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Cassius DioFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lucius (orClaudius) Cassius Dio (alleged to have the cognomen Cocceianus),[1][2] (Greek:

, c. AD 150 235,[3] known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, orDio (Dione. lib), was aRoman consul and noted historian who wrote in Greek. Dio published a history of Rome in 80 volumes,

beginning with the legendary arrival of Aeneas in Italy; the volumes then documented the subsequent founding ofRome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (31 BC), up until AD229. The entire period covered by Dio's work is approximately 1,400 years. Of the 80 books, written over 22ears, many survive into the modern age, intact, oras fragments, providing modern scholars with a detailed

perspective on Roman history.

Contents

1 Biography2Roman History3 Literary style4 See also5 Notes6 Sources7 External links

Biography

Dio was the son of Cassius Apronianus, a Roman senator, and he was born and raised at Nicaea in Bithynia.Byzantine tradition maintains that Dio's mother was the daughter or sister of the Greek orator and philosopher,Dio Chrysostom; however, this relationship has been disputed. Lucius is often identified as Dio'spraenomen,but a Macedonian inscription, published in 1970, reveals the abbreviation, "Cl.", presumably Claudius.[4]

Although Dio was a Roman citizen, he wrote in Greek. Dio always maintained a love for his hometown ofNicaea, calling it "his home", as opposed to his description of his villa in Italy ("my residence inItaly").[citation needed]

For the greaterpart of his life, Dio was a member of the public service. He was a senator under Commodus andgovernor of Smyrna following the death of Septimius Severus; he became a suffect consul in approximately theear 205. Dio was also Proconsul in Africa and Pannonia. Severus Alexander held Dios in the highest esteem

and reappointed him to the position of consul, even though his caustic nature irritated the Praetorian Guards,who demanded his life. Following his second consulship, while in his later years, Dios returned to his nativecountry, where he eventually died.

Dios was either the grandfather or great-grandfather of Cassius Dio, the Roman consul in 291.[5]

oman History
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Dio published aRoman History (Historia Romana), in 80 books, after 22 years of research and labour. Thebooks cover Roman history for a period of approximately 1,400 years, beginning with the arrival of thelegendary Aeneas in Italy (c. 1200 BC), through to the subsequent mythistoric founding of Rome (753 BC);they also cover historical events up to AD 229. The work is one of only three written Roman sources thatdocument the Celtic revolt of AD 60 - 61 in Britain that was led by Boudica. Until the 1st century BC, Dioprovides only a summary of events; after that period, his accounts become more detailed. From the time ofCommodus, Dio is very circumspect in his conveyance of the events that he witnessed.

In the 21st century, fragments remain of the first 36 books, including considerable portions of both the 35th (onthe war of Lucullus against Mithridates VI of Pontus) and 36th (on the war with the pirates and the expedition oPompey against the king of Pontus) books. The books that follow, up until the 54th, inclusive, are nearly allcomplete; they cover the period from 65 BC to 12 BC, or, from the eastern campaign of Pompey and the deathof Mithridates to the death of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. The 55th book contains a considerable gap, while the56th to the 60th books (which cover the period from 9 to 54), inclusive, are complete and contain the eventsfrom the defeat of Varus in Germany to the death of Claudius. Of the 20 subsequent books in the series, thereremain only fragments and the meager abridgement of John Xiphilinus, a monk from the 11th century. Theabridgment of Xiphilinus, as now extant, commences with the 35th book and continues to the end of the 80th

book (it is a very indifferent performance and was made by order of the emperor Michael VII Parapinaces).The last book covers the period from 222 to 229 (the reign of Alexander Severus).

The fragments of the first 36 books, as have been collected, consist of four kinds:

1. Fragmenta Valesiana: Such as those that were dispersed throughout various writers, scholiasts,grammarians, and lexicographers, and were collected by Henri Valois.

2. Fragmenta Peiresciana: Consists of large extracts, found in the section entitled, "Of Virtues and Vices",contained in the collection, or portative library, compiled by order of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus.The manuscript of this belonged to Peiresc.

3. The fragments of the first 34 books, preserved in the second section of the same work by Constantine,entitled Of Embassies. These are known under the name ofFragmenta Ursiniana, as the manuscriptin which they are contained was found in Sicily, Italy, by Fulvio Orsini.

4. Excerpta Vaticana by Angelo Mai: Contains fragments of books 1 to 35 and 61 to 80. Additionally,fragments of an unknown continuator of Dio (Anonymus post Dionem), generally identified with the 6th-century historian, Peter the Patrician, are included; these date back to the time of Constantine. Otherfragments from Dio that are primarily associated with the first 34 books were found by Mai in twoVatican MSS.; these contain a collection that was compiled by Maximus Planudes. The annals of JoannesZonaras also contain numerous extracts from Dio.

Literary style

Dio attempted to emulate Thucydides in his writing style, but was unable to match the arrangement and thepresentation of the materials, the soundness of his viewpoint, and the accuracy of his reasoning. Dio's style isgenerally clear, where there appears to be no corruption of the text; although, his writing is full of Latinisms.Dio's writing was underpinned by a set of personal circumstances, whereby he was able to observe significantevents of the Empire in the first-person, or he had direct contact with the key figures who were involved.
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Political offices

Preceded byUncertain

Consul suffectus of the Roman Empire

around205with uncertain

Succeeded byUncertain

Preceded byQuintus Aiacius Modestus

Crescentianus,

Marcus Pomponius Maecius

Probus

Consul of the Roman Empire

229with Alexander Severus

Succeeded byLucius Virius Agricola ,

Sextus Catius ClementinusPriscillianus

See also

CeltsInaugural games of the Flavian Amphitheatre

Notes

1. ^ Dio's name:L'Anne pigraphique 1971, 430 = . Roman Military Diplomas, Roxan, 133 =L. Cassius Dio.

2. ^ Alain Gowing, who has edited Cassius Dio, argues that the evidence for Cocceianus is insufficient, and theascription is a Byzantine confusion with Dio Chrysostom, whom Pliny shows to be named Cocceianus; heprovides the previously unattested praenomen ofClaudius.

3. ^ According to some scholars, such as Millar (Millar, F.,A study of Cassius Dio, Oxford 1966, p. 13), he wasborn later, in 163/164.

4. ^ Gowing, who adopts it; Claudius, however, is usually a nomen.

5. ^ Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I AD 260-395,Cambridge University Press (1971), pg. 253

Sources

Alain Gowing, "Dio's Name (http://www.jstor.org/stable/269480) ". Classical Philology,Vol. 85, No. 1(Jan., 1990), pp. 4954. JSTOR link.Millar, Fergus (1964). Study of Cassius Dio. Oxford University Press. p. 250. ISBN 0-19-814336-2.Peck, Harry Thurston (1897).Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. Harper &Brothers. p. 1687. ASIN B000K28KCI.

External links

Cassius Dio,Roman History(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html) (English translation onLacusCurtius)Works by Cassius Dio (http://www.gutenberg.org/author/Cassius+Dio) at Project GutenbergGreek text and French Translation (http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/Dion/table.htm)

Dio Cassius: the Manuscripts of "The Roman History"(http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/manuscripts/dio_cassius.htm)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cassius_Dio&oldid=542578395"Categories: Imperial Roman consuls Roman-era Greek historians Historians from Roman Anatolia
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