroyed Gela completely. The city subsequently disappeared from the chronicles. Under Roman rule, a small settlement still existed, which is mentioned by Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Cicero, and Strabo. Later it was a minor Byzantine center. Under the Arabs, it was known as the "City of Columns".
Gela flourished, and in 484 BC the Tyrant of Gela - Gelo - conquered Syracuse and later defeated a huge Carthagenian force, though badly outnumbered.
Syracuse soon eclipsed Gela as the chief polis, and in 282 BC Phintias of Agrigento destroyed Gela completely. The city subsequently disappeared from the chronicles. Under Roman rule, a small settlement still existed, which is mentioned by Virgil, Pliny the Elder, Cicero, and Strabo. Later it was a minor Byzantine center. Under the Arabs, it was known as the "City of Columns".
Modern location: Gela, Sicily
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