Phintias

• a Pythagorean, celebrated for his friendship with Damon, Cic. Off. 3, 10, 45; Val. Max. 4, 7, ext. 1.

(Φιντάας).

1. A Pythagorean, the friend of Damon, who was condemned to die by Dionysius the elder. The well-known anecdote of their friendship, and the effect produced by it onl the tyrant, has been already related under Damon. Valerius Maximus writes the name Pythias; but Cicero follows the Greek authors in adopting the form Phintias.

2. Tyrant of Agrigentum, who appears to have established his power over that city during the period of confusion which followed the death of Agathocles (B. C. 289), about the same time that Hicetas obtained the chief command at Syracuse.

War soon broke out between these two despots, in which Phintias was defeated near Hybla. But this success having induced Hicetas to engage with a more formidable enemy, the Carthaginians, he was defeated in his turn, and Phintias, who was probably in alliance with that power, was now able to extend his authority over a considerable part of Sicily. Among the cities subject to his rule we find mention of Agyrium, which is a sufficient proof of the extent of his dominions. He at the same time made a display of his wealth and power by foundling a new city, to which he gave his own name, and whither he removed all the inhabitants from Gelis, which he razed to the ground. His oppressive and tyrannical government subsequently alienated the minds of his subjects, and caused the revolt of many of the dependent cities; but he had the wisdom to change his line of policy, and, by adopting a milder rule, retained possession of the sovereignty until his death. The period of this is not mentioned, but we may probably infer from the fragments of Diodorus, that it preceded the expulsion of Hicetas from Syracuse, andl may therefore be referred to B. C. 279. (Diod. xxii. Eae. Hoeschel. p. 495, Fxc. Vals. p. 562.) Coins

There are extant coins of Phintias, from which we learn that he assumed the title of king, in imitation of Agathocles. They all have the figure of a boar running on the reverse, and a head of Apollo or Diana on the obverse. Those which have been published with the head of Phintias himself are probably spurious. (See Eckhel, vol. i. p. 266.)

[E.H.B]

PHI´NTIAS (Φιντίας: Eth. Phintiensis: Alicata), a city on the S. coast of Sicily, situated at the mouth of the river Himera, about midway between Agrigentum and Gela. It was not an ancient city, but was founded about 280 B.C. by Phintias, tyrant of Agrigentum, who bestowed on it his own name, and laid it out on a great scale, with its walls, temples, and agora. He then peopled it with the inhabitants of Gela, which he utterly destroyed, compelling the whole population to migrate to his newly founded city. (Diod. 22.2, p. 495.) Phintias, however, never rose to a degree of importance at all to be compared to that of Gela: it is mentioned in the First Punic War (B.C. 249) as affording shelter to a Roman fleet, which was, however, attacked in the roadstead by that of the Carthaginians, and many of the ships sunk. (Diod. 24.1, p. 508.) Cicero also alludes to it as a seaport, carrying on a considerable export trade in corn. (Cic. Ver. 3.8. 3) But in Strabo's time it seems to have fallen into the same state of decay with the other cities on the S. coast of Sicily, as he does not mention it among the few exceptions. (Strab. 6. p. 272.) Pliny, indeed, notices the Phintienses (or Phthinthienses as the name is written in some MSS.) among the stipendiary towns of Sicily; and its name is found also in Ptolemy (who writes it Φθινθία); but it is strange that both these writers reckon it among the inland towns of Sicily, though its maritime position is clearly attested both by Diodorus and Cicero. The Antonine Itinerary also gives a place called Plintis,d oubtless a corruption of Phintias, which it places on the road from Agrigentum along the coast towards Syracuse, at the distance of 23 miles from the former city. (Itin. Ant. p. 95.) This distance agrees tolerably well with that from Girgenti to Alicata, though somewhat below the truth; and it seems probable that the latter city, which is a place of some trade, though its harbour is a mere roadstead, occupies the site of the ancient Phintias. There is indeed no doubt, from existing remains on the hill immediately above Alicata, that the site was occupied in ancient times; and, though these have been regarded by local antiquarians as the ruins of Gela, there is little doubt of the correctness of the opinion advanced by Cluverius, that that city is to be placed on the site of Terranova, and the vestiges which remain at Alicata are those of Phintias. (Cluver. Sicil. pp. 200, 214. See also the article GELA) The remains themselves are of little interest.

(Φιντίας). (1) A Pythagorean, the friend of Damon , who was condemned to die by Dionysius the elder. For details, see Damon.

(2) A tyrant of Agrigentum, who established his power over that city during the period of confusion which followed the death of Agathocles (B.C. 289). He founded a new city on the southern coast of Sicily, to which he gave his own name, and whither he removed all the inhabitants from Gela, which he razed to the ground.

A Greek city on Mt. Eknomos at the mouth of the river Himera, between Gela and Agrigento. The city took its name from the Akragan tyrant who founded it at the beginning of the 3d c. B.C. for the citizens of Gela, whose city he had destroyed in 286-282 B.C. Inscriptions and coins show that the new inhabitants long retained the name Geloi, which still appears in an inscription of the 1st c. B.C. listing victorious ephebes. Diodorus Siculus mentions (22.2) that the city had a large agora with porticos; however, since no regular excavation has yet taken place, the Hellenistic and Roman material which can be connected with Phintias comes from chance finds.

Before the founding of Phintias, Mt. Eknomos was occupied by archaic settlements. The first was probably a Greek center founded by Geloan colonists in their march along the S coast of Sicily. Later, during the second quarter of the 6th c. B.C., a phrourion was founded by the Akragan tyrant Phalaris (Diod. 19.2). This archaic phase is attested by Corinthian, Ionic, and Geloan pottery and figurines, sporadically found in the area and at present exhibited in the Museums of Palermo and Agrigento. A recent, though rather improbable, hypothesis would locate the Sikanian city of Inicos on the Eknomos.

D. Adamesteanu, Atti III Congresso Internazionale di Epigrafia Greca e Latina (1959) 425ff; id. in EAA 4 (1961); E. De Miro, La Parola del Passato 49 (1956) 266ff; id., Kokalos 8 (1962) 124ff; G. Caputo, NSc (1965) 189ff; V. La Bua, Atti Accademia Scienze Lettere e Arti di Palermo (1966-67) 4ff.