Dionysius

“ The disguise of the ancient god is thin indeed. His name is changed by an iota, but his character not a jot. S. Dionysius is god of the vine, and even retains his predecessor’s connexion with Naxos. It is perhaps noteworthy too that in Athens the road which skirts the south side of the Acropolis and the theatre of Dionysus is now called the street of S. Dionysius the Areopagite. I was once corrected by a Greek of average education for speaking of the theatre of Dionysus instead of ascribing it to his saintly namesake. ”

“ Thus far Dionysius. But it should be known that Eusebius, whom he calls a deacon, shortly afterward became bishop of the church of Laodicea in Syria; [35] and Maximus, of whom he speaks as being then a presbyter, succeeded Dionysius himself as bishop of Alexandria. [36] But the Faustus who was with him, and who at that time was distinguished for his confession, was preserved until the persecution in our day, [37] when being very old and full of days, he closed his life by martyrdom, being beheaded. But such are the things which happened at that time [38] to Dionysius. ”

“ He, Dionysius, had seen, with some other philosophers,
in the land of the Egyptians, where they were studying,
how the sun grew dim unto swart night
from midday to nones ( 3 p.m.) when our Lord was suffering
for mankind's redemption, and they greatly wondered thereat.
Then said Dionysius, ' This dark night betokeneth
a great light to come upon all the earth
which God Himself will verily manifest to mankind.'
He was then a young man, when that this happened,
and that light came to him through Paul's lore afterward,
even as we shall here say in this true reading. ”

“ Dionysius. What he would have done, the guess is great: he minded me to hurt,
That came so slyly to search out the secret estate of my court.
Shall I still lie in fear? no, no: I will cut off such imps betime,
Lest that to my farther danger too high they climb.
Eubulus. Yet have the mighty gods immortal fame assigned
To all worldly princes, which in mercy be inclined.
Dionysius. Let fame talk what she list, so I may live in safety.
Eubulus. The only mean to that is, to use mercy,
Dionysius. ”

“ Up to this point Dionysius has been combating the view with which the extract begins. The rest of the extract proceeds to show what amount of truth there is in it.
[247] The reference here is to Manichean views of the worst kind, i. e. that matter is not only without beginning, but the source of evil and altogether independent of God.
[248] i. e. Dionysius of Rome, to whom this treatise was addressed. This particular “other letter” does not seem to have been known to Eusebius, and when Athanasius quotes this extract in another of his treatises he omits the words “to thee.” ”

“ CHAPTER I. The romantic story of Damon and Pythias, which has been celebrated in verse and song, for over two thousand years, is supposed to have originated during the reign of Dionysius I., or Dionysius the Elder as he was also called, who resigned about 350 years B.C. He must have been called "The Elder," more for a joke than anything else, as he was by inclination a Unitarian, although he was never a member of any church whatever, and was in fact the wickedest man in all Syracuse.
Dionysius arose to the throne from the ranks, and used to call himself a self-made man. ”

“ Dionysius ruled vigorously, but with extreme tyranny, for thirty-eight years. By the year 384 he had extended his power over nearly all Sicily and a part of Magna Grecia, and under his sway Syracuse became one of the most powerful empires on earth. PLUTARCH relates that Dionysius boasted that he bequeathed to his son an empire "fastened by chains of adamant." Like Hiero, Dionysius was a lover of literature, and sought to gain distinction by his poetical compositions, some of which won prizes at Athens. He also invited Plato to his court ”

“ Such, that after prevailing with Dionysius, they caused him to drive out Dion, and threw myself into a state of terror. But, that I may bring to a close not a few events which occurred in a short time, Dion, departing from Peloponnesus and Athens, admonished Dionysius indeed. Since then (Dion) had liberated and twice restored the town to the citizens, the Syracusans were affected in the same manner towards him, as Dionysius had been, when he endeavoured by educating and bringing him up to make him thus a worthy partner of his power through the whole of life. ”

“ After this Dionysius endeavoured to hunt down Heracleides. Theodotes, however, sent messengers to him, and exhorted him to fly. But Dionysius sent Tisias and the soldiers with light shields, and ordered them to pursue him. Heracleides, however, as it is said, anticipated them, and escaped in the small part of a day into the dominions of the Carthaginians. Hereupon the old plot for his not giving up the property of Dion seemed to Dionysius to offer a plausible pretext of enmity against myself. ”

“ As soon as Dionysius heard that Dion was dead, he hastened back to Syracuse, where he ruled more cruelly than ever, and put so many people to death that the citizens rose up against him once more. With the help of a Co-rin ́thi-an army, they then freed their city, and sent Dionysius to Corinth, where he was forced to earn his living by teaching school. ”

“ It was immaterial that Dionysius found almost every week that he had been the victim of practical jokes; his belief in his own powers of captivating womankind was superior to every rebuff that he encountered. He exhibited his dapper little figure, crowned with the wig of a macaroni, to the promenaders in all the chief thoroughfares daily, and every evening he had some fresh story to tell of how he had been exerting himself to avoid an assignation that was being urged on him by a lady of quality sojourning not a hundred miles from the Castle. ”

“ It may also be mentioned that several fragments in Syriac and in Armenian are attributed to Dionysius, [34] but only three of these, in the former language, appear to be genuine: one is a translation of the letter to Novatian (p. 50) , and the two others are, whether rightly or wrongly, thought to be part of the Letter to Stephanus on Baptism, and will be found as §§ 2 and 3 of it on pp. 53 ff.
The article on Dionysius in Smith’s Dictionary of Christian Biography is by Dr. Westcott, and, though not very full, is, it is needless to say, worthy of being consulted. ”

“ This arrival brought great joy to Dionysius, and no less hopes to the Sicilians, who were earnest in their prayers and good wishes that Plato might get the better of Philistus, and philosophy triumph over tyranny. Neither was he unbefriended by the women, who studied to oblige him; and he had with Dionysius that peculiar credit which no man else ever obtained, namely, liberty to come into his presence without being examined or searched. ”

“ Once when his brother Leptines, describing the situation of some place, took a spear from one of the life-guards and with it drew a map upon the floor, Dionysius was furiously angry with him, and put to death the man who gave him the spear. He used to say that he suspected all his friends, because he knew that they were sensible men, who would prefer to be despots themselves rather than live under the rule of a despot. ”

“ While all the Syracusans were praying ardently for the death of the tyrant Dionysius, because of the harshness of his ways and the intolerable burdens, a single solitary woman of extreme old age was every morning imploring the gods to keep him safe and sound until after her own decease. ”

“ Dionysius was then obedient to his commands, and with his companions went to Frankland, preaching christianity with great miracles so effectually, that the fierce heathen, as soon as they saw him, either falling sought his feet, obeying him and God, or if any one of them was hostile, he was seized with such great fear, that he straightways fled from his presence. ”

“ Ultimately he was ransomed, and found his way back to Athens, but he is said to have paid a second visit to Sicily when the younger Dionysius became tyrant. He seems to have entertained the hope that he might so influence this young man as to be able to realise through him the dream of his life, a government in accordance with the dictates of [242] philosophy. ”

“ But we are rather surprised (till we remember that Dionysius was a settler at Rome, and that it was his interest, if not to do as the Romans did, at any rate to please them) to hear that things are improving, owing to the good sense of the governors of the Roman state, itself the governess of the world. There is some hope that this “senseless eloquence will not last for another generation.” [192] And Dionysius will do what he can to help the good work by a study of the six greatest of the old Attic orators, Lysias, Isocrates, Isæus, Demosthenes, Hyperides, Æschines. ”

“ To some moderns Dionysius may seem too attentive to mint and anise and cumin; but he would have no great difficulty in retorting equally contemptuous comparisons for the windy generalisations on one hand, and the sheer neglect of all minutiæ of form on the other, which characterise too much modern critical work.
The short “censures” of ancient writers have, perhaps, an interest of curiosity greater than their interest of value. It is |Censures and Commentaries on Orators, &c.| not improbable that they served as a pattern to Quintilian, who often suggests a knowledge of Dionysius. ”

“ For the elder Dionysius was so diffident and suspicious, and so continually on his guard against all men, that he would not so much as let his hair be trimmed with any barber's or hair-cutter's instruments, but made one of his artificers singe him with a live coal. ”

“ The intervention of Dionysius was treasured up in her memory, and, when the time came, fully exploited (supr. p. 113, note 3, where the note distinguishes somewhat too carefully between the ‘Pope’ of Rome and the ‘Bishop,’ πάπας, of Alexandria) .
The tract of Athanasius, with his extracts in de Decr. and de Syn., tell us all that we know of the history of this important controversy. Dionysius had previously (Eus. H. E. vii. 6) had some correspondence with Xystus, the previous Bishop of Rome, on the subject of the Sabellian teaching current in the Pentapolis. ”

“ There was under the castle and the Pentapyla a lofty and conspicuous sundial, which Dionysius had set up. Getting up upon the top of that, he made an oration to the people, calling upon them to maintain and defend their liberty; who, with great expressions of joy and acknowledgment, created Dion and Megacles generals, with plenary powers, joining in commission with them, at their desire and entreaty, twenty colleagues, of whom half were of those that had returned with them out of banishment. ”

“ When his barber once jokingly said that the tyrant's life was daily at his mercy, Dionysius would no longer allow the man to shave him.
Instead of the barber, Dionysius made his wife and daughter do this service for him, until, growing afraid of them also, he either did it himself or let his beard grow.
Suspicious people are never happy; and, as Dionysius thought that everybody had as evil thoughts as himself, [Pg 209] he was always expecting others to rob or murder or injure him in some way. ”

“ Dionysius was therefore feared and hated by the people whom he governed, but who would have been very glad to get rid of him. No honest man cared to come near such a bloodthirsty wretch, and there were soon none but wicked men to be found in his court. ”

“ Dionysius’ own position in the matter comes out very clearly in this epistle. He was in full sympathy with the milder treatment of the lapsed advocated in Rome and in Carthage by Cornelius and Cyprian.↑ The edict of Decius was published early in the year 250, and therefore the persecution in Alexandria, according to Dionysius, began in 249, while Philip was still emperor. Although the latter showed the Christians favor, yet it is not at all surprising that this local persecution should break out during his reign. ”

“ Dionysius was regarded by the ancients as a type of the worst kind of despot—cruel, suspicious and vindictive. Like Peisistratus, he was fond of having distinguished literary men about him, such as the historian Philistus, the poet Philoxenus, and the philosopher Plato, but treated them in a most arbitrary manner.
See Diod. Sic. xiii., xiv., xv.; J. Bass, Dionysius I. von Syrakus (Vienna, 1881) , with full references to authorities in footnotes; articles Sicily and Syracuse. ”

“ Chapter XL.—The Events which happened to Dionysius. [1]
1. I shall quote from the epistle of Dionysius to Germanus [2] an account of what befell the former. Speaking of himself, he writes as follows: “I speak before God, and he knows that I do not lie. I did not flee on my own impulse nor without divine direction.
2. But even before this, at the very hour when the Decian persecution was commanded, Sabinus [3] sent a frumentarius [4] to search for me, and I remained at home four days awaiting his arrival. ”

“ Dionysius, in his own nature, was not one of the worst kind of tyrants, but his father, fearing that if he should come to understand himself better, and converse with wise and reasonable men, he might enter into some design against him, and dispossess him of his power, kept him closely shut up at home ”

“ Dionysius. Dionysius ought to be feared.
Eubulus. Better for him to be well beloved.
Dionysius. Fortune maketh all things subject to my power.
Eubulus. Believe her not, she is a light goddess; she can laugh and low’r.
Dionysius. A king’s praise standeth in the revenging of his enemy.
Eubulus. A greater praise to win him by clemency.
Dionysius. To suffer the wicked to live it is no mercy.
Eubulus. To kill the innocent it is great cruelty.
Dionysius. Is Damon innocent, which so craftily undermined Carisophus,
To understand what he could of king Dionysius? ”