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LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY LECTURE NOTE SERIES
Managing Editor: Professor M. Reid, Mathematics Institute,
University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
The titles below are available from booksellers, or from Cambridge University Press at
http://www.cambridge.org/mathematics
RO O Z B E H H A Z R AT
Western Sydney University
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781316619582
© Roozbeh Hazrat 2016
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2016
Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Names: Hazrat, Roozbeh, 1971–
Title: Graded rings and graded Grothendieck groups / Roozbeh Hazrat,
University of Western Sydney.
Description: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2016. | Series: London
Mathematical Society lecture note series ; 435 | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016010216 | ISBN 9781316619582 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Grothendieck groups. | Graded rings. | Rings (Algebra)
Classification: LCC QA251.5 .H39 2016 | DDC 512/.4–dc23 LC record available
at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016010216
ISBN 978-1-316-61958-2 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Introduction page 1
1 Graded rings and graded modules 5
1.1 Graded rings 6
1.1.1 Basic definitions and examples 6
1.1.2 Partitioning graded rings 10
1.1.3 Strongly graded rings 14
1.1.4 Crossed products 16
1.1.5 Graded ideals 20
1.1.6 Graded prime and maximal ideals 22
1.1.7 Graded simple rings 23
1.1.8 Graded local rings 25
1.1.9 Graded von Neumann regular rings 26
1.2 Graded modules 28
1.2.1 Basic definitions 28
1.2.2 Shift of modules 28
1.2.3 The Hom groups and category of graded modules 30
1.2.4 Graded free modules 33
1.2.5 Graded bimodules 34
1.2.6 Tensor product of graded modules 35
1.2.7 Forgetting the grading 36
1.2.8 Partitioning graded modules 37
1.2.9 Graded projective modules 41
1.2.10 Graded divisible modules 47
1.3 Grading on matrices 49
1.3.1 Graded calculus on matrices 50
1.3.2 Homogeneous idempotents calculus 58
1.3.3 Graded matrix units 59
v
vi Contents
A bird’s eye view of the theory of graded modules over a graded ring might
give the impression that it is nothing but ordinary module theory with all its
statements decorated with the adjective “graded”. Once the grading is consid-
ered to be trivial, the graded theory reduces to the usual module theory. From
this perspective, the theory of graded modules can be considered as an exten-
sion of module theory. However, this simplistic overview might conceal the
point that graded modules come equipped with a shift, thanks to the possibility
of partitioning the structures and then rearranging the partitions. This adds an
extra layer of structure (and complexity) to the theory. This monograph focuses
gr
on the theory of the graded Grothendieck group K0 , that provides a sparkling
illustration of this idea. Whereas the usual K0 is an abelian group, the shift
gr
provides K0 with a natural structure of a Z[Γ]-module, where Γ is the group
used for the grading and Z[Γ] its group ring. As we will see throughout this
book, this extra structure carries substantial information about the graded ring.
Let Γ and Δ be abelian groups and f : Γ → Δ a group homomorphism.
Then for any Γ-graded ring A, one can consider a natural Δ-grading on A
(see §1.1.2); in the same way, any Γ-graded A-module can be viewed as a Δ-
graded A-module. These operations induce functors
(see §1.2.8), where GrΓ -A is the category of Γ-graded right A-modules, GrΔ -A
that of Δ-graded right A-modules, and GrΩ -A the category of Ω-graded right
AΩ -module with Ω = ker( f ).
One aim of the theory of graded rings is to investigate the ways in which
these categories relate to one another, and which properties of one category
can be lifted to another. In particular, in the two extreme cases when the group
1
2 Introduction
U : GrΓ -A −→ Mod-A,
(−)0 : GrΓ -A −→ Mod-A0 .
for i ∈ N. On the other hand, the shift operation on modules induces a functor
on GrΓ -A that is an auto-equivalence (§1.2.2), so that these K-groups also carry
a Γ-module structure. One can treat the groups Ki (A) and Ki (A0 ) in a similar
way. Quillen’s K-theory machinery allows us to establish relations between
these K-groups. In particular:
gr
Relating K∗ (A) to K∗ (A) for a positively graded rings §6.1. For a Z-graded
ring with the positive support, there is a Z[x, x−1 ]-module isomor-
phism,
Ki (A) Ki (A0 ) ⊗Z Z[x, x−1 ].
gr
gr
Relating K∗ (A) to K∗ (A0 ) for graded Noetherian regular rings §6.3. Con-
sider the full subcategory Gr0 -A of Gr-A, of all graded modules M
as objects such that M0 = 0. This is a Serre subcategory of Gr-A.
One can show that Gr-A/ Gr0 -A Mod-A0 . If A is a (right) regular
Noetherian ring, the quotient category identity above holds for the
corresponding graded finitely generated modules, i.e., gr-A/ gr0 -A
mod-A0 and the localisation theorem gives a long exact sequence of
abelian groups,
δ gr
· · · −→ Kn+1 (A0 ) −→ Kn (gr0 -A) −→ Kn (A) −→ Kn (A0 ) −→ · · · .
gr
Relating K∗ (A) to K∗ (A) for graded Noetherian regular rings §6.4. For
a Z-graded ring A which is right regular Noetherian, there is a long
exact sequence of abelian groups
gr i gr U
· · · −→ Kn+1 (A) −→ Kn (A) −→ Kn (A) −→ Kn (A) −→ · · · .
gr
The main emphasis of this book is on the group K0 as a powerful invariant in
the classification problems. This group is equipped with the extra structure of
the action of the grade group induced by the shift. In many important examples,
Introduction 3
in fact this shift is all the difference between the graded Grothendieck group
and the usual Grothendieck group, i.e.,
gr
K0 (A)/[P] − [P(1)] K0 (A),
where P is a graded projective A-module and P(1) is the shifted module (Chap-
ter 6, see Corollary 6.4.2).
The motivation to write this book came from recent activities that adopt the
graded Grothendieck group as an invariant to classify the Leavitt path alge-
bras [47, 48, 79]. Surprisingly, not much is recorded about the graded ver-
sion of the Grothendieck group in the literature, despite the fact that K0 has
been used on many occasions as a crucial invariant, and there is a substan-
tial amount of information about the graded version of other invariants such
as (co)homology groups, Brauer groups, etc. The other surge of interest in
this group stems from the recent activities on the (graded) representation the-
ory of Hecke algebras. In particular for a quiver Hecke algebra, its graded
Grothendieck group is closely related to its corresponding quantised envelop-
ing algebra. For this line of research see the survey [54].
This book tries to fill this gap, by systematically developing the theory of
graded Grothendieck groups. In order to do this, we have to carry over and
work out the details of known results in the nongraded case to the graded set-
ting, and gather together important results on the graded theory scattered in
research papers.
The group K0 has been successfully used in operator theory to classify cer-
tain classes of C ∗ -algebras. Building on work of Bratteli, Elliott in [36] used
the pointed ordered K0 -groups (called dimension groups) as a complete in-
variant for AF C ∗ -algebras. Another cornerstone of using K-groups for the
classifications of a wider range of C ∗ -algebras was the work of Kirchberg and
Phillips [80], who showed that K0 and K1 -groups together are a complete in-
variant for a certain type of C ∗ -algebras. The Grothendieck group considered
as a module induced by a group action was used by Handelman and Ross-
mann [45] to give a complete invariant for the class of direct limits of finite di-
mensional, representable dynamical systems. Krieger [56] introduced (past) di-
mension groups as a complete invariant for the shift equivalence of topological
Markov chains (shift of finite types) in symbolic dynamics. Surprisingly, we
will see that Krieger’s groups are naturally expressed by graded Grothendieck
groups (§3.11).
We develop the theory for rings graded by abelian groups rather than ar-
bitrary groups for two reasons, although most of the results could be carried
over to nonabelian grade groups. One reason is that using the abelian grad-
ing makes the presentation and proofs much more transparent. In addition, in
4 Introduction
most applications of graded K-theory, the ring has an abelian grading (often a
Z-grading).
In Chapter 1 we study the basic theory of graded rings. Chapter 2 con-
gr
centrates on graded Morita theory. In Chapter 3 we compute K0 for certain
graded rings, such as graded local rings and (Leavitt) path algebras. We study
gr
the pre-ordering available on K0 and determine the action of Γ on this group.
Chapter 4 studies graded Picard groups and in Chapter 5 we prove that for
the so-called graded ultramatricial algebras, the graded Grothendieck group is
a complete invariant. Finally, in Chapter 6, we explore the relations between
gr
(higher) Kn and Kn , for the class of Z-graded rings. We describe a general-
isation of the Quillen and van den Bergh theorems. The latter theorem uses
the techniques employed in the proof of the fundamental theorem of K-theory,
where the graded K-theory appears. For this reason we present a proof of the
fundamental theorem in this chapter.
Conventions Throughout this book, unless it is explicitly stated, all rings have
identities, homomorphisms preserve the identity and all modules are unitary.
Moreover, all modules are considered right modules. For a ring A, the category
of right A-modules is denoted by Mod-A. A full subcategory of Mod-A con-
sisted of all finitely generated A-modules is denoted by mod-A. By Pr-A we
denote the category of finitely
generated projective
A-modules.
For a set Γ, we write Γ Z or ZΓ to mean γ∈Γ Zγ , where Zγ = Z for each
γ ∈ Γ. We denote the cyclic group Z/nZ with n elements by Zn .
The psychological problem caused to many kids as to exactly how the word
“People” appears in the equation can be overcome by correcting it to
This shows that already at the level of elementary school arithmetic, children
work in a much more sophisticated structure, i.e., the graded ring
Z[x1±1 , . . . , xn±1 ]
of Laurent polynomial rings! (see the interesting book of Borovik [23, §4.7]
on this).
This book treats graded rings and the category of graded modules over a
5
6 Graded rings and graded modules
graded ring. This category is an abelian category (in fact a Grothendieck cate-
gory). Many of the classical invariants constructed for the category of modules
can be constructed, mutatis mutandis, starting from the category of graded
modules. The general viewpoint of this book is that, once a ring has a natu-
ral graded structure, graded invariants capture more information than the non-
graded counterparts.
In this chapter we give a concise introduction to the theory of graded rings.
We introduce grading on matrices, study graded division rings and introduce
gradings on graph algebras that will be the source of many interesting exam-
ples.
In §1.1.4, we construct crossed products which are graded rings and are gen-
eralisations of group rings and skew groups rings. A group ring has a natural
involution which makes it an involutary graded ring (see §1.9).
In several applications (such as K-theory of rings, Chapter 6) we deal with
Z-graded rings with support in N, the so called positively graded rings.
Example 1.1.3 Tensor algebras as positively graded rings
Let A be a commutative ring and M be an A-module. Denote by T n (M),
8 Graded rings and graded modules
a q
consisting of elements .
0 a
These rings appear in representation theory (see [46, §2.2]). The graded ver-
sion of this contraction is carried out in Example 1.2.9.
Example 1.1.5 The graded ring A as A0 -module
Let A be a Γ-graded ring. Then A can be considered as an A0 -bimodule. In
many cases A is a projective A0 -module, for example in the case of group rings
(Example 1.1.2) or when A is a strongly graded ring (see §1.1.3 and Theo-
rem 1.5.12). Here is an example that this is not the case in general. Consider
the formal matrix ring T
R M
T= ,
0 0
where M is a left R-module which is not a projective R-module. Then by Ex-
ample 1.1.4, T is a Z-graded ring with T 0 = R and T 1 = M. Now T as a
T 0 -module is R ⊕ M as an R-module. Since M is not projective, R ⊕ M is not a
projective R-module. We also get that T 1 is not a projective T 0 -module.
10 Graded rings and graded modules
A= AΩ+α ,
Ω+α∈Γ/Ω
where
AΩ+α := Aω+α ,
ω∈Ω
U : RΓ → RΓ/Ω .
A ⊗Z B = Aγ ⊗ Bω
(γ,ω)∈Γ×Ω
Now, if Ω = Γ and
f : Γ × Γ −→ Γ,
(γ1 , γ2 ) −→ γ1 + γ2 ,
A ⊗Z B = (A ⊗ B)γ ,
γ∈Γ
where
(A ⊗ B)γ = ai ⊗ bi | ai ∈ Ah , bi ∈ Bh , deg(ai ) + deg(bi ) = γ .
i
We give specific examples of this construction in Example 1.1.7. One can re-
place Z by a field K, if A and B are K-algebras and Aγ , Bγ are K-modules.
A[Γ] A ⊗Z Z[Γ]
has a Γ-graded structure, i.e., A[Γ] = γ∈Γ Aγ. If A itself is a (nontrivial) Γ-
graded ring A = γ∈Γ Aγ , then by Example 1.1.6, A[Γ] has also a Γ-grading
γ γ
A[Γ] = γ∈Γ A , where A = γ=ζ+ζ Aζ ζ . (1.1)
A[x]n = Ai x j .
i+ j=n
This graded ring will be used in §6.2.4 when we prove the fundamental the-
orem of K-theory. Such constructions are systematically studied in [72] (see
also [75, §6]).
−3
Figure 1.1
In fact this example follows from the general construction given in §1.1.2.
Consider the homomorphism Γ × Γ → Γ, (α, β) → α + β. Let Ω be the kernel of
this map. Clearly (Γ × Γ)/Ω Γ. One can check that the (Γ × Γ)/Ω-graded ring
A gives the graded ring constructed in this example (see also Remark 1.1.26).
where A∗γ := A∗ ∩ Aγ . It is easy to see that Γ∗A is a group and Γ∗A ⊆ ΓA (see
Proposition 1.1.1(4)). Clearly A is a crossed product if and only if Γ∗A = Γ.
Proposition 1.1.15 Let A = γ∈Γ Aγ be a Γ-graded ring. Then
Proof (1) If A is strongly graded, then 1 ∈ A0 = Aγ A−γ for any γ ∈ Γ. For the
converse, the assumption 1 ∈ Aγ A−γ implies that A0 = Aγ A−γ for any γ ∈ Γ.
Then for σ, δ ∈ Γ,
Aσ+δ = A0 Aσ+δ = (Aσ A−σ )Aσ+δ = Aσ (A−σ Aσ+δ ) ⊆ Aσ Aδ ⊆ Aσ+δ ,
proving Aσδ = Aσ Aδ , so A is strongly graded.
(2) By (1), 1 ∈ Aγ A−γ for any γ ∈ Γ. This implies Aγ 0 for any γ,
i.e., ΓA = Γ.
(3) Let A be a crossed product ring. By definition, for γ ∈ Γ, there exists
a ∈ A∗ ∩ Aγ . So a−1 ∈ A−γ by Proposition 1.1.1(4) and 1 = aa−1 ∈ Aγ A−γ .
Thus A is strongly graded by (1).
(4) Suppose A is strongly graded. By (1), 1 ∈ Aγ A−γ for any γ ∈ Γ. Thus
1 ∈ f (Aγ ) f (A−γ ) ⊆ Bγ B−γ .
Again (1) implies B is strongly graded. The case of the crossed product follows
easily from the definition.
The converse of (3) in Proposition 1.1.15 does not hold. One can prove that
if A is strongly graded and A0 is a local ring, then A is a crossed product
algebra (see [75, Theorem 3.3.1]). In §1.6 we give examples of a strongly
graded algebra A such that A is crossed product but A0 is not a local ring. We
also give an example of a strongly Z-graded ring A such that A0 is not local
and A is not crossed product (Example 1.6.22). Using graph algebras we will
produce large classes of strongly graded rings which are not crossed product
(see Theorems 1.6.15 and 1.6.16).
If Γ is a finitely generated group, generated by the set {γ1 , . . . , γn }, then (1)
in Proposition 1.1.15 can be simplified to the following: A is strongly graded
if and only if 1 ∈ Aγi A−γi and 1 ∈ A−γi Aγi , where 1 ≤ i ≤ n. Thus if Γ = Z,
in order for A to be strongly graded, we only need to have 1 ∈ A1 A−1 and
1 ∈ A−1 A1 . This will be used, for example, in Proposition 1.6.6 to show that
certain corner skew Laurent polynomial rings (§1.6.2) are strongly graded.
Example 1.1.16 Constructing strongly graded rings via tensor products
Let A and B be Γ-graded rings. Then by Example 1.1.6, A ⊗Z B is a Γ-graded
ring. If one of the rings is strongly graded (resp. crossed product) then A ⊗Z B
is so. Indeed, suppose A is strongly graded (resp. crossed product). Then the
claim follows from Proposition 1.1.15(4) and the graded homomorphism A →
A ⊗Z B, a → a ⊗ 1.
As a specific case, suppose A is a Z-graded ring. Then
A[x, x−1 ] = A ⊗ Z[x, x−1 ]
16 Graded rings and graded modules
is a strongly graded ring. Notice that with this grading, A[x, x−1 ]0 A.
Example 1.1.17 Strongly graded as a Γ/Ω-graded ring
Let A be a Γ-graded ring. Using Proposition 1.1.15, it is easy to see that if A
is a strongly Γ-graded ring, then it is also a strongly Γ/Ω-graded ring, where Ω
is a subgroup of Γ. However the strongly gradedness is not a “closed” property,
i.e, if A is a strongly Γ/Ω-graded ring and AΩ is a strongly Ω-graded ring, it
does not follow that A is strongly Γ-graded.
ψ : Γ × Γ −→ A∗0 ,
(ζ, η) −→ uζ uη u−1
ζ+η .
Then
A = A0 φψ [Γ] = γ∈Γ A0 γ,
with multiplication
(aζ)(bη) = aζ bψ(ζ, η)(ζ + η),
1.1 Graded rings 17
Remark 1.1.18 Graded division rings and division rings which are graded
Note that a graded division ring and a division ring which is graded are
different. By definition, A is a graded division ring if and only if Ah \{0} is
a group. A simple example is the Laurent polynomial ring D[x, x−1 ], where
18 Graded rings and graded modules
graded division ring and a graded subring of A. The support of B is clearly the
subgroup nZ of Z. With this definition, B is not strongly graded.
be the F-algebra generated by the elements x and y, which are subject to the
relations xn = a, yn = b and xy = ξyx. By [35, Theorem 11.1], A is an n2 -
dimensional central simple algebra over F. We will show that A forms a graded
division ring. Clearly A can be written as a direct sum
A= A(i, j) , where A(i, j) = F xi y j
(i, j)∈Zn ⊕Zn
and each A(i, j) is an additive subgroup of A. Using the fact that ξ−k j xk y j = y j xk
for each j, k, with 0 ≤ j, k ≤ n − 1, we can show that
A(i, j) A(k,l) ⊆ A([i+k],[ j+l]) ,
for i, j, k, l ∈ Zn . A nonzero homogeneous element f xi y j ∈ A(i, j) has an inverse
f −1 a−1 b−1 ξ−i j xn−i yn− j ,
proving A is a graded division ring. Clearly the support of A is Zn × Zn , so A
is strongly Zn × Zn -graded.
These examples can also be obtained from graded free rings (see Exam-
ple 1.6.3).
Example 1.1.22 A good counter-example
In the theory of graded rings, in many instances it has been established that if
the grade group Γ is finite (or in some cases, finitely generated), then a graded
property implies the corresponding nongraded property of the ring (i.e., the
20 Graded rings and graded modules
property is preserved under the forgetful functor). For example, one can prove
that if a Z-graded ring is graded Artinian (Noetherian), then the ring is Ar-
tinian (Noetherian). One good example which provides counter-examples to
such phenomena is the following graded field.
Let K be a field and A = K[x1±1 , x2±1 , x3±1 , . . . ] a Laurent polynomial ring
in
countably many variables. This ring is a graded field with its “canonical”
∞ Z-grading and thus it is graded Artinian and Noetherian. However, A is
not Noetherian.
Let A be a ring, and consider the group ring R = A[Γ], which is a Γ-graded ring
by Example 1.1.2. Let x = 1d + 1 f ∈ R, where 1 = 1A , and we note that x is not
homogeneous in R. Then x ∈ Z(R), but the homogeneous components of x are
not in the centre of R. As xis expressed uniquely as the sum of homogeneous
components, we have x γ∈Γ (Z(R) ∩ Rγ ).
This example can be generalised by taking a nonabelian finite group Γ with
a subgroup Ω which is normal and noncentral. Let A be a ring and consider the
group ring R = A[Γ] as above. Then x = ω∈Ω 1ω is in the centre of R, but the
homogeneous components of x are not all in the centre of R.
Remark 1.1.26 Let Γ and Λ be two groups. Let A be a Γ-graded ring and B be
a Λ-graded ring. Suppose f : A → B is a ring homomorphism and g : Γ → Λ a
group homomorphism such that for any γ ∈ Γ, f (Aγ ) ⊆ Bg(γ) . Then f is called
a Γ−Λ-graded homomorphism. In the case Γ = Λ and g = id, we recover the
usual definition of a Γ-graded homomorphism. For example, if Ω is a subgroup
of Γ, then the identity map 1A : A → A is a Γ−Γ/Ω-graded homomorphism,
where A is considered as Γ and Γ/Ω-graded rings, respectively (see §1.1.2).
Throughout this book, we fix a given group Γ and we work with the Γ-
graded category and all our considerations are within this category. (See Re-
mark 2.3.14 for references to literature where mixed grading is studied.)
Γb { γ1 + γ + α, . . . , γn + γ + α }.
Γc ⊆ Γb + (γn − γn − γ − α) Γa .
φ : R = aγi −→ aγ j = R,
rl aγi sl −→ rl aγ j sl .
l l
Remark 1.1.29 If the grade group is not abelian, in order for Theorem 1.1.28
to be valid, the grade group should be hyper-central; A hyper-central group is
a group such that any nontrivial quotient has a nontrivial centre. If A is strongly
graded, and the grade group is torsion-free hyper-central, then A is simple if
and only if A is graded simple and C(A) ⊆ A0 (see [52]).
For more on graded local rings (graded by a cancellative monoid) see [64].
In §3.8 we determine the graded Grothendieck group of these rings.
Proof (1) ⇒ (2) First we show that any principal graded ideal is generated by
a homogeneous idempotent. So consider the principal ideal xA, where x ∈ Ah .
By the assumption, there is y ∈ Ah such that xyx = x. This immediately implies
xA = xyA. Now note that xy is homogeneous idempotent.
1.1 Graded rings 27
Next we will prove the claim for graded ideals generated by two elements.
The general case follows by an easy induction. So let xA + yA be a graded ideal
generated by two homogeneous elements x, y. By the previous paragraph, xA =
eA for a homogeneous idempotent e. Note that y−ey ∈ Ah and y−ey ∈ xA+yA.
Thus
xA + yA = eA + (y − ey)A. (1.11)
xA + yA = eA + gA = (e + g)A.
Proof The proofs of (1)–(3) are similar to the nongraded case [40, Corol-
lary 1.2]. We provide the easy proofs here.
(1) Let I be a graded right ideal. For any homogeneous element x ∈ I there
is y ∈ Ah such that x = xyx. Thus x = (xy)x ∈ I 2 . It follows that I 2 = I.
(2) This follows immediately from (1).
(3) By Proposition 1.1.32, any finitely generated right ideal is generated by
a homogeneous idempotent. However, this latter ideal is a direct summand of
the ring, and so is a projective module.
(4) By Bergman’s observation, for a Z-graded ring A, J(A) is a graded ideal
and J(A) ⊆ J gr (A) (see [19]). By Proposition 1.1.32, J gr (A) contains an idem-
potent, which then forces J gr (A) = 0.
If the graded ring A is strongly graded then one can show that there is a
one-to-one correspondence between the right ideals of A0 and the graded right
ideals of A (similarly for the left ideals) (see Remark 1.5.6). This is always the
case for the graded regular rings as the following proposition shows.
28 Graded rings and graded modules
Proof Consider the following correspondences between the graded right ide-
als of A and the right ideals of A0 . For a graded right ideal I of A assign I0 in
A0 and for a right ideal J in A0 assign the graded right ideal JA in A. Note that
(JA)0 = J. We show that I0 A = I. It is enough to show that any homogeneous
element a of I belongs to I0 A. Since A is graded regular, axa = a for some
x ∈ Ah . But ax ∈ I0 and thus a = axa ∈ I0 A. A similar proof gives the left ideal
correspondence.
This shift plays a pivotal role in the theory of graded rings. For example, if M
is a Z-graded A-module, then the following table shows how the shift like “the
tick of the clock” moves the homogeneous components of M to the left.
degrees -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
M M−1 M0 M1 M2
M(1) M−1 M0 M1 M2
M(2) M−1 M0 M1 M2
With this grading aA is a graded submodule (and graded right ideal) of A. Thus
for β ∈ Γ, a is a homogenous element of the graded A-module aA(β) of degree
α−β. This will be used throughout the book, for example in Proposition 1.2.19.
However, note that defining the grading on aA as
makes aA a graded submodule of A(α), which is the image of the graded ho-
momorphism A → A(α), r → ar.
There are similar notions of graded left and graded bi-submodules (§1.2.5).
When N is a graded submodule of M, the factor module M/N forms a graded
A-module, with
i.e., a matrix with 1 in the (i, i) position and zero everywhere else, and consider
eii Mn (A). By Example 1.2.1, eii Mn (A) is a graded right Mn (A)-module and
n
eii Mn (A) = Mn (A).
i=1
This shows that the graded module eii Mn (A) is a projective module. This is an
example of a graded projective module (see §1.2.9).
Example 1.2.3 Let A be a commutative ring. Consider the matrix ring Mn (A)
as a Z-graded ring concentrated in degree zero. Moreover, consider Mn (A) as a
graded Mn (A)-module with the grading defined as follows: Mn (A)i = eii Mn (A)
for 1 ≤ i ≤ n and zero otherwise. Note that all nonzero homogeneous elements
of this module are zero-divisors, and thus can’t constitute a linear independent
set. We will use this example to show that a free module which is graded is not
necessarily a graded free module (§1.2.4).
Example 1.2.4 Modules with no shift
It is easy to construct modules whose shifts don’t produce new (nonisomor-
phic) graded modules. Let M be a graded A-module and consider
N= M(γ).
γ∈Γ
We show that N gr N(α) for any α ∈ Γ. Define the map fα : N → N(α) on
homogeneous components as follows and extend it to N,
Nβ = Mγ+β −→ Mγ+α+β = N(α)β
γ∈Γ γ∈Γ
{mγ } −→ {mγ },
where mγ = mγ+α (i.e., shift the sequence α “steps”). It is routine to see that this
gives a graded A-module homomorphism with inverse homomorphism f−α . For
another example, see Corollary 1.3.18.
Finally, it is easy to see that HomA (M, N)γ , γ ∈ Γ constitutes a direct sum.
For the second part, replacing N by M in (1.17), we get
HomA (M, M) = HomA (M, M)γ .
γ∈Γ
Moreover, by (1.14) if f ∈ HomA (M, M)γ and g ∈ HomA (M, M)λ then
f g ∈ HomA (M, M)γ+λ .
This shows that when M is finitely generated HomA (M, M) is a Γ-graded ring.
Let M be a graded finitely generated right A-module. Then the usual dual of
M, i.e., M ∗ = HomA (M, A), is a left A-module. Moreover, using Theorem 1.2.6,
one can check that M ∗ is a graded left A-module. Since
HomA (M, N)(α) = HomA (M(−α), N) = HomA (M, N(α)),
we have
M(α)∗ = M ∗ (−α). (1.19)
This should also make sense: the dual of “pushing forward” M by α, is the
same as “pulling back” the dual M ∗ by α.
Note that although HomA (M, N) is defined in the category Mod-A, the graded
structures of M and N are intrinsic in the grading defined on HomA (M, N).
Thus if M is isomorphic to N as a nongraded A-module, then EndA (M) is not
necessarily graded isomorphic to EndA (N). However if M gr N(α), α ∈ Γ,
then one can observe that EndA (M) gr EndA (N) as graded rings.
1.2 Graded modules 33
A(n) = Anγ
γ∈Γ
M (n) = Mnγ .
γ∈Γ
U : Gr-A −→ Gr-A(n) ,
M ⊗ A0 N = (M ⊗ N)γ ,
γ∈Γ
where
(M ⊗ N)γ = mi ⊗ ni | mi ∈ M h , ni ∈ N h , deg(mi ) + deg(ni ) = γ .
i
{ma ⊗ n − m ⊗ an | m ∈ M h , n ∈ N h , a ∈ Ah }.
This shows that M ⊗A N is also a graded module. It is easy to check that, for
example, if N is a graded A-bimodule, then M ⊗A N is a graded right A-module.
It follows from the definition that
which simply assigns to any graded module M in Gr-A its underlying module
M in Mod-A, ignoring the grading. Similarly, the graded homomorphisms are
sent to the same homomorphisms, disregarding their graded compatibilities.
There is a functor F : Mod-A → Gr-A which is a right adjoint to U. The
construction
is as follows: let M be an A-module. Consider the abelian group
F(M) := γ∈Γ Mγ , where Mγ is a copy of M. Moreover, for a ∈ Aα and
m ∈ Mγ define m.a = ma ∈ Mα+γ . This defines a graded A-module structure
on F(M) and makes F an exact functor from Mod-A to Gr-A. One can prove
that for any M ∈ Gr-A and N ∈ Mod-A, we have a bijective map
φ
HomMod-A U(M), N −→ HomGr-A M, F(N) ,
f −→ φ f ,
[3] Diodor. xiv. 78. Διονύσιος δ᾽ εἰς Μεσσήνην κατῴκισε χιλίους μὲν Λοκροὺς,
τετρακισχιλίους δὲ Μ ε δ ι μ ν α ί ο υ ς, ἑξακοσίους δὲ τῶν ἐκ Πελοποννήσου
Μεσσηνίων, ἔκ τε Ζακύνθου καὶ Ναυπάκτου φευγόντων.
The Medimnæans are completely unknown. Cluverius and Wesseling
conjecture Medmæans, from Medmæ or Medamæ, noticed by Strabo as a town in
the south of Italy. But this supposition cannot be adopted as certain; especially as
the total of persons named is so large. The conjecture of Palmerius—
Μηθυμναίους—has still less to recommend it. See the note of Wesseling.
[6] Diodor. xiv. 78. εἰς τὴν τῶν Σικελῶν χώραν πλεονάκις στρατεύσας, etc.
Wesseling shows in his note, that these words, and those which follow must refer
to Dionysius.
[16] Livy, iv. 37-44; Strabo, v. p. 243-250. Diodorus (xii. 31-76) places the
commencement of the Campanian nation in 438 B. C., and their conquest of
Cumæ in 421 B. C. Skylax in his Periplus mentions both Cumæ and Neapolis as in
Campania (s. 10.) Thucydides speaks of Cumæ as being ἐν Ὀπικίᾳ (vi. 4).
[18] Thucydides (vii. 53-57) does not mention Campanians (he mentions
Tyrrhenians) as serving in the besieging Athenian armament before Syracuse
(414-413 B. C.) He does not introduce the name Campanians at all; though
alluding to Iberian mercenaries as men whom Athens calculated on engaging in
her service (vi. 90).
But Diodorus mentions, that eight hundred Campanians were engaged by the
Chalkidian cities in Sicily for service with the Athenians under Nikias, and that
they had escaped during the disasters of the Athenian army (xiii. 44).
The conquest of Cumæ in 416 B. C. opened to these Campanian Samnites an
outlet for hired military service beyond sea. Cumæ being in its Origin Chalkidic,
would naturally be in correspondence with the Chalkidic cities in Sicily. This forms
the link of connection, which explains to us how the Campanians came into
service in 413 B. C. under the Athenian general before Syracuse, and afterwards
so frequently under others in Sicily (Diodor. xiii. 62-80, etc.).
[19] Strabo, vi. p. 253, 254. See a valuable section on this subject in Niebuhr,
Römisch. Geschichte, vol. i. p. 94-98.
It appears that the Syracusan historian Antiochus made no mention either of
Lucanians or of Bruttians, though he enumerated the inhabitants of the exact line
of territory afterwards occupied by these two nations. After repeating the
statement of Antiochus that this territory was occupied by Italians, Œnotrians,
and Chonians, Strabo proceeds to say—Οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἁπλουστέρως εἴρηκε καὶ
ἀρχαϊκῶς, οὐδὲν διορίσας περὶ τῶν Λευκανῶν καὶ τῶν Βρεττίων. The German
translator Grosskurd understands these words as meaning, that Antiochus “did
not distinguish the Lucanians from the Bruttians.” But if we read the paragraph
through, it will appear, I think, that Strabo means to say, that Antiochus had
stated nothing positive respecting either Lucanians or Bruttians. Niebuhr (p. 96 ut
suprà) affirms that Antiochus represented the Lucanians as having extended
themselves as far as Läus; which I cannot find.
The date of Antiochus seems not precisely ascertainable. His work on Sicilian
history was carried down from early times to 424 B. C. (Diodor. xii. 71). His silence
respecting the Lucanians goes to confirm the belief that the date of their
conquest of the territory called Lucania was considerably later than that year.
Polyænus (ii. 10. 2-4) mentions war as carried on by the inhabitants of Thurii,
under Kleandridas the father of Gylippus, against the Lucanians. From the age
and circumstances of Kleandridas, this can hardly be later than 420 B. C.
[20] Strabo, vi. p. 256. The Periplus of Skylax (s. 12, 13) recognizes Lucania
as extending down to Rhegium. The date to which this Periplus refers appears to
be about 370-360 B. C.: see an instructive article among Niebuhr’s Kleine
Schriften, p. 105-130. Skylax does not mention the Bruttians (Klausen, Hekatæus
and Skylax, p. 274. Berlin, 1831).
[21] Diodor. xiv. 91-101. Compare Polybius, ii. 39. When Nikias on his way to
Sicily, came near to Rhegium and invited the Rhegines to coöperate against
Syracuse, the Rhegines declined, replying, ὅ,τι ἂν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἰταλιώταις
ξυνδοκῇ, τοῦτο ποιήσειν (Thucyd. vi. 44).
[26] See the description of this mountainous region between the Tarentine
Gulf and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in an interesting work by a French General
employed in Calabria in 1809—Calabria during a military residence of Three
Years, Letters, 17, 18, 19 (translated and published by Effingham Wilson. London,
1832).
[27] Diodor. xiv. 101. βουλόμενοι Λᾶον, πόλιν εὐδαίμονα, πολιορκῆσαι. This
appears the true reading: it is an acute conjecture proposed by Niebuhr
(Römisch. Geschicht. i. p. 96) in place of the words—βουλόμενοι λαὸν καὶ πόλιν
εὐδαίμονα, πολιορκῆσαι.
[30] Polybius (i. 6) gives us the true name of this river: Diodorus calls it the
river Helôris.
[31] Diodor. xiv. 105. παρέδωκαν αὑτοὺς περὶ ὀγδόην ὥραν, ἤδη τὰ σώματα
παρείμενοι.
[33] Diodor. xiv. 105. καὶ σχεδὸν τοῦτ᾽ ἔδοξε πράττειν ἐν τῷ ζῇν κάλλιστον.
Strabo, vi. p. 261.
[37] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 332 D. Διονύσιος δὲ εἰς μίαν πόλιν ἀθροίσας πᾶσαν
Σικελίαν ὑπὸ σοφίας, etc.
[38] Diodor. xiv. 107, 108. Polyænus relates this stratagem of Dionysius
about the provisions, as if it had been practised at the siege of Himera, and not of
Rhegium (Polyæn. v. 3, 10).
[39] Diodor. xiv. 112. Ὁ δὲ Φύτων, κατὰ τὴν πολιορκίαν στρατηγὸς ἀγαθὸς
γεγενημένος, καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἄλλον βίον ἐπαινούμενος, οὐκ ἀγεννῶς ὑπέμενε τὴν ἐπὶ
τῆς τελευτῆς τιμωρίαν· ἀλλ᾽ ἀκατάπληκτον τὴν ψυχὴν φυλάξας, καὶ βοῶν, ὅτι τὴν
πόλιν οὐ βουληθεὶς προδοῦναι Διονυσίῳ τυγχάνει τῆς τιμωρίας, ἣν αὐτῷ τὸ
δαιμόνιον ἐκείνῳ συντόμως ἐπιστήσει· ὥστε τὴν ἀρετὴν τἀνδρὸς καὶ παρὰ τοῖς
στρατιώταις τοῦ Διονυσίου κατελεεῖσθαι, καί τινας ἤδη θορυβεῖν. Ὁ δὲ Διονύσιος,
εὐλαβηθεὶς μή τινες τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀποτολμήσωσιν ἐξαρπάζειν τὸν Φύτωνα,
παυσάμενος τῆς τιμωρίας, κατεπόντωσε τὸν ἀτυχῆ μετὰ τῆς συγγενείας. Οὗτος
μὲν οὖν ἀναξίως τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐκνόμοις περιέπεσε τιμωρίαις, καὶ πολλοὺς ἔσχε καὶ
τότε τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοὺς ἀλγήσαντας τὴν συμφορὰν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ποιητὰς τοὺς
θρηνήσοντας τὸ τῆς περιπετείας ἐλεεινόν.
[40] Strabo, vi. p. 258 ἐπιφανῆ δ᾽ οὖν πόλιν οὖσαν ... κατασκάψαι Διονύσιον,
etc.
[42] Polybius, i. 6.
[44] Livy has preserved the mention of this important acquisition of Dionysius
(xxiv. 3).
“Sed arx Crotonis, unâ parte imminens mari, alterâ vergente in agrum, situ
tantum naturali quondam munita, postea et muro cincta est, quâ per aversas
rupes ab Dionysio Siciliæ tyranno per dolum fuerat capta.”
Justin also (xx. 5) mentions the attack of Dionysius upon Kroton.
We may, with tolerable certainty, refer the capture to the present part of the
career of Dionysius.
See also Ælian, V. H. xii. 61.
[45] Aristotel. Auscult. Mirab. s. 96; Athenæus, xii. p. 541; Diodor. xiv. 77.
Polemon specified this costly robe, in his work Περὶ τῶν ἐν Καρχηδόνι
Πέπλων....
[47] Strabo, v. p. 241. It would seem that the two maritime towns, said to
have been founded on the coast of Apulia on the Adriatic by Dionysius the
younger during the first years of his reign—according to Diodorus (xvi. 5)—must
have been really founded by the elder Dionysius, near about the time to which we
have now reached.
[49] Diodor. xv. 14; Strabo, v. p. 226; Servius ad Virgil. Æneid. x. 184.
[51] See Pseudo-Aristotel. Œconomic. ii. 20-41; Cicero, De Natur. Deor. iii.
34, 82, 85: in which passages, however, there must be several incorrect
assertions as to the actual temples pillaged; for Dionysius could not have been in
Peloponnesus to rob the temple of Zeus at Olympia, or of Æsculapius at
Epidaurus.
Athenæus (xv. p. 693) recounts an anecdote that Dionysius plundered the
temple of Æsculapius at Syracuse of a valuable golden table; which is far more
probable.
[52] Diodor. xv. 74. See Mr. Fynes Clinton, Fast. Hellen. ad ann. 367 B. C.
[56] See above, in this work, Vol. X. Ch. LXXVII. p. 76. I have already noticed
the peculiarity of this Olympic festival of 384 B. C., in reference to the position
and sentiment of the Greeks in Peloponnesus and Asia. I am now obliged to
notice it again, in reference to the Greeks of Sicily and Italy—especially to
Dionysius.
[57] Diodor. xv. 14. Παρὰ δ᾽ Ἠλείοις Ὀλυμπιὰς ἤχθη ἐννενηκοστὴ ἐννάτη
(B. C. 384), καθ᾽ ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Δίκων Συρακούσιος.
Pausanias, vi. 3, 5. Δίκων δὲ ὁ Καλλιμβρότου πέντε μὲν Πυθοῖ δρόμου νίκας,
τρεῖς δὲ ἀνείλετο Ἰσθμίων, τέσσαρας δὲ ἐν Νεμέᾳ, καὶ Ὀλυμπιακὰς μίαν μὲν ἐν
παισὶ, δύο δὲ ἄλλας ἀνδρῶν· καὶ οἱ καὶ ἀνδριάντες ἴσοι ταῖς νίκαις εἰσὶν ἐν
Ὀλυμπίᾳ· παιδὶ μὲν δὴ ὄντι αὐτῷ Κ α υ λ ω ν ι ά τ ῃ , κ α θ ά π ε ρ γ ε κ α ὶ ἦ ν ,
ὑ π ῆ ρ ξ ε ν ἀ ν α γ ο ρ ε υ θ ῆ ν α ι· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου Σ υ ρ α κ ο ύ σ ι ο ν α ὑ τ ὸ ν
ἀ ν η γ ό ρ ε υ σ ε ν ἐ π ὶ χ ρ ή μ α σ ι.
Pausanias here states, that Dikon received a bribe to permit himself to be
proclaimed as a Syracusan, and not as a Kauloniate. Such corruption did
occasionally take place (compare another case of similar bribery, attempted by
Syracusan envoys, Pausan. vi. 2, 4), prompted by the vanity of the Grecian cities
to appropriate to themselves the celebrity of a distinguished victor at Olympia.
But in this instance, the blame imputed to Dikon is more than he deserves.
Kaulonia had been already depopulated and incorporated with Lokri; the
inhabitants being taken away to Syracuse and made Syracusan citizens (Diodor.
xiv. 106). Dikon therefore could not have been proclaimed a Kauloniate, even had
he desired it—when the city of Kaulonia no longer existed. The city was indeed
afterwards reëstablished; and this circumstance doubtless contributed to mislead
Pausanias, who does not seem to have been aware of its temporary subversion
by Dionysius.
[60] Lysias, Fr. Or. 33. l. c. Ἐπίστασθε δὲ, ὅτι ἡ μὲν ἀρχὴ τῶν κρατούντων
τῆς θαλάττης, τῶν δὲ χρημάτων βασιλεὺς ταμίας· τὰ δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων σώματα
τῶν δαπανᾶσθαι δυναμένων· ναῦς δὲ πολλὰς αὐτὸς κέκτηται, πολλὰς δ᾽ ὁ
τύραννος τῆς Σικελίας.
[64] Isokrates holds similar language, both about the destructive conquests
of Dionysius, and the past sufferings and present danger of Hellas, in his Orat. IV.
(Panegyric.) composed about 380 B. C., and (probably enough) read at the
Olympic festival of that year (s. 197). ἴσως δ᾽ ἂν καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς εὐηθείας πολλοὶ
καταγελάσειαν, εἰ δυστυχίας ἀνδρῶν ὀδυροίμην ἐν τοιούτοις καιροῖς, ἐν οἷς Ἰταλία
μὲν ἀνάστατος γέγονε, Σικελία δὲ καταδεδούλωται (compare s. 145), τοσαῦται δὲ
πόλεις τοῖς βαρβάροις ἐκδέδονται, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ μέρη τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐν τοῖς
μεγίστοις κινδύνοις ἐστίν.
Isokrates had addressed a letter to the elder Dionysius. He alludes briefly to it
in his Orat. ad Philippum (Orat. v. s. 93), in terms which appear to indicate that it
was bold and plain spoken (θρασύτερον τῶν ἄλλων). The first letter, among the
ten ascribed to Isokrates, purports to be a letter to Dionysius; but it seems rather
(to judge by the last words) to be the preface of a letter about to follow. Nothing
distinct can be made out from it as it now stands.
[66] Dionys. Hal. p. 519. Jud. de Lysiâ. Ἐστὶ δή τις αὐτῷ πανηγυρικὸς λόγος,
ἐν ᾧ πείθει τοὺς Ἕλληνας ... ἐκβάλλειν Διονύσιον τὸν τύραννον τῆς ἀρχῆς, καὶ
Σικελίαν ἐλευθερῶσαι, ἄρξασθαί τε τῆς ἐχθρᾶς αὐτίκα μάλα, διαρπάσαντας τὴν
τοῦ τυράννου σκηνὴν χρυσῷ τε καὶ πορφύρᾳ καὶ ἄλλῳ πλούτῳ πολλῷ
κεκοσμημένην, etc.
Diodor. xiv. 109. Λυσίας ... προετρέπετο τὰ πλήθη μὴ προσδέχεσθαι τοῖς ἱεροῖς
ἀγῶσι τοὺς ἐξ ἀσεβεστάτης τυραννίδος ἀπεσταλμένους θεωρούς.
Compare Plutarch Vit. x. Orator, p. 836 D.
[67] Diodor. xiv. 109. ὥστε τινὰς τολμῆσαι διαρπάζειν τὰς σκηνάς.
[71] For the banishment, and the return of Philistus and Leptinês, compare
Diodor. xv. 7, and Plutarch, Dion. c. 11. Probably it was on this occasion that
Polyxenus, the brother-in-law of Dionysius, took flight as the only means of
preserving his life (Plutarch, Dion. c. 21).
Plutarch mentions the incident which offended Dionysius and caused both
Philistus and Leptinês to be banished. Diodorus does not notice this incident; yet
it is not irreconcilable with his narrative. Plutarch does not mention the
banishment of Leptinês, but only that of Philistus.
On the other hand, he affirms (and Nepos also, Dion. c. 3) that Philistus did
not return until after the death of the elder Dionysius, while Diodorus states his
return conjointly with that of Leptinês—not indicating any difference of time. Here
I follow Plutarch’s statement as the more probable.
There is, however, one point which is perplexing. Plutarch (Timoleon, c. 15)
animadverts upon a passage in the history of Philistus, wherein that historian had
dwelt, with a pathos which Plutarch thinks childish and excessive, upon the
melancholy condition of the daughters of Leptinês, “who had fallen from the
splendor of a court into a poor and mean condition.” How is this reconcilable with
the fact stated by Diodorus, that Leptinês was recalled from exile by Dionysius
after a short time, taken into favor again, and invested with command at the
battle of Kronium, where he was slain? It seems difficult to believe that Philistus
could have insisted with so much sympathy upon the privations endured by the
daughters of Leptinês, if the exile of the father had lasted only a short time.
[72] In a former chapter of this History (Vol. X. Ch. LXXVII. p. 75), I have
already shown grounds, derived from the circumstances of Central Greece and
Persia, for referring the discourse of Lysias, just noticed, to Olympiad 99 or 384
B. C. I here add certain additional reasons, derived from what is said about
Dionysius, towards the same conclusion.
In xiv. 109, Diodorus describes the events of 388 B. C., the year of Olympiad
98, during which Dionysius was still engaged in war in Italy, besieging Rhegium.
He says that Dionysius made unparalleled efforts to send a great display to this
festival; a splendid legation, with richly decorated tents, several fine chariots-and-
four, and poems to be recited by the best actors. He states that Lysias the orator
delivered a strong invective against him, exciting those who heard it to exclude
the Syracusan despot from sacrificing, and to plunder the rich tents. He then
details how the purposes of Dionysius failed miserably on every point; the fine
tents were assailed, the chariots all ran wrong or were broken, the poems were
hissed, the ships returning to Syracuse were wrecked, etc. Yet in spite of this
accumulation of misfortunes (he tells us) Dionysius was completely soothed by his
flatterers (who told him that such envy always followed upon greatness), and did
not desist from poetical efforts.
Again, in xv. 6, 7, Diodorus describes the events of 386 B. C. Here he again
tells us, that Dionysius, persevering in his poetical occupations, composed verses
which were very indifferent—that he was angry with and punished Philoxenus and
others who criticized them freely—that he sent some of these compositions to be
recited at the Olympic festival, with the best actors and reciters—that the poems,
in spite of these advantages, were despised and derided by the Olympic audience
—that Dionysius was distressed by this repulse, even to anguish and madness,
and to the various severities and cruelties against his friends which have been
already mentioned in my text.
Now upon this we must remark:—
1. The year 386 B. C. is not an Olympic year. Accordingly, the proceedings
described by Diodorus in xv. 6, 7, all done by Dionysius after his hands were free
from war, must be transferred to the next Olympic year, 384 B. C. The year in
which Dionysius was so deeply stung by the events of Olympia, must therefore
have been 384 B. C., or Olympiad 99 (relating to 388 B. C.).
2. Compare Diodor. xiv. 109 with xv. 7. In the first passage, Dionysius is
represented as making the most prodigious efforts to display himself at Olympia
in every way, by fine tents, chariots, poems, etc.—and also as having undergone
the signal insult from the orator Lysias, with the most disgraceful failure in every
way. Yet all this he is described to have borne with tolerable equanimity, being
soothed by his flatterers. But, in xv. 7 (relating to 386 B. C., or more probably to
384 B. C.) he is represented as having merely failed in respect to the effect of his
poems; nothing whatever being said about display of any other kind, nor about
an harangue from Lysias, nor insult to the envoys or the tents. Yet the simple
repulse of the poems is on this occasion affirmed to have thrown Dionysius into a
paroxysm of sorrow and madness.
Now if the great and insulting treatment, which Diodorus refers to 388 B. C.,
could be borne patiently by Dionysius—how are we to believe that he was driven
mad by the far less striking failure in 384 B. C.? Surely it stands to reason that the
violent invective of Lysias and the profound humiliation of Dionysius, are parts of
one and the same Olympic phænomenon; the former as cause, or an essential
part of the cause—the latter as effect. The facts will then read consistently and in
proper harmony. As they now appear in Diodorus, there is no rational explanation
of the terrible suffering of Dionysius described in xv. 7; it appears like a comic
exaggeration of reality.
3. Again, the prodigious efforts and outlay, which Diodorus affirms Dionysius
to have made in 388 B. C. for display at the Olympic games—come just at the
time when Dionysius, being in the middle of his Italian war, could hardly have had
either leisure or funds to devote so much to the other purpose; whereas at the
next Olympic festival, or 384 B. C., he was free from war, and had nothing to
divert him from preparing with great efforts all the means of Olympic success.
It appears to me that the facts which Diodorus has stated are nearly all
correct, but that he has misdated them, referring to 388 B. C., or Olymp. 98—
what properly belongs to 384 B. C., or Olymp. 99. Very possibly Dionysius may
have sent one or more chariots to run in the former of the two Olympiads; but his
signal efforts, with his insulting failure brought about partly by Lysias, belong to
the latter.
Dionysius of Halikarnassus, to whom we owe the citation from the oration of
Lysias, does not specify to which of the Olympiads it belongs.
[73] Diodor. xv. 7. διὸ καὶ ποιήματα γράφειν ὑπεστήσατο μετὰ πολλῆς
σπουδῆς, καὶ τοὺς ἐν τούτοις δόξαν ἔχοντας μετεπέμπετο, καὶ προτιμῶν αὐτοὺς
συνδιέτριβε, καὶ τῶν π ο ι η μ ά τ ω ν ἐ π ι σ τ ά τ α ς κ α ὶ δ ι ο ρ θ ω τ ὰ ς ε ἶ χ ε ν.
The Syracusan historian Athanis (or Athenis) had noticed some peculiar
phrases which appeared in the verses of Dionysius: see Athenæus, iii. p. 98.
[74] Thucyd. vi. 16. Οἱ γὰρ Ἕλληνες καὶ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν μείζω ἡμῶν τὴν πόλιν
ἐνόμισαν, τῷ ἐμῷ διαπρεπεῖ τῆς Ὀλυμπιάζε θεωρίας (speech of Alkibiadês).
[75] See a striking passage in the discourse called Archidamus (Or. vi. s. 111,
112) of Isokrates, in which the Spartans are made to feel keenly their altered
position after the defeat of Leuktra: especially the insupportable pain of
encountering, when they attended the Olympic festival, slights or disparagement
from the spectators, embittered by open taunts from the reëstablished
Messenians—instead of the honor and reverence which they had become
accustomed to expect.
This may help us to form some estimate of the painful sentiment of Dionysius,
when his envoys returned from the Olympic festival of 384 B. C.
[76] There are different statements about the precise year in which Plato was
born: see Diogenes Laert. iii. 1-6. The accounts fluctuate between 429 and 428
B. C.; and Hermodorus (ap. Diog. L. iii. 6) appears to have put it in 427 B. C.: see
Corsini, Fast. Attic. iii. p. 230; Ast. Platon’s Leben, p. 14.
Plato (Epistol. vii. p. 324) states himself to have been about (σχεδὸν) forty
years of age when he visited Sicily for the first time. If we accept as the date of
his birth 428 B. C., he would be forty years of age in 388 B. C.
It seems improbable that the conversation of Plato with Dion at Syracuse
(which was continued sufficiently long to exercise a marked and permanent
influence on the character of the latter), and his interviews with Dionysius, should
have taken place while Dionysius was carrying on the Italian war or the siege of
Rhegium. I think that the date of the interview must be placed after the capture
of Rhegium in 387 B. C. And the expression of Plato (given in a letter written more
than thirty years afterwards) about his own age, is not to be taken as excluding
the supposition that he might have been forty-one or forty-two when he came to
Syracuse.
Athenæus (xi. p. 507) mentions the visit of Plato.
[78] Plutarch, Dion, c. 5; Diodor. xv. 7; Diogen. Laert. iii. 17; Cornelius
Nepos, Dion, c. 2.
[81] See Plato, Epist. vii. p. 333, 336—also some striking lines, addressed by
the poet Theokritus to Hiero II. despot at Syracuse in the succeeding century:
Theokrit. xvi. 75-85.
Dionysius—ἐζήτει λαβεῖν πρόφασιν εὔλογον τοῦ πολέμου, etc.
[82] Diodor. xv. 15.
[86] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 333 A. After reciting the advice which Dion and he
had given to Dionysius the younger, he proceeds to say—ἕτοιμον γὰρ εἶναι,
τούτων γενομένων, πολὺ μᾶλλον δουλώσασθαι Καρχηδονίους τῆς ἐπὶ Γέλωνος
αὐτοῖς γενομένης δουλείας, ἀ λ λ ᾽ ο ὐ χ , ὥ σ π ε ρ ν ῦ ν τ ο ὐ ν α ν τ ί ο ν , ὁ
π α τ ὴ ρ α ὐ τ ο ῦ φ ό ρ ο ν ἐ τ ά ξ α τ ο φ έ ρ ε ι ν τ ο ῖ ς β α ρ β ά ρ ο ι ς, etc.
[88] Strabo, vi. p. 261; Pliny, H. N. iii. 10. The latter calls the isthmus twenty
miles broad, and says that Dionysius wished (intercisam) to cut it through: Strabo
says that he proposed to wall it across (διατειχίζειν), which is more probable.
[89] Xenoph. Hellen. vi. 2, 4, 33; vii i. 20-28. Diodor. xv. 70.
[94] Polyb. xv. 35. Διὸ καὶ Πόπλιον Σκιπίωνά φασι, τὸν πρῶτον
καταπολεμήσαντα Καρχηδονίους, ἐρωτηθέντα, τίνας ὑπολαμβάνει
πραγματικωτάτους ἄνδρας γεγονέναι καὶ σὺν νῷ τολμηροτάτους, εἰπεῖν, τοὺς περὶ
Ἀγαθοκλέα καὶ Διονύσιον τοὺς Σικελιώτας.
[96] The example of Dionysius—his long career of success and quiet death—
is among those cited by Cotta in Cicero (De Nat. Deor. iii. 33, 81, 85) to refute the
doctrine of Balbus, as to the providence of the gods and their moral government
over human affairs.
[101] Pseudo-Aristotel. Œconomic. ii. c. 21, 42; Cicero, De Nat. Deorum, iii.
34, 83, 84; Valerius Maxim. i. 1.
[104] Plutarch, De Fortunâ Alexandr. Magni, p. 338 B. What were the crimes
of Dionysius which Pausanias had read and describes by the general words
Διονυσίου τὰ ἀνοσιώτατα—and which he accuses Philistus of having intentionally
omitted in his history—we cannot now tell (Pausan. i. 13, 2: compare Plutarch,
Dion, c. 36). An author named Amyntianus, contemporary with Pausanias, and
among those perused by Photius (Codex 131), had composed parallel lives of
Dionysius and the Emperor Domitian.
[106] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 332 D. Διονύσιος δὲ εἰς μίαν πόλιν ἀθροίσας πᾶσαν
Σικελίαν ὑπὸ σοφίας, π ι σ τ ε ύ ω ν ο ὐ δ ε ν ὶ , μ ό γ ι ς ἐ σ ώ θ η, etc.
This brief, but significant expression of Plato, attests the excessive mistrust
which haunted Dionysius, as a general fact; which is illustrated by the anecdotes
of Cicero, Tuscul. Disput. v. 20, 23; and De Officiis, ii. 7; Plutarch, Dion, c. 9;
Diodor. xiv. 2.
The well-known anecdote of Damoklês, and the sword which Dionysius caused
to be suspended over his head by a horsehair, in the midst of the enjoyments of
the banquet, as an illustration how little was the value of grandeur in the midst of
terror—is recounted by Cicero.
[110] Plato, Epistol. iii. p. 315 E. (to the younger Dionysius). Φασὶ δ᾽ οὐκ
ὀλίγοι λέγειν σε πρός τινας τῶν παρά σε πρεσβευόντων, ὡς ἄρα σοῦ ποτὲ
λέγοντος ἀκούσας ἐγὼ μέλλοντος τ ά ς τ ε Ἑ λ λ η ν ί δ α ς π ό λ ε ι ς ἐ ν Σ ι κ ε λ ί ᾳ
ο ἰ κ ί ζ ε ι ν , κ α ὶ Σ υ ρ α κ ο υ σ ί ο υ ς ἐ π ι κ ο υ φ ί σ α ι, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀντὶ τυραννίδος εἰς
βασιλείαν μεταστήσαντα, ταῦτ᾽ ἄρα σὲ μέν τοτε διεκώλυσα, σοῦ σφόδρα
προθυμουμένου, νῦν δὲ Δίωνα διδάσκοιμι δρᾷν αὐτὰ ταῦτα, καὶ τοῖς διανοήμασι
τοῖς σοῖς τὴν σὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφαιρούμεθά σε.
Ibid. p. 319 C. Μή με διάβαλλε λέγων, ὡς οὐκ εἴων σε πόλεις Ἑλληνίδας
ἐῤῥούσας ὑπὸ βαρβάρων οἰκίζειν, οὐδὲ Συρακουσίους ἐπικουφίσαι ... ὡ ς ἐ γ ὼ
μ ὲ ν ἐ κ έ λ ε υ ο ν , σ ὺ δ ᾽ ο ὐ κ ἤ θ ε λ ε ς π ρ ά τ τ ε ι ν α ὐ τ ά.
Again, see Epistol. vii. p. 331 F. 332 B. 334 D. 336 A.-D.—and the brief notice
given by Photius (Codex, 93) of the lost historical works of Arrian, respecting Dion
and Timoleon.
Epistol. viii. p. 357 A. (What Dion intended to do, had he not been prevented
by death)—Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Σικελίαν ἂν τὴν ἄλλην κατῴκισα, τ ο ὺ ς μ ὲ ν
βαρβάρους ἣν νῦν ἔχουσιν ἀφελόμενος, ὅσοι μὴ ὑπὲρ τῆς
κοινῆς ἐλευθερίας διεπολέμησαν πρὸς τὴν τυραννίδα, τοὺς δ᾽
ἔμπροσθεν οἰκητὰς τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν τόπων εἰς τὰς ἀρχαίας καὶ
π α τ ρ ῴ α ς ο ἰ κ ή σ ε ι ς κ α τ ο ι κ ί σ α ς. Compare Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 2. αἱ δὲ
πλεῖσται πόλεις ὑπὸ βαρβάρων μιγάδων καὶ στρατιωτῶν ἀμίσθων κατείχοντο.
The βάρβαροι to whom Plato alludes in this last passage, are not the
Carthaginians (none of whom could be expected to come in and fight for the
purpose of putting down the despotism at Syracuse), but the Campanian and
other mercenaries provided for by the elder Dionysius on the lands of the
extruded Greeks. These men would have the strongest interest in upholding the
despotism, if the maintenance of their own properties was connected with it. Dion
thought it prudent to conciliate this powerful force by promising confirmation of
their properties to such of them as would act upon the side of freedom.
[111] Both Diodorus (xvi. 9) and Cornelius Nepos (Dion, c. 5) speak of one
hundred thousand foot and ten thousand horse. The former speaks of four
hundred ships of war; the latter of five hundred.
The numbers of foot and horse appear evidently exaggerated. Both authors
must have copied from the same original; possibly Ephorus.
[112] Plutarch, Dion, c. 6; Theopompus, Fr. 204, ed. Didot. ap. Athenæum,
x. p. 435; Diodor. xvi. 6; Cornel. Nepos (Dion, c. 1).
The Scholiast on Plato’s fourth Epistle gives information respecting the
personal relations and marriages of the elder Dionysius, not wholly agreeing with
what is stated in the sixth chapter of Plutarch’s Life of Dion.
[115] Plato Epistol. vii. p. 347 A. Compare the offer of Dion to maintain fifty
triremes at his own expense (Plutarch, Dion, c. 6.)
[116] Dion was fifty-five years of age at the time of his death, in the fourth
year after his departure from Peloponnesus (Cornelius Nepos, Dion, c. 10).
His death took place seemingly about 354 B. C. He would thus be born about
408 B. C.
[120] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 335 F. Δίωνα γὰρ ἐγὼ σαφῶς οἶδα, ὡς οἷόν τε περὶ
ἀνθρώπων ἄνθρωπον διϊσχυρίζεσθαι, ὅτι τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰ κατέσχεν, ὡς οὐκ ἄν ποτε
ἐπ᾽ ἄλλο γε σχῆμα τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐτράπετο, ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ—Συρακούσας μὲν πρῶτον, τὴν
πατρίδα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, ἐπεὶ τὴν δουλείαν αὐτῆς ἀπήλλαξε καὶ φαιδρύνας ἐλευθερίῳ
ἐν σχήματι κατέστησε, τὸ μετὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἂν πάσῃ μηχάνῃ ἐκόσμησε νόμοις τοῖς
προσήκουσί τε καὶ ἀρίστοις τοὺς πολίτας—τό τε ἐφεξῆς τούτοις προυθυμεῖτ᾽ ἂν
πρᾶξαι, πᾶσαν Σικελίαν κατοικίζειν καὶ ἐλευθέραν ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ποιεῖν, τοὺς
μὲν ἐκβάλλων, τοὺς δὲ χειρούμενος ῥᾷον Ἱέρωνος, etc.
Compare the beginning of the same epistle, p. 324 A.
[121] Plato, Epist. iv. p. 320 F. (addressed to Dion). ... ὡς οὖν ὑπὸ πάντων
ὁρώμενος παρασκευάζου τόν τε Λυκοῦργον ἐκεῖνον ἀρχαῖον ἀποδείξων, καὶ τὸν
Κῦρον καὶ εἴτις ἄλλος πώποτε ἔδοξεν ἤθει καὶ πολιτείᾳ διενεγκεῖν, etc.
[123] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 327 A. Δίων μὲν γὰρ δὴ μάλ᾽ εὐμαθὴς ὢν πρός τε
τἄλλα, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς τότε ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ λεγομένους λόγους, οὕτως ὀξέως ὑπήκουσε
καὶ σφόδρα, ὡς οὐδεὶς πώποτε ὧν ἐγὼ προσέτυχον νέων, καὶ τὸν ἐπίλοιπον βίον
ζῇν ἠθέλησε διαφερόντως τῶν πολλῶν Ἰταλιωτῶν καὶ Σικελιωτῶν, ἀρετὴν περὶ
πλείονος ἡδονῆς τῆς τε ἄλλης τρυφῆς ποιούμενος· ὅθεν ἐπαχθέστερον τοῖς περὶ
τὰ τυραννικὰ νόμιμα ζῶσιν ἐβίω, μέχρι τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ περὶ Διονύσιον
γενομένου.
Plutarch, Dion, c. 4. ὡς πρῶτον ἐγεύσατο λόγου καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἡγεμονικῆς
πρὸς ἀρετήν, ἀνεφλέχθη τὴν ψυχὴν, etc.
[129] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 338 E. Ὁ δὲ οὔτε ἄλλως ἐστὶν ἀφυὴς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ
μανθάνειν δύναμιν, φιλότιμος δὲ θαυμαστῶς, etc. Compare p. 330 A. p. 328 B.;
also Epist. iii. p. 316 C. p. 317 E.
Plutarch, Dion, c. 7-9.
[130] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 332 E. ἐπειδὴ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῷ
συνεβεβήκει οὕτως ἀνομιλήτῳ μὲν παιδείας, ἀνομιλήτῳ δὲ συνουσιῶν τῶν
προσηκουσῶν γεγονέναι, etc.
[133] Dionysius II. was engaged at war at the time when Plato first visited
him at Syracuse, within the year immediately after his accession (Plato, Epistol. iii.
p. 317 A). We may reasonably presume that this was the war with Carthage.
Compare Diodorus (xvi. 5), who mentions that the younger Dionysius also
carried on war for some little time, in a languid manner, against the Lucanians;
and that he founded two cities on the coast of Apulia in the Adriatic. I think it
probable that these two last-mentioned foundations were acts of Dionysius I., not
of Dionysius II. They were not likely to be undertaken by a young prince of
backward disposition, at his first accession.
[134] Tacitus, Histor. ii. 49. “Othoni sepulcrum exstructum est, modicum, et
mansurum.”
A person named Timæus was immortalized as the constructor of the funeral
pile: see Athenæus, v. p. 206. Both Göller (Timæi Fragm. 95) and M. Didot
(Timæi Fr. 126) have referred this passage to Timæus the historian, and have
supposed it to relate to the description given by Timæus of the funeral-pile. But
the passage in Athenæus seems to me to indicate Timæus as the builder, not the
describer, of this famous πυρά.
It is he who is meant, probably, in the passage of Cicero (De Naturâ Deor. iii.
35)—(Dionysius) “in suo lectulo mortuus in Tympanidis rogum illatus est, eamque
potestatem quam ipse per scelus erat nactus, quasi justam et legitimam
hereditatis loco filio tradidit.” This seems at least the best way of explaining a
passage which perplexes the editors: see the note of Davis.
[135] Plutarch (De Exilio. p. 637) and Cornelius Nepos (Dion, c. 3) represent
that Philistus was recalled at the persuasion of the enemies of Dion, as a
counterpoise and corrective to the ascendency of the latter over Dionysius the
younger. Though Philistus afterwards actually performed this part, I doubt
whether such was the motive which caused him to be recalled. He seems to have
come back before the obsequies of Dionysius the elder; that is, very early after
the commencement of the new reign. Philistus had described, in his history, these
obsequies in a manner so elaborate and copious, that this passage in his work
excited the special notice of the ancient critics (see Philisti Fragment. 42, ed.
Didot; Plutarch, Pelopidas, c. 34). I venture to think that this proves him to have
been present at the obsequies; which would of course be very impressive to him,
since they were among the first things which he saw after his long exile.
[136] Plutarch, Dion, c. 11. Ταῦτα πολλάκις τοῦ Δίωνος παραινοῦντος, καὶ
τῶν λόγων τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἔστιν οὕστινας ὑποσπείροντος, etc.
[138] Plato, Epist. vii. p. 328 A. p. 335 E.; Plato, Republic, vi. p. 499 C. D.
[139] Plato, Epist. vii. p. 327 E. ... Ὃ δὴ καὶ νῦν εἰ διαπράξαιτο ἐν Διονυσίῳ
ὡς ἐπεχείρησε, μεγάλας ἐλπίδας εἶχεν, ἄνευ σφαγῶν καὶ θανάτων καὶ τῶν νῦν
γεγονότων κακῶν, βίον ἂν εὐδαίμονα καὶ ἀληθινὸν ἐν πάσῃ τῇ χώρᾳ
κατασκευάσαι.
[140] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 333 B. Ταὐτὸν πρὸς Δίωνα Συρακόσιοι τότε
ἔπαθον, ὅπερ καὶ Διονύσιος, ὅτε αὐτὸν ἐπεχείρει παιδεύσας καὶ θρέψας βασιλέα
τῆς ἀρχῆς ἄξιον, οὕτω κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ τοῦ βίου παντός.
[141] Plato, Epist. vii. p. 327 E.; Plutarch. Dion, c. 11. ἔσχεν ἔρως τὸν
Διονύσιον ὀξὺς καὶ περιμανὴς τῶν τε λόγων καὶ τῆς συνουσίας τοῦ Πλάτωνος.
Εὐθὺς οὖν Ἀθήναζε πολλὰ μὲν ἐφοίτα γράμματα παρὰ τοῦ Διονυσίου, πολλαὶ δ᾽
ἐπισκήψεις τοῦ Δίωνος, ἄλλαι δ᾽ ἐξ Ἰταλίας παρὰ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν, etc.
[143] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 328. Ταύτῃ μὲν τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ τόλμῃ ἀπῇρα
οἴκοθεν, οὐχ ᾗ τινὲς ἐδόξαζον, ἀλλ᾽ αἰσχυνόμενος μὲν
ἐ μ α υ τ ὸ ν τ ὸ μ έ γ ι σ τ ο ν, μὴ δόξαιμί ποτε ἐμαυτῷ παντάπασι λόγος μόνον
ἀτεχνῶς εἶναί τις, ἔργου δὲ οὐδενὸς ἄν ποτε ἑκὼν ἀνθάψασθαι, κινδυνεύσειν δὲ
προδοῦναι πρῶτον μὲν τὴν Δίωνος ξενίαν ἐν κινδύνοις ὄντως γεγονότος οὐ
σμικροῖς· εἴτ᾽ οὖν πάθοι τι, εἴτ᾽ ἐκπεσὼν ὑπὸ Διονυσίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐχθρῶν
ἔλθοι παρ᾽ ἡμᾶς φεύγων, καὶ ἀνέροιτο, εἰπών, etc.
[145] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 350 E. ταῦτα εἶπον μεμισηκὼς τὴν περὶ Σικελίαν
πλάνην καὶ ἀτυχίαν, etc.
Xenokrates seems to have accompanied Plato to Sicily (Diogen. Laert. iv. 2, 1).
[149] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 330 B. Ἐγὼ δὲ πάντα ὑπέμενον, τὴν πρώτην
διάνοιαν φυλάττων ᾗπερ ἀφικόμην, εἴπως εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἔλθοι τ ῆ ς φ ι λ ο σ ό φ ο υ
ζ ω ῆ ς (Dionysius)—ὁ δ᾽ ἐνίκησεν ἀντιτείνων.
[150] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 332 E. Ἃ δὴ καὶ Διονυσίῳ συνεβουλεύομεν ἐγὼ καὶ
Δίων, ἐπειδὴ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῷ συνεβεβήκει, οὕτως ἀνομιλήτῳ μὲν
παιδείας, ἀνομιλήτῳ δὲ συνουσιῶν τῶν προσηκουσῶν γεγονέναι, π ρ ῶ τ ο ν ἐπὶ
ταῦτα ὁρμήσαντα φίλους ἄλλους αὑτῷ τῶν οἰκείων ἅμα καὶ ἡλικιωτῶν καὶ
συμφώνους πρὸς ἀρετὴν κτήσασθαι, μ ά λ ι σ τ α δ ὲ α ὐ τ ὸ ν α ὑ τ ῷ , τ ο ύ τ ο υ
γὰρ αὐτὸν θαυμαστῶς ἐνδεᾶ γεγονέναι· λέγοντες οὐκ ἐναργῶς
ο ὕ τ ω ς — ο ὐ γ ὰ ρ ἦ ν ἀ σ φ α λ ὲ ς—ὡς οὕτω μὲν πᾶς ἀνὴρ αὑτόν τε καὶ ἐκείνους
ὧν ἂν ἡγεμὼν γένηται σώσει, μὴ ταύτῃ δὲ τραπόμενος τἀναντία πάντα ἀποτελεῖ·
πορευθεὶς δὲ ὡς λέγομεν, κ α ὶ ἑ α υ τ ὸ ν ἔ μ φ ρ ο ν α κ α ὶ σ ώ φ ρ ο ν α
π ο ι η σ ά μ ε ν ο ς, εἰ τὰς ἐξηρημωμένας Σικελίας πόλεις κατοικίσειε νόμοις τε
ξυνδήσειε καὶ πολιτείαις, etc.
Compare also p. 331 F.
[152] Plato, Epist. iii. 315 E. Φάσι δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγοι λέγειν σε πρός τινας τῶν
παρά σε πρεσβευόντων, ὡς ἄρα σοῦ ποτὲ λέγοντος ἀκούσας ἐγὼ μέλλοντος τάς
τε Ἑλληνίδας πόλεις ἐν Σικελίᾳ οἰκίζειν, καὶ Συρακουσίους ἐπικουφίσαι, τὴν ἀρχὴν
ἀντὶ τυραννίδος εἰς βασιλείαν μεταστήσαντα, τ α ῦ τ ᾽ ἄ ρ α σ ὲ μ ὲ ν τ ό τ ε , ὡ ς
σὺ φῇς, διεκώλυσα—νῦν δὲ Δίωνα διδάσκοιμι δρᾷν αὐτὰ, καὶ
τ ο ῖ ς δ ι α ν ο ή μ α σ ι τ ο ῖ ς σ ο ῖ ς τ ὴ ν σ ὴ ν ἀ ρ χ ὴ ν ἀφαιρούμεθά σε....
Ibid. p. 319 B. εἶπες δὲ καὶ μάλ᾽ ἀπλάστως γελῶν, εἰ μέμνημαι, ὡς
Παιδευθέντα με ἐκέλευες ποιεῖν πάντα ταῦτα, ἢ μὴ ποιεῖν.
Ἔ φ η ν ἐ γ ὼ Κ ά λ λ ι σ τ α μ ν η μ ο ν ε ῦ σ α ί σ ε.
Cornelius Nepos (Dion, c. 3) gives to Plato the credit, which belongs
altogether to Dion, of having inspired Dionysius with these ideas.
[154] Plato, Phædon, c. 88. p. 89 D. Οὐκοῦν αἰσχρόν; καὶ δῆλον, ὅτι ἄνευ
τέχνης τῆς περὶ τἀνθρώπεια ὁ τοιοῦτος χρῆσθαι ἐπιχειρεῖ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις;
He is expounding the causes and growth of misanthropic dispositions; one of
the most striking passages in his dialogues.
[155] Plutarch, Dion, c. 14, Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 333 C. Ὁ δὲ (Dionysius) τοῖς
διαβάλλουσι (ἐπίστευε) καὶ λέγουσιν ὡς ἐπιβουλεύων τῇ τυραννίδι Δίων πράττοι
πάντα ὅσα ἔπραττεν ἐν τῷ τότε χρόνῳ, ἵνα ὁ μὲν (Dionysius) παιδείᾳ δὴ τὸν νοῦν
κηληθεὶς ἀμελοῖ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπιτρέψας ἐκείνῳ, ὁ δὲ (Dion) σφετερίσαιτο, καὶ
Διονύσιον ἐκβάλοι ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς δόλῳ.
[156] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 329 C. ἐλθὼν δὲ, οὐ γὰρ δεῖ μηκύνειν, εὗρον
στάσεως τὰ περὶ Διονύσιον μεστὰ ξύμπαντα καὶ διαβολῶν πρὸς τὴν τυραννίδα
Δίωνος πέρι· ἤμυνον μὲν οὖν καθ᾽ ὅσον ἠδυνάμην, σμικρὰ δ᾽ οἷός τε ἦ, etc.
[157] The story is found in Plutarch (Dion, c. 14), who refers to Timæus as
his authority. It is confirmed in the main by Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 329 D. μηνὶ δὴ
σχεδὸν ἴσως τετάρτῳ Δίωνα Διονύσιος, αἰτιώμενος ἐπιβουλεύειν τῇ τυραννίδι,
σμικρὸν εἰς πλοῖον ἐμβιβάσας, ἐξέβαλεν ἀτίμως.
Diodorus (xvi. 6) states that Dionysius sought to put Dion to death, and that
he only escaped by flight. But the version of Plato and Plutarch is to be preferred.
Justin (xxi. 1, 2) gives an account, different from all, of the reign and
proceedings of the younger Dionysius. I cannot imagine what authority he
followed. He does not even name Dion.
[158] Plato, Epistol. iii. p. 315 F.; Epist. vii. p. 329 D.; p. 340 A. Plutarch,
Dion, c. 15.
[162] Plato, Epist. vii. p. 338-346; Plutarch, Dion, c. 19. Æschines, the
companion of Sokrates along with Plato, is said to have passed a long time at
Syracuse with Dionysius, until the expulsion of that despot (Diogen. Laert. ii. 63).
[165] Plato, Epistol. iii. p. 318 A.; vii. p. 346, 347. Plutarch, Dion, c. 15, 16.
[170] Plutarch, Dion, c. 17; Athenæus, xi. p. 508. Plato appears also to have
received, when at Athens, pecuniary assistance remitted by Dionysius from
Syracuse, towards expenses of a similar kind, as well as towards furnishing a
dowry for certain poor nieces. Dion and Dionysius had both aided him (Plato,
Epistol. xiii. p. 361).
An author named Onêtor affirmed that Dionysius had given to Plato the
prodigious sum of eighty talents; a story obviously exaggerated (Diogenes Laert.
iii. 9).
[172] Plato, Epistol. vii. p. 350. This is the account which Plato gives after
the death of Dion, when affairs had taken a disastrous turn, about the extent of
his own interference in the enterprise. But Dionysius supposed him to have been
more decided in his countenance of the expedition; and Plato’s letter addressed
to Dion himself, after the victory of the latter at Syracuse, seems to bear out that
supposition.
Compare Epistol. iii. p. 315 E.; iv. p. 320 A.
[173] Plutarch, Dion, c. 22. Eudemus was afterwards slain in one of the
combats at Syracuse (Aristotle apud Ciceron. Tusc. Disp. i. 25, 53).
[176] See Orat. adv. Leptinem, s. 179. p. 506: an oration delivered about two
years afterwards; not long after the victory of Dion.
Compare Diodor. xvi. 9; Plutarch, Timoleon, c. 2.
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