with more freedon, wit, and
boldness
than was
We find Diagoras at Athens as early as B.
We find Diagoras at Athens as early as B.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
ad Hom.
Porphyr. p. 21. ) He was regarded by his con- p. 101. ) There are two other mythical personages
temporaries and later writers as a man of most of this name. (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. i. 144 ; Tzetz.
extensive learning; and we learn from the inscription ad Lycoph. 480. ) Dia is also used as a surname
just referred to, that he was honoured at Athens of Hebe or Ganymede, who had temples under
with the highest offices that existed in his native this name at Phlius and Sicyon. (Strab. viii. p.
city. In A. D. 262, when the Goths penetrated 382 ; Paus. ii. 13. $ 3. )
(L. S. ]
into Greece and ravaged several towns, Dexippus DIADEMA'TUS, a surname of L. Caecilius
proved that he was no less great as a general and Metellus, consul in B. c. 117.
a man of business than as a scholar, for, after the DIADUMENIANUS or DIADUMEXUS,
capture of Athens, he gathered around him a M. OPEʻLIUS, the son of M. Opelius Macrinus
number of bold and courageous Athenians, and and Nonia Celsa, was born on the 19th of Septem-
took up a strong position on the neighbouring hills. ber, A. D. 208. When his father was elevated to
Though the city itself was taken by the barbarians. the purple, after the murder of Caracalla on the
and Dexippus with his band was cut off from it, 8th of March, A. D. 217, Diadumenianus received
he made an unexpected descent upon Peiraeeus the titles of Cuesar, Princeps Juventutis, Antoninus,
and took vengeance upon the enemy: (Dexipp. and eventually of Imperutor and Augustus also.
Exc. de Bell. Scyth. p. 26, &c. ; Trebell. Poll
. Upon the victory of Elagabalus, he was sent to the
Gullicn. 13. )
charge of Artabanus, the Parthian king, but was
We are not informed whether Dexippus wrote betrayed and put to death about the same time
any rhetorical works; he is known to us only as an with Macrinus.
historical author. Photius (Bibl. Cod. 82) has This child is celebrated on account of his sur-
preserved some account of three historical works passing beauty by Lampridius, who declares, that
of Dexippus. 1. Τα μετά 'Αλέξανδρον, in four
books. It was a history of Macedonia from the
time of Alexander, and by way of introduction
the author prefixed a sketch of the preceding his-
tors, from the time of Caranus to Alexander.
(Coinp. Euseb. Chron. 1. ) 2. Súvtomor IoTopikov,
or as Eunapius (p. 58) calls it, Xpovinti lotopia,
was a chronological history from the mythical ages
down to the accession of Claudius Gothicus, A. D.
208. It consisted probably of twelve books, the
>
10
COIN OF DIADUMENIANUS,
## p. 997 (#1017) ###########################################
DIAEUS.
997
DIAGORAS.
a
he shone resplendent like a heavenly star, and was rinth, and Metellus, the Roman general, advan-
Leloved by all who looked upon him on account of cing thither, sent forward anbassadors to offer
liis surpassing grace and comeliness. From his terms, but Diaeus threw them into prison (though
maternal grandfather he inherited the name of he afterwards released them for the bribe of a
Diadumenus, which upon his quasi-adoption into talent), and caused Sosiemtes, the lieutenant-
the family of the Antonines was changed into general, as well as Philinus of Corinth, to be put
Diadumenianus. (Dion Cass. Ixxviii. 4, 17, 19, to death with torture for having joined in recom-
31, 38-40; Ilerodinn. v. 9; Lamprid. Diadumeu. ; mending negotiation with the enemy. Being de-
Capitolin. Vucrin. 10. )
[W. R. ) feated by Mummius before the walls of Corinth,
DIAETHUS (Alaidos), the author of commen- in B. C. 146, he made no further attempt to defend
taries on the Ilonneric poeins, which seem to have the city, but fled to Megalopolis, where he slew
been cinefly of an historical nature, and are refer- his wife to prevent her falling into the enemy's
red to in the Venetian scholia on the Iliad (iii. power, and put an end to his own existence by
175).
(L. S. ) poison, thus (says Pausanias) rivalling Menalcidas
DIAEUS (Alaios), a man of Megalopolis, suc- in the cowardice of his death, as he had rivalled
ceeded Menalcidas of Lacedaemon as general of him through his life in avarice. [MENALCIDAS. ]
the Achacan league in B. c. 150. Menalcidas, | (Polyb. xxxviii. 2, xl. 2, 4, 5, 9 ; Paus. vii. 12, &c. ;
having been assailed by Callicrates with a capital Clinton, F. II. sub annis 149, 147, 146. ) [E. E. ]
charge, saved himself through the favour of Diacus, DIA'GORAS(Alagópas), the son of Telecleides
whoin he bribed with three talents [CALLICRATES, or Teleclytus, was born in the island of Melos
No. 4, p. 569, b. ); and the latter, being much (Milo), one of the Cyclades. He was a poet and
and generally condemned for this, endeavoured to a philosopher, who throughout antiquity was re-
divert public attention from his own conduct to a garded as an atheist (ädeos). With the exception
quarrel with Lacedaemon. The Lacedaemonians of this one point, we possess only very scanty in-
had appealed to the Roman senate about the pos- formation concerning his life and literary activity.
session of some disputed land, and had received for All that is known is carefully collected by M. H.
answer that the decision of all causes, except those E. Meier (in Ersch. u. Grubers Allgem. Encyclop.
of life and death, rested with the great council of xxiv. pp. 439—418).
the Achacans. This answer Diaeus so far garbled The age of this remarkable man can be deter-
as to omit the exception. The Lacedaemonians mined only in a general way by the fact of his being
accused him of falsehood, and the dispute led to called a disciple of Democritus of Abdera, who
war, wherein the Lacedaemonians found themselves taught about B. C. 436. But the circumstance
no match for the Aclucans, and resorted accord that, besides Bacchylides (about B. C. 435), Pindar
ingly to negotiation. Diaeus, affirming that his also is called his contemporary, is a manifest
hostility was not directed against Sparta, but anachronism, as has been already observed by
against her disturbers, procured the banishment of Brandis. (Gesch. d. Griech. Röm. Philos. i. p. 341. )
24 of her principal citizens. These men fled for Nearly all the ancient authorities agree that Melos
refuge and protection to Rome, and thither Dineus was his native place, and Tatian, a late Christian
went to oppose them, together with Callicrates, writer, who calls him an Athenian, does so pro-
who died by the way. The cause of the exiles bably for no other reason but because Athens was the
was supported by Menalcides, who assured the principal scene of the activity of Diagoras. (Tatian,
Spartans, on his return, that the Romans had de- Orat. adr. Graec. p. 164, a. ) Lobeck (Aglaoph.
clared in favour of their independence, while an p. 370) is the only one among modern critics who
equally positive assurance to the opposite effect maintains that the native country of Diagoras is
was given by Diaeus to the Achaeans,—the truth uncertain. According to a tradition in Hesychius
being that the senate had passed no final decision Milesius and Suidas, Democritus the philosopher
at all, but had promised to send commissioners to ransomed him for a very large sum from the
settle the dispute. War was renewed between captivity into which he had fallen in the cruel
the parties, B. C. 148, in spite of the prohibition of subjugation of Melos under Alcibiades (B. C. 411),
the Romans, to which, however, Diaeus, who was and this account at all events serves to attest
again general in B. c. 147, paid more obedience, the close personal relation of these two kindred-
though he endeavoured to bring over the towns minded men, although the details respecting the
round Sparta by negotiation. When the decree of ransom, for instance, may be incorrect. The
the Romans arrived, which severed Sparta and same authorities further state, that in his youth
several other states from the Achaean league, Diagoras had acquired some reputation as a lyric
Diaeus took a leading part in keeping up the in- poet, and this is probably the cause of his being
dignation of the Achaeans, and in urging them to mentioned together with the lyric poets Simonides,
the acts of violence which caused war with Rome. Pindar, and Bacchylides. Thus he is said to have
In the autumn of 147 he was succeeded by Crito- composed άσματα, μέλη, παιάνες, εγκώμια, and
laus, but the death of the latter before the expira- dithyrambs. Among his encomia is mentioned in
tion of his year of office once more placed Diaeus particular an eulogy on Arianthes of Argos, who
at the post of danger, according to the law of the is otherwise unknown,* another on Nicodorus, a
Achaeans, which provided in such cases that the statesman of Mantineia, and a third upon the
predecessor of the deceased should resume his Mantineians. Diagoras is said to have lived in
authority. The number of his army he swelled intimate friendship with Nicodorus, who was cele-
with emancipated slaves, and enforced strictly,
though not impartially, the lery of the citizens ; * The change in the constitution of Mantineia
but he acted unwisely in dividing his forces by by the ouvolki Mós took place with the assistance
sending a portion of them 10 garrison Negara of Argos (Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterth. i. 2, p. 89,
and to check there the advance of the Romans. i. 1, p. 180), and Arianthes of Argos was probably
He himself had taken up his quarters in Co- a person of some political importance.
## p. 998 (#1018) ###########################################
998
DIAGORAS.
DIAGORAS.
brated as a statesman and lawgirer in his native several very characteristic anecdotes. For example,
place, and lived, according to Perizonius (ad Aelian. on his flight from Athena hoy sea to Pallene he was
V. I. ij. 23), at the time of Artaxerxes Mnemon. overtaken by a storm, and on hearing liis fellow-
The foolish Aclian, who has preserved this state- passengers say, that this storm was sent them by
ment, declines any further discussion of this rela- the gods as a punishment, because they had an
tion, although he knew more about it, under the atheist on board, Diagoras shewed them other
pretext that he thought it objectionable to say any- vessels at some distance which were struggling
thing in praise of a man who was so hostile to the with the same storm without having a Diagoras on
gods (sevis exopov Alazópav). But still he in board. (Cic. de Nat. Deur. iii. 37. ) This and
forms us, that Diagoras assisted Nicodorus in his similar anecdotes (Diog. Laërt. vi. 59) accurately
legislation, which he himself praises as very wise describe the relation in which our philosopher
and good. Wachsmuth (Hellen. Alterth. i. 2, p. 90) stood to the popular religion. That he maintained
places this political activity of the two friends his own position with great firmness, and perhaps
about the beginning of the Peloponnesian war.
with more freedon, wit, and boldness than was
We find Diagoras at Athens as early as B. C. advisable, seems to be attested by the fact, that he
424, for Aristophanes in the Clouds (830), which in particular obtained the epithet of ădeos in an-
were performed in that year, alludes to him as a tiquity. Many modern writers maintain that this
well-known character ; and when Socrates, as epithet ought not to be given to liim, because he
though it were a mistake, is there called a Melian, merely denied the direct interference of God with
the poet does so in order to remind his hearers at the world; but though atheists, in the proper
once of Diagoras and of his attacks upon the popu- sense of the word, have never existed, and in that
Har religion. In like manner Hippon is called a sense Diagoras was certainly not an atheist, yet
Melian, merely because he was a follower of Dia as he did not believe in the personal existence of
goras. It can scarcely be doubted that Diagoras the Athenian gods and their human mode of acting,
was acquainted with Socrates, a connexion which the Athenians could hardly have regarded him as
is described in the scholia on Aristophanes as if he other than an atheist. In the eulogy on his friend
had been a teacher of Socrates. Fifteen years Nicodorus he sang.
later, B. C. 411, he was involved, as Diodorus (xiii. Kata daluova kai túžav Tá nárta Bpótolow
6) informs us, by the democratical party in a law- εκτελείται.
suit about impiety (διαβολής τυχών επ' ασεβεία), But to return to the accusation of Diagoras, in
and he thought it advisable to escape its result by consequence of which he was obliged to quit Athens.
flight. Religion seems to have been only the pre- That time was one in which scepticism was begin-
text for that accusation, for the mere fact of his ning to undermine the foundations of the ancient
being a Melian made him an object of suspicion popular belief. The trial of those who had broken
with the pecple of Athens. In B. C. 416, Vielos down the statues of Hermes, the profanation of
had been conquered and cruelly treated by the the mysteries, and the accusation of Alcibiades,
Athenians, and it is not at all impossible that Dia- are symptoms which shew that the unbelief, nour-
goras, indignant at such treatment, may have ished by the speculations of philosophers and by
taken part in the party-strife at Athens, and thus the artifices of the sophists, began to appear very
have drawn upon himself the suspicion of the de- dangerous to the conservative party at Athens.
mocratical party, for the opinion that heterodoxy There is no doubt that Diagoras paid no regard to
was persecuted at Athens, and that the priests in the established religion of the people, and he may
particular busied themselves about such matters, is occasionally have ridiculed it; but he also rentured
devoid of all foundation. (Bernhardy, Gesch. d. on direct attacks upon public institutions of the
Griech. Lit. i. p. 322. ) All the circumstances of Athenian worship, such as the Eleusinian myste-
the case lead us to the conclusion, that the accusa- ries, which he endeavoured to lower in public esti-
tion of Diagoras was altogether and essentially of mation, and he is said to have prevented many
a political nature.
persons from becoming initiated in them. These
All that we know of his writings, and especially at least are the points of which the ancients accuse
of his poems, shews no trace of irreligion, but on the him (Craterus, ap. Schol. Aristoph. l. c. ; Tarrhaeus,
contrary contains eridence of the niost profound ap. Suid. ; Lysias, c. endocid. p. 214; Joseph. c.
religious feeling. (Philodemus in the Herculanens. A pion. ii. 37; Tatian, acr. Graec. p. 164, a. ), and
ed. Drummond and Walpole, p. 164. ) Moreover, this statenient is also supported by the circum-
we do not find that out of Athens the charge of stance, that Melanthius, in his work on the mys-
doébela was taken notice of in any other part of teries, mentions the decree passed against Diagoras.
Greece. All that we know for certain on the But, notwithstanding the absence of accurate in-
point is, that Diagoras was one of those philoso- formation, we can discover political motives through
phers who, like Socrates, certainly gave offence by all these religious disputes. Diagoras was a Me
their views concerning the worship of the national lian, and consequently belonged to the Doric race;
gods; but we know what liberties the Attic he was a friend of the Doric Mantineia, which was
comedy could take in this respect with impunity. hated by Athens, and had only recently given up
There is also an anecdote that Diagoras, for want its alliance with Athens; the Dorians and Ionians
of other fire-wood, once threw a wooden statue of were opposed to each other in various points of
Heracles into the fire, in order to cook a dish of their worship, and this spark of hostility was kin-
lentils, and, if there is any truth in it, it certainly dled into a glowing hatred by the Peloponnesian
shews his liberal views respecting polytheism and war. Diagoras fied from Athens in time to escape
the rude worship of images. (Meier, 1. c. p. 445. ) | the consequences of the attacks which his enemies
In like manner he may have ridiculed the common had made upon him. He was therefore punished
notions of the people respecting the actions of the by Steliteusis, that is, he was condemned, and the
gods, and their direct and personal interference psephisma vas engraved on a column, promising a
with human affairs. This, too, is alluded to in prize for his head, and one talent to the person
.
## p. 999 (#1019) ###########################################
ILAGORAS.
999
DIAGORAS.
who should bring his dead body to Athens, and not be explained without going back to the opi-
two talents to him who should deliver him up alive | nions of his tcacher, Democritus, and the intellec-
to the Athenians. (Schol. ad Aristoph. Av. 1013, tual movement of the time. The atomistic philo-
1073; Diod. xiii. 6. ) Melanthius, in his work on sophy had substituted for a world-governing deity
the mysteries, had preserved a copy of this pse- the relation of cause and effect as the sources of all
phisma. That the enemies of the philosopher things. Democritus explained the wide-spread
acted on that occasion with great injustice and belief in gods as the result of fear of unusual and
animosity towards him, we may infer from the unaccountable phaenomena in nature; and, start-
manner in which Aristophanes, in his Birds, ing from this principle, Diagoras, at a time when
which was brought upon the stage in that year, the ancient popular belief had already been shaken,
speaks of the matter; for he describes that de especially in the minds of the young, came forward
cree as having been framed in the republic of with the decidedly sophistical doctrine, that there
the birds, and ridicules it by the ludicrous addition were no gods at all. His attacks seem to have
that a prize was offered to any one who should been mainly directed against the dogmas of Greek
kill a dead tyrant. Meier, with full justice, infers theology and mythology, as well as against the
from this passage of Aristophanes, that the poet established forms of worship. The expression of
did not approve of the proceedings of the people, the Scholiast on Aristophanes (Ran. 3:23), that
who were instigated by their leaders, had become Diagoras, like Socrates, introduced new divinities,
frightened about the preservation of the constitution, must probably be referred to the fact, that accord-
and were thus misled to various acts of violence. The ing to the fashion of the sophists, which is carica-
mere fact that Aristophanes could venture upon such tured by Aristophanes in the Clouds, he substi-
an insinuation shews that Diagoras was by no means tuted the active powers of nature for the activity
in the same bad odour with all the Athenians. of the gods ; and some isolated statements that
From Athens Diagoras first went to Pallene in have come down to us render it probable that he
Achain, which town was on the side of Lacedae- did this in a witty manner, somewhat bordering
mon from the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, upon frivolity; but there is no passage to shew
and before any other of the Achaean towns. (Thu- that his disbelief in the popular gods, and his ridi-
cyd. ii. 9. ) It was in vain that the Athenians cule of the established, rude, and materialistic be-
demanded his surrender, and in consequence of lief of the people, produced anything like an im-
this refusal, they included the inhabitants of Pal- moral conduct in the life and actions of the man.
lene in the same decree which had been passed On the contrary, all accounts attest that he dis-
against Diagoras. This is a symptom of that fearful charged the duties of life in an exemplary manner,
passion and blindness with which the Athenian that he was a moral and very estimable man, and
people, misguided as it was by demagogues, tore that he was in earnest wlien in the eulogy on
itself to pieces in those unfortunate trials about Arianthes of Argos he said : Deos, Deos apò tav-
those who had upset the Hermae. (Tachsmuth, Tòs éprou vuua opév uteptatav! We do not
1. c. i. 2, p. 192; Droysen, in his Introduct. to the feel inclined, with Meier, to doubt the statement
Birds of Aristoph. p. 240, &c. ) For all that we that he distinguished himself not only as a philo-
know of Diagoras, his expressions and opinions, sopher, but also as an orator, and that he possessed
his accusation and its alleged cause, leads us to see many friends and great influence ; for though we
in him one of the numberless persons who were find it in an author of only secondary weight
suspected, and were fortunate enough to escape (Dion Chrysost. Hom. Il' in prim. Epist. ad Co-
the consequences of the trial by flight. From rinth. Op. v. p. 30, ed. Montf. ), yet it perfectly
Pallene he went to Corinth, where, as Suidas states, agrees with the fate which Diagoras experienced
he died.
for the very reason that he was not an unimpor-
Among the works of Diagoras we have mention tant man at Athens. (Fabric. Bibl. Gracc. ii. p.
of a work entitled opúziou núgos, + in which he is 654, &c. ; Brucker, Hist. Crit. Philos. i. p. 1203;
said to have theoretically explained his atheism, Thienemann, in Fülleborn's Beiträge zur Gesch.
and to have endeavoured to establish it by argu- der Philos. xi. p. 15, &c. ; D. L. Mounier, Dispu-
This title of the work, which occurs also tatio de Diagora Melio, Roterod. 1838. ) [A. S. ]
as a title among the works of Democritus and DIA'GORAS (Alayópas), a Greek physician,
other Greek philosophers (Diog. Laërt. ix. 49, who is quoted by Pliny as one of the authors from
mentions the Wóyos púzios of Democritus, and whom the materials for his Natural History were
concerning other works of the same title, see Loderired. (Index to books xii. xiii. xx. xxi. xxxv. ,
beck, Aglaoph. p. 369, &c. ), leads us to suppose and H. N. xx. 76. ) He must have lived in or
that Diagoras treated in that work of the Phrygian before the third century B. C. , as he is mentioned
divinities, who were received in Greece, and en- by Erasistratus (apud Dioscor. De Mat. Med. iv.
deavoured to explain the mythuses which referred 65, p. 557), and may perhaps be the native of
to them ; it is probable also that he drew the dif- Cyprus quoted by Erotianus. (Gloss. Hippocr. p.
ferent mysteries within the circle of his investiga- 306. ) One of his medical formulae is preserved
tions, and it may be that his accusers at Athens by Aetius (tetrab. ii. serm. 3, c. 108, p. 353), and
referred to this work. The relation of Diagoras to he may perhaps be the physician mentioned by an
the popular religion and theology of his age can- anonymous Arabic writer in Casiri. (Biblioth. Ara-
bico-llisp. Esc. vol. i. p. 237. ) Some persons have
This statement is founded upon a conjecture identified bim with the celebrated philosopher, the
of Meier, who proposes to read in the scholion on slave of Democritus; but there is no evidence that
Aristoph. Av. 1. c. xal tous MH'ékoidóvtas nen- they were the same person, nor is the philosopher
ληνείς.
(as far as the writer is aware) anywhere said to
+ Suidas calls it τους αποπυργίζοντας λόγους, have been a physician.
[W. A. G. ]
an explanation of which has been attempted by DIA'GORAS (Alqyópas), the son of Damagetus,
Meier,
of the family of the Eratidae at Ialysus in Rhodes,
ments.
P. 415.
## p. 1000 (#1020) ##########################################
1000
DIANA.
DIBUTADES.
was very cclebrated for his own victories, and know that the Aventine was first occupied by the
those of liis sons and grandsons, in the Grecian conquered Sabines who were transplanted to Rome
games. He was descended from Damagetus, king (Serv. aul Aon. vii. 657; Dionys. iii. 43), and as it is
of Ialysus, and, on the mother's side, from the stated that shortly before the decemviral legislation
Messenian hero, Aristomenes. [DAMAGETUS. ) | the Aventine was assigned in the plebeians, and
The family of the Eraridae ceased to reign in that the law ordaining this assignment was kept
Rhodes after 1.
Porphyr. p. 21. ) He was regarded by his con- p. 101. ) There are two other mythical personages
temporaries and later writers as a man of most of this name. (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. i. 144 ; Tzetz.
extensive learning; and we learn from the inscription ad Lycoph. 480. ) Dia is also used as a surname
just referred to, that he was honoured at Athens of Hebe or Ganymede, who had temples under
with the highest offices that existed in his native this name at Phlius and Sicyon. (Strab. viii. p.
city. In A. D. 262, when the Goths penetrated 382 ; Paus. ii. 13. $ 3. )
(L. S. ]
into Greece and ravaged several towns, Dexippus DIADEMA'TUS, a surname of L. Caecilius
proved that he was no less great as a general and Metellus, consul in B. c. 117.
a man of business than as a scholar, for, after the DIADUMENIANUS or DIADUMEXUS,
capture of Athens, he gathered around him a M. OPEʻLIUS, the son of M. Opelius Macrinus
number of bold and courageous Athenians, and and Nonia Celsa, was born on the 19th of Septem-
took up a strong position on the neighbouring hills. ber, A. D. 208. When his father was elevated to
Though the city itself was taken by the barbarians. the purple, after the murder of Caracalla on the
and Dexippus with his band was cut off from it, 8th of March, A. D. 217, Diadumenianus received
he made an unexpected descent upon Peiraeeus the titles of Cuesar, Princeps Juventutis, Antoninus,
and took vengeance upon the enemy: (Dexipp. and eventually of Imperutor and Augustus also.
Exc. de Bell. Scyth. p. 26, &c. ; Trebell. Poll
. Upon the victory of Elagabalus, he was sent to the
Gullicn. 13. )
charge of Artabanus, the Parthian king, but was
We are not informed whether Dexippus wrote betrayed and put to death about the same time
any rhetorical works; he is known to us only as an with Macrinus.
historical author. Photius (Bibl. Cod. 82) has This child is celebrated on account of his sur-
preserved some account of three historical works passing beauty by Lampridius, who declares, that
of Dexippus. 1. Τα μετά 'Αλέξανδρον, in four
books. It was a history of Macedonia from the
time of Alexander, and by way of introduction
the author prefixed a sketch of the preceding his-
tors, from the time of Caranus to Alexander.
(Coinp. Euseb. Chron. 1. ) 2. Súvtomor IoTopikov,
or as Eunapius (p. 58) calls it, Xpovinti lotopia,
was a chronological history from the mythical ages
down to the accession of Claudius Gothicus, A. D.
208. It consisted probably of twelve books, the
>
10
COIN OF DIADUMENIANUS,
## p. 997 (#1017) ###########################################
DIAEUS.
997
DIAGORAS.
a
he shone resplendent like a heavenly star, and was rinth, and Metellus, the Roman general, advan-
Leloved by all who looked upon him on account of cing thither, sent forward anbassadors to offer
liis surpassing grace and comeliness. From his terms, but Diaeus threw them into prison (though
maternal grandfather he inherited the name of he afterwards released them for the bribe of a
Diadumenus, which upon his quasi-adoption into talent), and caused Sosiemtes, the lieutenant-
the family of the Antonines was changed into general, as well as Philinus of Corinth, to be put
Diadumenianus. (Dion Cass. Ixxviii. 4, 17, 19, to death with torture for having joined in recom-
31, 38-40; Ilerodinn. v. 9; Lamprid. Diadumeu. ; mending negotiation with the enemy. Being de-
Capitolin. Vucrin. 10. )
[W. R. ) feated by Mummius before the walls of Corinth,
DIAETHUS (Alaidos), the author of commen- in B. C. 146, he made no further attempt to defend
taries on the Ilonneric poeins, which seem to have the city, but fled to Megalopolis, where he slew
been cinefly of an historical nature, and are refer- his wife to prevent her falling into the enemy's
red to in the Venetian scholia on the Iliad (iii. power, and put an end to his own existence by
175).
(L. S. ) poison, thus (says Pausanias) rivalling Menalcidas
DIAEUS (Alaios), a man of Megalopolis, suc- in the cowardice of his death, as he had rivalled
ceeded Menalcidas of Lacedaemon as general of him through his life in avarice. [MENALCIDAS. ]
the Achacan league in B. c. 150. Menalcidas, | (Polyb. xxxviii. 2, xl. 2, 4, 5, 9 ; Paus. vii. 12, &c. ;
having been assailed by Callicrates with a capital Clinton, F. II. sub annis 149, 147, 146. ) [E. E. ]
charge, saved himself through the favour of Diacus, DIA'GORAS(Alagópas), the son of Telecleides
whoin he bribed with three talents [CALLICRATES, or Teleclytus, was born in the island of Melos
No. 4, p. 569, b. ); and the latter, being much (Milo), one of the Cyclades. He was a poet and
and generally condemned for this, endeavoured to a philosopher, who throughout antiquity was re-
divert public attention from his own conduct to a garded as an atheist (ädeos). With the exception
quarrel with Lacedaemon. The Lacedaemonians of this one point, we possess only very scanty in-
had appealed to the Roman senate about the pos- formation concerning his life and literary activity.
session of some disputed land, and had received for All that is known is carefully collected by M. H.
answer that the decision of all causes, except those E. Meier (in Ersch. u. Grubers Allgem. Encyclop.
of life and death, rested with the great council of xxiv. pp. 439—418).
the Achacans. This answer Diaeus so far garbled The age of this remarkable man can be deter-
as to omit the exception. The Lacedaemonians mined only in a general way by the fact of his being
accused him of falsehood, and the dispute led to called a disciple of Democritus of Abdera, who
war, wherein the Lacedaemonians found themselves taught about B. C. 436. But the circumstance
no match for the Aclucans, and resorted accord that, besides Bacchylides (about B. C. 435), Pindar
ingly to negotiation. Diaeus, affirming that his also is called his contemporary, is a manifest
hostility was not directed against Sparta, but anachronism, as has been already observed by
against her disturbers, procured the banishment of Brandis. (Gesch. d. Griech. Röm. Philos. i. p. 341. )
24 of her principal citizens. These men fled for Nearly all the ancient authorities agree that Melos
refuge and protection to Rome, and thither Dineus was his native place, and Tatian, a late Christian
went to oppose them, together with Callicrates, writer, who calls him an Athenian, does so pro-
who died by the way. The cause of the exiles bably for no other reason but because Athens was the
was supported by Menalcides, who assured the principal scene of the activity of Diagoras. (Tatian,
Spartans, on his return, that the Romans had de- Orat. adr. Graec. p. 164, a. ) Lobeck (Aglaoph.
clared in favour of their independence, while an p. 370) is the only one among modern critics who
equally positive assurance to the opposite effect maintains that the native country of Diagoras is
was given by Diaeus to the Achaeans,—the truth uncertain. According to a tradition in Hesychius
being that the senate had passed no final decision Milesius and Suidas, Democritus the philosopher
at all, but had promised to send commissioners to ransomed him for a very large sum from the
settle the dispute. War was renewed between captivity into which he had fallen in the cruel
the parties, B. C. 148, in spite of the prohibition of subjugation of Melos under Alcibiades (B. C. 411),
the Romans, to which, however, Diaeus, who was and this account at all events serves to attest
again general in B. c. 147, paid more obedience, the close personal relation of these two kindred-
though he endeavoured to bring over the towns minded men, although the details respecting the
round Sparta by negotiation. When the decree of ransom, for instance, may be incorrect. The
the Romans arrived, which severed Sparta and same authorities further state, that in his youth
several other states from the Achaean league, Diagoras had acquired some reputation as a lyric
Diaeus took a leading part in keeping up the in- poet, and this is probably the cause of his being
dignation of the Achaeans, and in urging them to mentioned together with the lyric poets Simonides,
the acts of violence which caused war with Rome. Pindar, and Bacchylides. Thus he is said to have
In the autumn of 147 he was succeeded by Crito- composed άσματα, μέλη, παιάνες, εγκώμια, and
laus, but the death of the latter before the expira- dithyrambs. Among his encomia is mentioned in
tion of his year of office once more placed Diaeus particular an eulogy on Arianthes of Argos, who
at the post of danger, according to the law of the is otherwise unknown,* another on Nicodorus, a
Achaeans, which provided in such cases that the statesman of Mantineia, and a third upon the
predecessor of the deceased should resume his Mantineians. Diagoras is said to have lived in
authority. The number of his army he swelled intimate friendship with Nicodorus, who was cele-
with emancipated slaves, and enforced strictly,
though not impartially, the lery of the citizens ; * The change in the constitution of Mantineia
but he acted unwisely in dividing his forces by by the ouvolki Mós took place with the assistance
sending a portion of them 10 garrison Negara of Argos (Wachsmuth, Hellen. Alterth. i. 2, p. 89,
and to check there the advance of the Romans. i. 1, p. 180), and Arianthes of Argos was probably
He himself had taken up his quarters in Co- a person of some political importance.
## p. 998 (#1018) ###########################################
998
DIAGORAS.
DIAGORAS.
brated as a statesman and lawgirer in his native several very characteristic anecdotes. For example,
place, and lived, according to Perizonius (ad Aelian. on his flight from Athena hoy sea to Pallene he was
V. I. ij. 23), at the time of Artaxerxes Mnemon. overtaken by a storm, and on hearing liis fellow-
The foolish Aclian, who has preserved this state- passengers say, that this storm was sent them by
ment, declines any further discussion of this rela- the gods as a punishment, because they had an
tion, although he knew more about it, under the atheist on board, Diagoras shewed them other
pretext that he thought it objectionable to say any- vessels at some distance which were struggling
thing in praise of a man who was so hostile to the with the same storm without having a Diagoras on
gods (sevis exopov Alazópav). But still he in board. (Cic. de Nat. Deur. iii. 37. ) This and
forms us, that Diagoras assisted Nicodorus in his similar anecdotes (Diog. Laërt. vi. 59) accurately
legislation, which he himself praises as very wise describe the relation in which our philosopher
and good. Wachsmuth (Hellen. Alterth. i. 2, p. 90) stood to the popular religion. That he maintained
places this political activity of the two friends his own position with great firmness, and perhaps
about the beginning of the Peloponnesian war.
with more freedon, wit, and boldness than was
We find Diagoras at Athens as early as B. C. advisable, seems to be attested by the fact, that he
424, for Aristophanes in the Clouds (830), which in particular obtained the epithet of ădeos in an-
were performed in that year, alludes to him as a tiquity. Many modern writers maintain that this
well-known character ; and when Socrates, as epithet ought not to be given to liim, because he
though it were a mistake, is there called a Melian, merely denied the direct interference of God with
the poet does so in order to remind his hearers at the world; but though atheists, in the proper
once of Diagoras and of his attacks upon the popu- sense of the word, have never existed, and in that
Har religion. In like manner Hippon is called a sense Diagoras was certainly not an atheist, yet
Melian, merely because he was a follower of Dia as he did not believe in the personal existence of
goras. It can scarcely be doubted that Diagoras the Athenian gods and their human mode of acting,
was acquainted with Socrates, a connexion which the Athenians could hardly have regarded him as
is described in the scholia on Aristophanes as if he other than an atheist. In the eulogy on his friend
had been a teacher of Socrates. Fifteen years Nicodorus he sang.
later, B. C. 411, he was involved, as Diodorus (xiii. Kata daluova kai túžav Tá nárta Bpótolow
6) informs us, by the democratical party in a law- εκτελείται.
suit about impiety (διαβολής τυχών επ' ασεβεία), But to return to the accusation of Diagoras, in
and he thought it advisable to escape its result by consequence of which he was obliged to quit Athens.
flight. Religion seems to have been only the pre- That time was one in which scepticism was begin-
text for that accusation, for the mere fact of his ning to undermine the foundations of the ancient
being a Melian made him an object of suspicion popular belief. The trial of those who had broken
with the pecple of Athens. In B. C. 416, Vielos down the statues of Hermes, the profanation of
had been conquered and cruelly treated by the the mysteries, and the accusation of Alcibiades,
Athenians, and it is not at all impossible that Dia- are symptoms which shew that the unbelief, nour-
goras, indignant at such treatment, may have ished by the speculations of philosophers and by
taken part in the party-strife at Athens, and thus the artifices of the sophists, began to appear very
have drawn upon himself the suspicion of the de- dangerous to the conservative party at Athens.
mocratical party, for the opinion that heterodoxy There is no doubt that Diagoras paid no regard to
was persecuted at Athens, and that the priests in the established religion of the people, and he may
particular busied themselves about such matters, is occasionally have ridiculed it; but he also rentured
devoid of all foundation. (Bernhardy, Gesch. d. on direct attacks upon public institutions of the
Griech. Lit. i. p. 322. ) All the circumstances of Athenian worship, such as the Eleusinian myste-
the case lead us to the conclusion, that the accusa- ries, which he endeavoured to lower in public esti-
tion of Diagoras was altogether and essentially of mation, and he is said to have prevented many
a political nature.
persons from becoming initiated in them. These
All that we know of his writings, and especially at least are the points of which the ancients accuse
of his poems, shews no trace of irreligion, but on the him (Craterus, ap. Schol. Aristoph. l. c. ; Tarrhaeus,
contrary contains eridence of the niost profound ap. Suid. ; Lysias, c. endocid. p. 214; Joseph. c.
religious feeling. (Philodemus in the Herculanens. A pion. ii. 37; Tatian, acr. Graec. p. 164, a. ), and
ed. Drummond and Walpole, p. 164. ) Moreover, this statenient is also supported by the circum-
we do not find that out of Athens the charge of stance, that Melanthius, in his work on the mys-
doébela was taken notice of in any other part of teries, mentions the decree passed against Diagoras.
Greece. All that we know for certain on the But, notwithstanding the absence of accurate in-
point is, that Diagoras was one of those philoso- formation, we can discover political motives through
phers who, like Socrates, certainly gave offence by all these religious disputes. Diagoras was a Me
their views concerning the worship of the national lian, and consequently belonged to the Doric race;
gods; but we know what liberties the Attic he was a friend of the Doric Mantineia, which was
comedy could take in this respect with impunity. hated by Athens, and had only recently given up
There is also an anecdote that Diagoras, for want its alliance with Athens; the Dorians and Ionians
of other fire-wood, once threw a wooden statue of were opposed to each other in various points of
Heracles into the fire, in order to cook a dish of their worship, and this spark of hostility was kin-
lentils, and, if there is any truth in it, it certainly dled into a glowing hatred by the Peloponnesian
shews his liberal views respecting polytheism and war. Diagoras fied from Athens in time to escape
the rude worship of images. (Meier, 1. c. p. 445. ) | the consequences of the attacks which his enemies
In like manner he may have ridiculed the common had made upon him. He was therefore punished
notions of the people respecting the actions of the by Steliteusis, that is, he was condemned, and the
gods, and their direct and personal interference psephisma vas engraved on a column, promising a
with human affairs. This, too, is alluded to in prize for his head, and one talent to the person
.
## p. 999 (#1019) ###########################################
ILAGORAS.
999
DIAGORAS.
who should bring his dead body to Athens, and not be explained without going back to the opi-
two talents to him who should deliver him up alive | nions of his tcacher, Democritus, and the intellec-
to the Athenians. (Schol. ad Aristoph. Av. 1013, tual movement of the time. The atomistic philo-
1073; Diod. xiii. 6. ) Melanthius, in his work on sophy had substituted for a world-governing deity
the mysteries, had preserved a copy of this pse- the relation of cause and effect as the sources of all
phisma. That the enemies of the philosopher things. Democritus explained the wide-spread
acted on that occasion with great injustice and belief in gods as the result of fear of unusual and
animosity towards him, we may infer from the unaccountable phaenomena in nature; and, start-
manner in which Aristophanes, in his Birds, ing from this principle, Diagoras, at a time when
which was brought upon the stage in that year, the ancient popular belief had already been shaken,
speaks of the matter; for he describes that de especially in the minds of the young, came forward
cree as having been framed in the republic of with the decidedly sophistical doctrine, that there
the birds, and ridicules it by the ludicrous addition were no gods at all. His attacks seem to have
that a prize was offered to any one who should been mainly directed against the dogmas of Greek
kill a dead tyrant. Meier, with full justice, infers theology and mythology, as well as against the
from this passage of Aristophanes, that the poet established forms of worship. The expression of
did not approve of the proceedings of the people, the Scholiast on Aristophanes (Ran. 3:23), that
who were instigated by their leaders, had become Diagoras, like Socrates, introduced new divinities,
frightened about the preservation of the constitution, must probably be referred to the fact, that accord-
and were thus misled to various acts of violence. The ing to the fashion of the sophists, which is carica-
mere fact that Aristophanes could venture upon such tured by Aristophanes in the Clouds, he substi-
an insinuation shews that Diagoras was by no means tuted the active powers of nature for the activity
in the same bad odour with all the Athenians. of the gods ; and some isolated statements that
From Athens Diagoras first went to Pallene in have come down to us render it probable that he
Achain, which town was on the side of Lacedae- did this in a witty manner, somewhat bordering
mon from the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, upon frivolity; but there is no passage to shew
and before any other of the Achaean towns. (Thu- that his disbelief in the popular gods, and his ridi-
cyd. ii. 9. ) It was in vain that the Athenians cule of the established, rude, and materialistic be-
demanded his surrender, and in consequence of lief of the people, produced anything like an im-
this refusal, they included the inhabitants of Pal- moral conduct in the life and actions of the man.
lene in the same decree which had been passed On the contrary, all accounts attest that he dis-
against Diagoras. This is a symptom of that fearful charged the duties of life in an exemplary manner,
passion and blindness with which the Athenian that he was a moral and very estimable man, and
people, misguided as it was by demagogues, tore that he was in earnest wlien in the eulogy on
itself to pieces in those unfortunate trials about Arianthes of Argos he said : Deos, Deos apò tav-
those who had upset the Hermae. (Tachsmuth, Tòs éprou vuua opév uteptatav! We do not
1. c. i. 2, p. 192; Droysen, in his Introduct. to the feel inclined, with Meier, to doubt the statement
Birds of Aristoph. p. 240, &c. ) For all that we that he distinguished himself not only as a philo-
know of Diagoras, his expressions and opinions, sopher, but also as an orator, and that he possessed
his accusation and its alleged cause, leads us to see many friends and great influence ; for though we
in him one of the numberless persons who were find it in an author of only secondary weight
suspected, and were fortunate enough to escape (Dion Chrysost. Hom. Il' in prim. Epist. ad Co-
the consequences of the trial by flight. From rinth. Op. v. p. 30, ed. Montf. ), yet it perfectly
Pallene he went to Corinth, where, as Suidas states, agrees with the fate which Diagoras experienced
he died.
for the very reason that he was not an unimpor-
Among the works of Diagoras we have mention tant man at Athens. (Fabric. Bibl. Gracc. ii. p.
of a work entitled opúziou núgos, + in which he is 654, &c. ; Brucker, Hist. Crit. Philos. i. p. 1203;
said to have theoretically explained his atheism, Thienemann, in Fülleborn's Beiträge zur Gesch.
and to have endeavoured to establish it by argu- der Philos. xi. p. 15, &c. ; D. L. Mounier, Dispu-
This title of the work, which occurs also tatio de Diagora Melio, Roterod. 1838. ) [A. S. ]
as a title among the works of Democritus and DIA'GORAS (Alayópas), a Greek physician,
other Greek philosophers (Diog. Laërt. ix. 49, who is quoted by Pliny as one of the authors from
mentions the Wóyos púzios of Democritus, and whom the materials for his Natural History were
concerning other works of the same title, see Loderired. (Index to books xii. xiii. xx. xxi. xxxv. ,
beck, Aglaoph. p. 369, &c. ), leads us to suppose and H. N. xx. 76. ) He must have lived in or
that Diagoras treated in that work of the Phrygian before the third century B. C. , as he is mentioned
divinities, who were received in Greece, and en- by Erasistratus (apud Dioscor. De Mat. Med. iv.
deavoured to explain the mythuses which referred 65, p. 557), and may perhaps be the native of
to them ; it is probable also that he drew the dif- Cyprus quoted by Erotianus. (Gloss. Hippocr. p.
ferent mysteries within the circle of his investiga- 306. ) One of his medical formulae is preserved
tions, and it may be that his accusers at Athens by Aetius (tetrab. ii. serm. 3, c. 108, p. 353), and
referred to this work. The relation of Diagoras to he may perhaps be the physician mentioned by an
the popular religion and theology of his age can- anonymous Arabic writer in Casiri. (Biblioth. Ara-
bico-llisp. Esc. vol. i. p. 237. ) Some persons have
This statement is founded upon a conjecture identified bim with the celebrated philosopher, the
of Meier, who proposes to read in the scholion on slave of Democritus; but there is no evidence that
Aristoph. Av. 1. c. xal tous MH'ékoidóvtas nen- they were the same person, nor is the philosopher
ληνείς.
(as far as the writer is aware) anywhere said to
+ Suidas calls it τους αποπυργίζοντας λόγους, have been a physician.
[W. A. G. ]
an explanation of which has been attempted by DIA'GORAS (Alqyópas), the son of Damagetus,
Meier,
of the family of the Eratidae at Ialysus in Rhodes,
ments.
P. 415.
## p. 1000 (#1020) ##########################################
1000
DIANA.
DIBUTADES.
was very cclebrated for his own victories, and know that the Aventine was first occupied by the
those of liis sons and grandsons, in the Grecian conquered Sabines who were transplanted to Rome
games. He was descended from Damagetus, king (Serv. aul Aon. vii. 657; Dionys. iii. 43), and as it is
of Ialysus, and, on the mother's side, from the stated that shortly before the decemviral legislation
Messenian hero, Aristomenes. [DAMAGETUS. ) | the Aventine was assigned in the plebeians, and
The family of the Eraridae ceased to reign in that the law ordaining this assignment was kept
Rhodes after 1.
