Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, Dionúsios Alexándrou Halikarnasseús, ''Dionysios (son of Alexandros) of Halikarnassos''; c. 60 BC – after 7 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric.[1] He flourished when Augustus was ruler of the Roman Empire.[2] His writing style was "atticistic" meaning that it imitated Attic Greek.[1] Dionysius wrote a history of Rome titled the Roman Antiquities.[1]
Dionysius of Halicarnassus | |
|---|---|
 An image of Dionysius of Halicarnassus from the Codices Ambrosiani. | |
| Born | c. 60 BC |
| Died | c. 7 BC (aged around 53) |
| Citizenship | Roman |
| Occupations |
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Life
Dionysius was a native of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor.[1] He moved to Rome in 30/29 BCE after the end of the Roman civil wars and studied Latin.[1][3] During this time, Dionysius taught rhetoric.[4] The date of his death is unknown.[4] In the 19th century, it was commonly thought that he was the ancestor of Aelius Dionysius of Halicarnassus.[5]
Works
Dionysius wrote an important work titled Roman Antiquities (Greek: Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἀρχαιολογία, Rhōmaikē Archaiologia).[1][3] It narrates the history of Rome from the mythical period to the start of the First Punic War.[1][3] The work has twenty books but only the first nine have survived while the other books exist only as fragments.[1][3] The thesis of Dionysius' work "was that Rome was a Greek city, Latin a Greek dialect, and Romans really Greeks."[1]
References
Citations
- Hidber 2013, pp. 228–229.
- Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Roman Antiquities, Book I, Chapter 6.
- Seyffert, Nettleship & Sandys 1894, "Dionysius. (3) Dionysius of Halicarnassus", pp. 190–191.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dionysius Halicarnassensis". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 285–286.. - Schmitz 1870, p. 1037.
Sources
- Hidber, Thomas (2013). "Dionysius of Halicarnassus". In Wilson, Nigel Guy (ed.). Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. New York: Routledge. pp. 228–229. ISBN 9781136787997.
- Seyffert, Oskar; Nettleship, Henry; Sandys, John Edwin (1894). A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities: Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art. London: Swan Sonnenschein and Company.
- Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Dionysius, Aelius". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
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