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

11010 DIOCLES.
Diocleides was put to death. (Andoc. de Myst.
pp. 6-9; Thuc. vi. 60; Phryn. ap. Plut. Ale.
20; Diod. xiii. 2.) [E. E.]
DIOCLEIDES (AtoicxlSjs), of Abdera, is
mentioned in Athenaeus (for this seems to be the
meaning of the passage) as having admirably described the famous engine called 'EAiroXAs (the
City-taker), which was made by Epimachus the
Athenian for Demetrius Poliorcetes at the siege of
Rhodes. (Ath. v. p. 206, d.; Diod. xx. 91;
Wesseling, ad loc.; Pint. Demetr. 21; Vitruv. x.
22.) [E. E.]
DI'OCLES (AtoictXs), the son of Orsilochus and
father of Crethon and Orsilochus, was a king of
Phere. (Hom. II. v. 540, &c., Od. iii. 488; Pans.
iii. 30. ~ 2.) [L. S.]
DI'OCLES (AtioKXcs), a Syracusan, celebrated
for his code of laws. No mention of his name occurs in Thucydides, but according to Diodorus he
was the proposer of the decree for putting to death
the Athenian generals Demosthenes and Nicias.
(Diod. xiii. 19.) He is called by Diodorus upon
this occasion the most eminent of the demagogues
at Syracuse, and appears to have been at this time
the leader of the popular or democratic party, in
opposition to Hermocrates. The next year (B. c.
412), if the chronology of Diodorus be correct, a
democratic revolution took place, and Diocles was
appointed with several others to frame and establish
a new code of laws. In this he took so prominent
a part, that he threw his colleagues quite into the
shade, and the code was ever after known as that
of Diodes. We know nothing of its details, but
it is praised by Diodorus for its conciseness of
style, and the care with which it distinguished
different offences and assigned to each its peculiar
penalty. The best proof of its merit is, that it
continued to be followed as a civil code not only
at Syracuse, but in many others of the Sicilian
cities, until the island was subjected to the Roman
law. (Diod. xiii. 35.)
The banishment of Hermocrates and his party
(B. c. 410; see Xen. Hell. i. 1. ~ 27) must have.
left Diodes undisputed leader of the commonwealth.
The next year he commanded the forces sent by
Syracuse and the other cities of Sicily to the relief
of Himera, besieged by Hannibal, the son of Gisco.
Ie was, however, unable to avert its fate, and
withdrew from the city, carrying off as many as
possible of the inhabitants, but in such haste that
he did not stay to bury those of his troops who
had fallen in battle. (Diod. xiii. 59-61.) This
circumstance probably gave rise to discontent at
Syracuse, which was increased when Hermocrates,
having returned to Sicily and obtained some successes against the Carthaginians, sent back the
bones of those who had perished at Himera with
the highest honours. The revulsion of feeling thus
excited led to the banishment of Diodes, B. c. 408.
(Diod. xiii. 63, 75.) It does not appear whether
he was afterwards recalled, and we are at a loss to
connect with the subsequent revolutions of Syracuse the strange story told by Diodorus, that he
stabbed himself with his own sword, to slew his
respect for one of his laws, which he had thoughtlessly infringed by coming armed into the place
of assembly. (Diod. xiii. 33.) A story almost
precisely similar is, however, told by the same
author (xii. 19) of Charondas [CHARONDAS],
which renders it at least very doubtful as regarding Diodes. Yet it is probable that he must have

DIOCLES.

died about this time, as we find no mention of his
name in the civil dissensions which led to the
elevation of Dionysius. (Hubmann, Diokles Gesetzgeber der Syrakusier, Amberg, 1842.) [E. H. B.]
DI'OCLES (AoicAhis). 1. A brave Athenian, who
lived in exile at Megara. Once in a battle he protected with his shield a youth whom he loved, but
he lost his own life in consequence. The Megarians rewarded the gallant man with the honours
of a hero, and instituted the festival of the Diocleia, which they celebrated in the spring of every
year. (Theocrit. xii. 27, &c.; Aristoph. Acharen.
774; Plut. Thies. 10; Didt. of Ant. s. v. ALhoeAiea.)
2. The name of three wealthy Sicilians who were
robbed by Verres and his satellites. (Cic. in Verr.
iii. 56, 40, v. 7, iv. 16.) [L. S.]
DI'OCLES (AoicAs), literary. 1. Of ATHENS.
See below.
2. Of CNIDUS, a Platonic philosopher, who is
mentioned as the author of Aiearpaei, from which
a fragment is quoted in Eusebius. (Praep. Evang.
xiv. p. 731.)
3. A Greek GRAMMARIAN, who wrote upon the
Homeric poems, and is mentioned in the Venetian
Scholia (adIl.xiii. 103) along with Dionysius Thrax,
Aristarchus, and Chaeris on the subject of Greek
accents. A dream of his is related by Artemidorus. (Oneir. iv. 72.)
4. Of MAGNESIA, was the author of a work
entitled icrmipoep?) rct 7 <(phoao v, and of a second
on the lives of philosophers (7repl ilYwv s lAhoA-owv),
of both of which Diogenes Laertius appears to
have made great use. (ii. 82, vi. 12, 13, 20, 36,
87, 91, 99, 103, vii. 48, 162, 166, 179, 181, ix.
61, 65, x. 12.)
5. Of PEPARETHUS, the earliest Greek historian,
who wrote about the foundation of Rome, and
whom Q. Fabius Pictor is said to have followed in a
great many points. (Plut. Rom. 3, 8; Fest. s. v.
Romam.) How long he lived before the time of
Fabius Pictor, is unknown. Whether he is the
same as the author of a work on heroes (repl
rjphywv ovveraypIa), which is mentioned by Plutarch
(Quaest. Graec. 40), and of a history of Persia
(Inop-inc), which is quoted by Josephus (Ant. Jud.
x. 11. ~ 1), is likewise uncertain, and it may be
that the last two works belong to Diodes of
Rhodes, whose work on Aetolia (Ai7hyAtCc) is
referred to by Plutarch. (De Flum. 22.)
6. Of SYBARIs, a Pythagorean philosopher
(Iamb. Vit. Pyth.. 36), who must be distinguished
from another Pythagorean, Diodes of Phlius, who
is mentioned by lamblichus (Vit. Pythag. 35) as
one of the most zealous followers of Pythagoras.
The latter Diodes was still alive in the time of
Aristoxenus (Diog. LaSrt. viii. 46), but further
particulars are not known about him. [L. S.]
DIOCLES (AzoKicAs), of Athens, or, according
to others, of Phlius, and perhaps in fact a Phliasian
by birth and an Athenian by citizenship, was a
comic poet of the old comedy, contemporary with
Sannyrion and Philyllius. (Suid. s. v.) The following plays of his are mentioned by Suidas and
Eudocia (p. 132), and are frequently quoted by the
grammarians: BoicXat, OdAhaTra, K hicWorcs (by
others ascribed to Callias), Me'AXrat. The Ovie'0-s
and "Oveipo, which are only mentioned by Suidas
and Eudocia, are suspicious titles. He seems to
have been an elegant poet. (Meineke, Frag. Com.
Graec. i. pp. 251-253, ii. pp. 838-841.) [P.S.]
DI'OCLES (AoKwc^s), a geometer of unknown