Monte Desusino
The seat of a fortified site at a height of 428 m on a large summit plateau. The mountain is on the S coast, between Gela and Licata. The circuit wall of the site, cleared in 1954, was 2 m in thickness and built entirely of stones without mortar. It surrounded the entire upper plane except on the N side, which was defended by the natural drop of the rock. On the S and E sides of the walls two gates protected by rectangular towers have been cleared; a third gate has been recently identified on the W side as well as a stretch of the ancient access road cut into the rock. It is probable that these walls go back to the 6th c. B.C., but it is certain that the system of gates and towers dates from the end of the 4th c. B.C.
Excavational evidence and Monte Desusino's position, which dominates both the Geloan plain and the mouth of the river Salso with Monte Eknomos, have prompted the suggestion that this fortified site be identified with Phalarion, the phrourion founded by the Akragan tyrant Phalaris in Geloan territory (Diod. Sic. 19.108). Phalarion was fortified a second time by Agathokles of Syracuse, who in 311 B.C. utilized the stronghold as a base against the Carthaginians. Agathokles' troops, defeated at the mouth of the Salso, fled toward Phalarion which, according to Diodorus (19.109) was at a distance of 40 stades (ca. 7 km) from the battlefield. This fact strengthens the hypothesis identifying Monte Desusino with Phalarion.
BIBLIOGRAPHYD. Adamesteanu, RendLinc (1955) 199ff; id., NSc (1958) 335ff; E. De Miro, La Parola del Passato (1956) 269 n. 2.
P. ORLANDINI