This olace suffered considerably during the So-
cial war from an incursion of the .
cial war from an incursion of the .
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
" During the night of learning, a great
cumber of writings were circulated under his name,
which were collected together and printed at Cologne
in 153G, and subsequently at Antwerp in 1634, and at
Paris in 1646, 2 vols. fol. They have now, for a long
time, been deemed spurious, although the learned dif-
fer in respect to the times and authors of the fabrica-
tion. The most probable reasoning, however, fixes
them at the end of the fifth century. (Suid. --Cave,
Hut. lot. --Lardtur's Creed, pt. 2. )--VI. Surnamed
Exiguus, or the Little, on account of the smallness of
his stature, was n Scythian monk of the sixth century,
who became an abbot at Rome. Cassiodorus, who
was his intintato friend, speaks highly of his learning
and character. At the request of Stephen, bishop of
Salons, he drew up a body of canons, entitled " Col-
Uctio, site Codex Canonum Ecclesiasticorum," etc. ,
translated from tiie Greek, containing the first 50
? postolical canons, as they are called, with those of the
councils of Nice. Constantinople, Chalcedon, Sardis,
and including 138 casons of certain African councils.
He afterward drew up a collection of the decretals,
and both are to be found in the BMiothcca Juris Co. -
wmici Yrtcris of Justell. To this Dionysius some
writers ascribe the mode of computing the time of
Easier, attributed to Victorinus, and of dating from the
birth of Christ. (Cave's Hist. Lit. --Hutlon's Math.
Did. )--VII. A Greek poet and musician, the author
of the words and music of three hymns, addressed
to Calliope, Apollo, and Nemesis. They were pub-
lished by Vincent Galilei, at Florence, in 1581; and
again by Dr. Fell, at Oxford, in 1672, from a manu-
script found among the papers of Archbishop Usher.
It appears by these notes, that the music of the hymns
in question was in the Lydian mode and diatonic ge-
nus. Galilei asserts that he had them from a Floren-
tine gentleman, who copied them from an ancient
Greek manuscript in the library of Cardinal St. Angelo
at Rome, which manuscript also contained the treatises
on music by Aristides, Quintilianus, and Brycnnius,
since published by Meibomius and Dr. Wallis. The
Florentine and Oxford editions of these hymns exactly
igre%; and they have since also been printed in the
fifth volume of the French Memoirs of the Academy
of Inscriptions, etc. (Barney's History of Music. )
Diophanti's, a mathematician of Alexandres, who,
according to the most received opinion, was contem-
porary with the Emperor Julian. This opinion is
founded upon a passage of Abulpharadge, an Arabian
? ? author of the thirteenth century: he names, among the
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? DI0SC0K1DES.
DIOSCORIDES.
,T co/ivrj/iaTa); and, 3 A treatise on the manners in
Homer (OJ wap' 'O/ir/pu vofioi). Athensus, who cites
fc. e first two of these works, has preserved a long frag-
ment >;f the last. It treats of the mode in which the
Homeric heroes subsisted, and is extremely curious.
{Alhtnatu, Ep. , 1, p. 8--Ed. Schweigh. , vol. 1, p.
31. )--II. A poet of Alexandres, some of whose epi-
grams arc preserved in the Anthology (<</. Jacobs, vol.
I, p. 224, seqq). --III. A native of Anazarbus in Cili-
c. n, who lived, according to some, in the time of An-
tony and Cleopatra, while othera place him in the
reign of Nero. One circumstance in favour of the
latter supposition is, that Pliny, who faithfully men-
tions tho authors whence he borrows, does not once
mention Dioscorides, although we find in the work of
the former a great number of passages which appear to
have been borrowed from the latter. Thia silence on
the one hand, and conformity on the other, prove that
Pliny and Dioscorides wrote nearly at the same period,
and derived some of their materials from the same
sources, particularly from the lost work of Sexlius
Niger. Dioscorides himself informs us, that, as a mil-
itary man, he visited many countries. He received the
surname of Phacas, from his having on his person a
spot resembling a lentil (6anr/). Dioscorides is the
most celebrated herbalist of antiquity, and for sixteen
or seventeen centuries there was nothing known that
could be regarded as superior to his work Tlepi 'T/. r/f
iarpiKijc, "On the Materia Medico," in five books.
This is the more surprising, considering the real na-
ture of this famous work. The author introduces no
order into the arrangement of his matter, unless by
consulting a similarity of sound in tho names he gives
his plants. Thus, medium was placed with cprmcdi-
um, altkaa cannabina with cannabis, hippopluutum
(emeus stellatus) with hippophai, and so on. The
were separation of aromatic and gum-bearing trees,
esculents and com-plants, hardly forms an exception
to this statement. Of many of his plants no descrip-
tion is given, but they are merely designated by a name.
In others the descriptions are comparative, contradic-
tory, or unintelligible. He employs the same word in
different senses, and evidently attached no exactness
to the terms he made use of. He described the same
plant twice under the same name or different names;
he was often notoriously careless, and he appeara to
have been very ready to state too much upon the author-
ity of others. Nevertheless, his writings are extremely
interesting, as showing the amount of Materia Medica
knowledge in the author's day, and his descriptions
are in many cases far from bad: but we must be care-
ful not to look upon them as evidence of the state of
botany at the same period; for Dioscorides has no
pretensions to be ranked among the botanists of anti-
quity, considering that the writings of Thcophrastus,
four centuries earlier, show that botany had even at
that time begun to be cultivated as a science distinct
from the art of the herbalist. --It was only at last, when
the rapidly increasing number of new plants, and the
general advance in all branches of physical knowledge,
compelled the moderns to admit that the vegetable
Kingdom might contain more things than were dreamed
of by the Anazarbian philosopher, that tho authority of
Dioscorides ceased to be acknowledged. --Dioscorides,
in his preface, criticises the authors who had treated of
this subject before him: Iolas of Bithynia, and Her-
aclides of Tarentum, had neglected plants and metals;
? ? Craterus, the botanist (fn^oro/ioc), and Andreas the
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? D1C
etners are preserved a Leyden. The latest and best
edition of Dioscorides ia that of Sprengel, in the col-
lection of Greek physicians by Kuhn, Lip*. , 1829, 8vo.
The folio edition by Saracenus (Sarassin) Franco/. ,
1598, ia also a very ? 3od one. Sprengel's edition is
improved by a collation of several MSS. --So far as
European plants are in question, we may suppose that
the iih dns of illustrating Dioscorides are now nearly
exhausted; but it is far otherwise with his Indian and
Persian plants. Concerning the latter, it is probable
that much may be learned from a study of the modem
Materia Medica of India. When the Nestorians, in
the fifth century, were driven into exile, they Bought
refuge among the Arabs, with whom they established
their celebrated school of med. cine, the ramifications
of which extended into Persia and India, and laid the
foundation of the present medical practice of the na-
tives of those countries. In this way the Greek names
of Dioscorides, altered, indeed, and adapted to the
genius of the new countries, became introduced into
the language of Persia, Arabia, and Hindustan, and
ha* e been handed down traditionally to the present
day. Thus Dr. Royle has shown, by an examination
of this son of evidence, that the calamus aromatikos
of Dioscorides is not a Gentian, as has been imagined;
that Nardos Indike is unquestionably the A'an/osto-
ckys Jatamansi of De Candolle, and that the Lukion
Imhcvn was neither a Rhamnus nor a Lycium, but, as
Prosper Alpinus long ago asserted, a Berberis. (En-
eye. Us. Knotel. , vol. 9, p. 5. --SMU, Hist. Lit. Gr. ,
vol. 5, p. 331, seqq. )
Dioscoridi Insula (AiooKopiSov vijaoc, Plot), or
'Dioscobida (AwoKopiSa, Ptripl. , p. 17), an island
situate at the south of the entrance of the Arabic Gulf,
and now called Socolora. The aloes here produced
are held in more estimation than those of Hadramaiit.
The ancient name, observes Vincent (Periplus of the
Erytltrean Sea, p. 341. --Commerce of the Ancients,
vol. 2), may have a Greek origin; but it has so near
a name to Socotra or Zocotora, that it is much more
likely to be a nautical corruption of an Arabic term,
than the application of a Greek one. The island is
U1T
the scavans of the French expedition. (Manneti
Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 1, p. 376. )--III. A city of Pales-
tine, called also Lydda. It was situate in an extensive
plain, and is placed by the Itiner. Hierosol. (p 60)
thirty-two miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was de-
stroyed by the Saracens, who at a later period built,
about two geographical miles to the east of its site the
modern city of Ramlat. (Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. , p 79 )
Dmx, another name for the Furies. ( Vid. Furiss )
Dirce, I. wife of Lycus, king of Thebes. She treat-
ed Antiope with great cruelty, and was put tc death by
A in ph ion and Zethus, Antiope's two sons. They tied
her by the hair to a wild bull, and let the animal drag
her until she was dead. After death she was changed
into a fountain of the same name, near the city ol
Thebes. [Vid. Antiope. )--II. A fountain near Thebes,
in Baeotia, the waters of which emptied into the Isme-
nus. Near it was the dwelling of Pindar. Sir W.
Gell noticed a brook to the west of the Cadmea, by
some Turkish tombs, which he considered to be the an-
cient Dirce. {Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 230. )
Dis, a name given to Pluto. [Vid. Pluto. )
Dire or Dere (Aeipt'i, called by Ptolemy Aijpij), a
promontory of Africa, over against the coast of Ara-
bia, and at the narrowest part of the Sinus Arabicus,
? ? or Ked Sea. From its appearance as it stretched
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? UOD
DODONA.
Plato's words (Leg. , S, p. 700, b, Aiovvoov yiveoic
. . . . didvpa/tboc Afyujut'vof), the name of the song
expressed as much. It was originally distinguished
by a disorderly and enthusiastic wildness of tone,
? which, in the end, degenerated into turgidity and bom-
bast. The music was Phrygian (therefore stirring
and rajiid), and the pipe its original accompaniment.
From the more solemn festivities and systematic wild-
ness of the dithyramb sprang tragedy; just as comedy
came from the Phallic song. --Bloinfield supposes an
etymological connexion between the words lap. 6oc,
dpia/iSoc, and Atdvpa/tOor, and thinks they arc corrup-
tions of Egyptian terms. (Afeis. Crit. , vol. 2, p. 70. )
It is more probable, however, that dpia/i6oe and dtOv-
oi/iOuc came with the worship of Bacchus from In-
dia, and that Dithyrambus was not, as many think, the
name of the god after it became the name of the song,
but the reverse. Donaldson, however, opposes this
last-mentioned supposition, and attempts also to give
a new derivation to the term itself, but with little, if
any success. (Theatre of the Greeks, p. 18, not. ,
4th ed. )
Divitiacus, a leading nobleman of the -T'lhii, who
possessed great influence with Cssar in consequence
of his fidelity and attachment to the Romans. (Cits. ,
B. G. , 1, 3-- Id. ib. , 1, 41, &c. )
Dium, one of the principal cities of Macedonia, and
not unfrequently the residence of its monarchs. It
was situate, according to I. ivy (44, 6 and 7), at the
foot of Mount Olympus, which leaves but the space of
one mite from the sea; and half of this is occupied by
marshes formed by the mouth of the river Baphyrus.
Thucydides (4,78) says it was the first Macedonian
town which Brasidas entered on his march from Thes-
saly.
This olace suffered considerably during the So-
cial war from an incursion of the . Etolians under their
pnetor Scopas, who levelled to the ground the walls,
houses, ana gymnasium, destroying the porches around
the temple of Jupiter, an edifice of great celebrity,
with the offerings and everything used in the festivals.
(Polyb. , 4, 62. ) It is evident, however, from Lhrr's
account, that this damage had been repaired when the
Romans occupied the town in the reign of Perseus.
It was here that Philip assembled his army previous
to the battle of Cynoscephahe. (Lin , 33, 3 ) Dium,
at a later period, became a Roman colony. (Ptol. , p.
82. ) Pliny terms it Colonia Diensis (4, 10). Some
simi. arity in the name of this once flourishing city is
apparent in that of a spot called Standta, which an-
swers to Livy's description. Dr. Clarke, however,
was not difeposrid to acquiesce in this opinion, and
thought that it must have stood at Katerina. (Trav-
els--Greece, Egypt, &c, vol. 7, p 400, seqq. ) He
was most probably mistaken, as Katerina, or Hateri,
which is the real name of the place, is doubtless the
11 ultra of the Tabula Theodosiana, one stage from
Dium. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 208. )
Divodoruh, the capital of the Mediomatrici, a pco-
of Belgic Gaul, who were located along the Mosclla or
Moselle. Its name was afterward changed to that of
the people itscrf, and i>> now Mctz. (Tacit. , Hist. , 1,
63 -- Amm. Marcell. , 15, 27. )
Dodona, I. a celebrated citv and oracle of Epirus,
situate most probably in the present valley ofJoannina,
hut the exact position of which has never been ascer-
Vaiied. We are not assisted here ly any accurate an-
cient traveller like Pausanias, nor have we any itine-
? ? raries or faithful measurements of distances to guide
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? DODOJNA
c'o:k] be counted before il ceased. Hence aiose the
Tarious proverbs of the Dodonean caldron and the
Corcyrean lash. (Strabo, Compend. , 7, p. 329. ) Me-
nander, ic one of hia plays, compared an old nurse's
chatter to the endless sound of this kettle. (Mcnand. ,
Rehq , cd. Meinecke, p. 27. ) It was said by others,
that the walls of the temple were composed of many
caldrons, contiguous to each other, so (hat, striking
upon one, the sound was conveyed to all the rest.
But '. his account is not so much to be depended on
as the other, which, according to Steph. Byz. , rests
on the authority of Polemo Periegetes, who seems to
have written a very accurate description of the curi-
osities of the place; as also another person named Aris-
tides. --We hear of the oracle of Dodona at the time
of the Persian invasion (Hcrodot. , 9, 93), and again in
the reign ot Agesilaus, who consulted it previously to
his expedition into Asia. (Plut. , Apophthegm. Lacon. ,
p. 125. ) It is stated by Diodorus Siculus (14, 13),
that Lysander was accused openly of having offered to
bribe the priestess. The oracle which warned the
Molossian Alexander of his fate is well known from
J,ivy (8, 24). From Demosthenes we learn, that the
answers delivered from time to time to the Athenians
were laid up in the public archives; and he himself ap-
peals to their testimony on more than one occasion.
At length, during the Social war, Dodona was, ac-
cording to Polybius (4, 67), almost entirely destroyed
in an irruption of the ^Etolians, under their praetor
Borimachus, then at war with Epirus. "They set
fire," says the historian, "to the porches, destroyed
many of the offerings, anil pulled down the sacred edi-
fice. " It is probable that the temple of Dodona nev-
er recovered from this disaster, as in Strabo's time
there was scarcely any trace left of the oracle; but the
town must still have existed, us it is mentioned by
Hierocles among the cities of Epirus in the sevonth
. entury; and we hear of a bishop of Dodona in the
ccuncd of Ephesus. (Wessel. , ad Hierocl. , Synced. ,
p. 651 )--All accounts seem to agree that Dodona
stood either on the declivity or at the foot of an ele-
vated mountain called Tomarus or Tamarus. (Stra-
in, 328. ) Hence the term Tomuri, supposed to be a
contraction forTomaruri (Toftapoipot), or guardians of
Tomarus which was given to the priests of the temple
\Strabo, I c. ) In Callimachus (Hymn, in Cer. , 52)
we find the name of the mountain written Tmarus
IJ/wpnc) This lofty mountain was farther remarka-
ble for the number of streams which burst from i's
sides. (Pltn. , 4, 1. ) If, then, we had the means of
distinguishing the modern chain which answers to the
ancient Tomarus, we might easily discover the site of
Dodona, but the whole of Epirus being covered with
. ofty mountains, it is not easy to ascertain even this
point. --(tor discussions on this interesting question,
consult Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 115, seqq --
Wordsworth s Greece, p. 2i7. -- Walpole's Collection,
vol. 2, p. 473. --Hughes's Travels, vol. 1, p. 511 >--II
A city and oracle of Thcssaly. It has given rise to
much controversy whether Homer (11. , 2, 749) refers
to this or the city of Epirus, and the scholiasts and
commentators are divided in their opinions. Stcpha-
ins Byzantinus (s. v. Au6uvV) enters fully into the
discnssion, and quotes passages from several writers
on the antiquities of Thessaly, who all acknowledged
? city named Dodona or Bodona in that country:
whence the opinion has been entertained that the ora-
cle of Jupiter was afterward transferred to Epirus.
? ? Strabo (441) seems to adopt this notion, and affirms,
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? DOM
DOM
miede a. id Ulysses, who, on the part of the Greeks,
had been despatched on a similar expedition. Dolon,
having betrayed to them the situation and plans of the
Trojans, was put to death by Diomede for his treach-
ery. (Horn. , II. , 10, 314. --Virg. , JEn. , 12, 349. )
Doi. onci. a people of Thrace. (Herodot. , 6, 34. --
Vid. Miltiades. )
Dolohes, a people of Thossaly, who appear to have
been eap. y established in that southeastern angle of
Thessaly formed by the chain of Pindus, or rather
Tymphrestus, on one side, and Mount Othrys, branch-
ing out of it, on the other. By the latter mountain
they were separated from the /Unianes, who were in
possession of the upper valley of the Sperchius; while
to the west they bordered upon Phthiotis, with the in-
habitants of which country they were connected as
early as the siege of Troy. This we learn from Ho-
mer, who represents Phcenix, the Dolopian leader, as
accompanying Achilles thither in the double capacity
of preceptor and ally. (II. , 9, 480. --Pind. , ap. Slrab. ,
431. ) The Dolopians, according to Pausanias and
Harpocration, sent deputies to the Amphictyonic coun-
cil. From Herodotus we learn, that they presented
earth and water to Xerxes, and furnished some troops
for the expedition undertaken by that monarch into
Greece (7, 132 and 185). Xenophon, at a later peri-
od, enumerates them as subjects of Jason, tyrant of
Pherae. (Hist. Gr. , 6, 1. ) Diodorus Siculus informs
us that they took part in the Lamiac war (18,11). We
afterward find Dolopia a frequent subject of contention
between the . Etolians, who had extended their domin-
ion to the borders of this district, and the kings of
Macedonia. Hence the frequent incursions made by
the former people into this part of Thessaly when at
war with the latter power. (Liv. , 31, 12. --Id. , 33,
34. --Id. , 36, 38. ) Dolopia was finally conquered by
Perseus, the last Macedonian monarch. The cantons
? f Thaumako, Grituiano, and part of Agrapka, may-
be supposed to occupy the situation ascribed by an-
cient writers to the country of the Dolopians. (Cra-
mer'* Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 416 )
Domitia Lex, de Sacerdotiis, brought forward by
Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, tribune of the commons,
A I-'. C. 650. It enacted that ihe vemtifiecs, augures,
and decemviri sacris faciendis should not be chosen by
the sacerdotal colleges, but by the people. The pon-
tifcx maximus and curio maximus were always, in the
first ages of the republic, chosen by the people. (Cic,
Hull. , 2, 7. --Liv. , 25, 5. --Id. , 27, 8. )
Domitia Gens, a celebrated plebeian family, divi-
ded into two branches, that of the Calvini and that of
the Ahenobarbi. The Calvini attained to the consular
office A. U. C. 422, the Ahenobarbi in 562. The latter,
at length, in the person of Nero, became invested with
imperial power; but with this emperor perished the
male line of the Domitii. Domitian only belonged to
this family through his mother Domitia.
Domitia, I. Lepida, aunt of Nero, was accused of ma-
gic and put to death (A. D. 54) through the intrigues
of Agrippina, who was jealous of her influence over
Nero (Tacit. , Ann. , 12, 64, sea. )--IT. , or Domitilla,
wife of Vespasian, by whom he had Titus and Domi-
no i. , and a daughter named Domitilla. She had been
Jie mistress of a Roman knight, and passed fey a freed
woman; but she was declared of free birth on having
been acknowledged by her father Flavius Liberalis,
who held the situation of scribe to one of the quxstors.
? ? She died before Vespasian came to the throne. (Sue-
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? DOM
V >>> wife were among the victims, In the lollowmg
? j <<, A. D. 96, a conspiracy was formed against De-
ft -tian among the officers of his guards and several of
hi<< iutimate friends, and his wife, the infamous Domi-
til'a, herself is said to have participated in it. The im-
mediate cause of it was his increasing suspicions, which
threatened the life of every one around him, and which
a*e said to have been stimulated by the predictions of
tjtrologers and soothsayers, whom he was very ready
to consult. He was killed in his apartments by sev-
eral of the conspirators, after struggling with them for
some '. ime, in his 45th year, and in the fifteenth of his
reign. On the news of his death, the senate assem-
bled and elected M. Cocceius Nerva emperer. --The
character of Domitian is represented by all ancient
oistorians in the darkest colours, as being a compound
of timidity and cruelty, of dissimulation and arrogance,
of self-indulgence and stern severity towards others.
cumber of writings were circulated under his name,
which were collected together and printed at Cologne
in 153G, and subsequently at Antwerp in 1634, and at
Paris in 1646, 2 vols. fol. They have now, for a long
time, been deemed spurious, although the learned dif-
fer in respect to the times and authors of the fabrica-
tion. The most probable reasoning, however, fixes
them at the end of the fifth century. (Suid. --Cave,
Hut. lot. --Lardtur's Creed, pt. 2. )--VI. Surnamed
Exiguus, or the Little, on account of the smallness of
his stature, was n Scythian monk of the sixth century,
who became an abbot at Rome. Cassiodorus, who
was his intintato friend, speaks highly of his learning
and character. At the request of Stephen, bishop of
Salons, he drew up a body of canons, entitled " Col-
Uctio, site Codex Canonum Ecclesiasticorum," etc. ,
translated from tiie Greek, containing the first 50
? postolical canons, as they are called, with those of the
councils of Nice. Constantinople, Chalcedon, Sardis,
and including 138 casons of certain African councils.
He afterward drew up a collection of the decretals,
and both are to be found in the BMiothcca Juris Co. -
wmici Yrtcris of Justell. To this Dionysius some
writers ascribe the mode of computing the time of
Easier, attributed to Victorinus, and of dating from the
birth of Christ. (Cave's Hist. Lit. --Hutlon's Math.
Did. )--VII. A Greek poet and musician, the author
of the words and music of three hymns, addressed
to Calliope, Apollo, and Nemesis. They were pub-
lished by Vincent Galilei, at Florence, in 1581; and
again by Dr. Fell, at Oxford, in 1672, from a manu-
script found among the papers of Archbishop Usher.
It appears by these notes, that the music of the hymns
in question was in the Lydian mode and diatonic ge-
nus. Galilei asserts that he had them from a Floren-
tine gentleman, who copied them from an ancient
Greek manuscript in the library of Cardinal St. Angelo
at Rome, which manuscript also contained the treatises
on music by Aristides, Quintilianus, and Brycnnius,
since published by Meibomius and Dr. Wallis. The
Florentine and Oxford editions of these hymns exactly
igre%; and they have since also been printed in the
fifth volume of the French Memoirs of the Academy
of Inscriptions, etc. (Barney's History of Music. )
Diophanti's, a mathematician of Alexandres, who,
according to the most received opinion, was contem-
porary with the Emperor Julian. This opinion is
founded upon a passage of Abulpharadge, an Arabian
? ? author of the thirteenth century: he names, among the
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? DI0SC0K1DES.
DIOSCORIDES.
,T co/ivrj/iaTa); and, 3 A treatise on the manners in
Homer (OJ wap' 'O/ir/pu vofioi). Athensus, who cites
fc. e first two of these works, has preserved a long frag-
ment >;f the last. It treats of the mode in which the
Homeric heroes subsisted, and is extremely curious.
{Alhtnatu, Ep. , 1, p. 8--Ed. Schweigh. , vol. 1, p.
31. )--II. A poet of Alexandres, some of whose epi-
grams arc preserved in the Anthology (<</. Jacobs, vol.
I, p. 224, seqq). --III. A native of Anazarbus in Cili-
c. n, who lived, according to some, in the time of An-
tony and Cleopatra, while othera place him in the
reign of Nero. One circumstance in favour of the
latter supposition is, that Pliny, who faithfully men-
tions tho authors whence he borrows, does not once
mention Dioscorides, although we find in the work of
the former a great number of passages which appear to
have been borrowed from the latter. Thia silence on
the one hand, and conformity on the other, prove that
Pliny and Dioscorides wrote nearly at the same period,
and derived some of their materials from the same
sources, particularly from the lost work of Sexlius
Niger. Dioscorides himself informs us, that, as a mil-
itary man, he visited many countries. He received the
surname of Phacas, from his having on his person a
spot resembling a lentil (6anr/). Dioscorides is the
most celebrated herbalist of antiquity, and for sixteen
or seventeen centuries there was nothing known that
could be regarded as superior to his work Tlepi 'T/. r/f
iarpiKijc, "On the Materia Medico," in five books.
This is the more surprising, considering the real na-
ture of this famous work. The author introduces no
order into the arrangement of his matter, unless by
consulting a similarity of sound in tho names he gives
his plants. Thus, medium was placed with cprmcdi-
um, altkaa cannabina with cannabis, hippopluutum
(emeus stellatus) with hippophai, and so on. The
were separation of aromatic and gum-bearing trees,
esculents and com-plants, hardly forms an exception
to this statement. Of many of his plants no descrip-
tion is given, but they are merely designated by a name.
In others the descriptions are comparative, contradic-
tory, or unintelligible. He employs the same word in
different senses, and evidently attached no exactness
to the terms he made use of. He described the same
plant twice under the same name or different names;
he was often notoriously careless, and he appeara to
have been very ready to state too much upon the author-
ity of others. Nevertheless, his writings are extremely
interesting, as showing the amount of Materia Medica
knowledge in the author's day, and his descriptions
are in many cases far from bad: but we must be care-
ful not to look upon them as evidence of the state of
botany at the same period; for Dioscorides has no
pretensions to be ranked among the botanists of anti-
quity, considering that the writings of Thcophrastus,
four centuries earlier, show that botany had even at
that time begun to be cultivated as a science distinct
from the art of the herbalist. --It was only at last, when
the rapidly increasing number of new plants, and the
general advance in all branches of physical knowledge,
compelled the moderns to admit that the vegetable
Kingdom might contain more things than were dreamed
of by the Anazarbian philosopher, that tho authority of
Dioscorides ceased to be acknowledged. --Dioscorides,
in his preface, criticises the authors who had treated of
this subject before him: Iolas of Bithynia, and Her-
aclides of Tarentum, had neglected plants and metals;
? ? Craterus, the botanist (fn^oro/ioc), and Andreas the
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? D1C
etners are preserved a Leyden. The latest and best
edition of Dioscorides ia that of Sprengel, in the col-
lection of Greek physicians by Kuhn, Lip*. , 1829, 8vo.
The folio edition by Saracenus (Sarassin) Franco/. ,
1598, ia also a very ? 3od one. Sprengel's edition is
improved by a collation of several MSS. --So far as
European plants are in question, we may suppose that
the iih dns of illustrating Dioscorides are now nearly
exhausted; but it is far otherwise with his Indian and
Persian plants. Concerning the latter, it is probable
that much may be learned from a study of the modem
Materia Medica of India. When the Nestorians, in
the fifth century, were driven into exile, they Bought
refuge among the Arabs, with whom they established
their celebrated school of med. cine, the ramifications
of which extended into Persia and India, and laid the
foundation of the present medical practice of the na-
tives of those countries. In this way the Greek names
of Dioscorides, altered, indeed, and adapted to the
genius of the new countries, became introduced into
the language of Persia, Arabia, and Hindustan, and
ha* e been handed down traditionally to the present
day. Thus Dr. Royle has shown, by an examination
of this son of evidence, that the calamus aromatikos
of Dioscorides is not a Gentian, as has been imagined;
that Nardos Indike is unquestionably the A'an/osto-
ckys Jatamansi of De Candolle, and that the Lukion
Imhcvn was neither a Rhamnus nor a Lycium, but, as
Prosper Alpinus long ago asserted, a Berberis. (En-
eye. Us. Knotel. , vol. 9, p. 5. --SMU, Hist. Lit. Gr. ,
vol. 5, p. 331, seqq. )
Dioscoridi Insula (AiooKopiSov vijaoc, Plot), or
'Dioscobida (AwoKopiSa, Ptripl. , p. 17), an island
situate at the south of the entrance of the Arabic Gulf,
and now called Socolora. The aloes here produced
are held in more estimation than those of Hadramaiit.
The ancient name, observes Vincent (Periplus of the
Erytltrean Sea, p. 341. --Commerce of the Ancients,
vol. 2), may have a Greek origin; but it has so near
a name to Socotra or Zocotora, that it is much more
likely to be a nautical corruption of an Arabic term,
than the application of a Greek one. The island is
U1T
the scavans of the French expedition. (Manneti
Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 1, p. 376. )--III. A city of Pales-
tine, called also Lydda. It was situate in an extensive
plain, and is placed by the Itiner. Hierosol. (p 60)
thirty-two miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was de-
stroyed by the Saracens, who at a later period built,
about two geographical miles to the east of its site the
modern city of Ramlat. (Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. , p 79 )
Dmx, another name for the Furies. ( Vid. Furiss )
Dirce, I. wife of Lycus, king of Thebes. She treat-
ed Antiope with great cruelty, and was put tc death by
A in ph ion and Zethus, Antiope's two sons. They tied
her by the hair to a wild bull, and let the animal drag
her until she was dead. After death she was changed
into a fountain of the same name, near the city ol
Thebes. [Vid. Antiope. )--II. A fountain near Thebes,
in Baeotia, the waters of which emptied into the Isme-
nus. Near it was the dwelling of Pindar. Sir W.
Gell noticed a brook to the west of the Cadmea, by
some Turkish tombs, which he considered to be the an-
cient Dirce. {Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 230. )
Dis, a name given to Pluto. [Vid. Pluto. )
Dire or Dere (Aeipt'i, called by Ptolemy Aijpij), a
promontory of Africa, over against the coast of Ara-
bia, and at the narrowest part of the Sinus Arabicus,
? ? or Ked Sea. From its appearance as it stretched
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? UOD
DODONA.
Plato's words (Leg. , S, p. 700, b, Aiovvoov yiveoic
. . . . didvpa/tboc Afyujut'vof), the name of the song
expressed as much. It was originally distinguished
by a disorderly and enthusiastic wildness of tone,
? which, in the end, degenerated into turgidity and bom-
bast. The music was Phrygian (therefore stirring
and rajiid), and the pipe its original accompaniment.
From the more solemn festivities and systematic wild-
ness of the dithyramb sprang tragedy; just as comedy
came from the Phallic song. --Bloinfield supposes an
etymological connexion between the words lap. 6oc,
dpia/iSoc, and Atdvpa/tOor, and thinks they arc corrup-
tions of Egyptian terms. (Afeis. Crit. , vol. 2, p. 70. )
It is more probable, however, that dpia/i6oe and dtOv-
oi/iOuc came with the worship of Bacchus from In-
dia, and that Dithyrambus was not, as many think, the
name of the god after it became the name of the song,
but the reverse. Donaldson, however, opposes this
last-mentioned supposition, and attempts also to give
a new derivation to the term itself, but with little, if
any success. (Theatre of the Greeks, p. 18, not. ,
4th ed. )
Divitiacus, a leading nobleman of the -T'lhii, who
possessed great influence with Cssar in consequence
of his fidelity and attachment to the Romans. (Cits. ,
B. G. , 1, 3-- Id. ib. , 1, 41, &c. )
Dium, one of the principal cities of Macedonia, and
not unfrequently the residence of its monarchs. It
was situate, according to I. ivy (44, 6 and 7), at the
foot of Mount Olympus, which leaves but the space of
one mite from the sea; and half of this is occupied by
marshes formed by the mouth of the river Baphyrus.
Thucydides (4,78) says it was the first Macedonian
town which Brasidas entered on his march from Thes-
saly.
This olace suffered considerably during the So-
cial war from an incursion of the . Etolians under their
pnetor Scopas, who levelled to the ground the walls,
houses, ana gymnasium, destroying the porches around
the temple of Jupiter, an edifice of great celebrity,
with the offerings and everything used in the festivals.
(Polyb. , 4, 62. ) It is evident, however, from Lhrr's
account, that this damage had been repaired when the
Romans occupied the town in the reign of Perseus.
It was here that Philip assembled his army previous
to the battle of Cynoscephahe. (Lin , 33, 3 ) Dium,
at a later period, became a Roman colony. (Ptol. , p.
82. ) Pliny terms it Colonia Diensis (4, 10). Some
simi. arity in the name of this once flourishing city is
apparent in that of a spot called Standta, which an-
swers to Livy's description. Dr. Clarke, however,
was not difeposrid to acquiesce in this opinion, and
thought that it must have stood at Katerina. (Trav-
els--Greece, Egypt, &c, vol. 7, p 400, seqq. ) He
was most probably mistaken, as Katerina, or Hateri,
which is the real name of the place, is doubtless the
11 ultra of the Tabula Theodosiana, one stage from
Dium. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 208. )
Divodoruh, the capital of the Mediomatrici, a pco-
of Belgic Gaul, who were located along the Mosclla or
Moselle. Its name was afterward changed to that of
the people itscrf, and i>> now Mctz. (Tacit. , Hist. , 1,
63 -- Amm. Marcell. , 15, 27. )
Dodona, I. a celebrated citv and oracle of Epirus,
situate most probably in the present valley ofJoannina,
hut the exact position of which has never been ascer-
Vaiied. We are not assisted here ly any accurate an-
cient traveller like Pausanias, nor have we any itine-
? ? raries or faithful measurements of distances to guide
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? DODOJNA
c'o:k] be counted before il ceased. Hence aiose the
Tarious proverbs of the Dodonean caldron and the
Corcyrean lash. (Strabo, Compend. , 7, p. 329. ) Me-
nander, ic one of hia plays, compared an old nurse's
chatter to the endless sound of this kettle. (Mcnand. ,
Rehq , cd. Meinecke, p. 27. ) It was said by others,
that the walls of the temple were composed of many
caldrons, contiguous to each other, so (hat, striking
upon one, the sound was conveyed to all the rest.
But '. his account is not so much to be depended on
as the other, which, according to Steph. Byz. , rests
on the authority of Polemo Periegetes, who seems to
have written a very accurate description of the curi-
osities of the place; as also another person named Aris-
tides. --We hear of the oracle of Dodona at the time
of the Persian invasion (Hcrodot. , 9, 93), and again in
the reign ot Agesilaus, who consulted it previously to
his expedition into Asia. (Plut. , Apophthegm. Lacon. ,
p. 125. ) It is stated by Diodorus Siculus (14, 13),
that Lysander was accused openly of having offered to
bribe the priestess. The oracle which warned the
Molossian Alexander of his fate is well known from
J,ivy (8, 24). From Demosthenes we learn, that the
answers delivered from time to time to the Athenians
were laid up in the public archives; and he himself ap-
peals to their testimony on more than one occasion.
At length, during the Social war, Dodona was, ac-
cording to Polybius (4, 67), almost entirely destroyed
in an irruption of the ^Etolians, under their praetor
Borimachus, then at war with Epirus. "They set
fire," says the historian, "to the porches, destroyed
many of the offerings, anil pulled down the sacred edi-
fice. " It is probable that the temple of Dodona nev-
er recovered from this disaster, as in Strabo's time
there was scarcely any trace left of the oracle; but the
town must still have existed, us it is mentioned by
Hierocles among the cities of Epirus in the sevonth
. entury; and we hear of a bishop of Dodona in the
ccuncd of Ephesus. (Wessel. , ad Hierocl. , Synced. ,
p. 651 )--All accounts seem to agree that Dodona
stood either on the declivity or at the foot of an ele-
vated mountain called Tomarus or Tamarus. (Stra-
in, 328. ) Hence the term Tomuri, supposed to be a
contraction forTomaruri (Toftapoipot), or guardians of
Tomarus which was given to the priests of the temple
\Strabo, I c. ) In Callimachus (Hymn, in Cer. , 52)
we find the name of the mountain written Tmarus
IJ/wpnc) This lofty mountain was farther remarka-
ble for the number of streams which burst from i's
sides. (Pltn. , 4, 1. ) If, then, we had the means of
distinguishing the modern chain which answers to the
ancient Tomarus, we might easily discover the site of
Dodona, but the whole of Epirus being covered with
. ofty mountains, it is not easy to ascertain even this
point. --(tor discussions on this interesting question,
consult Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 115, seqq --
Wordsworth s Greece, p. 2i7. -- Walpole's Collection,
vol. 2, p. 473. --Hughes's Travels, vol. 1, p. 511 >--II
A city and oracle of Thcssaly. It has given rise to
much controversy whether Homer (11. , 2, 749) refers
to this or the city of Epirus, and the scholiasts and
commentators are divided in their opinions. Stcpha-
ins Byzantinus (s. v. Au6uvV) enters fully into the
discnssion, and quotes passages from several writers
on the antiquities of Thessaly, who all acknowledged
? city named Dodona or Bodona in that country:
whence the opinion has been entertained that the ora-
cle of Jupiter was afterward transferred to Epirus.
? ? Strabo (441) seems to adopt this notion, and affirms,
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? DOM
DOM
miede a. id Ulysses, who, on the part of the Greeks,
had been despatched on a similar expedition. Dolon,
having betrayed to them the situation and plans of the
Trojans, was put to death by Diomede for his treach-
ery. (Horn. , II. , 10, 314. --Virg. , JEn. , 12, 349. )
Doi. onci. a people of Thrace. (Herodot. , 6, 34. --
Vid. Miltiades. )
Dolohes, a people of Thossaly, who appear to have
been eap. y established in that southeastern angle of
Thessaly formed by the chain of Pindus, or rather
Tymphrestus, on one side, and Mount Othrys, branch-
ing out of it, on the other. By the latter mountain
they were separated from the /Unianes, who were in
possession of the upper valley of the Sperchius; while
to the west they bordered upon Phthiotis, with the in-
habitants of which country they were connected as
early as the siege of Troy. This we learn from Ho-
mer, who represents Phcenix, the Dolopian leader, as
accompanying Achilles thither in the double capacity
of preceptor and ally. (II. , 9, 480. --Pind. , ap. Slrab. ,
431. ) The Dolopians, according to Pausanias and
Harpocration, sent deputies to the Amphictyonic coun-
cil. From Herodotus we learn, that they presented
earth and water to Xerxes, and furnished some troops
for the expedition undertaken by that monarch into
Greece (7, 132 and 185). Xenophon, at a later peri-
od, enumerates them as subjects of Jason, tyrant of
Pherae. (Hist. Gr. , 6, 1. ) Diodorus Siculus informs
us that they took part in the Lamiac war (18,11). We
afterward find Dolopia a frequent subject of contention
between the . Etolians, who had extended their domin-
ion to the borders of this district, and the kings of
Macedonia. Hence the frequent incursions made by
the former people into this part of Thessaly when at
war with the latter power. (Liv. , 31, 12. --Id. , 33,
34. --Id. , 36, 38. ) Dolopia was finally conquered by
Perseus, the last Macedonian monarch. The cantons
? f Thaumako, Grituiano, and part of Agrapka, may-
be supposed to occupy the situation ascribed by an-
cient writers to the country of the Dolopians. (Cra-
mer'* Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 416 )
Domitia Lex, de Sacerdotiis, brought forward by
Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, tribune of the commons,
A I-'. C. 650. It enacted that ihe vemtifiecs, augures,
and decemviri sacris faciendis should not be chosen by
the sacerdotal colleges, but by the people. The pon-
tifcx maximus and curio maximus were always, in the
first ages of the republic, chosen by the people. (Cic,
Hull. , 2, 7. --Liv. , 25, 5. --Id. , 27, 8. )
Domitia Gens, a celebrated plebeian family, divi-
ded into two branches, that of the Calvini and that of
the Ahenobarbi. The Calvini attained to the consular
office A. U. C. 422, the Ahenobarbi in 562. The latter,
at length, in the person of Nero, became invested with
imperial power; but with this emperor perished the
male line of the Domitii. Domitian only belonged to
this family through his mother Domitia.
Domitia, I. Lepida, aunt of Nero, was accused of ma-
gic and put to death (A. D. 54) through the intrigues
of Agrippina, who was jealous of her influence over
Nero (Tacit. , Ann. , 12, 64, sea. )--IT. , or Domitilla,
wife of Vespasian, by whom he had Titus and Domi-
no i. , and a daughter named Domitilla. She had been
Jie mistress of a Roman knight, and passed fey a freed
woman; but she was declared of free birth on having
been acknowledged by her father Flavius Liberalis,
who held the situation of scribe to one of the quxstors.
? ? She died before Vespasian came to the throne. (Sue-
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? DOM
V >>> wife were among the victims, In the lollowmg
? j <<, A. D. 96, a conspiracy was formed against De-
ft -tian among the officers of his guards and several of
hi<< iutimate friends, and his wife, the infamous Domi-
til'a, herself is said to have participated in it. The im-
mediate cause of it was his increasing suspicions, which
threatened the life of every one around him, and which
a*e said to have been stimulated by the predictions of
tjtrologers and soothsayers, whom he was very ready
to consult. He was killed in his apartments by sev-
eral of the conspirators, after struggling with them for
some '. ime, in his 45th year, and in the fifteenth of his
reign. On the news of his death, the senate assem-
bled and elected M. Cocceius Nerva emperer. --The
character of Domitian is represented by all ancient
oistorians in the darkest colours, as being a compound
of timidity and cruelty, of dissimulation and arrogance,
of self-indulgence and stern severity towards others.
