Dionysius

Also known as: Chalcus / Dionysius the tyrant · Family: Greece · Role: historian · First appears: Comparison of Alcibiades with Coriolanus

Dionysius, also known as Chalcus and Dionysius the tyrant, was the elder brother of Erginus and Diocles, and the son of Dionysius the First, who feared he might come to understand himself better. Sophrosyne was married to him, and Hiero professed to be his son. As a monarch, he was greatly desirous to study under Plato; philosophers were among his pleasures, though he later said that he had been deprived of Plato’s kindness. He recalled Philistus from banishment when enemies of Dion feared a change in him, and Heraclides, once banished, had served under his commands.

Dionysius gave Dion access to whatever money he demanded and was his friend and family member, but later accused him of conspiring with the Carthaginians and exiled him to Italy. After Dion returned, he began a war against Dionysius, and Dionysius was eventually allowed to escape, a decision criticized by the citizens. At Syracuse, his son Apollocrates surrendered the castle, ending Dionysius’s rule there.

Within fifty days of Timoleon’s landing in Sicily, Dionysius, desperate and near surrender, admired Timoleon’s valor and agreed to deliver himself and the citadel into his hands. He was sent into exile at Corinth, while Timoleon freed Sicily from its usurping tyrants and restored its liberty. Dionysius also related that Coriolanus had used unfair means to excite war, and in exile he was associated with Philip of Macedon and Diogenes of Sinope; Pharax was among those who had followed him when he was expelled from Syracuse.