Dionysius the Younger or
Dionysius II (ca. 397 BC – 343 BC) ruled
SyracuseSyracuse is a historic city in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is famous for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture and association to Archimedes, playing an important role in ancient times as one of the top powers of the Mediterranean world;...
,
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
He was the son of
Dionysius the ElderDionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies...
. When his father died in 367 BC, Dionysius assumed rule under supervision of his uncle, the philosopher
DionDion , tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, was the son of Hipparinus, and brother-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse.-Family:Dion was the son of the Syracusan statesman Hipparinus, who had assisted the despot Dionysius I, in the Syracusan army. Hipparinus' other children were Megacles and Aristomache...
. Dion's disapproval of the young Dionysius' lavishly dissolute lifestyle compelled him to invite his teacher
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
to visit Syracuse.
Dionysius the Younger or
Dionysius II (ca. 397 BC – 343 BC) ruled
SyracuseSyracuse is a historic city in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is famous for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture and association to Archimedes, playing an important role in ancient times as one of the top powers of the Mediterranean world;...
,
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.
He was the son of
Dionysius the ElderDionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies...
. When his father died in 367 BC, Dionysius assumed rule under supervision of his uncle, the philosopher
DionDion , tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, was the son of Hipparinus, and brother-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse.-Family:Dion was the son of the Syracusan statesman Hipparinus, who had assisted the despot Dionysius I, in the Syracusan army. Hipparinus' other children were Megacles and Aristomache...
. Dion's disapproval of the young Dionysius' lavishly dissolute lifestyle compelled him to invite his teacher
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
to visit Syracuse. Together they attempted to restructure the government as more moderate, with Dionysius as the archetypal philosopher-king (see the
Seventh Letter of
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
).
Angered by the philosophers' attempt, Dionysius conspired with the historian
PhilistusPhilistus, son of Archomenidas, was Greek historian of Sicily. Philistus was born at Syracuse about the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. He was a faithful supporter of the elder Dionysius, and commander of the citadel. Cicero who had a high opinion of his work, calls him the miniature Thucydides...
and banished his uncle, taking complete rule in 366 BC. Without Dion, Dionysius' rule became increasingly unpopular, as he was mostly incompetent in governing men and commanding soldiers. When Plato appealed for Dion's return, the irritated Dionysius interfered with Dion's property and finances and gave his wife to another man. Before this, Dion had lived comfortably and unmolested in
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, but Dionysius' last offence spurred him into action.
Dion formed a small army at Zacynthus, and returned to Sicily in 357 BC, much to the delight of the Syracusans. As Dionysius was in
CauloniaCaulonia is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 60 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 120 km northeast of Reggio Calabria...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
at the time, Dion easily took all but Syracuse's island citadel. Dionysius sailed back to Syracuse immediately, and upon his return he attempted attacks from the citadel and tried to negotiate peace treaties. When he was unsuccessful in all attempts, he sailed away to
LocriLocri is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. The name derives from the ancient Greek "Locris" .-History:...
, Italy and left the citadel in the hands of his son
ApollocratesApollocrates was the son of Dionysius II of Syracuse.Two years after Dion and Heraclides conquered Syracuse in 357 BC, Dion maintained control of the fortress of Ortygia...
.
In exile, Dionysius took advantage of the friendly citizens of Locri and became the city's tyrant, treating the locals with great cruelty. He did not return to Syracuse until 346 BC, eight years after Dion's assassination. Soon after he left Locri, the locals drove out the remaining troops and took their revenge on Dionysius' wife and daughters. Dionysius was able to regain power in Syracuse due only to its great political instability, as he was still very unpopular among the Syracusans. In the preceding several years, many other cities on Sicily had split from Syracuse to become ruled by more localized tyrants. Several of these cities joined the Syracusans in an attack against Dionysius, which proved to be quite successful and Dionysius was forced back into the citadel. At this time, 344 BC,
TimoleonTimoleon , son of Timodemus, of Corinth was a Greek statesman and general.As the champion of Greece against Carthage he is closely connected with the history of Sicily, especially Syracuse.-Early Life:...
arrived and began his invasion of Sicily. Dionysius, out of respect for Timoleon and quite aware he no longer had a chance at victory, arranged the surrender of the citadel and was given safe passage to
CorinthCorinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of...
,
GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
. For the next year until his death, Dionysius lived privately in Corinth in an increasingly miserable state.
In popular culture
Dionysius is one of the central characters in the legend of the Sword of Damocles.
Dionysius also appears in Dante's Inferno, in which he is referred to as "Dionysius of Sicily" in Canto 12. He is among the many souls named by Chiron that boil in blood for violence against others.