Panaetius tyrant of Leontini

Panaetius (Panaitios), tyrant of Leontini. He was the first who raised himself to power in that way in Sicily. The government of Leontini up to that time had been oligarchical (Arist. Polit. v. 10.) The occasion which Panaetius seized for making himself tyrant arose out of a war with Megara, in which he was created general. The oligarchs had carefully prevented the commonalty from being on a par with themselves in point of military equipment. Panaetius, under the pretence of a review, found an opportunity for making an attack upon the oligarchs when they were unarmed; a considerable number were in this way cut to pieces. Panaetius then, with the aid of his partizans, seized the city, and made himself tyrant, 608 BC. (Polyaen. Strateg. v. 47; Euseb. Arm. v. anno 1408; Clinton, F. H. vol. i. anno 608.)