Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/309

Rh PHILISTUS. of the island — the Sicanians and Sicels. (Dion. Hai. Ant, Rom. i. 22 ; Diod. v. 6 ; Theon. Proyymn. p. 16.) The second part, which formed a re- gular sequel to the first, contained the history of the elder Dionysius in four books, and that of the younger in two : the latter was necessarily imper- fect, a circumstance which Dionysius of Halicar- nassus absurdly ascribes to his desire to imitate Thucydides. As it ended only five years after the accession of the younger tyrant, it is probable that Philistus had not found time to continue it after his own return from exile. (Diod. xiii. 103, xv. 89 ; Dion. Hal.^jR.arf Pomf. p. 780, ed. Reiske ; Suid. «. V. ^iKiaTos ; Steph. Byz. s. v. Kpaards ; Goeller, de Situ Syrac. pp. 125 — 132, who has carefully ex- amined and reconciled the conflicting statements of ancient authors, and given a clear idea of the ar- rangement and division of the work of Philistus.) In point of style Philistus is represented by the concurrent testimony of antiquity as imitating and even closely resembling Thucydides, though still falling far short of his great model. Cicero calls him "capitalis, creber, acutus, brevis, paene pusillus Thucydides." {ad Q. Fr. ii. 13.) Quintilian also terras him (Inst. Or. x. 1. § 74) " imitator Thucj'-- didis, et ut multo infirmior, ita aliquatenus lucidior." This qualified praise is confirmed by the more ela- borate judgment of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who censures Philistus also for the unskilful ar- rangement of his subject, and the monotony and want of art displayed in his ordinary narrative. (Ep. ad Pomp. 5, p. 779 — 782, de Vett. Script. p. 427.) Longinus, who cites him as occasionally rising to sublimity, intimates at the same time that this was far from being the general character of his composition. {De Suhl. 40.) His conciseness also led him not unfrequently into obscurity, though in a less degree than Thucydides ; and this defect led many persons to neglect his works even in the days of Cicero. (Cic. Brut. 17.) Dionysius of Halicar- nassus, however, associates his name with those of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Theo- pompus, as the historians most deserving of study and imitation {Ep. ad Pomp. p. 767) ; but his writings seem to have been almost wholly neglected by the rhetoricians of a later period ; and Hermo- genes {de Formis, p. 396) passes over his name in common with Ephorus and Theopompus as wholly unworthy of attention. It is more remarkable that he does not appear to have been included by the Alexandrian critics in their canon of historical authors. ( Creuzer, Historische Kunst d. Grieclien^ p. 225 ; Goeller, I. c. p. 134.) But the reputation that he enjoyed in Greece itself shortly before that period is attested by the fact that his history was among the books selected by Harpalus to send to Alexander in Upper Asia. (Plut. Aleoc. 8.) The gravest reproach to the character of Philistus as an historian is the charge brought against him by many writers of antiquity that he had sought to palliate the tyrannical deeds of Dionysius, and give a specious colour to his conduct in order to pave the way for his own return from exile. Plutarch calls him a man eminently skilled in inventing specious pretences and fair speeches to cloak unjust actions and evil dispositions. {Dion, 36.) He was se- verely reprehended on the same account by Ti- maeus. How far the history of Dionysius trans- mitted to us by Diodorus is founded on the autho- rity of Philistus it would be interesting to ascertain ; but we have no means of doing so. It is probable, PHILO. 297 however, that much of his narrative of the wars of Dionysius against the Carthaginians is derived from Philistus, who was not only a contemporary but an eye-witness of the scenes which he described, and sometimes an important actor in them. ( Wesseling, ad Diod. xiv. p. 675 ; Theon. Progymn. p. 19 ; Arnold's Rome, vol. i. p. 466, not.) The fragments of Philistus have been collected, and all the circumstances transmitted to us con- cerning his life and writings fully examined and discussed by Goeller in an appendix to his work, DeSitu et Origine Syracusarum (8vo. Lips. 1818) ; the fragments are reprinted from thence, together with a life of the author by C. Miiller, in the Fraginenta Historicorum Graecorum, published by Didot at Paris, 1841. [E. H. B.] PHILLA'TIUS {^iXXoLTios, another reading is ^/Ararios), a grammarian, contemporary with the historian Olympiodorus, about a. d. 407. Photius (Cod. Ixxx.) in his epitome of Olympio- dorus, mentions him as having received the honour of a statue from the Athenians, for teaching them how to glue parchments together. [W. M. G.] PHILLIS (*iAA£s), of Delos, surnamed tiov- criKos, was a writer on music. (Athen. i. p. 21, f.) Athenaeus quotes two works by him, one entitled riepl A.vT]ruv (xiv. p. 634, d), and the other Ylipi MovffiKijs, which consisted of two books at least (xiv. p. 636, b). He is the same person as Phyllis (*uAAts) 6 fiovaiKus, mentioned by the Scholiast on Aristophanes along with Arisloxenus (ad Ran. 1337, ad Vesp. 1231), and as Phytles {iiKKt)s) 6 fxovaiKos, as he is called by Suidas. All the manuscripts of Athenaeus however exhibit the reading Phillis. (See Schweighaiiser, ad AiJien. xiv. p. 63-4, d.) PHPLLYRA {^iWvpa), according to some accounts, the mother of Hypseus. (Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. ix. 26.) See Philyra. [L. S.] PHILO. [Philon.J PHILO. 1. A freedman of M. Caelius Rufus (Cic. ad Fam. ii. 12, viii. 8). 2. A freedman of Pompey, was distinguished by his energetic assistance of the Pompeian party in Spain, B. c. 45. {Bell. Hisp. 35 ; Cic. ad Ait. xvi. 4.) PHILO, C. CESE'NIUS, or CAESE'NNIUS, impeached Sex. Clodius on account of the seditious proceedings of the latter after the death of the tribune, P. Clodius. Sex. Clodius was condemned ( Ascon. in Cic. Mil. p. 55, ed. OrelliJ. [Vol. I. p. 775.] PHILO, C. CU'RTIUS, consul b. c. 445, with M. Genucius Augurinus. For the events of this year see Augurinus, Genucius, No. 2. PHILO, PUBLPLIUS or POBLFLIUS. Respecting the orthography, see Publilia Gens. This family of the Publilii claimed descent from the celebrated Volero Publilius who was tribune of the plebs b. c. 472 ; and accordingly we find the two Philones, who were consular tribunes in B.C. 400 and 399 respectively, described as grand- sons of Volero. [See below, Nos. 1 and 2.] I. L. Publilius L. f. Voler. n. Philo VoLSCUS, consular tribune B. c. 400, is called by Livy a patrician, but this is certainly an error, since the family was without question plebeian. Livy likewise calls hira simply L. Publilius Volscus, but we learn from the Capitoline Fasti that Philo was also one of his surnames. (Li v. v. 12 ; Fast. Capit.)