Dionysius of Halicarnassus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
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 |
| Occupation |
|
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, Dionúsios Alexándrou Halikarnasseús, ''Dionysios (son of Alexandros) of Halikarnassos''; around 60 BC – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and a teacher of rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing effectively and persuasively. He lived during the time of Emperor Augustus. His writing style was called atticistic, which meant he tried to write like the famous ancient Greek writers from the region of Attica.
Dionysius believed that good education, called paideia, was very important. He thought it should be based on truly understanding old classical Greek writings. This idea was so strong that it influenced Greek leaders for many centuries.
Contents
Life
Dionysius was from a city called Halicarnassus. After a period of civil wars, he moved to Rome. He spent 22 years there, learning Latin and studying literature. During this time, he also taught rhetoric and met many important people. He used these years to gather information for his history books. We don't know the exact date of his death.
Works
Dionysius's most important work is called Rhōmaïkḕ Arkhaiología, which means Roman Antiquities. This huge work tells the history of Rome from its earliest myths all the way to the start of the First Punic War. It was originally written in 20 books. Today, we only have the first nine books complete. The other books exist only as small parts or summaries found in other old writings.
Dionysius is one of the first major historians whose work about early Roman history still exists today. Other ancient historians, like Appian, Plutarch, and Livy, likely used his work as a source for their own writings about early Rome.
What "Roman Antiquities" is About
In the very first part of his book, Dionysius explains why he wrote it. He says that Greek people didn't know much about Roman history, and he wanted to fix that.
Book Summaries
- Book I (before 753 BC): This book covers the mythical early history of Italy and its people. It includes the story of Aeneas and his family, and Dionysius's version of the Romulus and Remus myth. It ends with the death of Remus.
- Book II (753–673 BC): This part talks about Rome's first two kings, Romulus and Numa Pompilius. Romulus created many of Rome's early customs and laws. Dionysius describes early wars, like the Roman–Sabine wars, with details that are probably not accurate for such early times.
- Book III (673–575 BC): This book covers the kings from Tullus Hostilius to Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.
- Book IV (575–509 BC): This describes the last Roman kings and how the monarchy ended when Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown.
- Book V (509-497 BC): This marks the beginning of the Roman Republic and the first years of its elected leaders.
- Book VI (496–493 BC): This includes the first time the common people, called Plebeians, left Rome to protest for their rights. This event is known as the Plebeian secession.
- Book VII (492–490 BC): This book tells the story of Coriolanus, a Roman general. It describes his trial and how he was sent away from Rome. Much of this book is about the arguments between the rich families (oligarchy) and the common people (plebeians).
- Book VIII (489–482 BC): Coriolanus, now exiled, joins Rome's enemies, the Volscians. He leads their army to victory against Roman allies and almost captures Rome itself. Coriolanus's mother convinces him to stop the war. Later, the Volscians kill Coriolanus. The rest of the book describes Rome trying to win back land from the Volscians.
- Book IX (481–462 BC): This book covers various military campaigns with mixed results. Inside Rome, the common people and the rich families continue to argue. The number of Tribunes (officials who protected the common people) is increased from 5 to 10. Book IX ends with the creation of Rome's first written laws.
- Book X (461–449 BC): This continues the story of the decemvirate, a group of ten men who ruled Rome and created laws.
- Book XI (449–443 BC): Only small parts of this book remain.
- Book XII (442–396 BC): Only small parts of this book remain.
- Book XIII (394–390 BC): Only small parts of this book remain.
- Book XIV (390 BC): This book describes when the Gauls attacked and sacked Rome.
- Book XV: This covers the First and Second Samnite War.
- Book XVI–XVII: These books describe the Third Samnite War.
- Book XIX: This book talks about the start of conflicts between Rome and a powerful warlord named Pyrrhus. The city of Tarentum in southern Italy had problems with Rome and invited Pyrrhus to help protect them.
- Book XX: This describes the Roman-Pyrrhic war, including Pyrrhus's second invasion of Italy.
Dionysius wanted to help the Greeks accept Roman rule. So, he focused on the good qualities of the Romans. He also argued that Romans were actually descendants of ancient Greeks. He believed that history teaches lessons through examples. He carefully used the best sources available to him. His work and that of Livy are the only detailed stories of early Roman history that we still have today.
Dionysius also wrote several books about rhetoric, showing he had studied the best Greek writers. Some of these include:
- The Art of Rhetoric: A collection of essays about how rhetoric works.
- The Arrangement of Words: About how to combine words to create different styles of speeches.
- On Imitation: About how to learn from and copy the best writers in different types of literature.
- Commentaries on the Attic Orators: His thoughts on famous Greek speakers like Lysias and Isocrates.
- On the Admirable Style of Demosthenes: About the great speaking style of Demosthenes.
- On the Character of Thucydides: About the historian Thucydides.
Dionysian Imitatio
Dionysian imitatio is a writing method Dionysius came up with. It means learning from, changing, and improving on the writings of earlier authors. It's like taking a good idea from someone else and making it even better. This idea was similar to what another writer, Quintilian, thought about imitation.
Dionysius's idea was different from what Aristotle taught. Aristotle's idea, called mimesis, was about imitating nature, not other writers. But Roman speakers and writers liked Dionysius's imitatio method and used it instead of Aristotle's mimesis.
History in the Roman Antiquities, and the Foundation Myth
Dionysius did a lot of research for his Roman history. He chose carefully from different sources and included details, like information about the Servian Census.
His first two books tell a complete story about how Rome supposedly had Greek origins. He combined many sources into one clear story. Because of his work, along with Livy's, Dionysius is one of the main sources for the stories about Rome's founding and the myth of Romulus and Remus. Later writers, like Plutarch, relied on his accounts. Dionysius wrote a lot about the myth, sometimes even quoting the characters in the story. The myth is covered in the first two books of his Roman Antiquities.
Romulus and Remus
Origins and Survival
Dionysius says that the twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, were born to a vestal virgin named Ilia Silvia. She was a descendant of Aeneas from Troy and the daughter of King Latinus of the original Latin tribes. This story connects Rome to both the Trojans and the Latins. Dionysius mentions different stories about how she became pregnant and how the twins were born, but he doesn't pick one as the true one.
He tells the most common story, based on other ancient writers. In this tale, the twins were supposed to be thrown into the Tiber River. Instead, they were left near a fig tree and rescued by a she-wolf. She nursed them in front of her cave, called the Lupercal, before a shepherd named Faustulus adopted them. Dionysius also shares another, more realistic version of their birth and survival. In this version, another king managed to swap the twins at birth with two other babies. According to Plutarch, the word lupa (Latin for "wolf") was also a common word for a certain type of woman, which might have led to the she-wolf legend.
Falling Out and Founding of Rome
The twins received a good education in the city of Gabii. Eventually, they gained control of the area where Rome would be built. They argued about which hill Rome should be built on: Romulus wanted the Palatine Hill, and Remus preferred the Aventine Hill.
To decide, they asked the gods for a sign using birds, a practice called augury. Remus saw nine vultures first, claiming the gods chose him. Romulus then saw a larger number of vultures, saying that meant the gods chose him. Since they couldn't agree, the brothers and their followers fought. This fight ended with Remus being killed. Romulus was sad about his brother's death and buried Remus at the place that later became known as Remoria, named after him.
Before building the city, Romulus made sacrifices and received good signs from the gods. He then told the people to cleanse themselves. First, they built the city's defenses, then houses. Romulus gathered the people and let them choose what kind of government they wanted: a monarchy (ruled by a king), a democracy (ruled by the people), or an oligarchy (ruled by a few powerful people). After his speech, where he said he didn't need to stay in power, the people decided they wanted a kingdom and asked him to remain king. Before accepting, he looked for a sign of approval from the gods. He prayed and saw a good lightning bolt. After that, he declared that no king should take the throne without the gods' approval.
Institutions
Dionysius then described the laws and organization Romulus supposedly created for Rome. Romulus divided Rome into three tribes, each with a leader called a Tribune. Each tribe was split into 10 smaller groups called Curiae, and those into even smaller units. He divided the kingdom's land among them, and Dionysius is the only writer who says this was done in equal parts.
The rich class, called Patricians, was separated from the common people, called Plebeians. Each curiae was responsible for providing soldiers during wartime.
Romulus also set up a system of patronage, where powerful people protected and helped less powerful ones. He created a senate, which Dionysius thought was influenced by Greek ideas. He also had a personal bodyguard of 300 strong nobles, called the celeres.
Romulus also created a Separation of power and ways to increase the number of people in Rome. He established Rome's religious customs and practices, and many legal rules that Dionysius praised.
Dionysius often described the laws of other nations before showing how Romulus's approach was better. For example, he said Rome's marriage law was simple and elegant, much better than others. By saying wives would share equally in their husband's possessions and behavior, Romulus encouraged good behavior in wives and prevented husbands from treating them badly. Wives could also inherit property if their husband died. Dionysius even claimed that because of Romulus's laws, not a single Roman couple divorced for the next five centuries!
Romulus's laws about parental rights, especially allowing fathers to keep power over their adult children, were also seen as an improvement. Dionysius also liked that, under Romulus's laws, free Romans born in the city were limited to two jobs: farming and being a soldier. All other jobs were done by slaves or non-Romans.
Romulus used the symbols of his power to make sure people followed the laws. His court was impressive, filled with loyal soldiers, and he was always joined by 12 lictors, who were his attendants.
See also
In Spanish: Dionisio de Halicarnaso para niños
