A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

DIODORUS.
he commanded an army. In order to please the
king, he caused all the senators of his native place
to be massacred. He afterwards accompanied
Mithridates to Pontus, and, after the fall of the
king, Diodorus received the punishment for his
cruelty. Charges were brought against him at
Adramyttium, and as he felt that he could not
clear himself, he starved himself to death in despair. (Strab. xiii. p. 614.)
2. Of ALEXANDRIA, surnamed Valerius Pollio,
was a son of Pollio and a disciple of Telecles. He
wrote, according to Suidas (s. v. TicAlwv) and Eudocia (p. 136), a work entitled (ryiot-s Ticv
iTrovutsEvwV 7rapa ToS if p Topotvy, and another
'ATTLIC A'eYi. He lived in the time of the emperor Hadrian, and is perhaps the same as the
Theodorus who is mentioned by Athenaeus (xiv.
p. 646, comp. xv. pp. 677, 678, 691; Phot. Bibl.
Cod. 149) as the author of 'ATrucal Fha-o-at.
3. Of ANTIOCH, an ecclesiastical writer who
lived during the latter part of the fourth century
after Christ, and belonged to a noble family. During the time that he was a presbyter and archimandrita at Antioch, he exerted himself much in
introducing a better discipline among the monks,
and also wrote several works, which shewed that
he was a man of extensive acquirements. When
Meletius, the bishop of Antioch, was sent into
exile in the reign of the emperor Valens, Diodorus
too had to suffer for a time; but he continued to
exert himself in what he thought the good cause,
and frequently preached to his flock in the open
fields in the neighbourhood of Antioch. In A. D.
378 Meletius was allowed to return to his see,
and one of his first acts was to make Diodorus
bishop of Tarsus. In A. D. 381 Diodorus attended
the council of Constantinople, at which the general
superintendence of the Eastern churches was entrusted to him and Pelagius of Laodiceia. (Socrat.
v. 8.) How long he held his bishopric, and in
what year he died, are questions which cannot be
answered with certainty, though his death appears
to have occurred previous to A. D. 394, in which
year his successor, Phalereus, was present at a
council at Constantinople. Diodorus was a man of
great learning (Facund. iv. 2); but some of his
writings were not considered quite orthodox, and
are said to have favoured the views which were
afterwards promulgated by his disciple, Nestorius.
His style is praised by Photius (Bibl. Cod. 223,
where he is called Theodorus) for its purity and
simplicity. Respecting his life, see Tillemont,
Hist. des Emp. viii. p. 558, &c., and p. 802, &c.,
ed. Paris.
Diodorus was the author of a numerous series of
works, all of which are now lost, at least in their
original language, for many are said to be still extant in Syriac versions. The following deserve to
be noticed: 1. Kara efieapAEpivs, in 8 books or
53 chapters, was written against the theories of
the astrologers, heretics, Bardesanes, and others.
The whole work is said to be still extant in Syriac,
and considerable Excerpta from it are preserved in
Photius. (1. c.) 2. A work against Photinus,
Malchion, Sabellius, Marcellus, and Ancyranus.
(Theodoret. de Hlaeret. Fab. ii. in fin.) 3. A work
against the Pagans and their idols (Facund. iv. 2),
which is perhaps the same as the Kara Xdv'rwtvos
rEpi eovo ical leMsrv. (Hieronym. Catal. 119.) 4.
Xpovmv I tiopOop.evov TE O cr'paAsua EV3rffIo V 5oTO
lnaepiAov revp "ri XpVo'ovw, that is, on chronolo

DIODORUS. 1015
gical errors committed by Eusebius. (Suid. s. v
Ai6oopos.) 5. Iepl rovo els eosr SEv TpLdIt, was
directed against the Arians or Eunomians, and is
said to be still extant in Syriac. 6. fipo's parTavov icrc-dcAaia. (Facund. iv. 2.) 7. Iepi rsr 'ITrrdpXou o'ealpas. This Hipparchus is the Bithynian of whom Pliny (H. N. ii. 26) speaks. 8.
HepI wrpovoias, or on Providence, is said to exist
still in Syriac. 9. Ilpos Ev(ppiov o iXoA'o(rpov,
in the form of a dialogue. (Basil. Epist. 167;
Facund. iv. 2.) 10. KaTrd MaviXaiwv, in 24 books,
of which some account is given by Photius. (Bibl.
Cod. 85; comp. Theodoret. i. in fin.) The work
is believed to be extant in Syriac. 11. Hepi T r
dylov 7rev aTros. (Phot. Bibl. Cod. 102; Leontius,
de Sectis, pp. 448.) 12. Uipds Tols vvovo'ao'rds,
a work directed against the Apollinaristae. Some
fragments of the first book are preserved in Leontius. (Bibl. 1Pair. ix. p. 704, ed. Lugdun.) This
work, which is still extant in Syriac, seems to
have been the principal cause of Diodorus being
looked upon as heretical; for the Nestorians
appealed to it in support of their tenets, and Cyrillus wrote against it. 13. A commentary on
most of the books of the Old and New Testament.
This was one of his principal works, and in his interpretation of the Scriptures he rejected the allegorical explanation, and adhered to the literal
meaning of the text. (Suidas, 1. c.; Socrat. vi. 2;
Sozomen. viii. 2; Hieronym. Catlal. 119.) The
work is frequently referred to by ecclesiastical
writers, and many fragments of it have thus been
preserved. (Cave, Hist. Lit. i. p. 217, ed. London;
Fabric. Bibl. Gr. iv. p. 380, ix. p. 277, &c.)
4. Of ASCALON, a Greek grammarian, who
wrote a work on the poet Antiphanes. (rIpl 'Am-,(pdvovs Ial Mrjs Trapc T0o's VewrrEpots parrtavs;
Athen. xiv. p. 662.)
5. Of ASPENDUS, a Pythagorean philosopher,
who probably lived after the time of Plato, and
must have been still alive in 01. 104, for he was
an acquaintance of Stratonicus, the musician, who
lived at the court of Ptolemy Lagi. Diodorus is
said to have adopted the Cynic mode of living.
(lamblich. Vit. Pythag. 36; Athen. iv. p. 163;
Bentley, Phalar. p. 62, ed. London, 1777.)
6. Surnamed CaoNus, a son of Ameinias of
lasus in Caria, lived at the court of Alexandria in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, who is said
to have given him the surname of Cronus on
account of his inability to solve at once some
dialectic problem proposed by Stilpo, when the
two philosophers were dining with the king.
Diodorus is said to have taken that disgrace so
much to heart, that after his return from the repast, and writing a treatise on the problem,
he died in despair. (Diog. Laeirt. ii. 111.) According to an account in Strabo (xiv. p. 658,
xvii. p. 838), Diodorus himself adopted the surname
of Cronus from his teacher, Apollonius Cronus.
Further particulars respecting his life are not
known. He belonged to the Megaric school of
philosophy, and was the fourth in the succession
of the heads' of that school. He was particularly
celebrated for his great dialectic skill, for which
he is called o 8 aXeicrTsIsCs, or 8iaxEicricKa'aros.
(Strab. 1. c.; Sext. Empir. adv. Gram. i. p. 310;
Plin. II. N. vii. 54.) This epithet afterwards
assumed the character of a surname, and descended even to his five daughters, who were likewise distinguished as dialecticians. Respecting