Author(s):
Meister, Klaus (Berlin)
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Ameling, Walter (Jena)
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Weißenberger, Michael (Greifswald)
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Kalcyk, Hansjörg (Petershausen)
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Höcker, Christoph (Kissing)
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Et al.
[German version] I. Persons (Δίων;
Díōn) Meister, Klaus (Berlin) [German version] [I 1] Close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy Son of Hipparinus, brother-in-law and son-in-law of Dionysius I of Syracuse, b. 409 BC, close friend of Plato and defender of his philosophy since Plato's first visit to Syracuse in 388. He gained prestige and wealth as Dionysius' I' trusted friend and advisor and also remained an influential person under Dionysius II. In 366, he arbitrated the peace with Carthage and called Plato to Syracuse in order to transform the despotic rule of Dionysius II according to the Platonic ideal state. This effort was a complete failure because Dionysius proved to be ill-suited personally, and because his friends and advisors opposed it, particularly Philistus. Accused of high treason, D. was banished to Greece; the immediate cause was found in D.'s letter to his Carthaginian friends not to conclude peace without his arbitration (Pl. Ep. 7,329; Plut. Dion 14f.; Mor. 53E). During his nine years of exile, D. lived as a princely gentleman in Athens, maintained a close relationship with the Academy, received Spartan citizenship, and visited Corinth amongst other places. After learning in 360 from Plato in Olympia that Dionysius II was unwilling to end his exile despite Plato's intercession, D. landed near Minoa in the Carthaginian part of Sicily in 357 with a few ships and 600 mercenaries. On his way to Syracuse he drew a lot of support from Acragas, Gela, Camarina, and the Sicilian communities, while the population in Syracuse rose up against Dionysius.…