was met at the gate by his sister Aristomache, leading his son, and his late wife Arete. Dion embraced his sister and his son, while Arete, unnoticed, stood dissolved in tears. Aristomache presented her to her husband, with a pathetic address, which awakened all Dion's tenderness. He wept, embraced Arete, gave her his son, and sent her home to his house. He then left the Syracusans in possession of their citadel, dismissed his guards, and return ed to the condition of a private citizen. But, with the public tranquillity, factions began to revive. Dion wished to restrain the licentiousness of the populace, by instituting an aristocratical or mixed government. Heraclides, still turbulent and ambitious, supported democracy. At length Dion was persuaded to the violent and illegal measure of procuring the assassination of Heraclides. This fatal step seems to have destroyed all his peace of mind. His imagination was haunted with avenging furies, and he probably imputed to them the domestic misfortune of losing his only son, who, upon some displeasure he had received, threw himself from the top of the house, and was killed on the spot. One Calipus, an Athenian, who had long been upon terms of intimate friendship with Dion, and had enjoyed his hospitality, now formed a conspiracy against his life. He conducted it with the blackest perfidy, and, at length, with a band of Zacynthian assassins, burst into his house, and seized his person. Dion struggled, and the murderers, being unprovided with weapons, could not dispatch him, till a dagger was handed in at a window. The death of Dion happened about B.C. 354, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. His sister and wife, and a posthumous infant of which the latter was delivered, were afterwards put to death. The Syracusans, forgetting all their suspicions and complaints of this eminent citizen, cherished his memory as their deliverer, and honoured him with a public monument. Plutarch, Vit. Dion. Corn. Nepot. Vit. Dion. Univers. Hist.-A. DION CASSIUS, also named COCCEIUS or COCCEIANUS, a writer of Roman history, was a native of Nicea in Bithynia. His father was prefect of Bithynia at the accession of Adrian. He himself enjoyed the senatorian rank under Commodus and the succeeding emperors, and arrived at the consulate, probably under Severus. He was entrusted with the government of several provinces, and was a second time created consul in 229, as colleague to the emperor Alexander Severus. The rigorous discipline he had enforced in this command of the He Pannonian legions, was then likely to prove fatal to him; for the soldiery in Rome, -making a common cause with them, demanded his head. To avoid the danger, the emperor advised him to retire from Rome, and he passed the greater part of his consulship in Campania. He afterwards returned to his native country, where he finished his days in tranquillity. He employed many years in the composition of a history in the Greek language, and at length completed it in eighty books, from the origin of the Roman state to his own times. himself tells a tale of being impelled to the work by a vision, which he saw the night after he had received the emperor Severus's thanks for a treatise which he had composed on the presages which had announced the elevation of that prince. From this circumstance it may be inferred that he was both superstitious and adulatory; and, in fact, his history contains gross partiality to Cæsar and his party, and abuse of Cicero, Brutus, Seneca, and other men of free and patriotic spirit. however, in an easy and clear style, and is inIt is written, terspersed with judicious reflections. Of the eighty books, the first thirty-four and part of the thirty-fifth are lost. The twenty-five subsequent ones are extant, but the latter six in an abridged state; the last twenty are also lost, except a few fragments. But we have a good abridgment of the whole from the thirty-fifth to the end, by Xiphilinus. The best editions. of Dion Cassius are those of Leunclavius, Hanau, folio, 1606, and of Reimarus, Hamburg, two volumes, folio, 1750. Vossii Hist. Grac. Moreri. Crevier.-A. DIONIS, PETER, an eminent surgeon, was a native of Paris. He was surgeon in ordinary to Maria-Theresa of Austria, queen of France, and to two dauphinesses and the royal children. He was also the first anatomical and chirurgical demonstrator at the Royal Garden, appointed by Lewis XIV. He wrote works both in anatomy and surgery. Of the first, his "Anatomie de l'Homme, suivant la Circulation du Sang," appeared in 1690, 8vo. and was several times reprinted, and translated into various languages. A Jesuit even translated it into the Tartarian dialect, for the use of the emperor of China. It is a neat and useful compendium, but contains nothing of the writer's own discovery.. His "Dissertation historique & physique sur la Generation de l'Homme," 1698, supports the ovarian hypothesis. In surgery he published. "Cours d'Operations de Chirurgie," 1707, 8vo. several times reprinted, and latterly with the notes of La Faye, in two volumes. It was long a standard book, and contains much useful observation, related with plainness and sincerity. His other works are; "Sur la Mort subite, & sur la Catalepsie," 1709; and "Traité générale des Accouchements," 1718, & seq. This last is not much more than a compendium of Mauriceau's work, though he finds great fault with it. Dionis died at Paris in 1718. Moreri. Haller Bibl. Anat. & Chirurg.-A. DIONYSIUS I. king or tyrant of Syracuse, was a simple citizen of that state, and son-inlaw of Hermocrates, who, having been banished by an adverse party, attempted to return by force of arms, and was killed in the action. Dionysius was dangerously wounded at the time; but he recovered, and afterwards, through the intercession of his friends, obtained his recal. He distinguished himself in a battle fought against the Carthaginians near Agrigentum; and when, after the ruin of that city, many of its inhabitants took refuge in Syracuse, and made complaints against the magistrates for deserting them, Dionysius took their part, and endeavoured to inflame the discontents of the people against the aristocracy. He procured himself to be nominated one of the generals; and afterwards, under pretext of raising a force sufficient to resist the Carthaginians, obtained a decree for recalling all the exiles. By ingratiating himself with the soldiery and populace, he next acquired the important post of commander-in-chief of the forces. He then doubled the soldiers' pay; and, pretending that his life was in danger from his enemies, he was allowed a body-guard, which he took care to compose of such as were most devoted to his service. The next step was to possess himself of the citadel of Syracuse, after which nothing prevented him from usurping the supreme power. In the twenty-fifth year of his age, B.C. 404, he openly assumed the title of king of Syracuse; a title which, when gained by violence, was accounted by the Greeks synonymous with that of tyrant. Soon after, while he was upon an expedition against the Carthaginians, the Syracusan cavalry deserted him, and riding with all speed to the city, got possession of the citadel, rifled his treasures, and cruelly abused his wife. He followed with great celerity, and, by the help of his mercenaries, recovered the place, and took a severe revenge upon his enemies. A peace with the Carthaginians ensued; and Dionysius employed his leisure in strongly fortifying the part of the city called the Island; after which he made an expedition against some of the free states of Sicily. His absence again produced a revolt in That Syracuse. He returned, and was closely besieged in the Island, and reduced to the greatest extremities. He contrived, however, by a pretended treaty, to throw his enemies of their guard, and in the mean time hired a body of Campanians from the Carthaginian garrisons, who came to his relief. These were joined by a party of the Syracusans themselves, by whose aid he recovered the sovereign power. He secured himself by disarming the whole people, and then resumed his plan of extending his dominion throughout Sicily by conquest. He subdued several independent cities, and at length thought himself strong enough to attempt the expulsion of the Carthaginians from all their remaining possessions in Sicily. For this purpose he made vast preparations, inviting artificers from Greece and Italy, whom he treated with a liberality truly royal. He fitted out a great fleet; and perceiving the occasion he should have for all the aid his subjects could give, he divested himself of the manners of a tyrant, and affected popularity. War was declared against the Carthaginians, and carried on for some years with various success. people sent a vast force into Sicily under the command of Hamilcar, which for some time obtained the superiority, so that Syracuse itself was besieged. It was defended by the aid of a Lacedemonian fleet; and its commander also prevented the execution of a new attempt to depose Dionysius. On this occasion, Polyxenus, who had married his sister Thesta, declared against him; and when he had afterwards retired to a place of refuge, Dionysius sent for his sister, and insisted upon her discovering whither he had fled. "Do you think me," said Thesta, "so bad a wife as not to have accompanied my husband had I known of his departure? If I had been acquainted with his design, I should never have informed you of it, but should have shared all hazards with him, and have thought myself more honoured in being called the wife of Polyxenus the exile, than the sisterof Dionysius the tyrant." Though greatly provoked with this freedom, the king had the generosity to forgive her conjugal fidelity; and the Syracusans so much respected her for it, that, after the abolition of the tyranny, they continued, during her life, to treat her with all the honours of her rank, and bestowed a public funeral upon her at her death. The Carthaginian troops were at length so much reduced by defeats and sickness, that they were happy to obtain permission to quit the Island; was not successful. After gaining a victory over the Carthaginians, he was defeated by another general, and at last concluded a peace upon unfavourable terms. into Italy, and, after a long and bloody siege, took Rhégium, and sold the surviving inhabitants for slaves. He dishonoured himself by his cruelty towards Phyto the commander, whom, after throwing his son into the sea, he, Dionysius, after the death of his first wife, treated with every kind of indignity, and then put to death. Dionysius was one of those characters who have allied a taste for letters with the disposition of a tyrant. He was not less ambitious of gaining the laurel in poetry, than of possess ing the supremacy in power; and it is not to be doubted that learned flatterers enow were to be found who would gratify this desire by their venal suffrages. Philoxenus the poet, however, had the courage to express his opinion freely of some verses which were read to him by the royal composer, and for his reward was committed to the quarries, or common prison. The prince, however, liberated him the next day, and, inviting him to a splendid entertainment, again read to him some lines, which, in his own estimation, could not fail of obtaining applause. The poet, with more humour than discretion, turned to the guards, and desired that they would again carry him to the quarry; and the king had the sense to smile at the sally, and pardon his want of complaisance. He was much more cruelly mortified out of the limits of his power; for, having sent his brother to the olympic games in order to contend in his name for the prizes of poetry and the chariot race, his verses, though delivered with all the graces of elocution, were received by the free assembly with the utmost ridicule; and the famous orator, Lysias, pronounced an harangue proving that it was dishonourable for Greece to suffer an impious tyrant to share in the solemnities of a sacred entertainment. Dionysius was so humble as to make a second attempt at the same games; and meeting with no better success, he fell into a phrenetical melancholy. He vented his rage first upon his friends, and then attempted to divert his chagrin by undertaking the complete expulsion of the Carthaginians from Sicily. To raise money for this purpose he plundered the temples; and some stories are told from which it appears that he joined humour with his sacrilege. He stript the image of Jupiter of a golden robe, remarking, that it was a garment too heavy for summer, and too cold for winter; and he deprived Esculapius of his golden beard, on the pretext that it was a shame that the son should have that venerable decoration to his face, while the father, Apollo, was made beardless. His new war had married two others at once, Doris a Lo- DIONYSIUS II. or the Younger, son of the preceding, succeeded peaceably to his authority, B.C. 366, and by the gentleness of his disposition, gave hopes of a happy reign. His easy temper, however, soon plunged him into the debaucheries which the courtiers of a young prince are usually so successful in inspiring, and it required all the influence of his kinsman Dion, aided by the lessons of Plato, to recal sided in a private condition. His conduct was not such as entitled him to respect under his misfortunes. He kept low company, frequented the shops of butchers, perfumers, and other ministers of luxury, and indulged in gross debauchery. He took upon him to direct female musicians in their performances, and displayed his skill in the arts by disputing with them about theatrical airs. Some writers have asserted that he was obliged for a maintenance to open a school in Corinth; but this circumstance is not mentioned either by Diodorus or Plutarch, the latter of whom would have been fond of moralising upon such a topic. Several repartees are recorded, by which he repelled the sarcasms of those who insulted him. One of these would seem to indicate a consciousness of better manners than those above imputed to him. Being asked what he had gained by the wisdom of Plato? he replied, "The ability to bear as I do this change of fortune." The time of his death is not known. His race perished with him. Diodorus. Plutarch in Dione & Timoleonte. Univers. Hist.-A. him to sobriety. Young Dionysius was so much impressed with the spirit of philosophy, that once at a solemn sacrifice, when the herald, according to custom, pronounced a prayer for the duration of his reign, he exclaimed, "How long will you continue to curse me?" In the life of Dion we have already mentioned by what arts the courtiers succeeded. in banishing that irksome monitor. Plato soon after obtained permission to follow him; but the king's remaining fondness for philosophy engaged him, by means of Archytas and the Pythagoreans resident in Syracuse, to solicit his return. Plato consented, and Dionysius received him in the most honourable manner, and urged many presents upon him, which the philosopher refused to accept. Their friendship, however, did not long continue; for Plato could not forbear to press the recal of Dion, at which the king was so much displeased, that he removed him to the castle, under a kind of custody. He was at length prevailed upon to suffer Plato to depart; and immediately afterwards, as if to shew contempt of his admonitions, he abandoned himself to every species of excess and tyranny. Dion, as already related, landing in Sicily while Dionysius was absent in Italy, took possession of Syracuse; and though Dionysius, entering the citadel, made considerable efforts for its recovery, he was at length obliged to return to Italy, leaving his son Apollocrates, who held the citadel some time longer. After the assassination of Dion, Sicily became a prey to different factions and tyrants, whose dissensions at length gave Dionysius an opportunity of recovering Syracuse, ten years after his expulsion, B.C. 350. His experience of misfortune did not produce any amendment of his conduct; on the contrary, the evils he had suffered in his own person and those of his, relatives from the violence of party, only exasperated his temper, and rendered him more a tyrant. The principal inhabitants took refuge with Icetas, prince or tyrant of Leontium; but upon an invasion by the Carthaginians, they made application for aid to Corinth, the political mother of Syracuse, and the strenuous assertor of Grecian liberty. The Corinthians sent over the celebrated Timoleon, who, on his arrival, found Icetas master of the city, the Carthaginians of the port, and Dionysius of the citadel. The latter admitted the Corinthian troops into his fortress, delivered to them all his warlike stores and treasures, and himself repaired as a suppliant to the camp of Timoleon. By him he was sent to Corinth, where he thenceforth re DIONYSIUS of Halicarnassus, an historian and critic, son of Alexander, was a native of Halicarnassus in Caria. He came to Rome about the time when Augustus had put a period to the civil wars, B.C. 30, and passed twentytwo years in that capital. He employed himself in learning the Latin language, and in conversing with the men of letters, and studying the ancient Roman historians. From their works he compiled his "Roman Antiquities," in twenty books, in which he brought down the history of that city to the first Punic war. He appears to have survived its publication some years, but nothing further is known of his history. Of his work only the eleven first books have reached us, which include the period to the abolition of the military tribuneship, A.U. 312. As the originals are lost whence he drew his materials, it is regarded as a valuable performance, being more accurate in point of chronology than Livy, and in some respects more judicious and apparently exact in the narration. That in treating of those early times he should give too much scope to the fabulous, is not to be wondered at. His style is flat and languid, like that of a compiler. Dionysius was likewise a writer on rhetorical and critical subjects. His "Comparisons of some ancient Historians," and "Treatise on the Structure of Language," are come down to us. The best editions of his works are those of Syiburgius at Frankfort, 1586, folio; of Hudson, Gr.-Lat Oxford, 1704, two vols. folio; and of Reiske, Gr.-Lat. Lips. 1774, six vols. 8vo. Vossii Hist. Grac. Moreri.-A. DIONYSIUS, named PERIEGETES, an ancient geographer, was a native of Carax, called also Alexandria, a city of Susiana, near the Persian Gulf. He is supposed by Vossius to have been the person whom Pliny mentions as sent into the East by Augustus, to collect information previously to the journey thither of Caius Cæsar; but Scaliger and Saumaise rather refer him to the times of Marcus Aurelius or Severus. His work, still extant, is entitled "Periegesis," or " A Description of the World," in Greek verse. It is valued as a relic of antiquity, and various editions have been published of it. The best are those of H. Stephens, 4to. 1577; of Faber, Saumur, 1676, 1705, 8vo.; and of Wells, Oxon. 1704, 1710. Vossii Hist. Poet. Græc. Moreri. Harwood's Class.-A. DIONYSIUS, called the Areopagite, from his being a member of the court of Areopagus at Athens, was most probably a native of that city, who, as we learn from Acts xvii. 34, was converted to Christianity by the preaching of St. Paul. Before he became a Christian, he is reported to have made considerable progress in literary acquirements at Athens, and afterwards at Heliopolis in Egypt: and that his character was respectable among his fellow-citizens, is apparent from the honourable station to which he was elected. According to tradition, and the testimony of some early christian writers, he was the first bishop of Athens, and set apart to that office by the hands of the great apostle of the Gentiles. From the same authorities we are informed, that he suffered martyrdom for his adherence to the christian cause, most probably under the reign of Domitian. During the dark ages, various writings were circulated with the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, which were collected together, and first printed at Cologne, in the year 1536. Since that time they have undergone different impressions, at different places, and been illustrated by a profusion of commentaries, notes, and dissertations. The most complete editions were printed at Antwerp in 1634, and at Paris in 1644, both in two volumes folio. But notwithstanding the attention which, for many centuries, was paid to them, learned men in all countries have for a long time concurred in pronouncing them spurious. They differ, indeed, in their opinion respecting the author to whom they are attributed, and the time when they were written. The most probable reason VOL. III. ing fixes their date at the latter end of the fifth, or the beginning of the sixth, century. Suidas. Fabricii Bib. Eccl. Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. I. sub. sac. Arian. Du Pin. Lardner's Cred. part ii. vol. XI-M. DIONYSIUS, bishop of Corinth, flourished under the reign of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, and in the beginning of that of Commodus. By some writers he has been comprehended in the number of christian martyrs, but without any foundation in antiquity. From St. Jerome we learn that he was a man of an excellent character, of great eloquence, and very diligent in discharging the duties of the pastoral office. He was also animated with the desire of being more extensively useful than if his labours had been confined to benefit his own immediate flock, which led him to address catholic epistles to christian churches in different provinces of the Roman empire. The fragments of some of them only remain, which are given as quotations by Eusebius. But those fragments will be found valuable to biblical scholars in illustrating the genuineness of the christian Scriptures; and they afford evidence of the sound judgment, eminent virtue, true candour, and peaceable spirit, of the author. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. cap. 23. Fabricii Bib. Eccl. Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. I. sub sæc. Gnost. Du Pin. Lard. Cred. part ii. vol. I.-M. DIONYSIUS, bishop of Alexandria about the middle of the third century, is generally believed to have been a native of that city, and a descendant from an honourable and wealthy family, of the gentile religion. Becoming, however, a convert to christianity, he was placed under the tuition of the celebrated Origen, and proved one of his most distinguished scholars. His inclination leading him to embrace the ecclesiastical profession, for which, by his learning and talents, he was eminently qualified, he received the appointment of catechist to the church of Alexandria, about the year 232; and on the death of Heracles, the bishop, in the year 248, was elected his successor in that office. His episcopate was a trying and difficult period, through which he conducted himself with much prudence and honour until his death, in the year 264 or 265. During the year 250 the Decian persecution raged in Egypt, when he was seized by the order of the prefect, but escaping from his soldiers, fled for concealment into the deserts of Lybia. On the death of Decius, in the following year, he returned to his flock, with whom he appears to have continued, in general unmolested, until the year 257, when the perse3 F |