person
Dionysius I of Syracuse
Dionysius
Tyrant of Syracuse (c. 432-367 BC); for Cicero, with Phalaris, the standard exemplar of tyranny.
Reading notes
- On Duties §2.25 that elder Dionysius
Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse (c. 432-367 BC), proverbial for the suspicion bred by tyranny; said to fear barbers' razors so much that he singed his own hair with coals.
- Tusculan Disputations §5.57 Dionysius was tyrant of the Syracusans
Dionysius I of Syracuse (c. 432-367 BC), who seized power at twenty-five and ruled for thirty-eight years. Despite his temperance and energy, Cicero makes him the supreme example of the wretchedness of the tyrant who can trust no one.