801 



DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 



DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 



602 



the king's wives, but his own merit appears afterwards to have gained 

 him BO much favour at court that he could speak to Dionysius with the 

 freedom of an equal. He had early become the disciple of Plato, 

 whom Dionysius had invited to Syracuse, and Plato is said to have 

 considered him the most ardent of his pupils. Soon after his accession 

 the younger Dionysiua began to show the effects of an imperfect and 

 vicious education, while in private he abandoned himself to all kinds 

 of excesses. The prospects of his country roused Dion, and he 

 endeavoured to counteract the errors and to supply the deficiencies of 

 the tyrant by prudent counsels and exhortations. Among other things 

 he advised him to invite Plato to revisit the Syracusan court, setting 

 forth the advantages which he would derive from his conversation and 

 knowledge. Dionysius wrote a letter of invitation, but the philosopher 

 had not forgotten the treatment which he had received from the 

 tyrant's father, and it was with the utmost difficulty that he was pre- 

 -vailed on to go. The presence of Plato was dreaded by the dissolute 

 courtiers who surrounded Dionysiua, and to counteract any influence 

 he might have, they obtained the recall of Philistus, whose talents 

 and tyrannical tendencies they thought were likely to be a match for 

 the philosopher. The enemies of Dion availed themselves of the same 

 opportunity to insinuate suspicions of Dion's loyalty, and succeeded 

 in procuring his banishment. He went first to Italy and then to 

 Greece, where he received the highest honours. Dionysius however 

 endeavoured to embitter his exile, and soon confiscated his lands and 

 effects, and forced his wife to marry another person. Dion no sooner 

 heard of this outrage, than he determined to make an effort to expel 

 the tyrant. Though dissuaded by Plato, he began to raise troops 

 privately, and at last assembled his forces to the number of about 

 eight hundred in the island of Zacynthus, whence he sailed to Sicily. 

 On landing, he found that Dionysius was absent in Italy, and he was 

 accordingly received by the people with great joy. Dionysius at once 

 returned to Sicily, and made some fruitless attempts to regain his 

 influence, but after several defeats was forced to quit the island for 

 Italy. Dion however did not long enjoy the favour of his countrymen, 

 and by the influence of Heraclides, who estranged the minds of the 

 people from him, he was obliged to leave Sicily ; he was afterwards 

 recalled, but was treacherously murdered, B.C. 354, at about fifty-five 

 years of age, by his supposed friend Calippus, an Athenian. His death 

 was generally regretted ; and in honour of his high courage and 

 patriotism a monument was raised to him at the public expense. 

 (Diodorus Siculus, xri. 620; Plutarch, Life of Dion; Nepos, Life 

 o/Jtion.) 



DIONYSIUS THE ELDER was born at Syracuse about B.C. 430. 

 In the civil troubles of Syracuse, between the party of Diocles and 

 that of Hermocratca, who was accused of aspiring to the supreme 

 power, Dionysius took part with the latter, and was wounded in an 

 attempt which Hermocrates made to take possession of Syracuse. He 

 afterwards married the daughter of Hermocrates. Meantime the 

 Carthaginians had effected their second invasion of Sicily, and had 

 taken Selinus, Himera, and Agrigcntum. (Xenophon, ' Hellenika,' 

 ii. 2.) All Sicily was in danger of falling into the hands of the con- 

 querors. In the assembly of the people of Syracuse, convoked after 

 the fall of Agrigentum, Dionysius accused the commanders and the 

 magistrates of neglect and treachery. In consequence of this charge 

 he was condemned to a heavy fine, which Philistus, the historian, 

 paid for him, and he then repeated his charges against those who were 

 at the head of the commonwealth, until he persuaded the people to 

 change the military commanders, and appoint new ones, among whom 

 himself waa one. His next measure was to obtain the recall of the 

 exiles, to whom he gave arms. Being sent to the relief of Gela, then 

 besieged by the Carthaginians, he effected nothing against the enemy, 

 pretending that he was not seconded by the other commanders, and 

 his friends suggested that in order to save the state the supreme 

 power ought to be confided to one man, reminding the people of the 

 times of Gelon, who had defeated the Carthaginian host and given 

 peace to Sicily. The general assembly proclaimed Dionyeius supreme 

 chief of the republic about B.c. 405, when he was twenty-five years of 

 age. He increased the pay of the soldiers, enlisted new ones, and 

 under pretence of a conspiracy against his person, formed a guard of 

 mercenaries. He then proceeded to the relief of Gela, but failed in 

 bis attack on the Carthaginian camp; he however penetrated into the 

 town, the inhabitants of which he advised to leave it quietly in the 

 night under the escort of his troop*. On his retreat he persuaded 

 those of Camarina to do the same. This raised suspicions among his 

 troops, and a party of horsemen, riding on before the rest, on their 

 arrival at Syracuse raised an insurrection against Dionysius, plundered 

 his house, and treated his wife so cruelly that she died in conse- 

 quence. DionysiuK, with a chosen body, followed close after, set fire 

 to the gate of Acradina, forced his way into the city, put to death the 

 leader* of the revolt, and remained undisputed possessor of the 

 supreme power. The Carthaginians, being afflicted by a pestilence, 

 made proposals of peace, which were accepted by Dionysius, on con- 

 dition that they should retain, besides their old colonies, the territories 

 of Agrigentum, Selinus, and Himera ; that Gela and Camnrina should 

 be restored to the inhabitant*, who were to pay tribute to the 

 Carthaginians, and that Mewana, Syracuse, Leontmi, and the whole 

 eastern division of the island an well as the towns of the Siculi, in 

 the interior, fhould remain independent. Himilco with the Cartha- 

 BIOO. DIY. vor. ii. 



ginian army returned to Africa, and Dionyrius applied himself to 

 fortify Syracuse, and especially the island Ortygia, which he made his 

 stronghold, and which he peopled entirely with his trusty partisans 

 and mercenaries, by the aid of whom he put down several revolts 

 which broke out against him. He took, partly by stratagem and 

 partly by force, the towns of Leontmi, Catana, and Naxus, and sub- 

 jected them to Syracuse. He next prepared for a new war against 

 Carthage by collecting men from every quarter, manufacturing a 

 large quantity of anus, and inventing new engines for besieging 

 towns. The termination of the Peloponnesian war (B.C. 404) had 

 filled the Greek towns of Sicily with emigrants and disbanded mer- 

 cenaries, many of whom Dionysius enlisted in his service. In the 

 year B.C. 397, he convoked a general assembly of the people and 

 proposed the war, which was unanimously voted, and which was 

 begun by the people plundering the houses and vessels of the Cartha- 

 ginian traders. Dionysius sent a herald to Carthage, which was then 

 afflicted by the plague, to declare war, unless all the Greek towns in 

 Sicily were evacuated. He next laid siege to Motya, one of the prin- 

 cipal Carthaginian colonies in Sicily, which his brother Leptines 

 attacked by sea. In this siege he tried his new engines, which 

 battered down the walls, and the town being taken, the inhabitants 

 were either killed or sold, and an immense booty was made by the 

 Syracusans. Dionysius reduced also the other towns belonging to 

 the Carthaginians, except Panormos, Soloeis, and Egeste. Meantime 

 the Carthaginians collected a large force under Himilco, who landed 

 at Panormos, while his fleet took the island of Li para; he then 

 marched against Messana, which he took and destroyed ; and thence 

 advanced towards Syracuse. Most of the towns inhabited by the 

 Siculi joined the Carthaginians. On arriving at Tauromenium 

 Himilco found hi-* way along the sea-coast, but was stopped by a great 

 eruption of lava from ^Etna, and was obliged to march round by the 

 western base of the mountain. Meantime Mago with the Carthaginian 

 fleet attacked the Syracusan fleet off Catana, and completely defeated 

 it. Himilco encamped under the walls of Syracuse, while his victorious 

 fleet entered the great harbour. Dionysius, on his side, received ships 

 and men from Sparta. A dreadful pestilence breaking out in Himilco's 

 camp, Dionysius availed himself of it to attack the Carthaginians, 

 defeated them, and burnt most of their ships. Himilco with the 

 remainder escaped to Carthage, having paid secretly a large sum to 

 Dionysius for his forbearance. 



Dionysius settled the disbanded mercenaries as colonists at Leoutiui 

 and Mes-ana, which latter city he caused to be rebuilt. Mago, with a 

 new Carthaginian army, having lauded in Sicily, B.C. 392, was com- 

 pelled to re-embark on condition of paying the expenses of the war. 

 Dionysius now proceeded against Rhegium, with which the other 

 towns of Magna Gnecia had formed an alliance, while lie gained over 

 to his side the Lucauiaus, and both together defeated the allies, devas- 

 tated the territories of Thurii, Croton, Caulon, Hipponium, and Locri, 

 and obliged the Greeks to sue for peace. About this time he is said 

 by Justinus, xx. 5, to have received an embassy from the Gauls, who 

 had just burnt Rome, offering him their alliance. In B.C. 387 he again 

 attacked Rhegium, and to<>k it after a long and obstinate siege. Ho 

 sold the surviving inhabitants as slaves, and put their commander to a 

 cruel death. 



Dionysius was now feared both in Italy and Sicily, and he seems to 

 have aspired at one time to the dominion of both countries. In order 

 to raise money ho allied himself with the Illyriiins, and proposed to 

 them the joint plunder of the temple of Delphi : the enterprise how- 

 ever failed. He then plundered several temples, such as thut of 

 Proserpina, at Locri, and as he sailed back with the plunder with a 

 fair wLid, he, who was a humorist in bis way, observed to his friends, 

 "You see how the immortal Gods favour sacrilege." With these 

 resources he was preparing himself for a new expedition to Italy, 

 when a fresh Carthaginian armament landed in Sicily, B.C. 383, and 

 defeated Dionysius, whose brother, Leptines, fell in the battle. A 

 peace followed, of which Carthage dictated the conditions. The 

 boundary of tlie two states was fixed at the river Halycus, and Diony- 

 sius had to pay 1000 talents for the expenses of the war. This peace 

 lasted fourteen years, during which Dionysius remained the undis- 

 turbed ruler of Syracuse and one-half of Sicily, with part of Southern 

 Italy. He sent colonies to the coasts of the Adriatic, and his fleets 

 navigated both seas. Twice he sent assistance to his old ally, Sparta, 

 once against the Athenians, B.C. 374, and again in 369, after the battle 

 of Leuctra, when the Spartans were bard pressed by Kpaminondas. 

 Meantime the court of Dionysius was frequented by many distinguished 

 men, philosophers and poets. Plato is said to have been among the 

 former, being invited by Dion, the brother-in-law of Dionysius ; but 

 the philosopher's declamations against tyranny led to his being sent 

 away from Syracuse. The poets fared little better, as Dionysius him- 

 self aspired to poetical glory, for which however be was not so well 

 qualified as for political success. Those who did not praise his verses 

 were in danger of being sent to prison. Dionysius twice sent pome 

 of his poems to be recited at the Olympic gamen, but they were hissed 

 by the assembly. He was more successful at Athens. A tragedy of 

 his obtained the prize, and the news of bis success almost turned hia 

 brain. He had just concluded a fresh truce with the Carthaginians, 

 after having made on unsuccessful attack upon Lilybceum at the 

 expiration of the fourteen years' peace; and 1 e now gave himself up 



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