LEONTINI, a town in the south-east of Sicily, was founded by the Chalcidians from Naxos (730 b.c. ). Its history is so interwoven with that of its more powerful neighbour Syracuse that it can hardly be treated separately. The people of Leontini were more than once transferred to Syracuse, but the town was always refounded. It was situated in a very fertile district, and was a wealthy place, as is proved by its numerous coins, on which ears of corn are a frequent type. The locus classicus for the topography of the ancient city is Polybius, vii. 6. The most distinguished name in literature belonging to Leontini is that of the sophist Gorgias. It continued to exist throughout the Roman and mediaeval periods, and still preserves the old name slightly altered as Lentini.