The life of Ducetius and the Sicel nation
Ducetius was a Hellenized leader of the Sicels and founder of a united Sicilian state and numerous cities. Although they had become hellenized, the Sicels were still one of the native tribes of Sicily, the island itself taking its name from this group of native people. These native groups had lost much territory to the incursions of Greek immigrants and it wasn’t until the Ducetius arrived on the scene that they began to organize and resist the onslaught of Greek Invaders.
By 452 BCE he had united central Sicily and founded the city of Palice, the seat of his power. The city grew quickly as it became a place of refuge for runaway slaves. Ducetius then conquered Aetna, southwest of Mount Etna, before moving into Agrigentum.
Syracuse, although an ally, became concerned by Ducetius’ unchecked expansion. After Ducetius’ taking of Motyon in 451 BCE, a stronghold held by Agrigentum, Syracuse decided to assist Agrigentum, but was not able defeat him. It was in this year that Ducetius’ Sicel empire was at its height. Only a year later in 450 BCE, it would be decisively defeated at Nomae. His surviving army was scattered amongst the Sicel cities, and Ducetius was left with only a handful of followers. Agrigentum retook Motyon and Ducetius fled to Syracuse. Ducetius was tried in Syracuse and banished to Corinth only to return in 446 BCE founding the city of Kale Akte, supposedly on the instructions of an oracle. The city comprised both Sicel and Corinthian settlers. In 440 BCE, Ducetius died of an illness. The Sicel federation fell apart almost immediately thereafter, Palice was sacked shortly after and its inhabitants sold into slavery.
Obscure Antiquity 