Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/1054

Rh 1036 DIONYSIUS. contemptible as it is represented b}' later writers ; but only the titles of some of his dramas and a few detached lines are preserved to us. He is especially blamed for the use of far-fetched and unusual ex- pressions. (Diod. xiv. 109 ; xv. 74 ; Tzetz. C7«7. V. 178 — 185; Cic. Tusc. v. 22; Lucian, adv. In- doctum. ^ 13 ; Holladius, ap. Pliotium. p. 532, b. ed. Bekk.) Some fragments of his tragedies will be found in Stobaeus {FlorUeg. 38, 2 ; 38, 6 ; 49, 9 ; 98, 30 ; ] 05, 2 ; 125, 8 ; Eclogue, i. 4, 19) and in Athenaeus. (ix. p. 401, f.) In accordance with the same spirit we find him seeking the society of men distinguished in litera- ture and philosophy, entertaining the poet Philoxe- ims at his table, patronizing the Pythagorean philosophers, who were at this time numerous in Italy and Sicily, and inviting Plato to Syracuse. He however soon after sent the latter away from Sicily in disgrace ; and though the story of his having caused him to be sold as a slave, as well as that of his having sent Philoxenus to the stone quarries for ridiculing his bad verses, are probably gross exaggerations, they may well have been so far founded in fact, that his intercourse with these persons was interrupted by some sudden burst of capricious violence. (Diod. xv. 6, 7; Plut. Dion, 5; Lucian, a</». Indod. § 15; Tzetz. ChU. v. 152, &c; but compare Athen. i. p. 6, f.) He is also said to have avenged himself upon Plato in a more legitimate manner by writing a play against him. (Tzetz. ChU. v. 182—185.) The history of Dionysius was written by his friend and contemporary Philistus, as well as by Ephorus and Timaeus ; but none of these authors ure now extant. Diodorus is our chief, indeed almost our sole, authority for the events of his reign. An excellent review of his government and chjiracter is given in Arnold's History of Rome. (Vol. i. c. 21.) Mitford's elaborate account of his reign is rather an apology than a historj', and is very inaccurate as well as partid. [K. H. B.] DION Y'SIUS (Atoi'uo-joj) the Younger, tyrant of Syracuse, son of the preceding, succeeded his father in the possession of supreme power at Syra- cuse, B. c. 367. Something like the fonn of a po- pular election, or at least the confirmation of his power by the people, appears to have been thought necessary ; but it could have been merely nominal, as the amount of his mercenary force and the forti- fications of the citadel secured him the virtual so- vereignty. (Diod. XV. 74.) Dionysius was at this time under thirty years of age : he had been brought up at his father's court in idleness and luxurj', and studiously precluded from taking any part in public affairs. (Plut. Dion, 9.) The con- sequences of this education were quickly manifested as soon as he ascended the throne : the ascendanc}'^ which Dion, and through his means Plato, obtained for a time over his mind was undermined by flat- terers and the companions of his pleasures, who persuaded him to give himself up to the most un- bounded dissipation. Of the public events of his reign, which lasted between eleven and twelve years (Diod. xv. 73 ; Clinton, F. H. ii. p. 268), we have very little information : he seems to have succeeded to his father's influence in the south of Italy as well as to his dominion in Sicily, and to have followed up his views in regard to the Adria- tic, for which end he founded two cities in Apulia. We also find him sending a third auxiliary force to the assistiuice of the Lacedaemouians. (Xen. DIONYSIUS. Hell. vii. 4. § 12.) But his character was peaceful and indolent ; he hastened to conclude by a treaty the war with the Carthaginians, in which he found himself engaged on his accession ; and the only other war that he undertook was one against the Lucanians, probably in defence of his Italian allies, which he also quickly brought to a close. (Diod. xvi. 5.) Philistus, the historian, who, after having been one of his father's chief supporters, had been subsequently banished by him, enjoyed the highest place in the confidence of the younger Dionysius, and appears to have been charged with the conduct of all his military enterprises. Notwith- standing his advanced age, he is represented as rather encouraging than repressing the excesses of Dionysius, and joining with the party who sought to overthrow the power of Dion, and ultimately succeeded in driving him into exile. The banish- ment of Dion contributed to render Dionysius un- popular among the Syracusans, who began also to despise him for his indolent and dissolute life, as well as for his habitual drunkenness. Yet his court seems to have been at this time a great place of resort for philosophers and men of letters : be- sides Plato, whom he induced by the most urgent entreaties to pay him a second visit, Aristippus of Cyrene, Eudoxus of Cnidus, Speusippus, and others, are stated to have spent some time with him at Syracuse ; and he cultivated a friendly in- tercourse with Archytas and the Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia. (Plut. Dion, 18-20; Diog. Laert. iii. 21, 23 ; Aelian, V. H. iv. 18, vii. 17; Pseud.- Plat. Epist. 6.) Much doubt indeed attaches to all the stories related by Plut<irch and other late writers concerning the intercourse of Plato with Dionysius, but they can hardly have been altoge- ther destitute of foundation. Dionysius was absent from Syracuse at the time that Dion landed in Sicily : the news of that event and of the sudden defection of the Syracusans reached him at Caulonia, and he instantly returned to Syracuse, where the citadel still held out for him. But his attempts at negotiation having prov- ed abortive, the sallies of his troops having been re- pulsed, and the fleet which Philistus had brought to his succour having been defeated, he despaired of success, and sailed away to Italy with his most valuable property, leaving the citadel of Syracuse in charge of his son, Apollocrates, B. c. 356. (Diod. xvi. 11—13, 16, 17; Plut. Dion, 26—37.) Dionysius now repaired to Locri, the native city of his mother, Doris, where he was received in the most friendly manner by the inhabitants — a confi- dence of which he availed himself to occupy the citadel with an armed force, and thus to establish himself as tyrant of the city. This position he continued to hold for several years, during which period he is said to have treated the inhabitants with the utmost cruelt}% at the same time that he indulged in the most extravagant licentiousness. (Justin, xxi. 2, 3 ; Clearch. ap. Athen. xii. p. 541 ; Strab. vi. p. 259; Aristot. Pol. v. 7.) Meanwhile the revolutions which had taken place at Syracuse seem to have prepared the way for his return. The history of these is very imperfectly known to us : but, after the death of Dion, one tyrant fol- lowed another with great rapidity. Callippus, the murderer of Dion, was in his turn driven from the city by Hipparinus (son of the elder Dionysius by Aristomache, and therefore nephew of Dion), who reigned but two years : another of Dion's nephews,