DIONYSIUS

 

DIONYSIUS (Gk. Dionýsios) of Miletus, Greek historiographer, who may have lived in the 5th century B.C.E. and is said to have written a book about Persian history after the death of Darius I (cf. Suda, s.v., where five books of Events after Darius and Persiká, written in the Ionian dialect, are listed among his works). As in the only surviving historical notice, preserved in a scholium to Herodotus, there is reference to the removal of the false Smerdis, it seems probable that the fragment belongs to the introductory, “retrospective” part of Dionysius’ books and that the detailed description of Persian history began only with the death of Darius.

 

Bibliography:

Jacoby, Fragmente IIIC, pp. 410-11.

[E.] Schwartz, “Dionysios. 112,” in Pauly-Wissowa, V/1, cols. 933-34.

(RüDIGER SCHMITT)

Originally Published: December 15, 1995

Last Updated: November 28, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VII, Fasc. 4, p. 423