Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/1028

Rh 1010 DIOCLES. Diocleides was put to death. (Andoc. de Myst. pp. 6—9 ; Thuc. . 60 ; Phryn. ap. Plut. Ale. 20 ; Diod. xiii. 2.) [E. E.] DIOCLEIDES (AjokXciStjs), of Abdera, is mentioned in Athenaeus (for this seems to be the meaning of the passage) as having admirably de- scribed the famous engine called "RXitroKis (the City-taker), which was made by Epimachus the Athenian for Demetrius Poliorcetes at the siege of Rhodes. (Ath. v. p. 206, d. ; Diod. xx. 91; Wesseling, ad loc. ; Plut. Demetr. 21 ; Vitruv. x. 22.) [E. E.] DI'OCLES (AiofcA7}s),the son of Orsilochus and father of Crethon and Orsilochus, was a king of Phere. (Horn. //. v. 540, &c., Od. iii. 488; Paus. iii. 30. § 2.) ^ [L. S.] DI'OCLES (AiokA^s), a Syracusan, celebrated for his code of laws. No mention of his name oc- curs in Thucydides, but according to Diodorus he was the proposer of the decree for putting to death the Athenian generals Demosthenes and Nicias. (Diod. xiii. 19.) He is called by Diodonis upon this occasion the most eminent of the demagogues at Syracuse, and appears to have been at this time the leader of the popular or democratic party, in opposition to Hermocrates. The next year (b. c. 412), if the chronolog}' of Diodorus be correct, a democratic revolution took place, and Diocles was appointed with several others to frame and establish a new code of laws. In this he took so prominent a part, that he threw his colleagues quite into the shade, and the code was ever after known as that of Diocles. We know nothing of its details, but it is praised by Diodorus for its conciseness of style, and the care with which it distinguished different offences and assigned to each its peculiar penalty. The best proof of its merit is, that it continued to be followed as a civil code not only at Syracuse, but in many others of the Sicilian cities, until the island was subjected to the Roman law. (Diod. xiii. 35.) The banishment of Hermocrates and his party (b. c. 410 ; see Xen. Hell. i. 1. $ 27) must have left Diocles undisputed leader of the commonwealth. The next year he commanded the forces sent by Syracuse and the other cities of Sicily to the relief of Himera, besieged by Hannibal, the son of Cisco. He was, however, unable to avert its fate, and withdrew from the city, carrying off as many as possible of the inhabitants, but in such haste that he did not stay to bury those of his troops who had fallen in battle. (Diod. xiii. 59— 61.) This circumstance probably gave rise to discontent at Syracuse, which was increased when Hermocrates, having returned to Sicily and obtained some suc- cesses against the Carthaginians, sent back the bones of those who had perished at Himera with the highest honours. The revulsion of feeling thus excited led to the banishment of Diocles, B. c. 408. (Diod. xiii. 63, 75.) It does not appear whether he was afterwards recalled, and we are at a loss to connect with the subsequent revolutions of Syra- cuse the strange story told by Diodorus, that he stabbed himself with his own sword, to shew his respect for one of his laws, which he had thought- lessly infringed by coming armed into the place of assembly. (Diod. xiii. 33.) A story almost precisely similar is, however, told by the same author (xii. 19) of Charondas [Charondas], which renders it at least very doubtful as regard- ing Diocles. Yet it is probable that he must have DIOCLES. died about this time, as we find no mention of his name in the civil dissensions which led to the elevation of Dionysius. (Hubmann, Dtokles Gesetz- geber der Syrakusier, Amberg, 1842.) [E. H. B.] DI'OCLES {AlokKtjs). 1. A brave Athenian, who lived in exile at Megara. Once in a battle he pro- tected with his shield a youth whom he loved, but he lost his own life in consequence. The Mega- rians rewarded the gallant man with the honours of a hero, and instituted the festival of the Dio- cleia, which they celebrated in the spring of every year. (Theocrit. xii. 27, &c. ; Aristoph. Acham. 774; Plut. Thes. 10; Did. of Ant s.v. Ai6Keia.) 2. The name of three wealthy Sicilians who were robbed by Verres and his satellites. (Cic. in Voir. iii. 56, 40, V. 7, iv. 16.) [L. S.] DI'OCLES {AioKi)s literary. 1. Of Athen& See below. 2. Of Cnidus, a Platonic philosopher, who is mentioned as the author of AiaTpi€al, from which a fragment is quoted in Eusebius. {Praep. Evang. xiv. p. 731.) 3. A Greek grammarian, who wrote upon the Homeric poems, and is mentioned in the Venetian Scholia (««?//. xiii. 103) along with Dionysius Th rax, Aristarchus, and Chaeris on the subject of Greek accents. A dream of his is related by Artemi- dorus. {Omir. iv. 72.) 4. Of Magnesia, was the author of a work entitled fTridpofiri tSu <pLo(r6<pwu, and of a second on the lives of philosophers (Trepl jsluv (pioa6(potv)^ of both of which Diogenes Laertius appears to have made great use. (ii. 82, vi. 12, 13, 20, 3(», 87, 91, 99, 103, vii. 48, 162, 166, 179, 181, ix. 61, 65, X. 12.) 5. Of Peparethus, the earliest Greek historian, who wrote about the foundation of Rome, and whom Q. Fabius Pictor is said to have followed in a great many points. (Plut. Horn. 3, 8 ; Fest. s. v. Romam.) How long he lived before the time of Fabius Pictor, is unknown. Whether he is the same as the author of a work on heroes {irfpl "flpwtiiv (TvvTayfia), which is mentioned by Plutarch {Quacst. Grace. 40), and of a history of Persia (ncpo-zKo), which is quoted hy 3 ose^m%{ Ant. J itd. X. 1 1 . § 1 ), is likewise uncertain, and it may be that the last two works belong to Diocles of Rhodes, whose work on Aetolia (A<TwAt/co) is referred to by Plutarch. {De Flum. 22.) 6. Of Sybaris, a Pythagorean philosopher (Iamb. Vit. Pyth. 36), who must be distinguished from another Pythagorean, Diocles of Phlius, who is mentioned by lamblichus {Vit. Pythag. 35) as one of the most zealous followers of Pythagoras. The latter Diocles was still alive in the time of Aristoxenus (Diog. Laert. viii. 46), but further particulars are not known about him. [L. S.] DI'OCLES {AioKijs), of Athens, or, according to others, of Phlius, and perhaps in fact a Phliasian by birth and an Athenian by citizenship, was a comic poet of the old comedy, contemporary with Sannyrion and Philyllius. (Suid. s. v.) The fol- lowing plays of his are mentioned by Suidas and Eudocia (p. 132), and are frequently quoted by the grammarians : Ba/cxot, ©cIAotto, Ku/cA wires (by others ascribed to Callias), MeAtxTOt. The @vi(nt}S and "OviipoL, which are only mentioned by Suidas and Eudocia, are suspicious titles. He seems to have been an elegant poet. (Meineke, Frag. Com, Graec. i. pp. 251-253, n. pp. 838-841.) [P.S.] DI'OCLES {AioKr}s), a geometer of unknown