she answered, that she would go
whithersoever
the Quintil.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
12), Didius the proconsulate of Africa, from whence he was
was beaten and slain, ten years later, by Sertorius recalled to Rome and chosen praefectus vigilum.
in Spain, but the reading in that passage is wrong, Upon the death of Pertinax, the Praetorian as-
and instead of Alotov, or as some read it didov, sassins publicly announced that they would bestow
we ought to read Φουφίδιον. (Ruhnken, ud i'ell. the purple on the man who would pay the highest
Pat. ii. 16. ) There is a coin figured on p. 602, b. , price. Flavius Sulpicianus, praefect of the city,
which refers to our T. Didius : the reverse shews a father-in-law of the murdered emperor, being it
portico with a double row of pillars, and bears the that moment in the camp, to which he had been
inscription T. Didi. IMP. VIL. PUB. From this despatched for the purpose of soothing the troops,
we see, that T. Didius received the title of impera- proceeded at once to make liberal proposals, when
tor in Spain (Sallust. I. c. ), and that after his re- Julianus, having been roused from a banquet by
turn to Rome he restored or embellished the his wife and daughter, arrived in all haste, and
villa publica in the Campus Martius. The obverse being unable to gain admission, stood before the
shews the head of Concordia, her name, and that gate, and with a loud voice contended for the
of P. Fouteius Capito, who struck the coin, and on prize. The bidding went on briskly for a while, the
it commemorated an act of the life of Didius, with soldiers reporting by turns to each of the two com-
whose family, as we may infer from the image of petitors, the one within the fortifications, the other
Concordia, Fonteius Capito was connected by mar- outside the rampart, the sum tendered by his
riage. _(Eckhel, Doctr. Num. v. p. 130. )
rival. At length, Sulpicianus having promised a
3. T. Didius, perhaps a son of No. 2, was tri- donative of twenty thousand sesterces a head, the
bune of the people, in B. C. 95, with L. Aurelius throne was about to be knocked down to him,
Cotta. In the disputes arising from the accusation, when Julianus, no longer adding a small amount,
## p. 1006 (#1026) ##########################################
1006
DIDIUS.
DIDO.
shouted that he would give twenty-five thousand. / words of Dion Cassius, who was not only in Rome
The guards thereupon closed with the offers of at the period in question, but actually attended the
Julianus, threw open their gates, saluted him by meeting of the senate held on the very night when
the name of Commodus, and proclaimed him em- the bargain was concluded. We cannot suppose
peror. The senate was compelled to ratify the that he was ignorant of the real facts of the case.
election. But the populace, after the first confu- We cannot imagine any motive which could induce
sion had subsided, did not tamely submit to the him to fabricate a circumstantial and improbable
dishonour brought upon the state. Whenever the falschood. (Dion Cass. lxxiii. 11-17; Spartian.
prince appeared in public he was saluted with Did. Julian. ; Capitolin. Pertin. , sub fin. , i. 6. 89,
groans, imprecations, and shouts of “robber and 7. $ 4; Eutrop. viii. 9; Victor, Cucs. xix. ; Zosim.
parricide. ” The mob endeavoured to obstruct his i. 7. )
(W. R. ]
progress to the Capitol, and even ventured to assail DIDIUS GALLUS. [GALLUS. ]
him with stones. This state of public feeling DIDIUS SCAEVA. (SCAEVA. )
having become known, Pescennius Niger in Syria, DIDO (Alow), also called Elissil, which is pro-
Septimius Severus in Illyrin, and Clodius Albinus bably her more genuine name in the eastern tradi-
in Britain, each having three legions under his tions, was a Phoenician princess, and the reputed
command, refused to acknowledge the authority of founder of Carthage. The substance of her story
Julianus, who for a time made vigorous ctiorts to is given by Justin (xviii. 4, &c. ), which has been
maintain his power.
Severus, the nearest and embellished and variously modified by other writ-
therefore most dangerous foe, was declared a pub-ers, especially by Virgil
, who has used the story
lic enemy; deputies were sent from the senate to very freely, to suit the purposes of his poem. (Sce
persuade the soldiers to abandon him; a new especially books i. and iv. ) We give the story
general was nominated to supersede him, and a as related by Justin, and refer to the other
centurion despatched to take his life. The prae writers where they present any differences. After
torians, long sirangers to active military operations, the death of the Tyrian king, Nutgo (comp. Jo-
were marched into the Campus Martius, regularly seph. c. Apion. i. 18, where he is called Matgenus;
drilled, and exercised in the construction of fortifi- Serv, ad Acn. i. 343, 642, who calls him Methres;
cations and field works. Severus, however, have others again call him Belus or Agenor), the people
ing secured Albinus by declaring him Caesar, ad- gave the government to his son, Pygmalion; and
vanced steadily towards the city, made himself his daughter Dido or Elissa married her uncle,
master of the feet at Ravenna, defeated Tullius Acerbas (Virg. Aen. i. 343, calls him Sichaeus,
Crispinus, the praetorian praefect, who had been and Servius, on this passage, Sicharbas), a priest
sent forward to arrest his progress, and gained of Heracles, which was the highest office in the
orer to his party the ambassadors commissioned to state next to that of king. Acerbas possessed ex-
seduce his troops. On the other hand, the prae- traordinary treasures, which be kept secret, but a
torians, destitute of discipline, and sunk in de report of them reached Prgmalion, and led him to
bauchery and sloth, were alike incapable of offer- murder his uncle. (Comp. Virg. . len. i. 349, dic. ,
ing any effectual resistance to an invader, and where Sichaeus is murdered at an altar; whereas
indisposed to submit to restraint. Matters being J. Malalas, p. 162, &c. , ed. Bonn, and Eustath. ad
in this desperate state, Julianus now attempted Dionys. Perieg. 195, represent the murder as har-
negotiation, and offered to share the empire with ing taken place during a journey, or during the
his rival. But Severus turned a deaf ear to these chase. ) Hereupon, Dido, who according to Virgil
overtures, and still pressed forwards, all Italy de- and others was informed of her husband's murder
claring for him as he advanced. At last the prae- in a dream, pretended that, in order to forget her
torians, having received assurances that they should grief, she would in future live with her brother
suffer no punishment, provided they would give Pygmalion, while in secret she made all prepara-
up the actual murderers of Pertinax and offer no tions for quitting her country. The servants whom
resistance, suddenly seized upon the ringleaders of Pygmalion sent to assist her in the change of her
the late conspiracy, and reported what they had residence were gained over by her, and having
done to Silius Messaln, the consul, by whom the further induced some noble Tyrians, who were
senate was hastily summoned and informed of dissatisfied with Pygmalion's rule, to join her, she
these proceedings. Forthwith a formal decree was secretly sailed away in search of a new home.
passed proclaiming Serenis emperor, awarding The party first landed in the island of Cyprus,
divine honours to Pertinax, and denouncing death where their number was increased by a priest of
to Julianus, who, deserted by all except one Zeus, who joined them with his wife and children,
of his praefects and his son-in-law, Repentinus, and by their carrying off by force eighty maidens
was slain in the palace by a common soldier in to provide the emigrants with wires. In the mean
the 61st year of his age and the third month of time, Pygmalion, who had heard of the flight of
his reign.
Dido, prepared to set out in pursuit of her; but he
Niebuhr, in his lectures on Roman history pub- was prevented by the entreaties of his mother and
lished by Dr. Schmitz, treats the common account by the threats of the gods (Serv. ad Aen. i. 363, gives
that, after the death of Pertinax, the praetorians a different account of the escape of Dido); and she
offered the imperial dignity for sale to the highest thus safely landed in a bay on the coast of Africa.
bidder, as a sad exaggeration or misrepresentation, Here she purchased (according to Serv. ad Aen.
and declares, that he is unable to beliere that Sul. 1. 367, and Eustath. loc. , of king Hiarbas) as much
picianus and Julianus bid against one another, as land as might be covered with the hide of a bull;
at an auction. With all respect for his opinion, but she ordered the hide to be cut up into the
no event in ancient history rests upon surer evi- thinnest possible stripes, and with them she sur-
dence. Setting aside the testimony of Herodian, rounded a great extent of country, which she called
Capitolinus, and Spartianus, we have given the Byrsa, from Bipoa, i. c. the hide of a bull. (Comp.
narrative of that strange exhibition almost in the Virg. Aen. 1. 367; Servius, ad loc. and ad is. 670;
## p. 1007 (#1027) ##########################################
DIDO.
1007
DIDYMUS.
а
Silius Itil. Pun. i. 25; Appian, lun. 1. ) The which the gods had promised him, Dido in despair
Dumber of strangers who flocked to the new colony destroyed herself on a funeral pile. The anachro-
from the neighbouring districts, for the sake of nism which Virgil thus conimits is noticed by
commerce and profit, soon raised the place to a several ancient writers. (Serr, ad Aen. iv. 459,
town community. The kinsmen of the new colo- 682, v. 4; Macrob. Sat. v. 17, vi. 2; Auson.
nists, especially the inhabitants of Utica, supported Epigr. 113. )
(L. S. ]
and encouraged them (l'rocop. Bell. L'undul. ii. 10); DIDYMARCIIUS (Aldvuapxos), is mentioned
and Dido, with the consent of the Libyans, and by Antoninus Liberalis (23) as the author of a
under the promise of paying them an annual tri- work on Metamorphoses, of which the third book
butc, built the town of Carthage. In laving the is there quoted.
[L. S. ]
foundations of the city, the head of a bull was DIDYMUS (Algunos). 1. A celebrated Alex-
found, and afterwards the head of a horse, which andrian grammarian of the time of Cicero and the
was a still more favourable sign. (Virg. Aen. i. 443, emperor Angustus. He was a disciple or rather in
with Servius's note; Sil. Iual. Pun. ii. 410, &c. ) follower of the school of Aristarchus ('Aplotápxeros,
As the new town soon rose to a high degree of Lehrs, de Aristarchi stud. Ilomer. p. 18, &c. ), and
power and prosperity, king Hiarbas or Jarbas, who is said to have been the son of a dealer in salt fisti.
began to be jealous of it, summoned ten of the Ile was the teacher of Apion, Heracleides Ponticus,
noblest Carthaginians to his court, and asked for and other eminent men of the time. He is com-
the hand of Dido, threatening them with a war in monly distinguished from other grammarians of
case of liis demand being refused. The deputies, the name of Didymus by the surname xal kévtepos,
who on their return dreaded to inform their queen which he is said to have received from his indefa-
of this demand, at first told her that Hiarbas wish- tigable and unwearied application to study. But
ed to have somebody who might instruct him and he also bore the nickname of Biblroadbas, for,
his Libyans in the manners of civilized life; and owing to the multitude of his writings, it is said it
when they expressed a doubt as to whether any- often happened to him that he forgot what he had
body would be willing to live among barbarians, stated, and thus in later productions contradicted
Dido censured thein, and declared that every citi- what he had said in earlier ones. Such contradic-
zen ought to be ready to sacrifice everything, even tions happen the more easily the more a writer
life itself, if he could thereby render a service to confines himself to the mere business of compiling;
his country. This declaration roused the courage and this seems to have been the case to a very
of the ten deputies, and they now told her what great extent with Didymus, as we may infer from
lliarbas demanded of her. The queen was thus the extraordinary number of his works, even if it
caught by the law which she herself had laid down. were not otherwise attested. The sum total of his
She lamented her fate, and perpetually uttered the works is stated by Athenaeus (iv. p. 139) to have
name of her late husband, Acerbas; but at length been 3,300, and by Seneca (Ep. 88) 4000. (Comp.
she answered, that she would go whithersoever the Quintil. i. 9. $ 19. ) In this calculation, however,
fate of her new city might call her. She took single books or rolls seem to be counted as separate
three months to prepare herself
, and after the lapse works, or else many of them must have been very small
of that time, she crected a funeral pile at the ex- treatises. The most interesting among his produc-
treme end of the city: she sacrificed many animals tions, all of which are lost, would have been those
under the pretence of endeavouring to soothe the in which he treated on the Homeric poems, the
spirit of Acerbas before celebrating her new nup- criticism and interpretation of which formed the
tials. She then took a sword into her hand, and most prominent portion of his literary pursuits. The
baving ascended the pile, she said to the people greater part of what we now possess under the
that she was going to her husband, as they desired, name of the minor Scholia on Homer, which were
and then she plunged the sword into her breast, at one time considered the work of Didymus, is
and died. (Comp. Serv. ad Aen. i. 340, iv. 36, 335, taken from the several works which Didymus
674. ) So long as Carthage existed, Dido was wrote upon Homer. Among them was one on the
worshipped there as a divinity. (Sil. Ital. Pun. i. Homeric text as constituted by Aristarchus (Tepi
81, &c. ) With regard to the time at which Dido tris 'Aplotápxov dioptuoews), a work which would
is said to have founded Carthage, the statements be of great importance to us, as he entered into
of the ancients differ greatly. According to Ser- the detail of the criticisms of Aristarchus, and re-
rius (ad Aen. iv. 459), it took place 40 years bevised and corrected the text which the latter had
fore the foundation of Rome, that is, in B. c. 794 ; established. But the studies of Didymus were
according to Velleius Paterculus (i. 6), it was 65 not confined to Homer, for he wrote also commen-
years, and according to Justin (xviii. 6) and Oro- taries on many other poets and prose writers of
sius (ir. 6), 72 years, before the building of Rome. the classical times of Greece. We have mention
Josephus (c. Apion. i. 18; comp. Syncellus, p. 113) of works of his on the lyric poets, and especially
places it 143 years and eight months after the on Bacchylides (Theophyl. Ep. 8; Ammon. s. v.
building of the temple of Solomon, that is, B. C. Nmpezões) and Pindar, and the better and greater
861; while Eusebius (Chron, n. 971, ap. Syncell. part of our scholia on Pindar is taken from the
p. 345 ; comp. Chron. n. 1003) places the event commentary of Didymus. (Böckh, Pruef. ad Schol.
133 years after the taking of Troy, that is, in B. C. l'ind. p. xvii. &c. ) The same is the case with the
1025; and Philistus placed it even 37 or 50 years extant scholia on Sophocles. (Richter, de Aeschyli,
before the taking of Troy. (Euseb. Chron. n. 798 ; Sophoclis, et Euripidis interpretibus Graecis, p. 106,
Syncell. p. 321; Appian, Pun. 1. ) In the story &c. ). In the scholia on Aristophanes, too, Didr-
constructed by Virgil in his Aeneid, he makes Dido, mus is often referred to, and we further know that
probably after the example of Naevius, a contem- he wrote commentaries on Euripides, Ion, Phryni-
porary of Aeneas, with whom she falls in love onchus (Athen. ix. p. 371), Cratinus (Hesych. s. e'.
his arrival in Africa. As her love was not re-Kópoakis; Athen. xi. p. 501), Menander (Etymol.
turned, and Aeneas hastened to seek the new home Gud. p. 338. 25), and others. The Greek orators,
## p. 1008 (#1028) ##########################################
1008
DIDYMUS.
DIDYMUS.
mus.
Demosthenes, Isaeus, Hyperides. Deinarchus, and from Didymus the monk, who is spoken of by So-
others, were likewise commented upon by Didy- crates. (llist. Eccles. iv. 33. ) At the age of four
Besides these numerous commentaries, we
have mention of a work on the phraseology of the years, and before he had learnt to read, he became
blind ; but this calanity created in him an invin-
tragic poets (Tepi Tpayudovuévns néEEWs), of which cible thirst after knowledge, and by intense appli-
the 28th book is quoted. (Macrob. Sat. v. 18; cation he succeeded in becoming not only a distin-
llarpocrat. s. v. Empalo. deiv. ) A similar work guished grammarian, rhetorician, dialectician, ma-
(nétis Kwurkh) was written by him on the phrase thematician, musician, astronomer, and philosopher
ology of the comic poets, and Hesychius made (Socrat. iv. 25 ; Sozom. jii. 15; Rutin. xi. 7;
great use of it, as he himself attests in the epistle Theodoret. iv. 29; Nicephor. ix. 17), but also in
to Eulogius. (Comp. Etymol. M. p. 492. 53 ; acquiring a most extensive knowledge of sacred
Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 1139, iv. 1058. ) A literature. He devoted himself to the service of
third work of the same class was on words of am- the church, and was no less distinguished for the
biguous or uncertain meaning, and consisted of at exemplary purity of his conduct than for his learn-
least seven books; and a fourth treated on false ing and acquirements. In A. D. 392, when Hiero-
or corrupt expressions. He further published a nymus wrote his work on illustrious ecclesiastical
collection of Greek proverbs, in thirteen books authors, Didymus was still alive, and professor of
(Apds Tous Tepl Topoliw OUVTETaxótas), from thcology at Alexandriil. He died in A. n. 396 at
which is taken the greater part of the proverbs the age of eighty-five. As professor of theology he
contained in the collection of Zenobius. (Schneide was at the head of the school of the Catechumeni,
win, Corpus Paroemiogr. Gruec. i. p. xiv. ) A work and the most distinguished personages of that pe-
on the laws of Solon is mentioned by Plutarch riod, such as Hieronymus, Rufinus, Palladius,
(Sol. 1) under the title nepl twv ditóvwv Xóawvos. Ambrosius, Evagrius, and Isidorus, are mentioned
Didymus appears to have been acquainted even among his pupils. Didymus was the author of a
with Roman literature, for he wrote a work in six great number of theological works, but most of
books against Cicero's treatise "de Re Publica,” | them are lost. The following are still extant:-
(Ammian. Marcell. xxii. 16), which afterwards 1. "Liber de Spiritu Sancto. ” The Greek original
induced Suetonius to write against Didymus. is lost, but we possess a Latin translation made by
(Suid. s. r. Tpaykuł dos. ) Didymus stands at the Hieronymus, about 1. D. 386, which is printed
close of the period in which a comprehensive and among the works of Hieronymus. Although the
independent study of Greek literature prevailed, author as well as the translator intended it to be
and he himself must be regarded as the father of one book (Hieronym. Catal. 109), yet Marcianaeus
the scholiasts who were satisfied with compiling or in his edition of Hieronymus has divided ii into
abridging the works of their predecessors.
three books. The work is mentioned by St. Au-
In the collection of the Geoponica there are ra- gustin (Quaest. in Exod. ii. 25), and Nicephorus
rious extracts bearing the name of Didymus, from (ix. 17). Separate editions of it were published
which it might be inferred that he wrote on agri- at Cologne, 1531, 8vo. , and a better one by Fuchte,
culture or botany; but it is altogether uncertain Helmstädt, 1614, 8vo. 2. “ Breves Enarrationes
whether those extracts belong to cur Alexandrian in Epistolas Canonicas. ” This work is likewise
grammarian, or to some other writer of the same extant only in a Latin translation, and was first
It is rery probable that, with Suidas, we printed in the Cologne edition of the first work.
ought to distinguish from our grammarian a natu- It is contained also in all the collections of the
ralist Didymus, who possibly may be the same as works of the fathers. The Latin translation is the
the one who wrote a commentary on Hippocrates, work of Epiphanius, and was made at the request
and a treatise on stones and different kinds of of Cassiodorus. (Cassiod. de Institut. Dirin. 8. )
wood (Tepi Mapudpwv Kal TavtoWv túlav), a 3. “Liber adversus Manichaeos. " This work ap-
treatise which has been edited by A. Mai as an pears to be incomplete, since Damascenus (Parallel.
appendix to the fragments of the Iliad. (Milan, p. 507) quotes a passage from it which is now not
1819, fol. ) See Gräfenhan, Gesch. der Klass. to be found in it. It was first printed in a Latin
Philol. im Alterthum, i. p. 105, &c.
version by F. Turrianus in Possevin's Apparatus
2. An Alexandrian grammarian, commonly call Sanct. ad Calc. lit.
was beaten and slain, ten years later, by Sertorius recalled to Rome and chosen praefectus vigilum.
in Spain, but the reading in that passage is wrong, Upon the death of Pertinax, the Praetorian as-
and instead of Alotov, or as some read it didov, sassins publicly announced that they would bestow
we ought to read Φουφίδιον. (Ruhnken, ud i'ell. the purple on the man who would pay the highest
Pat. ii. 16. ) There is a coin figured on p. 602, b. , price. Flavius Sulpicianus, praefect of the city,
which refers to our T. Didius : the reverse shews a father-in-law of the murdered emperor, being it
portico with a double row of pillars, and bears the that moment in the camp, to which he had been
inscription T. Didi. IMP. VIL. PUB. From this despatched for the purpose of soothing the troops,
we see, that T. Didius received the title of impera- proceeded at once to make liberal proposals, when
tor in Spain (Sallust. I. c. ), and that after his re- Julianus, having been roused from a banquet by
turn to Rome he restored or embellished the his wife and daughter, arrived in all haste, and
villa publica in the Campus Martius. The obverse being unable to gain admission, stood before the
shews the head of Concordia, her name, and that gate, and with a loud voice contended for the
of P. Fouteius Capito, who struck the coin, and on prize. The bidding went on briskly for a while, the
it commemorated an act of the life of Didius, with soldiers reporting by turns to each of the two com-
whose family, as we may infer from the image of petitors, the one within the fortifications, the other
Concordia, Fonteius Capito was connected by mar- outside the rampart, the sum tendered by his
riage. _(Eckhel, Doctr. Num. v. p. 130. )
rival. At length, Sulpicianus having promised a
3. T. Didius, perhaps a son of No. 2, was tri- donative of twenty thousand sesterces a head, the
bune of the people, in B. C. 95, with L. Aurelius throne was about to be knocked down to him,
Cotta. In the disputes arising from the accusation, when Julianus, no longer adding a small amount,
## p. 1006 (#1026) ##########################################
1006
DIDIUS.
DIDO.
shouted that he would give twenty-five thousand. / words of Dion Cassius, who was not only in Rome
The guards thereupon closed with the offers of at the period in question, but actually attended the
Julianus, threw open their gates, saluted him by meeting of the senate held on the very night when
the name of Commodus, and proclaimed him em- the bargain was concluded. We cannot suppose
peror. The senate was compelled to ratify the that he was ignorant of the real facts of the case.
election. But the populace, after the first confu- We cannot imagine any motive which could induce
sion had subsided, did not tamely submit to the him to fabricate a circumstantial and improbable
dishonour brought upon the state. Whenever the falschood. (Dion Cass. lxxiii. 11-17; Spartian.
prince appeared in public he was saluted with Did. Julian. ; Capitolin. Pertin. , sub fin. , i. 6. 89,
groans, imprecations, and shouts of “robber and 7. $ 4; Eutrop. viii. 9; Victor, Cucs. xix. ; Zosim.
parricide. ” The mob endeavoured to obstruct his i. 7. )
(W. R. ]
progress to the Capitol, and even ventured to assail DIDIUS GALLUS. [GALLUS. ]
him with stones. This state of public feeling DIDIUS SCAEVA. (SCAEVA. )
having become known, Pescennius Niger in Syria, DIDO (Alow), also called Elissil, which is pro-
Septimius Severus in Illyrin, and Clodius Albinus bably her more genuine name in the eastern tradi-
in Britain, each having three legions under his tions, was a Phoenician princess, and the reputed
command, refused to acknowledge the authority of founder of Carthage. The substance of her story
Julianus, who for a time made vigorous ctiorts to is given by Justin (xviii. 4, &c. ), which has been
maintain his power.
Severus, the nearest and embellished and variously modified by other writ-
therefore most dangerous foe, was declared a pub-ers, especially by Virgil
, who has used the story
lic enemy; deputies were sent from the senate to very freely, to suit the purposes of his poem. (Sce
persuade the soldiers to abandon him; a new especially books i. and iv. ) We give the story
general was nominated to supersede him, and a as related by Justin, and refer to the other
centurion despatched to take his life. The prae writers where they present any differences. After
torians, long sirangers to active military operations, the death of the Tyrian king, Nutgo (comp. Jo-
were marched into the Campus Martius, regularly seph. c. Apion. i. 18, where he is called Matgenus;
drilled, and exercised in the construction of fortifi- Serv, ad Acn. i. 343, 642, who calls him Methres;
cations and field works. Severus, however, have others again call him Belus or Agenor), the people
ing secured Albinus by declaring him Caesar, ad- gave the government to his son, Pygmalion; and
vanced steadily towards the city, made himself his daughter Dido or Elissa married her uncle,
master of the feet at Ravenna, defeated Tullius Acerbas (Virg. Aen. i. 343, calls him Sichaeus,
Crispinus, the praetorian praefect, who had been and Servius, on this passage, Sicharbas), a priest
sent forward to arrest his progress, and gained of Heracles, which was the highest office in the
orer to his party the ambassadors commissioned to state next to that of king. Acerbas possessed ex-
seduce his troops. On the other hand, the prae- traordinary treasures, which be kept secret, but a
torians, destitute of discipline, and sunk in de report of them reached Prgmalion, and led him to
bauchery and sloth, were alike incapable of offer- murder his uncle. (Comp. Virg. . len. i. 349, dic. ,
ing any effectual resistance to an invader, and where Sichaeus is murdered at an altar; whereas
indisposed to submit to restraint. Matters being J. Malalas, p. 162, &c. , ed. Bonn, and Eustath. ad
in this desperate state, Julianus now attempted Dionys. Perieg. 195, represent the murder as har-
negotiation, and offered to share the empire with ing taken place during a journey, or during the
his rival. But Severus turned a deaf ear to these chase. ) Hereupon, Dido, who according to Virgil
overtures, and still pressed forwards, all Italy de- and others was informed of her husband's murder
claring for him as he advanced. At last the prae- in a dream, pretended that, in order to forget her
torians, having received assurances that they should grief, she would in future live with her brother
suffer no punishment, provided they would give Pygmalion, while in secret she made all prepara-
up the actual murderers of Pertinax and offer no tions for quitting her country. The servants whom
resistance, suddenly seized upon the ringleaders of Pygmalion sent to assist her in the change of her
the late conspiracy, and reported what they had residence were gained over by her, and having
done to Silius Messaln, the consul, by whom the further induced some noble Tyrians, who were
senate was hastily summoned and informed of dissatisfied with Pygmalion's rule, to join her, she
these proceedings. Forthwith a formal decree was secretly sailed away in search of a new home.
passed proclaiming Serenis emperor, awarding The party first landed in the island of Cyprus,
divine honours to Pertinax, and denouncing death where their number was increased by a priest of
to Julianus, who, deserted by all except one Zeus, who joined them with his wife and children,
of his praefects and his son-in-law, Repentinus, and by their carrying off by force eighty maidens
was slain in the palace by a common soldier in to provide the emigrants with wires. In the mean
the 61st year of his age and the third month of time, Pygmalion, who had heard of the flight of
his reign.
Dido, prepared to set out in pursuit of her; but he
Niebuhr, in his lectures on Roman history pub- was prevented by the entreaties of his mother and
lished by Dr. Schmitz, treats the common account by the threats of the gods (Serv. ad Aen. i. 363, gives
that, after the death of Pertinax, the praetorians a different account of the escape of Dido); and she
offered the imperial dignity for sale to the highest thus safely landed in a bay on the coast of Africa.
bidder, as a sad exaggeration or misrepresentation, Here she purchased (according to Serv. ad Aen.
and declares, that he is unable to beliere that Sul. 1. 367, and Eustath. loc. , of king Hiarbas) as much
picianus and Julianus bid against one another, as land as might be covered with the hide of a bull;
at an auction. With all respect for his opinion, but she ordered the hide to be cut up into the
no event in ancient history rests upon surer evi- thinnest possible stripes, and with them she sur-
dence. Setting aside the testimony of Herodian, rounded a great extent of country, which she called
Capitolinus, and Spartianus, we have given the Byrsa, from Bipoa, i. c. the hide of a bull. (Comp.
narrative of that strange exhibition almost in the Virg. Aen. 1. 367; Servius, ad loc. and ad is. 670;
## p. 1007 (#1027) ##########################################
DIDO.
1007
DIDYMUS.
а
Silius Itil. Pun. i. 25; Appian, lun. 1. ) The which the gods had promised him, Dido in despair
Dumber of strangers who flocked to the new colony destroyed herself on a funeral pile. The anachro-
from the neighbouring districts, for the sake of nism which Virgil thus conimits is noticed by
commerce and profit, soon raised the place to a several ancient writers. (Serr, ad Aen. iv. 459,
town community. The kinsmen of the new colo- 682, v. 4; Macrob. Sat. v. 17, vi. 2; Auson.
nists, especially the inhabitants of Utica, supported Epigr. 113. )
(L. S. ]
and encouraged them (l'rocop. Bell. L'undul. ii. 10); DIDYMARCIIUS (Aldvuapxos), is mentioned
and Dido, with the consent of the Libyans, and by Antoninus Liberalis (23) as the author of a
under the promise of paying them an annual tri- work on Metamorphoses, of which the third book
butc, built the town of Carthage. In laving the is there quoted.
[L. S. ]
foundations of the city, the head of a bull was DIDYMUS (Algunos). 1. A celebrated Alex-
found, and afterwards the head of a horse, which andrian grammarian of the time of Cicero and the
was a still more favourable sign. (Virg. Aen. i. 443, emperor Angustus. He was a disciple or rather in
with Servius's note; Sil. Iual. Pun. ii. 410, &c. ) follower of the school of Aristarchus ('Aplotápxeros,
As the new town soon rose to a high degree of Lehrs, de Aristarchi stud. Ilomer. p. 18, &c. ), and
power and prosperity, king Hiarbas or Jarbas, who is said to have been the son of a dealer in salt fisti.
began to be jealous of it, summoned ten of the Ile was the teacher of Apion, Heracleides Ponticus,
noblest Carthaginians to his court, and asked for and other eminent men of the time. He is com-
the hand of Dido, threatening them with a war in monly distinguished from other grammarians of
case of liis demand being refused. The deputies, the name of Didymus by the surname xal kévtepos,
who on their return dreaded to inform their queen which he is said to have received from his indefa-
of this demand, at first told her that Hiarbas wish- tigable and unwearied application to study. But
ed to have somebody who might instruct him and he also bore the nickname of Biblroadbas, for,
his Libyans in the manners of civilized life; and owing to the multitude of his writings, it is said it
when they expressed a doubt as to whether any- often happened to him that he forgot what he had
body would be willing to live among barbarians, stated, and thus in later productions contradicted
Dido censured thein, and declared that every citi- what he had said in earlier ones. Such contradic-
zen ought to be ready to sacrifice everything, even tions happen the more easily the more a writer
life itself, if he could thereby render a service to confines himself to the mere business of compiling;
his country. This declaration roused the courage and this seems to have been the case to a very
of the ten deputies, and they now told her what great extent with Didymus, as we may infer from
lliarbas demanded of her. The queen was thus the extraordinary number of his works, even if it
caught by the law which she herself had laid down. were not otherwise attested. The sum total of his
She lamented her fate, and perpetually uttered the works is stated by Athenaeus (iv. p. 139) to have
name of her late husband, Acerbas; but at length been 3,300, and by Seneca (Ep. 88) 4000. (Comp.
she answered, that she would go whithersoever the Quintil. i. 9. $ 19. ) In this calculation, however,
fate of her new city might call her. She took single books or rolls seem to be counted as separate
three months to prepare herself
, and after the lapse works, or else many of them must have been very small
of that time, she crected a funeral pile at the ex- treatises. The most interesting among his produc-
treme end of the city: she sacrificed many animals tions, all of which are lost, would have been those
under the pretence of endeavouring to soothe the in which he treated on the Homeric poems, the
spirit of Acerbas before celebrating her new nup- criticism and interpretation of which formed the
tials. She then took a sword into her hand, and most prominent portion of his literary pursuits. The
baving ascended the pile, she said to the people greater part of what we now possess under the
that she was going to her husband, as they desired, name of the minor Scholia on Homer, which were
and then she plunged the sword into her breast, at one time considered the work of Didymus, is
and died. (Comp. Serv. ad Aen. i. 340, iv. 36, 335, taken from the several works which Didymus
674. ) So long as Carthage existed, Dido was wrote upon Homer. Among them was one on the
worshipped there as a divinity. (Sil. Ital. Pun. i. Homeric text as constituted by Aristarchus (Tepi
81, &c. ) With regard to the time at which Dido tris 'Aplotápxov dioptuoews), a work which would
is said to have founded Carthage, the statements be of great importance to us, as he entered into
of the ancients differ greatly. According to Ser- the detail of the criticisms of Aristarchus, and re-
rius (ad Aen. iv. 459), it took place 40 years bevised and corrected the text which the latter had
fore the foundation of Rome, that is, in B. c. 794 ; established. But the studies of Didymus were
according to Velleius Paterculus (i. 6), it was 65 not confined to Homer, for he wrote also commen-
years, and according to Justin (xviii. 6) and Oro- taries on many other poets and prose writers of
sius (ir. 6), 72 years, before the building of Rome. the classical times of Greece. We have mention
Josephus (c. Apion. i. 18; comp. Syncellus, p. 113) of works of his on the lyric poets, and especially
places it 143 years and eight months after the on Bacchylides (Theophyl. Ep. 8; Ammon. s. v.
building of the temple of Solomon, that is, B. C. Nmpezões) and Pindar, and the better and greater
861; while Eusebius (Chron, n. 971, ap. Syncell. part of our scholia on Pindar is taken from the
p. 345 ; comp. Chron. n. 1003) places the event commentary of Didymus. (Böckh, Pruef. ad Schol.
133 years after the taking of Troy, that is, in B. C. l'ind. p. xvii. &c. ) The same is the case with the
1025; and Philistus placed it even 37 or 50 years extant scholia on Sophocles. (Richter, de Aeschyli,
before the taking of Troy. (Euseb. Chron. n. 798 ; Sophoclis, et Euripidis interpretibus Graecis, p. 106,
Syncell. p. 321; Appian, Pun. 1. ) In the story &c. ). In the scholia on Aristophanes, too, Didr-
constructed by Virgil in his Aeneid, he makes Dido, mus is often referred to, and we further know that
probably after the example of Naevius, a contem- he wrote commentaries on Euripides, Ion, Phryni-
porary of Aeneas, with whom she falls in love onchus (Athen. ix. p. 371), Cratinus (Hesych. s. e'.
his arrival in Africa. As her love was not re-Kópoakis; Athen. xi. p. 501), Menander (Etymol.
turned, and Aeneas hastened to seek the new home Gud. p. 338. 25), and others. The Greek orators,
## p. 1008 (#1028) ##########################################
1008
DIDYMUS.
DIDYMUS.
mus.
Demosthenes, Isaeus, Hyperides. Deinarchus, and from Didymus the monk, who is spoken of by So-
others, were likewise commented upon by Didy- crates. (llist. Eccles. iv. 33. ) At the age of four
Besides these numerous commentaries, we
have mention of a work on the phraseology of the years, and before he had learnt to read, he became
blind ; but this calanity created in him an invin-
tragic poets (Tepi Tpayudovuévns néEEWs), of which cible thirst after knowledge, and by intense appli-
the 28th book is quoted. (Macrob. Sat. v. 18; cation he succeeded in becoming not only a distin-
llarpocrat. s. v. Empalo. deiv. ) A similar work guished grammarian, rhetorician, dialectician, ma-
(nétis Kwurkh) was written by him on the phrase thematician, musician, astronomer, and philosopher
ology of the comic poets, and Hesychius made (Socrat. iv. 25 ; Sozom. jii. 15; Rutin. xi. 7;
great use of it, as he himself attests in the epistle Theodoret. iv. 29; Nicephor. ix. 17), but also in
to Eulogius. (Comp. Etymol. M. p. 492. 53 ; acquiring a most extensive knowledge of sacred
Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 1139, iv. 1058. ) A literature. He devoted himself to the service of
third work of the same class was on words of am- the church, and was no less distinguished for the
biguous or uncertain meaning, and consisted of at exemplary purity of his conduct than for his learn-
least seven books; and a fourth treated on false ing and acquirements. In A. D. 392, when Hiero-
or corrupt expressions. He further published a nymus wrote his work on illustrious ecclesiastical
collection of Greek proverbs, in thirteen books authors, Didymus was still alive, and professor of
(Apds Tous Tepl Topoliw OUVTETaxótas), from thcology at Alexandriil. He died in A. n. 396 at
which is taken the greater part of the proverbs the age of eighty-five. As professor of theology he
contained in the collection of Zenobius. (Schneide was at the head of the school of the Catechumeni,
win, Corpus Paroemiogr. Gruec. i. p. xiv. ) A work and the most distinguished personages of that pe-
on the laws of Solon is mentioned by Plutarch riod, such as Hieronymus, Rufinus, Palladius,
(Sol. 1) under the title nepl twv ditóvwv Xóawvos. Ambrosius, Evagrius, and Isidorus, are mentioned
Didymus appears to have been acquainted even among his pupils. Didymus was the author of a
with Roman literature, for he wrote a work in six great number of theological works, but most of
books against Cicero's treatise "de Re Publica,” | them are lost. The following are still extant:-
(Ammian. Marcell. xxii. 16), which afterwards 1. "Liber de Spiritu Sancto. ” The Greek original
induced Suetonius to write against Didymus. is lost, but we possess a Latin translation made by
(Suid. s. r. Tpaykuł dos. ) Didymus stands at the Hieronymus, about 1. D. 386, which is printed
close of the period in which a comprehensive and among the works of Hieronymus. Although the
independent study of Greek literature prevailed, author as well as the translator intended it to be
and he himself must be regarded as the father of one book (Hieronym. Catal. 109), yet Marcianaeus
the scholiasts who were satisfied with compiling or in his edition of Hieronymus has divided ii into
abridging the works of their predecessors.
three books. The work is mentioned by St. Au-
In the collection of the Geoponica there are ra- gustin (Quaest. in Exod. ii. 25), and Nicephorus
rious extracts bearing the name of Didymus, from (ix. 17). Separate editions of it were published
which it might be inferred that he wrote on agri- at Cologne, 1531, 8vo. , and a better one by Fuchte,
culture or botany; but it is altogether uncertain Helmstädt, 1614, 8vo. 2. “ Breves Enarrationes
whether those extracts belong to cur Alexandrian in Epistolas Canonicas. ” This work is likewise
grammarian, or to some other writer of the same extant only in a Latin translation, and was first
It is rery probable that, with Suidas, we printed in the Cologne edition of the first work.
ought to distinguish from our grammarian a natu- It is contained also in all the collections of the
ralist Didymus, who possibly may be the same as works of the fathers. The Latin translation is the
the one who wrote a commentary on Hippocrates, work of Epiphanius, and was made at the request
and a treatise on stones and different kinds of of Cassiodorus. (Cassiod. de Institut. Dirin. 8. )
wood (Tepi Mapudpwv Kal TavtoWv túlav), a 3. “Liber adversus Manichaeos. " This work ap-
treatise which has been edited by A. Mai as an pears to be incomplete, since Damascenus (Parallel.
appendix to the fragments of the Iliad. (Milan, p. 507) quotes a passage from it which is now not
1819, fol. ) See Gräfenhan, Gesch. der Klass. to be found in it. It was first printed in a Latin
Philol. im Alterthum, i. p. 105, &c.
version by F. Turrianus in Possevin's Apparatus
2. An Alexandrian grammarian, commonly call Sanct. ad Calc. lit.
