's collection During his reign, he greatly increased the power of Syracuse. He removed the inhabitants of
Naxos and
Catania to
Leontini, peopled Catania (which he renamed
Aetna) with
Dorians, concluded an alliance with
Theron, the tyrant of Acragas (
Agrigentum), and espoused the cause of the
Locrians against
Anaxilas, tyrant of
Rhegium. His most important military achievement was the defeat of the
Etruscans at the
Battle of Cumae (474 BC), by which he saved the Greeks of
Campania from Etruscan domination. A bronze helmet (now in the
British Museum), with an inscription commemorating the event, was dedicated at
Olympia. Hiero's reign was marked by the creation of what is believed to be the first secret police in Greek history, yet he was a liberal patron of literature and culture. The poets
Simonides,
Pindar,
Bacchylides,
Aeschylus, and
Epicharmus were active at his court, as well the philosopher
Xenophanes. He was an active participant in pan-hellenic athletic contests, winning several victories in the single horse race and also in the chariot race. He won the chariot race at
Delphi in 470 BC (a victory celebrated in Pindar's first Pythian ode) and at Olympia in 468 BC (this, his greatest victory, was commemorated in Bacchylides' third victory ode). Other odes dedicated to him include Pindar's first Olympian Ode, his second and third Pythian odes, and Bacchylides' fourth and fifth victory odes. He died at Catania/Aetna in 467 BC and was buried there, but his grave was later destroyed when the former inhabitants of Catania returned to the city. The tyranny at Syracuse lasted only a year or so after his death. ==References==