840 
D I O 
put ferpents in tlieir hair, and by the wildnefs of their 
looks and the oddity of their actions they feigned infa- 
nity. The dionyfia were yearly obferved in 
Arcadia, and the children who had been inftrufted in 
themufic of Pliiloxenus and Timotheus were introduced 
in a theatre, where they celebrated the feftivals of Bac- 
chus by entertaining the fpeftators with fongs, dances, 
and different exhibitions. There were befides thefe, 
others'of inferior note. There was alfo one obferved 
every three years, called dionyfia and it is.fa-id 
that Bacchus inftituted it himfelf in commemoration of 
his Indian expedition, in which he {pent three years. 
There is alfo another, celebrated every fifth year, as 
mentioned by the fcholiaft of Ariftophanes. All thefe 
feftivals in honour of the god of wine were celebrated 
by the Greeks with great licentioufnefs, and they contri¬ 
buted much to the corruption of morals among all ranks 
of people. They were alfo introduced into Tufcany, 
and from thence tq Rome. Among the Romans both 
fexes promifcuoufly joined in the celebration during the 
darknefs of night. The drunkennefs, the debauchery, 
and impure actions and indulgences, which foon prevailed 
at the folemnity, called aloud for the interference of the 
fenate, and the confuls Sp. Pofthumius Albinus and 
Martius Philippus made a drift examination concerning 
the propriety and fuperftitious forms,of the Bacchanalia. 
The diforder and pollution which was praftifed with im¬ 
punity by no lefs than feven thoufand votaries of either 
fex, Was beheld with horror and aftonilhment by the con¬ 
fuls, and the Bacchanalia were for ever banillied from 
Rome, by a decree of the fenate. They were again re-in- 
ftituted there in length of time, but not with fuch licen- 
tioufnefs as before. See Bacchus, vol. ii. p. 598. 
DIONY'SII f. [from Dionyfius .] Thole perfons who 
had bony prominences on their temples. 
DIONY'SIUS, f. In heathen mythology, one of the 
names of Bacchus. A man’s name. 
DION Y'SIUS I. and II. kings of Syracufe. See the 
article Syracuse. 
DIONY'SIUS of Halicarnajfus , an ancient hiftorian and 
critic, fon of Alexander, and a native of HalicarnalFus in 
Caria. He went to Rome about the time when Augulhts 
had put a period to the civil wars, thirty years before 
Chrilt, and palled twenty -two years in that capital. He 
employed himfelf in acquiring the Latin language, and 
in converfing with men of letters, and Undying the an¬ 
cient Roman hiftorians. From their works he compiled 
his Roman Antiquities, in twenty books, in which he 
brought down the hiftory of that city to the fir lb Punic 
war. He appears to have furvived its publication fome 
years, but nothing further is known of his hiftory. Of 
liis work, only the eleven firft books have reached us, 
whichdnclude tire period to the abolition of the military 
tribunefhip, in the year of Rome 312. As the originals 
are loft whence he drew his materials, it is regarded as a 
valuable performance, being more accurate in point of 
chronology than Livy, and in fome refpefts more judi¬ 
cious, and apparently exaft in the narration. Dionyfius 
was likewife a writer on rhetorical and critical fubjefts. 
His Companions of fome ancient Hiftorians, and Treatife 
on the Structure of Language, have come down to 11s. 
The belt editidns of his works are'thofe of Sylburgius at 
Frankfort,- 1586, folio; of Hudfon, Gr.-Lat. Oxford, 
T 704, two vols. folio j and of Reilke, Gr.-Lat. Lipf. 1774, 
lix vols. 8vo. 
DIONY'SIUS, named Periegetes, an ancient geo¬ 
grapher, native of Carax, called alfo Alexandria, a city 
of Sufiana, near the Perlian gulf. He is fuppofed by 
Vofllus to have been the perfon whom Pliny mentions as 
lent into the eaft by Auguftus, to cclleft information 
previoufly to the journey thither of Caius Ctelar ; but 
S’caliger and Saumaife rather refer him to the times of 
Marcus Aurelius or Severus. His work, (till extant, is 
entitled Periegcfs, or A Defcription of the World, in 
Greek verfe. It is valued as a relic of antiquity, and 
DIO 
many editions’have been publiftied of it. The belt arc 
thofe of H. Stephens, 4to. 1577; of Faber, Saumur, 1676, 
1705, 8yo. and of Wells, Oxon. 1704, 1710. 
DIONY'SIUS, called the Arcopagite, from his being a 
member of the court of Areopagus at Athens, was moft 
probably a native of that city, who, as we learn from 
Aftsxvii. 34, was converted to Chriftianity by the preach¬ 
ing of St. Paul. Before he became a Chriftian, he is re-? 
ported to have made confiderable progrefs in literary ac¬ 
quirements at Athens, and afterwards at Heliopolis in 
Egypt ; and that his charafter was refpeftable among 
his fellow-citizens, is apparent from the honourable fta- 
tion’to which he was elefted. According to tradition, 
and the teftimony of fome early Chriftian writers, he was 
the firft billiop of Athens. From the fame authorities 
we are informed, that he fuffered martyrdom for his ad¬ 
herence to the Chriftian caufe, moft probably under the 
reign of Domitian. During the dark ages, various writ¬ 
ings were circulated with the name of Dionyfius the Areo- 
pagite, which were collefted together, and firft printed 
at Cologne, in 1536. Since that time they have under¬ 
gone different impreffionsyat different places, and been 
illuftrated by a profufion of commentaries, notes, and 
dilfertations. The moft complete editions were printed 
at Antwerp in 1634, and at Paris in 1644, both in two vo¬ 
lumes, folio. But notwitliftanding the attention which, 
for many centuries, was paid to them, learned men in all 
countries have for a long time concurred in pronouncing 
them fpurious They differ, indeed, in their opinion re- 
fpefting the author to whom they are attributed, and the 
time when they were written. The moft probable rea- 
i’oning fixes their date at the latter end of the fifth, or 
the beginning of the fixth, century. 
DIONY'SIUS, bifhop of Corinth, flourifhed under the 
reign of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, and in the be¬ 
ginning of that of Commodus. By fome writers he has 
been comprehended in the number of Chriftian martyrs, 
but without any foundation in antiquity. From St. 
Jerome we learn that he was a man of an excellent cha¬ 
rafter, of grept eloquence, and very diligent indifcharg- 
ing the duties of the paftoral office. He was alfo ani¬ 
mated with the defire of being more extenfively ufeful 
than if his labours had been confined to benefit his own 
immediate flock, which led him to addrefs epiftles to 
Chriftian churches in different provinces of the Roman 
empire. The fragments of them only remain, which are 
given as quotations by Eufebius. But thofe fragments 
will be found valuable to biblical fcholars in illuftrating 
the genuinenefs of the Chriftian fcriptures ; and they af¬ 
ford evidence of the found judgment, eminent virtue, 
true candour, and peaceable fpirit, of the author. 
DIONY'SIUS, bilhop of Alexandria about the middle 
of the third century, and a native of that city, became 
a convert to Chriftianity, and was placed under the tui¬ 
tion of the celebrated Origen. His inclination leading 
him to embrace the ecclefiaftical profeflion, for which, 
•by his learning and talents, he was eminently qualified, 
he received the appointment of catecliift to the church 
of Alexandria, about the year 232 ; and on the death of 
Heracles, the bifhop, in 248, was elefted his fuccelfor in 
that office. His epifcopate was a trying and difficult pe¬ 
riod, through which he condufted himfelf with much 
prudence and honour until his death, in 263. During 
the year 250, the Decian perfecution raged in Egypt, 
when he was feized by the order of the prefeftt, but ef- 
caping from the guard, he fled into the deferts of Lybia. 
On the death of Decius, he returned to his flock, witli 
whom he appears to have continued until the year 257, 
when the perfecution under the emperor Valerian com¬ 
menced. Being fummoned before the prefect, and re¬ 
filling to renounce his religion, he was banillied to Ce- 
phro in Lybia, and was not permitted to return to his bi- 
Yhopric till about the year 261. He was the author of 
numerous epiftles and treatifeS, practical, controverlial, 
and on points of ecclefiaftical difcipline ; of which there 
remains 
