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
