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

1054

DIOTIMA.

Dict. of Ant. s. v.), and afterwards, when one king
only took the field, he took with him only one of
those symbols. (Herod. v. 75.) Sepulchral monuments of Castor existed in the temple of the Dioscuri near Therapne (Pind. Nem. x. 56; Paus. iii.
20. ~ 1), at Sparta (Paus. iii. 13. ~ 1; Cic. de Nat.
Deor. iii. 5.), and at Argos. (Plut. Quaest. Gr. 23.)
Temples and statues of the Dioscuri were very nunierous in Greece, though more particularly in Peloponnesus. Respecting their festivals, see Diet. of
Ant. s. vv. 'AvaiKEr, AlorIoUpia. Their usual representation in works of art is that of two youthful
horsemen with egg-shaped hats, or helmets, crowned
with stars, and with spears in their hands. (Paus.
iii. 18. ~ 8, v. 19. ~ 1; Catull. 37. 2; Val. Flace.
v. 367.)
At Rome, the worship of the Dioscuri or Castores
was introduced at an early time. They were believed to have assisted the Romans against the
Latins in the battle of Lake Regillus; and the dictator, A. Postumius Albus, during the battle, vowed
a temple to them. It was erected in the Forum, on
the spot where they had been seen after the battle,
opposite the temple of Vesta. It was consecrated
on the 15th of July, the anniversary day of the
battle of Regillus. (Dionys. vi. 13; Liv. ii. 20, 42.)
Subsequently, two other temples of the Dioscuri
were built, one in the Circus Maximus, and the
other in the Circus Flaminius. (Vitruv. iv. 7; P.
Vict. Reg. Urb. xi.) From that time the equites
regarded the Castores as their patrons, and after the
year B. c. 305, the equites went every year, on the
15th of July, in a magnificent procession on horseback, from the temple of Mars through the main
streets of the city, across the Forum, and by the
ancient temple of the Dioscuri. In this procession
the equites were adorned with olive wreaths and
dressed in the trabea, and a grand sacrifice was
offered to the twin gods by the most illustrious persons of the equestrian order. (Dionys. 1. c.; Liv. ix.
46; Val. Max. ii. 2. ~ 9; Aurel. Vict. de Vir.
illustr. 32.) [L. S.]
DIOSCU'RIDES or DIOSCO'RIDES (Atorcovpilns). 1. Of Samos, the maker of two mosaic
pavements found at Pompeii, in the so-called villa
of Cicero. They both represent comic scenes, and
are inscribed with the artist's name,
AIOIKOTPIAH2 AMIO2 EIOIH2UE.
They are entirely of glass, and are among the most
beautiful of ancient mosaics. They are fully described by Winckelmann. (GeschMicte d. Kunst, bk.
vii. c. 4. ~ 18, bk. xii. c. 1. ~~ 9-11, Narclricht. v.
d. neuest. IHercul. Entdeck. ~ 54, 55.) A woodcut of one of them is given in the Useful Knowledge Society's " Pompeii," ii. p. 41. (See also
Alus. Borbon. iv. 34.)
2. An engraver of gems in the time of Augustus,
engraved a gem with the likeness of Augustus,
which was used by that emperor and his successors
as their ordinary signet. (Plin. xxxvii. 1, s. 4;
Suet. Oct. 50.) In these passages most of the
editions give Dioscorides; but the true reading,
which is preserved in some MSS., is confirmed by
existing gems bearing the name AIO.KOTPIAOT.
There are several of these gems, but only six are
considered genuine. (Meyer's note on Winckelmann, Geschichte d. Ksunst, bk. xi. c. 2. ~ 8.) [P.S.]
DIOTI'MA (Atori(a), a priestess of Mantineia,
and the reputed instructor of Socrates. Plato, in
his Symposium (p.201, d.), introduces her opinions
on the nature, origin, and objects of life, which in

DIOTIMUS.
fact form the nucleus of that dialogue. Some critics believe, that the whole story of Diotima is a
mere fiction of Plato's, while others are inclined to
see in it at least some historical foundation, and to
regard her as an historical personage. Later Greek
writers call her a priestess of the Lycaean Zeus,
and state, that she was a Pythagorean philosopher
who resided for some time at Athens. (Lucian,
Eunuch. 7, Imag. 18; Max. Tyr. Dissert. 8;
comp. Hermann, Gesch. u. System. d. Plat. Philos.
i. p. 523, note 591; Ast, Leben u. /ScJriften Platos,
p. 313.) [L. S.]
DIOTI'MUS (AitrTIos). 1. A grammarian of Adramyttium in Mysia, exercised the profession of a
teacher at Gargara in the Troad-a hard lot, which
Aratus, who appears to have been contemporary
with him, bemoans in an extant epigram. He is
probably the same whose voluminous common-place
book (7ravTomaird dva-yvc'euara) is quoted by Stephanus of Byzantium (s.v. HIaecraapydSai). Schneider would refer to him the epigrams under the
name of Diotimus in the Anthology. See below.
(Anthol. i. p. 253; Jacobs, ad loc.; Macrob. Sat.
v. 20; Steph. Byz. s. v. Fdpyapa; Fabric. Bibl.
Graec. vol. iii. p. 561, iv. p. 473.)
2. An Athenian, who wrote a history of Alexander the Great. The period at which he lived is
not known. He is quoted, together with Aristus
of Salamis, by Athenaeus (x. p. 436, e.).
3. The author of a Greek poem, called 'HpamcXAEa,
in hexameter verse, on the labours of Hercules.
Three verses of it are preserved by Suidas (s. v.
Evp'Vgareos), and by Michael Apostolius, the Byzantine, in his collection of proverbs. (Jacobs, Anthol. vol. xiii. p. 888; see Athen. xiii. p. 603, d.)
4. Of Olympia, an author or collector of riddles
(7p<IPot), is mentioned by one of the interlocutors
in the I/)eipnosospuistee of Athenaeus (x. p. 448, c.)
as 6 E7rapos sc,u1cv, and lived therefore at the beginnling of the third century of our era.
5. A Stoic philosopher, who is said to have
accused Epicurus of profligacy, and to have forged
fifty letters, professing to have been written by
Epicurus, to prove it. (Diog. Lahrt. x. 3;
Menag. ad loc.) According to Athenaeus, who
is evidently alluding to the same story in a passage where AiroiiAos apparently should be substituted for OEdisgos, he was convicted of the
forgery, at the suit of Zeno the Epicurean, and
put to death. (Ath. xiii. p. 611, b.) We learn
from Clement of Alexandria (Strom. ii. 21), that
he considered happiness or well-being (eecro-r) to
consist, not in any one good, but in the perfect
accumulation of blessings (riavreAetdea eTiv d-ya6wv),
which looks like a departure from strict Stoicism
to the more sober view of Aristotle. (Eth. Nicosm.
i. 7, 8.) [E. E.]
DIOTI'MUS (ALTripAos). Under this name there
are several epigrams in the Greek Anthology
(Brunck, Anal. i. 250; Jacobs, i. 183), which
seem, however, to be the productions of different
authors, for the first epigram is entitled Aioriuov
MiXstiov, and the eighth AioelTov 'A6qm'vaiov r70U
Aiorei60ovs. This latter person would seem to be
the same as the Athenian orator, Diotimus, who
was one of the ten orators given up to Antipater.
(Suid. s. v. 'AvriTrarpos; Pseudo-Plut. Vit. X Orat.
p. 845, a.) How many of the epigrams belong to
this Diotimus, and to whom the rest ought to be
assigned, is quite uncertain. Schneider refers them
to thle grammarian Diotimus, of Adranmyttiums