Philistus

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Philistus

Philistus, (c. 432 BC - 356 BC) son of Archomenidas, was Greek historian of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
. Philistus was born at Syracuse

Syracuse, Italy

Syracuse is a historic city in southern Italy, the Capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is noted 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; it is over 2,700 years old....
about the beginning of the Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War which lasted from 431-404BC was an Ancient Greece military conflict, fought by Athens and its Athenian empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta....
. He was a faithful supporter of the elder Dionysius

Dionysius I of Syracuse

Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder , tyrant of Syracuse, Italy, conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Ancient Greece colonies....
, and commander of the citadel. Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Ancient Rome philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Constitution of the Roman Republic. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest rhetoric and prose stylists....
who had a high opinion of his work, calls him the miniature Thucydides

Thucydides

Thucydides was a Greeks history and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C....
(pusillus Thucydides). He was admitted by the Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
n critics into the canon of historiographers, and his work was highly valued by Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

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Philistus, (c. 432 BC - 356 BC) son of Archomenidas, was Greek historian of Sicily

Sicily

Syracuse, Italy

Peloponnesian War

Dionysius I of Syracuse

Cicero

Thucydides

Alexandria

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
.

Philistus was quite wealthy. Before his rise to power, Dionysius criticized the generals of Syracuse in their poor performance against the Carthagenians. When the assembly fined Dionysius for his seditious language, Philistus stepped in to pay Dionysius' fines, with the promise to continue paying for them so long as the council sought fit to issue them. It was through Philistus' support that Dionysius was able to rise to power and control Syracuse.

In 386, Philistus married the daughter of Leptines I

Leptines I

Leptines I , son of Hermocritus II, was a general of Syracuse, Italy against the Carthaginians. Leptines' older brother was Dionysius I of Syracuse....
, who was Dionysius' niece. Because Dionysius had not been consulted, he feared an alliance between his brother-in-law and Philistus against him, Dionysius exiled both from Syracuse.

He settled at Thurii

Thurii

Thurii – Greek language: , called also by some Latin writers and by Ptolemy, Thurium , for a time also Copia and Copiae and sometimes written as Turios; – was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Gulf of Taranto, within a short distance of the site of Sybaris, of which it may be considered as having ta...
, but afterwards removed to Adria, where he remained until the death of Dionysius (366 BC). During his stay at Adria, Philistus occupied himself with the composition of his history of Sicily in eleven books. The first part (bks. i—vii) comprised the history of the island from the earliest times to the capture of Agrigentum by the Carthaginians

Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
(406 BC); the second, the history of the elder and the younger Dionysius (down to 363 BC). From this point the work was carried on by Philistus's fellow countryman, Athanas.

Philistus was then recalled by the younger Dionysius

Dionysius II of Syracuse

Dionysius the Younger or Dionysius II ruled Syracuse, Italy, Sicily from 367 BC to 357 BC and again from 346 BC to 344 BC.He was the son of Dionysius I of Syracuse....
, whom he persuaded to dismiss Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
and Dion. When Dion set sail from Zacynthus with the object of liberating Syracuse in (356), Philistus was entrusted by Dionysius II with the command of the fleet. After a lengthy sea battle, his ship was surrounded. Philistus took his own life to avoid retribution from his countrymen.