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Gelo (or Gelon, d. 478 BC, Greek: ?????), son of Deinomenes, was a 5th
century BC ruler of Gela and Syracuse and first of the Deinomenid rulers.
Biography On the death of Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela (491 BC), Gelo, who
had been his commander of cavalry, succeeded him; was aligned with Theron
of Acragas and married his daughter Damarete; and in 485 BC, his aid having
been invoked by the Gamoroi (the oligarchical landed proprietors) of
Syracuse who had been driven out by the populace, he seized the opportunity
of making himself tyrant. Herodotus writes that this was done to strengthen
Syracuse though he criticizes Gelo as antidemocratic. From this time, Gelo
paid little attention to Gela, and devoted himself to the aggrandizement of
Syracuse, which under his tyranny attained extraordinary wealth and
influence. He moved his seat of power there, along with half the population
of Gela.
When the Greeks soli
