| #### CHAPTER 153 |

| #### #### Other ambassadors, among whom was Syagrus from Lacedaemon, were sent by the allies into Sicily, with instructions to confer with Gelo. #### The ancestor of this Gelo, who first settled at Gela, was a native of the isle of Telos, which lies off Triopium. When Gela was colonised by Antiphemus and the Lindians of Rhodes, he likewise took part in the expedition. In course of time his descendants became the high-priests of the gods who dwell below - an office which they held continually, from the time that Telines, one of Gelo's ancestors, obtained it in the way which I will now mention. Certain citizens of Gela, worsted in a sedition, had found a refuge at Mactorium, a town situated on the heights above Gela. Telines reinstated these men, without any human help, solely by means of the sacred rites of these deities. From whom he received them, or how he himself acquired them, I cannot say; but certain it is that relying on their power he brought the exiles back. For this his reward was to be the office of high-priest of those gods for himself and his seed for ever. It surprises me especially that such a feat should have been performed by Telines; for I have always looked upon acts of this nature as beyond the abilities of common men, and only to be achieved by such as are of a bold and manly spirit; whereas Telines is said by those who dwell about Sicily to have been a soft-hearted and womanish person. He however obtained this office in the manner above described. ####  |