~ acquainted with his dehgn, 1 
DIONYSIUS. 
age about 404 B. C. he affumed the title of king of Syracufe. 
His reign was not without trouble: in an expedition againk 
the Carthaginians, he was deferted by his own cavalry, who 
fled back to the city made themfelve es mafters of the 
ed them with great celcrity, t poflcfiion of the 
citadel, and took a f{peedy and fevere revenge. e now 
e peace wi rthaginians. and empleyed kim- 
r n 
expelling the Carthaginians from all their remaining poffe{- 
_fions in Sicily. With this view he fpared no expence ; in- 
“viting all the beft artificers from Greece and Italy, whom he 
treated with a aera truly worthy of his high rank. He 
and rendered himfelf very popular 
alt the 
when he was beaten and obliged to retire, Dionyfius fent 
for his fitter, infifting upon her difcovering whither ra 
‘nus had fled. “Do you fe ppofe me,”’ faid Thefta with a 
noble mind, ‘‘fo bad a wife as not to have accompanied my 
hufband hed I been aware of his departure? If I had been 
fhould have never informe 
you of it, but fhonld have fhared all hazards with kim, and 
have thought myfelf more neooure’ in being called the wife 
of Polyxenus a ey than fifter of Dionyfus the tyrant.”’ 
The king forgave her free¢om, and the Syracufans fo much 
honoured her al fidclity, ‘that after the abolition of the 
tyranny, they continued, during her life, to treat her with all 
the honours of her rank, and beftowed a public funeral upon 
her at her deceafe. The Carthaginians were at length fo 
much reduced by defeats and ficknefs, that they were glad 
tyrant, r which ip ae refpedts he deferved, as 
well ie his aGions, as for the 
the fovereignty: the fon of Phyto he caufed to be thrown 
into the fea, and the father he firft treated with every 
i 
oyal ert and as a re- 
he thought would not fail of the poet’s approbation : in this 
however he was difappointed, Philoxenus, when he had heard 
ther in his own name, and with his own produtions, to con. 
tend at the Oiympic games for the prize awarded to the beft 
written poetry ; the brother, it was admitted, did his 
but the verfes were received with the utmoft 
Dio s, however, made a fecond attempt, 
and: meeting with no better fuccefs, he fell into a phrenetical 
melancholy. He vented his firft rage on kis own friendsy 
nd then attempted to divert his chagrin by a public wars 
which proved unfuccefsful, and he was obliged to conclude 
terms. Dionyfius, after the 
two others at ences U1 
them with impartia ity, an children by both is re= 
ation Dion reprove ma ith moderation, and, in order to 
improve his mind and temper, perfuzded him to invite Pla: 
3 but the Som of the philofopher were ill 
ate irritated mind of the tyrant, and he was fent 
back in ‘i ace It is even faid that he dire&ed the owner 
of the veffel to fell Plato for a flave, obferving that accord- 
ing to his doctrine, 
virtuous’ man muft be happy in every flate: 
apology which he was willing to offer for the injuftice that 
being ne 
ch ean nded by a dee 
is recorded of Dionyfius that he obliged the fervile courtier 
Damocles to partake of a {plendid featt, while a naked {word 
was fufpended by a fingle hair over his head. In the year 366 
a - a tragedy. of his was acted, and to it was awarded th 
: this fo clated the king, en he offered a foleran facri- 
U of the preceing fnece eded peacee 
ably to his oe but he was foon plunged into the de- 
baucheries of a il the influence of 
of philofophy, and to bated fo much into their {pirit, as to 
rnment a curfe eather than a 
which ~ confented, and Dionyfius received him in the moft 
honourable manner: their friendfhip did not long continue, 
and Plato again left the court, upon which Dionyfius aban. 
doned himfelf to every {pecies of excefs and tyranny. While 
Dionyfius was abfent in Italy, Dion landed in Sicily, took 
perfon from the violence of party, catered his temper, 
and rendered him more a tyrant. th criven to re- 
tirement by Timoleon, he went to Cor ae where he kept 
low company, and indulged in grofs debauchery. 
h ned by Pl a. aad ig prow 
bably not entitled ‘te on Neither the time nor t 
place of his death is known. In bis fallen flate he was 
liabie to the reproaches and farcafms of the witty: 
who oe what he oe gained by the wildors of Plato, 
fortune.” = tarch. se 
us of Halic ahs ae an hiftorian and critic, 
fon ‘of ‘Alexander, was a native of Hialicarnaflus, in 
Caria. 
