By 452 BCE he had united central Sicily and founded the city of Palice, the seat of his power, near Lago Naftia, then two holy crater lakes and site of a sanctury of a pair of Sicel gods called the Palici. The city grew quickly as it became a place of refuge for runaway slaves. Ducetius then conquered Aetna, southwest of Mount Etna, before moving into Agrigentum.