In 289 BC Menon assassinated Agathocles, the king of Syracuse and had his grandson, Archagathus, put to death.
[1] At around the same time, there was a revolution at Syracuse which led to the expulsion of the Campanian mercenaries, who became known as the Mamertines, but it is unclear what role Hicetas himself played in this.
[2] Probably in 288/7 BC Hicetas secured the position of strategos autokrator (general with full powers), which made him the supreme authority in Syracuse.
This ended Phintias' efforts to expand into the Syracusan sphere, although Hicetas was either unable or uninterested in attempting to remove him altogether.
In the aftermath of this defeat, in 282 BC, Phintias evacuated the population of Gela and resettled them to the west at Licata.
Shortly after this, the city was besieged by the Carthaginians and Thoenon and Sosistratus were forced to summon Pyrrhus of Epirus to their aid - he arrived in 278 BC.
On the reverse, they show Nike driving a two-horse chariot, with various symbols and the legend, ΕΠΙ ΙΚΕΤΑ, "under the authority of Hicetas.
"[2] This makes it clear that Hicetas — unlike his predecessor Agathocles and his contemporary Phintias — never assumed the title of "king.