Dionysius I of Syracuse
Greek tyrant of Syracuse (c. 432 - 367 BC) · Italy · Politicians · Lived 430 BC to 367 BC · aged 63
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Something wrong?He turned Syracuse into the most powerful Greek city in the west through conquest and ruthless calculation - and the ancients remembered him as the textbook tyrant: cruel, suspicious, vindictive.
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Photos 8
Dionisio il Vecchio_-_The_man_of_the_people.jpg?width=1200)
Hieronymus Wierix, Marten van Cleve (After) - The man of the people.jpg?width=1200)
Convit de Dionís "el tirà" a Dàmocles, Josep Ginés Marín, Acadèmia de Belles Arts de San Fernando (cropped)
Convit de Dionís "el tirà" a Dàmocles, Josep Ginés Marín, Acadèmia de Belles Arts de San Fernando
Dion presents Plato to Dionysius
Dionisio di Siracusa interpretato da Frank Lloyd.jpg?width=1200)
Dionisio I (Ritratto)
Dionisius Tirannus SiracusaIn their own words 3
, Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.
So, Damocles, since this life delights you, do you wish to taste it yourself and make trial of my fortune?
I would like somebody to be hated more than I am.
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Dionysius seized power in Syracuse around 432 BC and spent the next decades bending Sicily and southern Italy to his will. He conquered city after city, blocked Carthage's expansion across the island, and built Syracuse into a force that overshadowed every other western Greek colony. The grip never loosened. Ancient writers painted him as the archetype of despotism - a ruler whose suspicion and cruelty defined the role. He died in 367 BC, leaving behind a empire and a reputation that became shorthand for tyranny.
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