to the beginning of the first Punic war. It was divided into twenty books, of which the first nine remain entire, the tenth and eleventh are nearly complete, and the remaining books only exist in fragments. In the first three books of Appian, and in the Camillas of Plutarch, much of Dionysius has undoubtedly been embodied. As an historian he is minute and painstaking ; but his attempts to Grecianize the early history of Rome, that the Greeks might in some measure be reconciled to a foreign yoke, render his accuracy more than suspicious. Dionysius was also the author of a treatise on rhetoric, which, with his criticisms on Thucydides, Lysias, Isocrates, Isseus, Dinarchus, Plato, and Demosthenes, have been preserved. Tho best editions of his works are those of Hudson and Reiske. The rhetorical works have been edited separately,
by Gros and by Westermann.DIONYSIUS, the Areopagite, according to Suidas, was an Athenian by birth, and eminent for his literary attainments. He studied first at Athens, and afterwards at Heliopolis in Egypt. While in the latter city, he beheld that remarkable eclipse of the sun, as he terms it, which took place at the death of Christ, and exclaimed to his friend Apollophanes, 77 TO Ofiov Trctcr^ei, 77 TO) Tracr^ovrL o-u/xTracr^ft, " Either the Divinity suffers, or sympathizes with some sufferer." He further details that, after Dionysius returned to Athens, he was admitted into the Areopagus, and, having embraced Christianity about 50 A.D., was constituted bishop of Athens by the apostle Paul (Acts xvii. 34). Aristides, an Athenian philosopher, asserts that he suffered martyrdom—a fact generally admitted by historians ; but the precise period of his death, whether under Domitian, Trajan, or Adrian, is not certain. A writer in later times attempted to personate the Areopagite, and contrived to pass his productions on the Christian world as of the apostolic age, thereby greatly influencing the spirit of both the Eastern and Western Churches. These writings consist of a book called The Celestial Hierarchy ; another Of the Ecclesiastical Hier archy ; A Treatise on the Divine Names ; another Of Mystical Divinity ; and Ten Epistles. Different opinions have been held as to the real author of these productions. They were ascribed, at an early period, to Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea, in the 4th century. The resemblance between the Areopagitica and the writings of Proclus and Plotinus is so great that it is probable the Pseudo- Dionysius did not write much earlier than the 5th century. The first uncontroverted occasion on which these supposi titious writings are referred to, is in the conference between the Severians (a sect of Eutychians) and the Catholics, held in the emperor Justinian s palace, 532 A.D., in which they are quoted by the heretical party.
DIONYSIUS, surnamed Periegetes, from his being the author of a 7^/31777770-15 TT}S 777?, containing a description of the whole earth in hexameter verse, and written in a terse and elegant style. This work enjoyed a high degree of popularity in ancient times, and two translations or paraphrases of it were made by the Romans, one by Rufus Festus Avienus, and the other by the grammarian Priscian. The best edition of the original is that by Bernhardy (Leipsic, 1828). Great differences of opinion have been entertained as to the age and country of this Dionysius. All, however, are agreed in placing him in the time of the Roman emperors, and it seems highly probable that he flourished in the latter part of the 3d or the beginning of the 4th century. Eustathius says that he was by descent a Libyan.
DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS, one of the most learned men of the 6th century, and especially distinguished as a chronologist, was, according to the statement of his friend Cassiodorus, a Scythian by birth, " Scytha natione." This may mean only that he was a native of the region border ing pn the Black Sea, and does not necessarily imply that he was not of Greek origin. Such origin is indicated by his name and by his thorough familiarity with the Greek language. His surname " Exiguus " is usually translated "the Little," and is supposed to refer to his stature; but it appears to be at least as probable that his known humility led him to assume the designation. He was living at Rome in the first half of the 6th century, and is usually spoken of as abbot of a Roman monastery. Cassiodorus, however, calls him simply " monk," while Bede calls him "abbot." But as it was not unusual to apply the latter term to distinguished monks who were not heads of their houses, it is uncertain whether Dionysius was abbot in fact or only by courtesy. He was in high repute as a learned theologian, was profoundly versed in the Holy Scriptures and in canon law, and was also an accomplished mathematician and astronomer. We owe to him a collection of ecclesiastical canons, comprising the apostolical canons and the decrees of the councils of Nicæa, Constantinople, Chalcedon, and Sardis, and also a collection of the decretals of the Roman pontiffs from Siricius to Anastasius II. These collections were published by Justel in 1628. Dionysius did good service to his contemporaries by his translations of many Greek works into Latin ; and by these translations some works, the originals of which have perished, have been handed down to us. His name, however, is now perhaps chiefly remembered for his chronological labours. It was Dionysius who introduced the method of reckoning the Christian era which we now use. (See Chronology.) His friend Cassiodorus depicts in glowing terms the character of Dionysius as a saintly ascetic, and praises his wisdom and simplicity, his accomplishments and his lowly-mindedness, his power of eloquent speech and his capacity of silence. He died at Rome, probably about the year 545.
of the vine; and in the myths concerning him it is clear that the effects of wine and the spread of vine growing have both been kept in view. No sooner had the god grown up than he started on distant expeditions to teach men to cultivate the vine, and on these occasions his followers were known for their ecstatic ceremonies. It would seem also as if the story of his birth was only a mythical representation of the growth and ripening of the grape. Thebes in Boeotia was originally the local centre of his worship in Greece ; and he was a son of Semele, a daughter of Cadmus, the king of Thebes, his father being Zeus, who among other divine functions exercised also that of god of the fertilizing spring showers. Before the child was mature, Zeus appeared to Semele at her request in his majesty as god of lightning, by which she was killed, but the infant was saved from the same fate by cool ivy which grew up suddenly around him. Zeus took him up, inclosed him within his own thigh till he came to maturity, and then brought him to the light, so that he was twice born ; and it was to celebrate this double birth that the dithyrambus was sung. He was now con veyed by Hermes to be brought up by the nymphs of Nysa, from which place it is probable his name Dio-nysus, or " god of Nysa," is derived ; but among the many places of this name claiming to have been the true one it is impossible to decide. In his journeys to teach the cultiva tion of the vine he met with opposition in some cases, as in that of Lycurgus, a Thracian king, from whose attack Dionysus saved himself by leaping into the sea, where he was kindly received by Thetis. Lycurgus was blinded by Zeus and soon died, or, according to another story, became frantic and hewed down his own son, mistaking him for a
vine; while in a third story Ambrosia, who was changed