Polybius records to his praise that he sacrificed all objects of personal ambition to the duty of obedience and reverence to his parents.
[2] Livy asserts that, after the huge defeat suffered by the Romans at Cannae, Gelo was preparing to abandon the alliance of Rome for that of Carthage.
According to this account, he began making friendly overtures to the cities allied to Rome and might have convinced the entire island of Sicily to defect to the Carthaginian side, had he not died later in the year of 216 BC.
However, this seems quite at variance with the statement of Polybius of his uniform submission to his father's views and may very likely deserve as little credit as Livy's insinuation that his death occurred so opportunely, as to cast suspicion upon Hiero being the murderer of his own son.
[4] Archimedes dedicated to him his treatise The Sand Reckoner, in which he addresses him by the title of king.