Cleander of Gela

Cleander (Ancient Greek: Κλέανδρος) was a tyrant who ruled the Sicilian city of Gela, Magna Graecia, which had previously been subject to an oligarchy. He founded the Pantarid dynasty, reigning for seven years, and was murdered in 498 BC by a citizen of Gela named Sabyllus who wanted to see the introduction of democracy in the city. Instead power was transferred to Cleander’s brother, Hippocrates of Gela.

It has been suggested that Cleander was responsible for building Gela's first city wall due to a problematic relationship with the native Sicels,¹ a situation thought to have been caused by Cleander himself.²

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Cleander (1)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. p. 778.

Notes

Footnotes

1. Asheri, D., 'Carthaginians and Greeks' CAH vol. IV (1988) 739-90 ↩

2. Dunbabin, T.J., The Western Greeks (1948) 380 although this has been disputed: Griffin, M.J., The Tyrannies in the Greek Cities of Sicily: 505-466 BC, PhD thesis, University of Leeds (2005) 108-110 ↩