Caleacte

CALEACTE (Caronia) Sicily.

A city founded between 448 and 447 B.C. by the Sikel leader Ducetius after his defeat by the Syracusans, against whom he had revolted at the head of the Sikeloi. This is the first time a Sikel prince has founded a polis of the Greek type.

The site had already been occupied by Sikeloi, who had been exposed to Greek culture as early as the 6th c. B.C. Aerial photographs show a settlement on the terrace overlooking the modern city, and in the city itself traces of ancient habitation down to the Roman period have been found. There has been no excavation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Holm, Geschichte Siziliens im Altertum 1 (1870) 280; A. E. Freeman, History of Sicily 2 (1892) 379; B. Pace, Arte e Civiltà della Sicilia antica 1 (1935) 231-32 (2d ed., pp. 244-45); D. Adamesteanu, “Ellenizzazione della Sicilia ed il momento di Ducezio,” Kokalos 8 (1962) 190-93.

D. ADAMESTEANU