Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/1110

Rh 1092 DURIS. treaties of his brother, Divitiacus, his life was spared, though Caesar had him closely watched. This occurred in b. c. 58. When Caesar was on the point of setting out on his second expedition into Britain, in b. c. 54, he suspected Dumnorix too much to leave him behind in Gaul, and he in- sisted therefore on his accompanying him. Dum- norix, upon this, fled from the Roman camp with the Aeduan cavalry, but was overtaken and slain. (Caes. B. G. i. 3, 9, 16—20, v. 6, 7 ; Plut. Goes. 18 ; Dion Cass, xxxviii. 31, 32.) [E. E.] DURIS (AoiJpts), of Samos, a descendant of Alcibiades (Plut. Alcih. 32), and brother of Lyn- ceus, lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The early part of his life fell in the period when the Athenians sent 2000 cleruchi to Samos, by whom the inhabitants of the island were expelled, B. c. 352. During the absence from his native country, Duris, when yet a boy, gained a victory at Olympia in boxing, for which a statue was erected to him there with an inscription. (Pans. vi. 1 3. § 3.) The year of that victory is unknown, but it took place previous to the return of the Samians to their island, in b. c. 324. He must have been staying for some time at Athens, as he and his brother Lynceus are mentioned among the pupils of Theophrastus. (Athen. iv. p. 128.) After his return to Samos, he obtained the tyranny, though it is unknown by what means and how long he maintained himself in that position. He must, however, have survived the year b. c. 281, as in one of his works (ap. Plin. H. N. viii. 40) he mentioned an occurrence which belongs to that year. Duris was the author of a considerable number of works, most of which were of an historical nature, but none of them has come down to us, and all we possess of his productions consists of a num- ber of scattered fragments. His principal work was — 1. A history of Greece, t) rciv 'EWrfftKcliv iaropla (Diod. xv. 60), or, as others simply call it, larupiai. It commenced with the death of the three princes, Amyntas, the father of Philip of Macedo- nia, Agesipolis of Sparta, and Jason of Pherae, that is, with the year B. c. 370, and carried the history down at least to b. c. 281, so that it em- braced a period of at least 89 years. The number of books of which it consisted is not known, though their number seems to have amounted to about 28. Some ancient writers speak of a work of Duris entitled MaKcSoi/tKcl, and the question as to whether this was a distinct work, or merely a part of or identical with the icrropiai^ has been much discussed in modem times. Grauert {Histor. A nalect. p. 2 1 7 ) and Clinton maintain, that it was a separate work, whereas Vossius and Droysen (Gesch. d. Nachfolg. Alex. p. 671, &c.) have proved by the strongest evidence, that the Macedonica is the same work as the laTOftiai. 2. Uepl ^AyadoKXea IcrTopiai^ in several books, the fourth of which is quoted by Suidas. 3. ^afxluv &poi^ that is. Annals of the history of Samos, is frequently referred to by the ancients, and consisted of at least twelve books. 4. Uepl EvpnriSov Kal ^o<pOKovs (Athen. iv. p. 184), seems to be the same as Trepl rpaycfdias. (Athen. xiv. p. 636.) 5. riepi vo/xuv. (Etym. M. p. 460. 49.) 6. Uepl dyoSvuv. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 613; Photius, s. r. SeAtVou aT^tpavos.) 7. Utpl ^ooy patplas. (Diog. Laert. i. 38, ii, 19.) 8. Tlepl ropfvriKr}s (Plin. Eletich. lib. 33, 34), may, how- ever, have been the same as the preceding work. 9. AtSvKoi. (Phot. s. V. Aajxia ; Schol. adAristoph. DURMIUS. Vesp. 1030.) Duris as an historian does not ap- pear to have enjoyed any very great reputation among the ancients. Cicero (ad Ait. vL 1) says of him merely Jio7no in Tiistoria satis diligens., and Dio- nysius {de Compos. Verb. 4) reckons him among those historians who bestowed no care upon the form of their compositions. His historical veracity also is questioned by Plutarch (Pericl. 28 ; comp. Demosth. 19, Alcih. 32, Eum. 1), but he does not give any reasons for it, and it may be that Plutarch was merely struck at finding in Duris things which no other writer had mentioned, and was thus led to doubt the credibility of his statements. The frag- ments of Duris have been collected by J. G. HuUe- man, " Duridis Samii quae supersunt," Traject. ad Rhen. 1841, 8vo. (Comp. W. A. Schmidt, de Fontib. vet. auctor. in enarrand. eapedit. a GaUis in Maced. et Graec. siisceptis, p. 17, &c. ; Panofka, Res SamionnHf p. 98, &c. ; Hulleman, I. c. pp. I —66.) [L. S.] DURIS ELA'ITES {Aovpis 'EAatrTjs), that is, of Elaea in Aeolis, the author of an epigram in the Greek Anthology (ii. 59, Brunck and Jacobs) on the inundation of Ephesus, which happened in the time of Lysiraachus, about 322 b. c. It is proba- ble, from the nature of the event, that the poet lived near tlie time when it took place. Nothing more is known of him. He is a different person from DiTRis of Samos. (Jacobs, xiii. p. 889.) Dio- genes Laertius (i. 38) mentions a Duris who wrote on painting, whom Vossius (de Hist. Graec. p. 134, ed. Westennann) supposes to be the same who is mentioned by Pliny (xxxiii. Ind.), and in another passage of Diogenes (ii. 19). [P. S.] M. DU'RMIUS, a triumvir of the mint under Augustus, of whom there are several coins extant. The first two given below contain on the obverse the head of Augustus; and the boar and the lion feeding upon the stag, in the reverses, have refer- ence to the sliows of wild beasts, in which Augus- tus took great delight. The reverse of the third coin contains a youthful head, and the inscription HoNORi probably refers to the games in honour of Virtus and Honor celebrated in the reign of Au- gustus. (Comp. Dion Cass. liv. 18; Eckhel, v. pp. 203, 204.)