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

DIONYSI US.
which others say 33 years. (Diod. xvi. 88, xx.
70; Athen. xii. p. 549; Aelian, V. H. ix. 13;
Memnon, ap. Phot. Cod. 224.) [L. S.]
DIONY'SIUS (Aiovviosos) the Elder, tyrant
of SYRACUSE, must have been born in B. c. 431 or
430, as we are told that he was twenty-five years
old when he first obtained the sovereignty of Syracuse. (Cic. Tusc. v. 20.) We know nothing of
his family, but that his'father's name was Hermocrates, and that he was born in a private but not
low station, so that he received an excellent education, and began life in the capacity of a clerk in
a public office. (Cic. Tusc. v. 20, 22; Diod. xiii.
91, 96, xiv. 66; Isocr. Philip. ~ 73; Dem. c. Lept.
~ 141, p. 506; Polyaen. Strateg. v. 2. ~ 2.) He
appears to have early taken part in the political
dissensions which agitated Syracuse after the destruction of the great Athenian armament, and having joined in the attempt of Hermocrates, the
leader of the aristocratical party, to effect by force
his restoration from exile, was so severely wounded
as to be left for dead upon the spot. (Diod. xiii.
75.) We next hear of him as serving with distinction in the great war against the Carthaginians,
who had invaded Sicily under Hannibal, the son
of Gisco, and successively reduced and destroyed
Selinus, Himera, and Agrigentum. These disasters, and especially the failure of the Syracusan
general, Daphnaeus, to relieve Agrigentum, had
created a general spirit of discontent and alarm,
both at Syracuse and among the allies, of which
Dionysius skilfully availed himself. He came forward in the popular assembly as the accuser of the
unsuccessful commanders, and, being supported by
Philistus, the historian, and Hipparinus, men of
wealth and influence, he succeeded in procuring a
decree for deposing the existing generals, and appointing others in their stead, among whom was
Dionysius himself. (Diod. xiii. 91, 92; Aristot.
Polit. v. 5, 6.) His efforts seem from this time to
have been directed towards supplanting his new
colleagues and obtaining the sole direction of affairs. He persuaded the Syracusans to recall the
exiles, most of whom were probably partizans of
Hermocrates, and would readily admit him as their
leader, and secretly accused his colleagues in the
command of holding intelligence with the enemy.
Being soon after sent to Gela with the separate
command of a body of auxiliaries, he there carried
on similar intrigues, and when he thought that he
had sufficiently secured to himself the favour both
of the people of Gela and of his own troops, he
returned abruptly to Syracuse, and brought before
the assembled people distinct charges of corruption;and treachery against his brother generals. These
found ready belief, and it was determined to depose
all the others and appoint Dionysius sole general,
with full powers. (Diod. xiii. 92-94.) This
was in the spring of the year B. c. 405, the first
appointment of Dionysius as one of the generals
having been in Dec. 406. Comp. Clinton, F. H. ii.
p. 82d Diod. 1. c.; Dionys. vii. 1.) According to
Plutarch, indeed, Hipparinus, who is represented
by Aristotle (Polit. v. 6) as lending his aid to procure the elevation of Dionysius, was at first appointed his colleague in the chief command (Plut.
Dion, 3); but, if this be not a mistake, his authority could have been little more than nominal, as
lie plays no part in the subsequent transactions.
The position of general autocrator by no means
implied in itself the exercise of sovereign power, but

DIONYSIUS. 1033
the measures of Dionysius soon rendered it such;
and we may date from this period the commencement
of his reign, or tyranny, which continued without
interruption for 38 years. His first step was to procure, on the ground of an attempt on his life, whether
real or pretended, the appointment of a body-guard,
which he speedily increased to the number of 1000
men: at the same time he induced the Syracusans
to double the pay of all the troops, and took every
means to ingratiate himself with the mercenaries,
taking care to replace those officers who were unfavourable to him by creatures of his own. By his
marriage with the daughter of Hermocrates he
secured to himself the support of all the remaining
partizans of that leader, and he now found himself
strong enough to procure the condemnation and
execution of Daphnaeus and Demarchus, the heads
of the opposite party. (Diod. xiii. 95, 96.)
His first operations in the war against the Carthaginians were, however, unsuccessful. Having
advanced with a large army to the relief of Gela,
then besieged by Himilco, he was defeated, and
deemed it prudent to retire, taking with him the
inhabitants both of Gela itself and the neighbouring Camarina. This reverse gave a severe shock
to his popularity, of which his enemies at Syracuse
availed themselves to attempt to overthrow his
power. 'For a moment they were masters of the
city, but Dionysius disconcerted their plans by the
suddenness of his return, and compelled them to
quit the city, though not until his unfortunate wife
had fallen a victim to their cruelty. (Diod. xiii.
108-113, xiv. 44; Plut. Dion, 3.) He soon afterwards gladly accepted the overtures of the Carthaginian general Himilco, whose army had suffered
greatly from a pestilence, and concluded peace with
Carthage B. c. 405. (Diod. xiii. 114.)
He was now able to devote his whole attention
to strengthening and consolidating his power at
home. He converted the island of Ortygia into a
strong fortress, in which he took up his own residence, and allowed no one but his own immediate
dependents to dwell; and while he courted the
favour of the populace by assigning them lands and
houses, he augmented their numbers by admitting
many aliens and newly-freed slaves to the rights of
citizenship. These measures naturally gave umbrage to the higher class of citizens who formed
the heavy-armed infantry, and they took advantage
of an expedition on which he led them against the
Sicelians to break out into open revolt. They were
instantly joined by the exiles who had established
themselves at Aetna, and Dionysius was compelled
to take refuge in the island which he had so recently fortified. From this danger, however, he
managed to extricate himself by the aid of a body
of Campanian mercenaries, seconded by the dissensions which broke out among his enemies. Some
of these submitted to him on favourable terms; the
rest retired to Aetna. (Diod. xiv. 7-9.) From
this time his authority at Syracuse appears to have
been undisputed. H-e soon after took advantage
of the harvest time to disarm those citizens whom
he had still cause to fear, and reduced the fortress
of Aetna, which had been the stronghold of the
exiles disaffected to his government. (Ib. cc. 10,
14.)
His arms were next directed against the Chalcidian cities of Sicily. Naxos, Catana, and Leontini, successively fell into his power, either by
force or treachery. The inhabitants were either