Alexander,
moreover, was at this time scarcely 20 years old, and
could not call himself Alexander the Great, fur he did
not receive this title till his Persian and Indian expe-
dition, after which he never returned to Greece; yet
the whole transaction supposes him elated with the
pnde of conquest.
moreover, was at this time scarcely 20 years old, and
could not call himself Alexander the Great, fur he did
not receive this title till his Persian and Indian expe-
dition, after which he never returned to Greece; yet
the whole transaction supposes him elated with the
pnde of conquest.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
, vol.
3, p.
167) has the following remarks:
"Our poet has just so far availed himself of ancient
traditions as to give probability to his narration, and
to support it by the prisea fides facto. He wrote,
however, at such a distance of time from the events
which formed the groundwork of his poem, and '. he
events themselves were so obscure, that he could de-
part from history without violating probability. Thus,
it appears from chronology, that Dido lived many hun-
dred years after the Trojan war; but the point was one
of obscure antiquity, known perhaps to few readers,
md not very precisely ascertained. Hence, so far was
the violence offered to chronology from revolting his
countrymen, that Ovid, who was so knowing in an-
cient histories and fables, wrote an heroic epistle as
addressed by Dido to jEneas. "--In giving the narra-
tive of Dido, we have given also the etymology*of the
name, as assigned by sonic of the ancient writers.
Thi- derivation, however, appears to be an erroneous
oiii- Dido neither denotes " the heroine," as Servins
maintains (ad . En. , 4, 3ft), and as we have already
given it; nor " the man-slayer" (uvtpoQovoc), as Eu-
stathius pretends (compare Bochart, col. 746); nor
"the wanderer" (rj nXavT/Tic), as we find it stated in
the Etymologicon Magnum. The name Dido means
nothing more than " the belcved," whether the refer-
ence be to Baal or to her husband: "amor, dclicia
ems, sive Baalis, sive mariti. " (Gesenius, Phcen.
Man. , p. 400. ) The other appellation, Elissa (more
coircctly, perhaps, Elisa), means "the exulting" or
"joyous one" (Gesen. , I. c), and not, as Bochart
makes it, "the divine maiden. " (Bochart, Geogr.
Saa , col. 472. )
Didtmaon, an artist, mentioned in Virgil. (Mn. ,
? 1, 359. ) The name, of course, is imaginary.
Diof mos, a famous grammarian, the son of a seller
of fish at Alexandrea, was born in the consulship of
Antonius and Cicero, B. C. 63, and flourished in the
reign of Augustus. Macrobius calls him the greatest
grammarian of his own or any other time. (Sat. , 6,
82. ) According to Athensus (4, p. 139, c), he pub-
iislied 3500 volumes, and had written so much that he
was caHed "the forgetter of books" (fiifkioludac), for
he often forgot what he had written himself; and also
"'he man with brazen bowels" (xafaevTepoc), from his
? ? nnwearird industry. To judge from the specii tens of
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 1>>1 o
e>>ia>>J Ttindymine. (Mannert, Ane. Giog-. , vol. 6,
^63 ---II- A mountain in the island of Cyzicus, and
overhanging the city. It had on its summit a temple,
? aid tc have been, erected by the Argonauts in honour
of Cybele. (Stralo, 675. )
DiNii, ? 'own of Gallia Narbonensis, and the cap-
ital of the Bcdiontici. Its name is said to be of Cel-
tic origin, being derived from din, wale-, and ta, hoi,
so called from tho thermal waters at the distance of a
quarter of a league from it. It is now Digne. (Com-
p*i<< Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 106. )
Disocrates, a #very celebrated Macedonian archi-
tect, who offered to cut Mount Athos into a statue of
Alexander. (Vid. Athos, at the close of the article. )
The monarch took him to Egypt, and employed him in
several works of art. Ptolemy Philadelphus directed
him to constru:: a temple for his queen Arsinoe, after
her death; and the intention was to have the ceiling of
loadstone, and tbs statue of iron, in order thai the lat-
ter might appear to be suspended in the air. The
death of the artist himself frustrated the undertaking.
Pliny, 34, 14. )
Dinustkates, a famous mathematician of the Pla-
tonic school, the brother of Menechares, and disciple
of Plato. Pursuing the steps of his brother, who am-
plified the theory of the conic sections, Dinoatrates is
said to have made many mathematical discoveries;
but he is particularly distinguished as the inventor of
the quairatrix. Montucla, however, observes, that
there is some reason for ascribing the original inven-
tion of this curve to Hippias of Elca, an ingenious phi-
losopher and geometer contemporary with Socrates.
(Proc/ut, Comment, in EucL, 2, 4. --Papptu, Coll.
Math. , 4, prop. 25. )
Dioclka, a town of Dalmatia, the birthplace, ac-
cording to some, of the Emperor Dioclesian. Its ruins
are near the modem Narcnza.
Diocletianopolis, a city of Macedonia, called so
in honour of Dioclesian, and supposed by Mannert
[Gcogr. , vol. 7, p. 479) to have been identical with
Fella.
Diocletiaxus, Caius Valerius Jovius, a cele-
brated Roman emperor, born of an obscure family in
Dalmatia, at the town of Dioclea or Doclea, from
which town he derived his first name, which was
probably Docles, afterward lengthened to the more
harmonious Greek form of Diodes, and at length,
after his accession to the empire, to the Roman form
of Diocletianus. He likewise, on this occasion, as-
sumed the patrician name of Valerius. Some, how-
ever, make him to have been bom at Salona. His
birth year also is differently given. The common
account says 245 A. D. , but other statements make
him ten years older. He was first a common soldier,
and by merit and success gradually rose to rank At
the commencement of bis career, and whilt he occu-
pied some inferior post, it is said that a Druidess,
in whose house he lodged, upbraided him with covet-
ousness, to whom he jocosely replied, "I shall be
more generous when I am emperor. " "You are jo-
ling," replied the Druidess; "but I tell you, in good
earnest, that you will attain to fte empire after yon
save killed a boar. " This circumstance is said to
ana occurred in the city of Tongres, and present bish-
aprie of Liege. --Dioclesian served in Gaul, in Mcesia,
under Probus, and was present at the campaign against
-he Persians, when Carus perished in so mysterious a
manner. He commanded the household or imperial
? ? wdy-guard when young Numenanus, the son of Ca-
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIOCLK^IANUS.
DIO
tea *i ed for peace, which w* granted by Dioclesian,
on condition of the Persians giving up all the territory
on the right or western bank of the Tigria. This
pence was concluded in 297, and lasted forty years.
At the same time, Dioclesian marched into Egypt
against Achillaeus, whom he besieged in Alexandrea,
which he took after a siege of eight months, when the
usurper and bis chief adherents were put to death.
Dioclesian is said to have behaved on this occasion
? villi unusue. 1 sternness, several towns of Egypt, among
others Busiris and Coptos, being destroyed. For
several years after this the empire enjoyed repose, and
Dioclesian and his colleagues were chiefly employed
in framing laws and administrative regulations, and in
constructing forts on the frontiers. Dioclesian kept
a splendid court at Nicomedia, which town he em-
bellished with numerous structures. He, or rather
Maximian by his order, caused the magnificent Ther-
ms at Rome to be built, the remains of which still
biiar Dioclesian's name, and which contained, besides
(lie baths, a library, a museum, and other establish-
ments. --In February, 303, Dioclesian issued an edict
i. gainst the Christians, ordering their churches to be
pulled down, their sacred books to be burned, and all
Christians to be dismissed from offices civil or military;
with other penalties, exclusive, however, of death.
Various causes have been assigned for this measure.
It. is known that Galerius had always been hostile to
the Christians, while Dioclesian had openly favoured
them, and had employed them in his armies and about
his person, and Euscbius speaks of the prosperity, se-
curity, and protection which they enjoyed under his
reign. They had churches in most towns, and one
at Nicomedia, in particular, under the eye of the em-
peror. Just before the edict was issued, Galerius had
repaired to Nicomedia to induce Dioclesian to pro
cr. ribe the Christians. He filled the emperor's mind
with reports of conspiracies and seditions, and, aided
by the artifices of the heathen priesthood, was at last
t it too successful. The barbarities that followed
opon the issuing of the edict above referred to are
utterly inconceivable. Malicious ingenuity was racked
to the utmost to devise tortures for the persecuted fol-
lowers of Jesus. For the space of ten years did this
persecution rage with scarcely mitigated horrors; and
such multitudes were massacred in all parts of the
empire, that at last the imperial murderers ventured
to erect a triumphal column, bearing the barbarously
boastful, yet false inscription, that they had extin-
guished the Christian name and superstition, and re-
stored the worship of the gods to its former purity and
splendour. This was the last persecution under the
Roman empire, and it has been called by the name of
Dioclesian. But, as the persecution raged with most
fury in the provinces subject to the rule of Galerius,
and as he continued it for several years after Dio-
clesian's abdication, it might with more propriety be
called the Galerian persecution. --In November, 303,
Dioclesian repaired to Rome, where he and Maximian
enjoyed the honour of a triumph, followed by festive
games. This was the last triumph that Rome saw.
The populace of that city complained of the economy
of Dioclesian on that occasion, and so offended him by
their jibes and sarcasms, that he left Rome abruptly,
in the month of December, in very cold weather. A
long illness ensued, which confined him at Nicomedia;
? nd, soon after his recovery, he ww visited by Galerius,
? ? who persuaded and almost forced him to abdicate.
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIODORUS.
Home, and at a period when the dominion of this
uly extended over the greatest part of the civilized
sorid, arranges his narrative in accordance with the
Hainan calendar and consular fasti: he frequently
idds the names of the Athenian archons that were
lutitemporaneo*-^*. Now, at the time when he wrote,
tue consuls entered on their office on the first of Jan-
uary, whereas, after the adoption of the cycle of Me-
:ou, B. C. 402, the Athenian archons commenced their
? trms about the middle of the year. Diodorus, how-
f ver, limits himself to the mention of those archons
that entered upon their duties in the course of the con-
suls; year, which forms the basis of his chronology:
thus, the events which look place during the first six
months of a year, ought to be referred to the archon
mentioned by him in the preceding year. Nor is this
ai'i; the duration of the consulship was that of the Ro-
man year, which, from a very early period, was made
to consist of 365 days; while the duration of the ar-
chonship remained for a long time subject to the ir-
regularity of the Athenian calendar and years, the lat-
ter being sometimes 354 days, at other times 384.
Thus, to cite only a single instance, Diodorus places
the death of Alexander the Great in the 4th year of the
113th Olympiad, a period with which the names of the
consuls also indicated by him fully agree; whereas, by
the name of the archon, ho makes it to be the follow-
ing year, the 1st of the 114th Olympiad. (Compare
Died. Stc , 17, 113. --Annates des Lagides, par M.
ChampoUion Figeac, vol. 1, p. 264. ) We must care-
fully attend to this point in remodelling the chronology
-f Diodorus. --With regard to the historical value of
ice work itself, and the merits of the author, the most
discrepant opinions have been entertained by modern
writers. The Spanish scholar Vives called him a
mere trifler; and Jean Bodin accused him, id no
sparing terms, of ignorance and carelessness; while,
so the other hand, he has been defended and extolled
by many eminent critics as an accurate and able wri-
ter. The principal fault of Diodorus seems to have
ieen the too great extent of his work. It was not
possible for any man living in the time of Augustus to
write an unexceptionable universal history, it is not,
then, a matter of surprise, that Diodorus, who does not
appear to have been a man of superior abilities, should
have fallen into a number of particular errors, and
should have placed too much reliance on authorities
sometimes far from trustworthy. Wherever he speaks
from his own observations, he may, perhaps, generally
J^e relied upon; but when he is compiling from the
writings of others, he has shown little judgment in the
selection, and has, in many cases, proved himself in-
capable of discriminating between the fabulous and
the true. We must not blame him for having given
a Greek colouring to the manners of other nations
which he describes, for it was the common practice of
Greek writers to do so, and he has not erred so much
in this respect as Dionysius of Halicarnassus. We
are indebted to him, moreover, for many particulars
which, but for him, we should never have known; and
we must regret that we have lost the last, and proba-
sly the most valuable, portion of his works, as even
by the fragments of them which remain we are enabled,
In many places, to correct the errors of ttvy. The
style of Diodorus, though not very pure or elegant, is
sufficiently perspicuous, and presents but few difficul-
ies, except where the MSS. are defective, as is fre-
nxntly the case. (SchbU, Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 4, p.
? ? 77, stqq. --Nicbuhr, Rom. Gesch. , vol. 3, p. 190, note
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIOGENES
saeiscs tales which have been invented U> expose the
sect of the Cynics to ridicule. It cannot be doubted,
however, that Diogenes prac. ised the most hardy self-
control and the most rigid abstinence; exposing him-
self to the utmost extremes of heat and cold, and liv-
ing upon the simplest diet, casually supplied by the
hand of charity. In his old age, sailing to ^Egina,
he wis taken by pirates and carried to Crete, where
he was exposed to sale in the public market. When
. he auctioneer asked him what he could do, he said,
/ can gjecrn men; therefore tell me to one who wants
a master. Xeniades, a wealthy Corinthian, happen-
ing at that instant to pass by, was struck with the
singularity of his reply, and purchased him. On
their arrival at Corinth, Xeniades gave hint his free-
dom, and committed to him the education of his
children and the direction of his domestic concerns.
Diogenes executed this trust with so much judgment
und fidelity, that Xeniades used to Bay that the gods
had sent a good genius to his house. During his resi-
dence at Corinth, the interview between him and Al-
exander is said to have taken place. Plutarch relates,
that Alexander, when al Corinth, receiving the con-
gratulations of all ranks on being appointed to com-
mand the army of the Greeks against the Persians,
missed Diogenes among the number, with whose char-
acter he was not acquainted. Curious to sec one who
had given so signal an instance of his haughty inde-
pendence of spirit, Alexander went in search of him,
and found him sitting in his tub in the sun. "I am
Alexander th. : Great" said the monarch; "and I am
Diogenes the Cynic" replied the philosopher. Alex-
ander thef) requested that ho would inform him what
service he cc uld render him. "Stand from between
me and the sun," said the Cynic. Alexander, struck
with the reply, said to his friends who were ridiculing
the whimsical singularity of the philosopher, " If I
were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes. "
This story is too good to be omitted, but there are sev-
eral circumstances which in some degree diminish its
credibility. It supposes Diogenes to have lived in his
tub at Corinth, whereas it appears that he lived there
in the house of Xeniades, and that, if he ever dwelt in
a tub, he left it behind him at Athens. .
Alexander,
moreover, was at this time scarcely 20 years old, and
could not call himself Alexander the Great, fur he did
not receive this title till his Persian and Indian expe-
dition, after which he never returned to Greece; yet
the whole transaction supposes him elated with the
pnde of conquest. Diogenes, probably, was visited
by Alexander, when the latter held the general assem-
bly of the Greeks at Corinth, and was received by him
with rudeness and incivility, which may have given
rise to the whole story. The philosopher at this time
would be about 7Q years of age. --Various accounts
are given concerning the manner and time of his death.
It seems most probable that he died at Corinth, of
mere decay, in the 90th year of his age, and in the
114th Olympiad. His friends contended for the honour
of defraying the expenses of his funeral; but the ma-
gistrates settled the dispute by ordering him an inter-
ment at the public expense. A column of Parian
marble, terminated by the figure of a dog, was raised
over his tomb. His fellow townsmen of Sinope also
erected braxen statues in memory of the philosopher.
Diogenes left behind him no system of philosophy.
After the exsmple of his master, he was more atten-
tive to practical than theoretical wisdom. The follow-
? ? ing are a few of the particular opinions ascribed to
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIO
010
? pos himself, and Jia. << shown very little judgment and
discrimination in the execution of it, yet the book is
extremely useful as a collection of facts, which we
could not have learned from any other quarter, and is
entertaining as a sort of omniana on the subject. The
article on Epicurus is valuable, as containing some
original letters of that philosopher, which comprise a
pretty satisfactory epitome of the Epicurean doctrines,
and are very useful to the readers of Lucretius. The
best editions of Diogenes are, that of Meibomius, Amst,
1692, 2 vols. 4to, and that of Hubncr, Lips. , 1828, 2
vols. 8vo.
Diomf. pe. e Insula Vid. Diomedis Insula;.
Diomedis, son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king
? tl -Etolia. and one of the bravest of the Grecian
chiefs in the Trojan war, ranking next to Achilles and
A'ax. Homer represents him as one of the favourites
of Minerva, and ascribes his many acts of valour to
her protecting influence. Among his exploits, it is
recorded of liim that he engaged in single combat
with Hector and -Eneas; that he wounded Mars,
-? Eneas, and Venus; and that, in concert with Ulysses,
he carried off the horses of Rhesus, and the palladi-
um; and procured the arrows of Philoctetes. (Soph-
ocles, however, makes Ulysses to have been aided
in this last-mentioned affair by Pyrrhus, son of Achil-
les. ) Diomede was deprived of the affection of his
wife iEgiale, through the wrath and vengeance of Ve-
nus, by whose influence, during his absence at the war,
she had become attached to Cyllabarus, the son of
Sthenelus. (But consult Heme, ad Apollod. , 1. 8, 6,
U ad Horn. , 11. , 5, 412. ) Diomede was so afflicted at
the enstrangement of -Egiale, that he abandoned
Greece, and settled at the head of a colony, in Magna
Grscia, where he founded a city, to which he gave the
nine of Argyripa; and married a daughter of Dau-
aus, prince of the country. In the progress of his
royag* to Italy, Diomede was shipwrecked on that part
:f toe Libyan coast which was under the sway of Ly-
me, who, as was his usage towards all strangers, seized
ind confined him. He was, however, liberated by
Oallirhoe, the tyrant's daughter, who became so en-
irnoured of him, that, upon his quitting the African
shores, she put herself to death. Diomede, according
to one account, died in Italy at a very advanced age;
while another legend makes him to have been slain by
his father-in-lawDaunus. (Tzetz. , ad Lyc. ophr. , 603,
*eqq) His companions were so much afflicted by his
death that they were changed into birds. Virgil, how-
ever, makes this transformation earlier in date, and
to have taken place during the lifetime of Diomede.
(-En. , 11,272. ) He seems to have followed the tra-
dition recorded by Ovid (Mel. , 14, 457), that Agnon,
one of Diomcde's companions in his voysge from
Troy, insulted Venus with contemptuous language,
and that the goddess, in revenge, transformed not only
Agnon, but many others of Diomede's followers into
birds. These birds, according to Ovid, resembled
swans; they chiefly frequented some neighbouring
islands in the Adriatic, and were noted for their fond-
ness lor Greeks, arid their aversion towards the natives
of any other country. (Vid. Diomedis Insula;--Con-
sult Heyne, Excurs-, \,ad &n. , 11, and Lord Bacon's
FabUs of the Ancients, fab. xviii. )--II. A king of the
Bittones, in Thrace, Bon of Mars and Cyrene. His
mares fed on human flesh. Hercules sailed to this
quarter, having been ordered, as his eighth labour, to
? ? ? ring these marcs to Mycenae. The hero overcame
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DION.
uio
i Roman senator, was born AD. 155, in Bilhynia.
His true name was Cassius, but he assumed the other
two names, as being descended on the mother's side
from Dion Chrysostom. Thus, though he was on his
mother's side of Greek descent, and though, in his
writings, he adopted the then prevailing language of
his native province, namely, the Greek, he must nev-
ertheless be considered as a Roman. Dio Cassius
passed the greater part of his life in public employ-
ment*. He was a senator under Commodua ;. governor
of Smyrna after the death of Septimius Severus; for he
hsd displeased this monarch, and held no office, con-
sequently, during the life of the latter; and afterward
consul, aa also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia. Al-
exander Severus entertained the highest esteem for
him, and made him consul for the second time, with
himself, though the praetorian guards, irritated against
him on account of his severity, had demanded his life.
When advanced in years, he returned to his native
country. Dion published a Roman history, in eighty
books, the fruit of his researches and labours for the
space of twenty-two years It embraced a period of
983 years, extending from the arrival of . 'Eneas in
Italy, and the subsequent founding of Rome, to A. D.
229. Down to the time of Julius Cesar, he only
gives a summary of events; after this, he enters some-
what more into details; and from the time of Corn-
modus he is very circumstantial in relating what passed
under his own eyes. Wo have fragments remaining of
the first 36 books: but there is a considerable portion
of the 35th book, on the war of Lucullus against Mith-
radates, and of the 36th, on the war with the pirates, and
the expedition of Poinpey against the King of Pontus.
The books that follow, to the 54 th inclusive, are nearly
all entire: they comprehend a period from B. C. 65 to
B. C. 10, or from the eastern campaign of Pompey, and
the death of Mithradates, to the death of Agrippa. The
55th book has a considerable gap in it. The 5lith to the
60th, both included, which comprehend the period from
A. D. 9 to A. D. 54, are complete, and contain tho events
from the defeat of Varus in Germany to the reign of
Claudius. Of the following 20 books we have only
fragments, and the meager abridgment of Xiphilinus.
The 80th or last book comprehends the period from
A. D. 222 to A. D. 229, in the reign of Alexander
Severus. The abridgment of Xiphilinus, as now ex-
tant, commences with the 35lh, and continues to the
end of the 80th book. It is a very indifferent per-
formance, and was made by order of the Emperor
Michael Ducas: the abbrcviator, Xiphilinus, was a
monk of the eleventh century. --The fragments of the
first 36 books, as now collected, are of three kinds.
1. Fragmenta Valeriana: such as were dispersed
throughout various writers, scholiasts, grammarians,
lexicographers, &c, and were collected by Henri de
t ales. 2. Fragmenta Peiresciana: comprising large
extracts, found in the section entitled " Of Virtues and
Vices," in the great collection or portative library
compiled by order of Constantino VI. , Porphyrogeni-
Uis. The manuscript of this belonged to Peiresc.
J. The fragments of the first 34 books, preserved in
ihe second section of the same work of Constantino's,
entitled " Of Embassies. " T' cse are known under
the name of Fragmenta Ursiniana, because the man-
uscript containing them was found in Sicily by Fultio
Orsini. 4. Excerpta Vaticana, by Mai, which contain
fragments of books 1-35, and 61-80, and which have
? ? been published in the second volume of the Scriptorum
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 01 o
DIONYSIUS
toamatic cxa. bliions of the Athenians took place. An
tccoanl of these festivals, which were four h. number,
will be found under the article Theatrum, y 2.
Dio. nysIas, a town of Egypt, situate at the south-
western extremity of the Lake Mceris. It is now called
Deled-Kcrun, or, according to some, Scobha. (Ptol. )
Qionysoi-olis. I. a town of Lower Mcesia, in the
? trinity of the Euxine Sea. Pliny says that it was
ilso called Crunos but Pomponius Mela (2, 2) makes
Crunos the port of Dionysopolis. 'l"ne modem name
is Dinysipoli. --II. A city of India, supposed by Man-
ncrt to be the same with the modern Nagar, or Nughr,
on the western bank of the river Cow. Manner! does
not consider it to have been the same with tho ancient
city of Nyssa, but makes the position of the latter more
to the north. (Gcogr. , vol. 6, p. 142. )
DioxYsius I. , or the Elder, a celebrated tyrant of
Svracuse, raised to that high rank from the station of
? simple citizen, was bom in this same city 430 B. C.
He was son-in-law to Hcrmocrates, who, having been
banished by an adverse party, attempted to return by
force of arms, and was killed in the action. Dionysius
was dangerously wounded, but he recovered, and was
afterward recalled. In time he procured himself to
be nominated one of the generals, and, under pretence
*fraising a force sufficient to resist the Carthaginians,
:e obtained a decree for recalling all the exiles, to
whom he gave arms. Being sent to the relief of Gela,
then besieged by the Carthaginians, he effected nothing
against the enemy, pretending that he was not sec-
onded by the other commanders; and his friends sug-
gested, that, in order to save the state, the supreme
power ought to be confided to one man, reminding the
people of the times of Gcion, who had defeated the
Carthaginian host, and given peace to Sicily. Tho
general assembly therefore proclaimed Dionysius su-
preme chief of the republic about 405 B. C. , when he
was twenty-five years of age. He increased the pay
of the soldiers, enlisted new ones, and, under pretence
of a conspiracy against his person, formed a guard of
mercenaries. He then proceeded to the relief of Gela,
but failed in the attack on the Carthaginian camp: he
however penetrated into the town, the inhabitants of
which he advised to leave it quietly in the night under
the escort of his troops. On his retreat he persuaded
those of Camarina to do the same. This raised suspi-
:ions among his troops, and a party of horsemen, riding
on before the rest, raised, on their arrival at Syracuse,
an insurrection against Dionysius, plundered his house,
and treated his wife so cruelly that she died in conse-
quence. Dionysius, with a chosen holy, followed
rlose after, set fire to the gate of Acradina, forced his
way into the city, put to death the leaders of the re-
volt, and remained undisputed possessor of the su-
preme power. The Carthaginians, being afflicted by
a pestilence, made proposals of peace, which were ac-
cepted by Dionysius, and he then applied himself to
fortifying Syracuse, and especially the island of Orly-
gia, which be made his stronghold, and which he peo-
eed entirely with his trusty partisans and mercenaries,
'the aid of whom he put down several revolts. Af-
ter reducing beneath his sway the towns of Leontini,
Catana, and Naxus, he engaged in a new war with
Carthage, in vhich he met with the most brilliant suc-
wse, making himself master of numerous towns in Si-
? ily. and becoming eventually feared both in Italy and
Sicily, to the dominion of both of which countries he
? ? teems at one time to have aspired. In order to raise
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIONYSIUS.
DIONYSIUS.
pejplc on important occasions, when full freedom of
speech seems to have been allowed. (1'lut. , Vit. Dion.
--Ihod. Sic , 13,92, teqq. --ld. , 14,7, teqq. , ccc. ) An
account of the famous prison, or " Ear of Dionysius,"
will be found under the article Lautumiae. --II. The
second of that name, surnamed the Younger, was son
of Dionysius I. by Doris. His father, whom he suc-
:? ejcd, had left the state in a prosperous condition,
but young Dionysius had neither his abUities, nor his
(. ndcuce snd experience. He followed at first the ad-
vice of Dion, who, although a republican in principle,
had remained faithful to his father, and who now en-
deavoured to direct the inexperienced son for the good
of his country. For this purpose Dion invited his
friend Plato to Syracuse about 364 B. C. Dionysius
received the philosopher with great respect, and, in
deference to his advice, reformed for a while his loose
habits and the manners of his court. But a faction,
headed by Philistus, who had always been a supporter
of the tyranny of the elder Dionysius, succeeded in
prejudicing the son against both Dion and Plato.
"Our poet has just so far availed himself of ancient
traditions as to give probability to his narration, and
to support it by the prisea fides facto. He wrote,
however, at such a distance of time from the events
which formed the groundwork of his poem, and '. he
events themselves were so obscure, that he could de-
part from history without violating probability. Thus,
it appears from chronology, that Dido lived many hun-
dred years after the Trojan war; but the point was one
of obscure antiquity, known perhaps to few readers,
md not very precisely ascertained. Hence, so far was
the violence offered to chronology from revolting his
countrymen, that Ovid, who was so knowing in an-
cient histories and fables, wrote an heroic epistle as
addressed by Dido to jEneas. "--In giving the narra-
tive of Dido, we have given also the etymology*of the
name, as assigned by sonic of the ancient writers.
Thi- derivation, however, appears to be an erroneous
oiii- Dido neither denotes " the heroine," as Servins
maintains (ad . En. , 4, 3ft), and as we have already
given it; nor " the man-slayer" (uvtpoQovoc), as Eu-
stathius pretends (compare Bochart, col. 746); nor
"the wanderer" (rj nXavT/Tic), as we find it stated in
the Etymologicon Magnum. The name Dido means
nothing more than " the belcved," whether the refer-
ence be to Baal or to her husband: "amor, dclicia
ems, sive Baalis, sive mariti. " (Gesenius, Phcen.
Man. , p. 400. ) The other appellation, Elissa (more
coircctly, perhaps, Elisa), means "the exulting" or
"joyous one" (Gesen. , I. c), and not, as Bochart
makes it, "the divine maiden. " (Bochart, Geogr.
Saa , col. 472. )
Didtmaon, an artist, mentioned in Virgil. (Mn. ,
? 1, 359. ) The name, of course, is imaginary.
Diof mos, a famous grammarian, the son of a seller
of fish at Alexandrea, was born in the consulship of
Antonius and Cicero, B. C. 63, and flourished in the
reign of Augustus. Macrobius calls him the greatest
grammarian of his own or any other time. (Sat. , 6,
82. ) According to Athensus (4, p. 139, c), he pub-
iislied 3500 volumes, and had written so much that he
was caHed "the forgetter of books" (fiifkioludac), for
he often forgot what he had written himself; and also
"'he man with brazen bowels" (xafaevTepoc), from his
? ? nnwearird industry. To judge from the specii tens of
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 1>>1 o
e>>ia>>J Ttindymine. (Mannert, Ane. Giog-. , vol. 6,
^63 ---II- A mountain in the island of Cyzicus, and
overhanging the city. It had on its summit a temple,
? aid tc have been, erected by the Argonauts in honour
of Cybele. (Stralo, 675. )
DiNii, ? 'own of Gallia Narbonensis, and the cap-
ital of the Bcdiontici. Its name is said to be of Cel-
tic origin, being derived from din, wale-, and ta, hoi,
so called from tho thermal waters at the distance of a
quarter of a league from it. It is now Digne. (Com-
p*i<< Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 106. )
Disocrates, a #very celebrated Macedonian archi-
tect, who offered to cut Mount Athos into a statue of
Alexander. (Vid. Athos, at the close of the article. )
The monarch took him to Egypt, and employed him in
several works of art. Ptolemy Philadelphus directed
him to constru:: a temple for his queen Arsinoe, after
her death; and the intention was to have the ceiling of
loadstone, and tbs statue of iron, in order thai the lat-
ter might appear to be suspended in the air. The
death of the artist himself frustrated the undertaking.
Pliny, 34, 14. )
Dinustkates, a famous mathematician of the Pla-
tonic school, the brother of Menechares, and disciple
of Plato. Pursuing the steps of his brother, who am-
plified the theory of the conic sections, Dinoatrates is
said to have made many mathematical discoveries;
but he is particularly distinguished as the inventor of
the quairatrix. Montucla, however, observes, that
there is some reason for ascribing the original inven-
tion of this curve to Hippias of Elca, an ingenious phi-
losopher and geometer contemporary with Socrates.
(Proc/ut, Comment, in EucL, 2, 4. --Papptu, Coll.
Math. , 4, prop. 25. )
Dioclka, a town of Dalmatia, the birthplace, ac-
cording to some, of the Emperor Dioclesian. Its ruins
are near the modem Narcnza.
Diocletianopolis, a city of Macedonia, called so
in honour of Dioclesian, and supposed by Mannert
[Gcogr. , vol. 7, p. 479) to have been identical with
Fella.
Diocletiaxus, Caius Valerius Jovius, a cele-
brated Roman emperor, born of an obscure family in
Dalmatia, at the town of Dioclea or Doclea, from
which town he derived his first name, which was
probably Docles, afterward lengthened to the more
harmonious Greek form of Diodes, and at length,
after his accession to the empire, to the Roman form
of Diocletianus. He likewise, on this occasion, as-
sumed the patrician name of Valerius. Some, how-
ever, make him to have been bom at Salona. His
birth year also is differently given. The common
account says 245 A. D. , but other statements make
him ten years older. He was first a common soldier,
and by merit and success gradually rose to rank At
the commencement of bis career, and whilt he occu-
pied some inferior post, it is said that a Druidess,
in whose house he lodged, upbraided him with covet-
ousness, to whom he jocosely replied, "I shall be
more generous when I am emperor. " "You are jo-
ling," replied the Druidess; "but I tell you, in good
earnest, that you will attain to fte empire after yon
save killed a boar. " This circumstance is said to
ana occurred in the city of Tongres, and present bish-
aprie of Liege. --Dioclesian served in Gaul, in Mcesia,
under Probus, and was present at the campaign against
-he Persians, when Carus perished in so mysterious a
manner. He commanded the household or imperial
? ? wdy-guard when young Numenanus, the son of Ca-
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIOCLK^IANUS.
DIO
tea *i ed for peace, which w* granted by Dioclesian,
on condition of the Persians giving up all the territory
on the right or western bank of the Tigria. This
pence was concluded in 297, and lasted forty years.
At the same time, Dioclesian marched into Egypt
against Achillaeus, whom he besieged in Alexandrea,
which he took after a siege of eight months, when the
usurper and bis chief adherents were put to death.
Dioclesian is said to have behaved on this occasion
? villi unusue. 1 sternness, several towns of Egypt, among
others Busiris and Coptos, being destroyed. For
several years after this the empire enjoyed repose, and
Dioclesian and his colleagues were chiefly employed
in framing laws and administrative regulations, and in
constructing forts on the frontiers. Dioclesian kept
a splendid court at Nicomedia, which town he em-
bellished with numerous structures. He, or rather
Maximian by his order, caused the magnificent Ther-
ms at Rome to be built, the remains of which still
biiar Dioclesian's name, and which contained, besides
(lie baths, a library, a museum, and other establish-
ments. --In February, 303, Dioclesian issued an edict
i. gainst the Christians, ordering their churches to be
pulled down, their sacred books to be burned, and all
Christians to be dismissed from offices civil or military;
with other penalties, exclusive, however, of death.
Various causes have been assigned for this measure.
It. is known that Galerius had always been hostile to
the Christians, while Dioclesian had openly favoured
them, and had employed them in his armies and about
his person, and Euscbius speaks of the prosperity, se-
curity, and protection which they enjoyed under his
reign. They had churches in most towns, and one
at Nicomedia, in particular, under the eye of the em-
peror. Just before the edict was issued, Galerius had
repaired to Nicomedia to induce Dioclesian to pro
cr. ribe the Christians. He filled the emperor's mind
with reports of conspiracies and seditions, and, aided
by the artifices of the heathen priesthood, was at last
t it too successful. The barbarities that followed
opon the issuing of the edict above referred to are
utterly inconceivable. Malicious ingenuity was racked
to the utmost to devise tortures for the persecuted fol-
lowers of Jesus. For the space of ten years did this
persecution rage with scarcely mitigated horrors; and
such multitudes were massacred in all parts of the
empire, that at last the imperial murderers ventured
to erect a triumphal column, bearing the barbarously
boastful, yet false inscription, that they had extin-
guished the Christian name and superstition, and re-
stored the worship of the gods to its former purity and
splendour. This was the last persecution under the
Roman empire, and it has been called by the name of
Dioclesian. But, as the persecution raged with most
fury in the provinces subject to the rule of Galerius,
and as he continued it for several years after Dio-
clesian's abdication, it might with more propriety be
called the Galerian persecution. --In November, 303,
Dioclesian repaired to Rome, where he and Maximian
enjoyed the honour of a triumph, followed by festive
games. This was the last triumph that Rome saw.
The populace of that city complained of the economy
of Dioclesian on that occasion, and so offended him by
their jibes and sarcasms, that he left Rome abruptly,
in the month of December, in very cold weather. A
long illness ensued, which confined him at Nicomedia;
? nd, soon after his recovery, he ww visited by Galerius,
? ? who persuaded and almost forced him to abdicate.
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIODORUS.
Home, and at a period when the dominion of this
uly extended over the greatest part of the civilized
sorid, arranges his narrative in accordance with the
Hainan calendar and consular fasti: he frequently
idds the names of the Athenian archons that were
lutitemporaneo*-^*. Now, at the time when he wrote,
tue consuls entered on their office on the first of Jan-
uary, whereas, after the adoption of the cycle of Me-
:ou, B. C. 402, the Athenian archons commenced their
? trms about the middle of the year. Diodorus, how-
f ver, limits himself to the mention of those archons
that entered upon their duties in the course of the con-
suls; year, which forms the basis of his chronology:
thus, the events which look place during the first six
months of a year, ought to be referred to the archon
mentioned by him in the preceding year. Nor is this
ai'i; the duration of the consulship was that of the Ro-
man year, which, from a very early period, was made
to consist of 365 days; while the duration of the ar-
chonship remained for a long time subject to the ir-
regularity of the Athenian calendar and years, the lat-
ter being sometimes 354 days, at other times 384.
Thus, to cite only a single instance, Diodorus places
the death of Alexander the Great in the 4th year of the
113th Olympiad, a period with which the names of the
consuls also indicated by him fully agree; whereas, by
the name of the archon, ho makes it to be the follow-
ing year, the 1st of the 114th Olympiad. (Compare
Died. Stc , 17, 113. --Annates des Lagides, par M.
ChampoUion Figeac, vol. 1, p. 264. ) We must care-
fully attend to this point in remodelling the chronology
-f Diodorus. --With regard to the historical value of
ice work itself, and the merits of the author, the most
discrepant opinions have been entertained by modern
writers. The Spanish scholar Vives called him a
mere trifler; and Jean Bodin accused him, id no
sparing terms, of ignorance and carelessness; while,
so the other hand, he has been defended and extolled
by many eminent critics as an accurate and able wri-
ter. The principal fault of Diodorus seems to have
ieen the too great extent of his work. It was not
possible for any man living in the time of Augustus to
write an unexceptionable universal history, it is not,
then, a matter of surprise, that Diodorus, who does not
appear to have been a man of superior abilities, should
have fallen into a number of particular errors, and
should have placed too much reliance on authorities
sometimes far from trustworthy. Wherever he speaks
from his own observations, he may, perhaps, generally
J^e relied upon; but when he is compiling from the
writings of others, he has shown little judgment in the
selection, and has, in many cases, proved himself in-
capable of discriminating between the fabulous and
the true. We must not blame him for having given
a Greek colouring to the manners of other nations
which he describes, for it was the common practice of
Greek writers to do so, and he has not erred so much
in this respect as Dionysius of Halicarnassus. We
are indebted to him, moreover, for many particulars
which, but for him, we should never have known; and
we must regret that we have lost the last, and proba-
sly the most valuable, portion of his works, as even
by the fragments of them which remain we are enabled,
In many places, to correct the errors of ttvy. The
style of Diodorus, though not very pure or elegant, is
sufficiently perspicuous, and presents but few difficul-
ies, except where the MSS. are defective, as is fre-
nxntly the case. (SchbU, Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 4, p.
? ? 77, stqq. --Nicbuhr, Rom. Gesch. , vol. 3, p. 190, note
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIOGENES
saeiscs tales which have been invented U> expose the
sect of the Cynics to ridicule. It cannot be doubted,
however, that Diogenes prac. ised the most hardy self-
control and the most rigid abstinence; exposing him-
self to the utmost extremes of heat and cold, and liv-
ing upon the simplest diet, casually supplied by the
hand of charity. In his old age, sailing to ^Egina,
he wis taken by pirates and carried to Crete, where
he was exposed to sale in the public market. When
. he auctioneer asked him what he could do, he said,
/ can gjecrn men; therefore tell me to one who wants
a master. Xeniades, a wealthy Corinthian, happen-
ing at that instant to pass by, was struck with the
singularity of his reply, and purchased him. On
their arrival at Corinth, Xeniades gave hint his free-
dom, and committed to him the education of his
children and the direction of his domestic concerns.
Diogenes executed this trust with so much judgment
und fidelity, that Xeniades used to Bay that the gods
had sent a good genius to his house. During his resi-
dence at Corinth, the interview between him and Al-
exander is said to have taken place. Plutarch relates,
that Alexander, when al Corinth, receiving the con-
gratulations of all ranks on being appointed to com-
mand the army of the Greeks against the Persians,
missed Diogenes among the number, with whose char-
acter he was not acquainted. Curious to sec one who
had given so signal an instance of his haughty inde-
pendence of spirit, Alexander went in search of him,
and found him sitting in his tub in the sun. "I am
Alexander th. : Great" said the monarch; "and I am
Diogenes the Cynic" replied the philosopher. Alex-
ander thef) requested that ho would inform him what
service he cc uld render him. "Stand from between
me and the sun," said the Cynic. Alexander, struck
with the reply, said to his friends who were ridiculing
the whimsical singularity of the philosopher, " If I
were not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes. "
This story is too good to be omitted, but there are sev-
eral circumstances which in some degree diminish its
credibility. It supposes Diogenes to have lived in his
tub at Corinth, whereas it appears that he lived there
in the house of Xeniades, and that, if he ever dwelt in
a tub, he left it behind him at Athens. .
Alexander,
moreover, was at this time scarcely 20 years old, and
could not call himself Alexander the Great, fur he did
not receive this title till his Persian and Indian expe-
dition, after which he never returned to Greece; yet
the whole transaction supposes him elated with the
pnde of conquest. Diogenes, probably, was visited
by Alexander, when the latter held the general assem-
bly of the Greeks at Corinth, and was received by him
with rudeness and incivility, which may have given
rise to the whole story. The philosopher at this time
would be about 7Q years of age. --Various accounts
are given concerning the manner and time of his death.
It seems most probable that he died at Corinth, of
mere decay, in the 90th year of his age, and in the
114th Olympiad. His friends contended for the honour
of defraying the expenses of his funeral; but the ma-
gistrates settled the dispute by ordering him an inter-
ment at the public expense. A column of Parian
marble, terminated by the figure of a dog, was raised
over his tomb. His fellow townsmen of Sinope also
erected braxen statues in memory of the philosopher.
Diogenes left behind him no system of philosophy.
After the exsmple of his master, he was more atten-
tive to practical than theoretical wisdom. The follow-
? ? ing are a few of the particular opinions ascribed to
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIO
010
? pos himself, and Jia. << shown very little judgment and
discrimination in the execution of it, yet the book is
extremely useful as a collection of facts, which we
could not have learned from any other quarter, and is
entertaining as a sort of omniana on the subject. The
article on Epicurus is valuable, as containing some
original letters of that philosopher, which comprise a
pretty satisfactory epitome of the Epicurean doctrines,
and are very useful to the readers of Lucretius. The
best editions of Diogenes are, that of Meibomius, Amst,
1692, 2 vols. 4to, and that of Hubncr, Lips. , 1828, 2
vols. 8vo.
Diomf. pe. e Insula Vid. Diomedis Insula;.
Diomedis, son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king
? tl -Etolia. and one of the bravest of the Grecian
chiefs in the Trojan war, ranking next to Achilles and
A'ax. Homer represents him as one of the favourites
of Minerva, and ascribes his many acts of valour to
her protecting influence. Among his exploits, it is
recorded of liim that he engaged in single combat
with Hector and -Eneas; that he wounded Mars,
-? Eneas, and Venus; and that, in concert with Ulysses,
he carried off the horses of Rhesus, and the palladi-
um; and procured the arrows of Philoctetes. (Soph-
ocles, however, makes Ulysses to have been aided
in this last-mentioned affair by Pyrrhus, son of Achil-
les. ) Diomede was deprived of the affection of his
wife iEgiale, through the wrath and vengeance of Ve-
nus, by whose influence, during his absence at the war,
she had become attached to Cyllabarus, the son of
Sthenelus. (But consult Heme, ad Apollod. , 1. 8, 6,
U ad Horn. , 11. , 5, 412. ) Diomede was so afflicted at
the enstrangement of -Egiale, that he abandoned
Greece, and settled at the head of a colony, in Magna
Grscia, where he founded a city, to which he gave the
nine of Argyripa; and married a daughter of Dau-
aus, prince of the country. In the progress of his
royag* to Italy, Diomede was shipwrecked on that part
:f toe Libyan coast which was under the sway of Ly-
me, who, as was his usage towards all strangers, seized
ind confined him. He was, however, liberated by
Oallirhoe, the tyrant's daughter, who became so en-
irnoured of him, that, upon his quitting the African
shores, she put herself to death. Diomede, according
to one account, died in Italy at a very advanced age;
while another legend makes him to have been slain by
his father-in-lawDaunus. (Tzetz. , ad Lyc. ophr. , 603,
*eqq) His companions were so much afflicted by his
death that they were changed into birds. Virgil, how-
ever, makes this transformation earlier in date, and
to have taken place during the lifetime of Diomede.
(-En. , 11,272. ) He seems to have followed the tra-
dition recorded by Ovid (Mel. , 14, 457), that Agnon,
one of Diomcde's companions in his voysge from
Troy, insulted Venus with contemptuous language,
and that the goddess, in revenge, transformed not only
Agnon, but many others of Diomede's followers into
birds. These birds, according to Ovid, resembled
swans; they chiefly frequented some neighbouring
islands in the Adriatic, and were noted for their fond-
ness lor Greeks, arid their aversion towards the natives
of any other country. (Vid. Diomedis Insula;--Con-
sult Heyne, Excurs-, \,ad &n. , 11, and Lord Bacon's
FabUs of the Ancients, fab. xviii. )--II. A king of the
Bittones, in Thrace, Bon of Mars and Cyrene. His
mares fed on human flesh. Hercules sailed to this
quarter, having been ordered, as his eighth labour, to
? ? ? ring these marcs to Mycenae. The hero overcame
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DION.
uio
i Roman senator, was born AD. 155, in Bilhynia.
His true name was Cassius, but he assumed the other
two names, as being descended on the mother's side
from Dion Chrysostom. Thus, though he was on his
mother's side of Greek descent, and though, in his
writings, he adopted the then prevailing language of
his native province, namely, the Greek, he must nev-
ertheless be considered as a Roman. Dio Cassius
passed the greater part of his life in public employ-
ment*. He was a senator under Commodua ;. governor
of Smyrna after the death of Septimius Severus; for he
hsd displeased this monarch, and held no office, con-
sequently, during the life of the latter; and afterward
consul, aa also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia. Al-
exander Severus entertained the highest esteem for
him, and made him consul for the second time, with
himself, though the praetorian guards, irritated against
him on account of his severity, had demanded his life.
When advanced in years, he returned to his native
country. Dion published a Roman history, in eighty
books, the fruit of his researches and labours for the
space of twenty-two years It embraced a period of
983 years, extending from the arrival of . 'Eneas in
Italy, and the subsequent founding of Rome, to A. D.
229. Down to the time of Julius Cesar, he only
gives a summary of events; after this, he enters some-
what more into details; and from the time of Corn-
modus he is very circumstantial in relating what passed
under his own eyes. Wo have fragments remaining of
the first 36 books: but there is a considerable portion
of the 35th book, on the war of Lucullus against Mith-
radates, and of the 36th, on the war with the pirates, and
the expedition of Poinpey against the King of Pontus.
The books that follow, to the 54 th inclusive, are nearly
all entire: they comprehend a period from B. C. 65 to
B. C. 10, or from the eastern campaign of Pompey, and
the death of Mithradates, to the death of Agrippa. The
55th book has a considerable gap in it. The 5lith to the
60th, both included, which comprehend the period from
A. D. 9 to A. D. 54, are complete, and contain tho events
from the defeat of Varus in Germany to the reign of
Claudius. Of the following 20 books we have only
fragments, and the meager abridgment of Xiphilinus.
The 80th or last book comprehends the period from
A. D. 222 to A. D. 229, in the reign of Alexander
Severus. The abridgment of Xiphilinus, as now ex-
tant, commences with the 35lh, and continues to the
end of the 80th book. It is a very indifferent per-
formance, and was made by order of the Emperor
Michael Ducas: the abbrcviator, Xiphilinus, was a
monk of the eleventh century. --The fragments of the
first 36 books, as now collected, are of three kinds.
1. Fragmenta Valeriana: such as were dispersed
throughout various writers, scholiasts, grammarians,
lexicographers, &c, and were collected by Henri de
t ales. 2. Fragmenta Peiresciana: comprising large
extracts, found in the section entitled " Of Virtues and
Vices," in the great collection or portative library
compiled by order of Constantino VI. , Porphyrogeni-
Uis. The manuscript of this belonged to Peiresc.
J. The fragments of the first 34 books, preserved in
ihe second section of the same work of Constantino's,
entitled " Of Embassies. " T' cse are known under
the name of Fragmenta Ursiniana, because the man-
uscript containing them was found in Sicily by Fultio
Orsini. 4. Excerpta Vaticana, by Mai, which contain
fragments of books 1-35, and 61-80, and which have
? ? been published in the second volume of the Scriptorum
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 01 o
DIONYSIUS
toamatic cxa. bliions of the Athenians took place. An
tccoanl of these festivals, which were four h. number,
will be found under the article Theatrum, y 2.
Dio. nysIas, a town of Egypt, situate at the south-
western extremity of the Lake Mceris. It is now called
Deled-Kcrun, or, according to some, Scobha. (Ptol. )
Qionysoi-olis. I. a town of Lower Mcesia, in the
? trinity of the Euxine Sea. Pliny says that it was
ilso called Crunos but Pomponius Mela (2, 2) makes
Crunos the port of Dionysopolis. 'l"ne modem name
is Dinysipoli. --II. A city of India, supposed by Man-
ncrt to be the same with the modern Nagar, or Nughr,
on the western bank of the river Cow. Manner! does
not consider it to have been the same with tho ancient
city of Nyssa, but makes the position of the latter more
to the north. (Gcogr. , vol. 6, p. 142. )
DioxYsius I. , or the Elder, a celebrated tyrant of
Svracuse, raised to that high rank from the station of
? simple citizen, was bom in this same city 430 B. C.
He was son-in-law to Hcrmocrates, who, having been
banished by an adverse party, attempted to return by
force of arms, and was killed in the action. Dionysius
was dangerously wounded, but he recovered, and was
afterward recalled. In time he procured himself to
be nominated one of the generals, and, under pretence
*fraising a force sufficient to resist the Carthaginians,
:e obtained a decree for recalling all the exiles, to
whom he gave arms. Being sent to the relief of Gela,
then besieged by the Carthaginians, he effected nothing
against the enemy, pretending that he was not sec-
onded by the other commanders; and his friends sug-
gested, that, in order to save the state, the supreme
power ought to be confided to one man, reminding the
people of the times of Gcion, who had defeated the
Carthaginian host, and given peace to Sicily. Tho
general assembly therefore proclaimed Dionysius su-
preme chief of the republic about 405 B. C. , when he
was twenty-five years of age. He increased the pay
of the soldiers, enlisted new ones, and, under pretence
of a conspiracy against his person, formed a guard of
mercenaries. He then proceeded to the relief of Gela,
but failed in the attack on the Carthaginian camp: he
however penetrated into the town, the inhabitants of
which he advised to leave it quietly in the night under
the escort of his troops. On his retreat he persuaded
those of Camarina to do the same. This raised suspi-
:ions among his troops, and a party of horsemen, riding
on before the rest, raised, on their arrival at Syracuse,
an insurrection against Dionysius, plundered his house,
and treated his wife so cruelly that she died in conse-
quence. Dionysius, with a chosen holy, followed
rlose after, set fire to the gate of Acradina, forced his
way into the city, put to death the leaders of the re-
volt, and remained undisputed possessor of the su-
preme power. The Carthaginians, being afflicted by
a pestilence, made proposals of peace, which were ac-
cepted by Dionysius, and he then applied himself to
fortifying Syracuse, and especially the island of Orly-
gia, which be made his stronghold, and which he peo-
eed entirely with his trusty partisans and mercenaries,
'the aid of whom he put down several revolts. Af-
ter reducing beneath his sway the towns of Leontini,
Catana, and Naxus, he engaged in a new war with
Carthage, in vhich he met with the most brilliant suc-
wse, making himself master of numerous towns in Si-
? ily. and becoming eventually feared both in Italy and
Sicily, to the dominion of both of which countries he
? ? teems at one time to have aspired. In order to raise
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:08 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? DIONYSIUS.
DIONYSIUS.
pejplc on important occasions, when full freedom of
speech seems to have been allowed. (1'lut. , Vit. Dion.
--Ihod. Sic , 13,92, teqq. --ld. , 14,7, teqq. , ccc. ) An
account of the famous prison, or " Ear of Dionysius,"
will be found under the article Lautumiae. --II. The
second of that name, surnamed the Younger, was son
of Dionysius I. by Doris. His father, whom he suc-
:? ejcd, had left the state in a prosperous condition,
but young Dionysius had neither his abUities, nor his
(. ndcuce snd experience. He followed at first the ad-
vice of Dion, who, although a republican in principle,
had remained faithful to his father, and who now en-
deavoured to direct the inexperienced son for the good
of his country. For this purpose Dion invited his
friend Plato to Syracuse about 364 B. C. Dionysius
received the philosopher with great respect, and, in
deference to his advice, reformed for a while his loose
habits and the manners of his court. But a faction,
headed by Philistus, who had always been a supporter
of the tyranny of the elder Dionysius, succeeded in
prejudicing the son against both Dion and Plato.
