Hicetas (Greek: Ἱκέτας or Ἱκέτης) was a Syracusan general and tyrant of Leontini, Magna Graecia, contemporary with the younger Dionysius and Timoleon.
Hicetas was willing to help them, but after a while he was persuaded otherwise by the enemies of Dion and accordingly he placed them on board a ship bound for Corinth, with secret instructions that they should be put to death during the voyage.
In the disorders that ensued, Hicetas succeeded in gaining control of Leontini, which became, after the return of the younger Dionysius, a rallying point for all the disaffected Syracusans.
But while Hicetas secretly intended to expel Dionysius so that he could establish himself in his place, the fears of a Carthaginian invasion and the desire to restore tranquillity to the island led the Sicilians (including the Syracusan exiles) to send an embassy imploring assistance from Corinth.
He managed to defeat Dionysius in a decisive action, making himself master of the whole city, except the island citadel, in which he kept the tyrant closely besieged.
Hicetas, finding that he had now to cope with a new enemy, and having failed in an attempt to rid himself of Timoleon by assassination, decided to openly seek the assistance of Carthage, and allowed Mago, at the head of a large fleet and army, into the port and city of Syracuse.
Once Timoleon had settled affairs in Syracuse, he turned his arms against Leontini, and would probably have succeeded in expelling Hicetas from there as well, had not the Carthaginian invasion at that time required all his attention.