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

448'HESYCHIUS. IIESYCHIUS.
conjectural emendation, according to which the two earlier years of Justinian I., who reigned A. nf
titles belong to one and the same work,'OYolaTro- 527-566. This work, which was discontinued
Adyos I rIlva,, K. r. A., which he supposes Suidas through domestic affliction, is lost. It was appato have described as an epitome of Diogenes rently intended as a continuation of the foregoing,
Lairtius, De Viiis Philosophorum. The work is in and as the work of a contemporary whose high office
its general character similar to that of Diogenes; (for the title "Illustris" was given to the highest
and though a good deal shorter, comprehends much officers, the praefecti praetorio, praefecti urbi, &c.)
of the same matter. But the differences are too must have implied political knowledge, and have
great to allow one to be regarded as the epitomne of procured access to the best sources of information,
the other. As the ecclesiastical writers are avow- it was probably the most valuable part. Photius
edly omitted by Hesychius, the opinion has been characterizes the historical style of Hesychius as
entertained that he was a pagan; but:his belief in concise, his language well chosen and expressive,
Christianity has been satisfactorily shown by his sentences well constructed and arranged, and
several writers, especially by Thorschmidius in a his figures as striking and appropriate. Hesychius
dissertation on the subject, reprinted by Orellius in of Miletus has sometimes been confounded with
his Ilesychii Opuscula. The work of Hesychius was Hesychius of Alexandria, the author of the Lexifirst published with a Latin version by Hadrianus con. (Phot. Bibl. Codd. 69; Constant. Porphyrog.
Junius, 8vo. Antwerp, 1572, and has been reprinted De Thlemat. lib. i. th. 2, lib. ii. th. 8; Suidas, s. v.
several times. For a long time the standard edition'HoVX LoS MIA5oos; Tzetzes, Clil. iii. 877; the
was that of Meursius, in his Hesychii Opuscula, notes of Meursius in his Hesychii Opuscula; Cave,
8vo. Leyden, 1613, reprinted in the seventh Historia Litt. vol. i. p. 518; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol.
vol. of the Opera Meursii, fol. Florence. 1741, &c. vii. pp. 446, 544; Thorschmidius, De Hesychio
A late edition of the Opuscula Hesychzi, that of Milesio Illustri Christiano Commentatio, ap. OrelJoan. Conrad. Orellius of Zurich, 8vo. Leipzig, lium, Hesychii Opera.)
1820, contains much valuable illustrative matter, 10. Of SYRIA, a monk, apparently of one of the
especially the dissertation of Thorschmidius above monasteries near Antioch, whose remarkable dream,
mentioned. 2. fidTpla. KwvoravarLvov7ro'Xeos, Res regarded as prophetic of the fortunes of his contemPatriae Con tantinopolitanae. It is probable that porary Chrysostom, is recorded by Photius. (Bibl.
this work is a fragment of that next mentioned. Cod. 96.)
A considerable part of it is incorporated, word for 11. TACHYGRAPHUS (6'raXtrypd'qoT). Codinus
word, in the IIepl 6,v nIlaoplC' KwvevTavTLvv7rd- cites an author by this name in his Isep rcTv MIaAecss, De Originibus Constantinopolitanis of Codinus T'picev Kwcr'avTLvovsrd'AeXs (p. 9, ed. Paris). Fa[CODINUS], which was first printed in A.D. 1596, by bricius supposes him to be the same with Hesychius
George Dousa; but the work (or fragment) of He- of Miletus (No. 9), but this cannot be, as Codinns
sychius with the author's name, was first published speaks of Hesychius Tachygraphus as a contempobyMeursius in his HesychiiOpuscula, noticed above, rary with Constantine the Great. The Tachyand was.reprinted in the Florentine edition of the graphi, as the name indicates,were writers employed
works of Meursius, and in the Opuscula Hesychii where speed rather than beauty was required, and
of Orellius. 3. A work described by Photius as were distinguished by the use of abbreviations and
BIA[tov irTopIKcV CZS ev eUVy eL KOoC'KCS i'ropias, other compendious methods. (Fabr. Bibl. Cr. vol.
a synoptical view of universal history, and by vii. p. 552.)
Suidas as XpovK4'rTS'Icr'ropia, and by Constantine Various other Hesychii are noticed by Fabricius
Porphyrogenitus as XpovcKa. It is described by and by Thorschmidius in the Coamnaentatio de HePhotius as divided into six parts ('riz5ia'a), or, as sych. Mileto Illustri Christ. referred to in the course
the writer himself called them, 8aoTrlMcara, by of this article. [J. C. M.]
which term they were commonly quoted, e. g. e, Trj HESY'CHIUS ('HovuXlos), an Alexandrian'.(sive s') air'tae 7ua'rts icr'aopias. (See Charles grammarian, under whose name a large Greek dicLabbe's Veteres Glossae Verborum Juris quaepassimA tionary has come down to us. Respecting his perin Basilicis reperiuntur, s. vv. fIaXlaa'rTos KeOoto's sonal history absolutely nothing is known. The
(Palmatiis equis), o'Ats.) The whole history com- dictionary is preceded by a letter addressed by
prehended a periodof 1920 years,and extended from Hesychius to a friend Eulogius, who is as little
the reign of Belus, the reputed founder of the As- known as Hesychius himself. In this prefatory
syrian empire, to the death of the Byzantine em- letter the author explains the plan and arrangement
peror, Anastasius I., A. D. 518: according to Pho- of his work, and tells us that his compilation is
tius, it was thus distributed among the six parts:- based upon a comprehensive lexicon of Diogenia(1) Before the Trojan war. (2) From the taking of nus, but that he also availed himself of the lexicoTroy to the foundation of Rome. (3) From the graphical works of Aristarchus, Apion, Heliodorus,
foundation of Rome to the abolition of kingly and others, and that he devoted himself to his task
power and the establishment of the consulship in with great care and diligence. Valckenaer was the
the 68th Olympiad. (4) From the establishment of first that raised doubts respecting the genuineness
the consulship in the 68th, to the sole power (uov- of this letter in his Scihediasma de Epistola ad EuapXia) of Julius Caesar in the 182d Olympiad. logium (in Ursinus, Virgil. Collat. p. 150, &c.), and
(5) From the sole power of Julius Caesar till By- he conceived that it was the production of some
zantium (Constantinople) was raised to greatness, later Greek, who fabricated it with a view to dein the 277th Olympiad. (6) From the settlement, ceive the public and make them believe that the
of Constantine at Byzantium to the death of Anas- dictionary was his own work; but Valckenaer at
tasius in the 11th year of the indiction. -The the same time admits that the groundwork of the
HdT'pza Kcvoav',vowrdhAsCs, published by Meur- lexicon is a genuine ancient production, and only
sius, appears to be the earlier part of the sixth disfigured by a number of later interpolations. But
book. 4. A book recording the transactions of the a close examination of the prefatory epistle does not
reigri of Justin I. (A. D. 518-527), and the bring forth ally thing which is at variance with the