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

DION.
conducted himself on all occasions as an upright
and virtuous man. The accession of Septimius
Severus raised great hopes in Dion of being further
promoted; but these hopes were not realized, notwithstanding the favour which Severus shewed him
in the beginning of his reign. Soon after the accession of Severus, Dion wrote a work on the dreams
and prodigies which had announced the elevation
of this emperor, and which he presented to Severus,
who thanked him for it in a long epistle. The
night after he had received this epistle, Dion was
called upon in a dream to write the history of his
own time, which induced him to work out the materials he had already collected for a history of
Commodus. A similar dream or vision afterwards
led him to write the history of Septimius Severus
and Caracalla. When the history of Commodus
was completed, Dion read it to the emperor, who
received it with so much approbation, that Dion
was encouraged to write a history of Rome from
the earliest times, and to insert in it what he had
already written about the reign of Commodus.
The next ten years, therefore, were spent in making the preparatory studies and collecting materials,
and twelve years more, during the greater part of
which he lived in quiet retirement at Capua, were
employed in composing the work. It was his intention to carry the history as far down as possible, and
to add an account of the reigns of the emperors succeeding Severus, so far as he might witness them.
Reimarus conceives that Dion began collecting his
materials in A. D. 201, and that after the death of
Severus, in A. D. 211, he commenced the composition of his work, which would thus have been
completed in A. D. 222.
The reason why Severus did not promote Dion
is probably owing to the emperor's change of opinion respecting Commodus; for, during the latter
part of his reign, he admired Commodus as much
as he had before detested him; and what Dion had
written about him could not be satisfactory to an
admirer of the tyrant. Dion thus remained in
Italy for many years, without any new dignity
being conferred upon him. In the reign of Caracalla it became customary for a select number of
senators to accompany the emperor in his expeditions and travels, and Dion was one of them.
He bitterly complains of having been compelled in consequence to spend immense sums of
money, and not only to witness the tyrant's disgraceful conduct, but to some extent to be an
accomplice in it. In the company of the emperor,
Dion thus visited Nicomedeia; but he does not
appear to have gone any further; for of the
subsequent events in Asia and Egypt he does not
speak as an eye-witness, but only appeals to reports. Macrinus, however, appears to have again
called him to Asia, and to have entrusted to him
the administration of the free cities of Pergamus
and Smyrna, which had shortly befdre revolted.
Dion went to this post about A. D. 218, and seems
to have remained there for about three years, on
account of the various points which had to be settled. At the expiration of his-office, however, he
did not return to Rome, but went to Nicaea in
Bithynia. On his arrival there he was taken ill,
but notwithstanding was raised, during his absence, to the consulship, either A. D. 219 or 220.
After this he obtained the proconsulship of Africa,
which, however, cannot have been earlier than
A D. 224. After his return to Italy, he was sent,

DION. 1029
in A. D. 226, as legate to Dalmatia, and the year
after to Pannonia. In the latter province lie restored strict discipline among the troops; and on his
return to Rome, the praetorians began to fear lest
he should use his influence for the purpose of interfering with their conduct likewise, and in order to
prevent this, they demanded of the emperor Alexander Severus to put him to death. But the emperor not only disregarded their clamour, but raised
Dion, A. D. 229, to his second consulship, in which
Alexander himself was his colleague. Alexander
also conferred other distinctions upon him, and
undertook out of his own purse to defray the expenses which the dignity of consul demanded of
Dion. However, as Dion could not feel safe at
Rome under these circumstances, the emperor requested him to take up his residence somewhere in
Italy at a distance from the city. After the expiration of his consulship, Dion returned to Rome, and
spent some time with the emperor in Campania;
but he appears at length to have become tired of
the precarious life at Rome, and under the pretext
of suffering from a bad foot, he asked and obtained
permission to return to his native place, and there
to spend the remainder of his life in quiet retirement. At Nicaea Dion completed his history, and
there he also died. The time of his death is unknown. Respecting his family nothing is recorded,
except that in two passages he just mentions his
wife and children; and it may be that the Dion
Cassius whom we find consul in A. D. 291 was a
grandson of our historian. The account we have
here given of the life of Dion Cassius is derived
from scattered passages of his own work, and from
a short article in Suidas.
The following list contains the works which are
attributed by the ancients to Dion Cassius: 1. The
work on dreams and prodigies, which we mentioned above, is lost. Dion had probably written
it only to please the emperor, and he seems afterwards to have regretted its publication; for, although he is otherwise rather credulous and fond
of relating prodigies, yet in his history he mentions
those which have reference to Septimius Severus
only very cursorily. 2. The history of the reign of
Commodus, which he afterwards incorporated in
his history of Rome. 3. On the reign of the emperor Trajan. This work is mentioned only by
Suidas; and, if it really was a distinct work,
the substance of it was incorporated in his Roman
history. 4. A history of Persia is likewise mentioned only by Suidas, but is probably a mistake,
and Suidas confounds Dion with Deinon, who is
known to have written a work on Persia. 5. 'E4dSia, that is, Itineraries, is mentioned by Suidas;
but it is very doubtful whether it was a work of
Dion Cassius, or of his grandfather, Dion Chrysostomus, whose extensive travels may have led him
to write such a work. 6. A life of Arrian is
altogether unknown, except through the mention
of Suidas. 7. Getica is attributed to Dion Cassius
by Suidas, Jornandes, and Freculphus; while
from Philostratus ( Vit. Soph. i. 7) we might infer,
that Dion Chrysostomus was its author. 8. The
History of Rome ('Pwteascr lcr ropia), the great
work of Dion Cassius, consisted of 80 books, and
was further divided into decads, like Livy's Roman
history. It embraced the whole history of Rome
from the earliest times, that is, from the landing of
Aeneas in Italy down to A. D. 229, the year in
which Dion quitted Italy and returned to Nicaea.