Gelon I

Gelon I., son of Dinomenes, after serving as a soldier under Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, in Sicily, succeeded that monarch in 491 B.C. He then made himself master also of Syracuse by adopting the cause of the plebs, and he used his power so as to add immensely to the importance of the State. In 480 he defeated Hamilcar at Himera, on the same day, it is said, that the battle of Salami's was won by the Greeks. Before his death in 478 Sicily was virtually subject to him, and his memory was so respected that, when all memorials of tyranny were being swept away, his statues remained intact.

Gelon II., son and colleague of Hiero II., of Syracuse, was born about 266 B.C. He was a patron of Archimedes and an ally of Rome, but after the disaster at Cannee he is reported to have contemplated abandoning the alliance when he died in 216. He left a son, Hieronymus, and his father survived him.