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Lucius (or Claudius) Cassius Dio (alleged to have the cognomen Cocceianus) (c. AD 155 – 235,[3][4] known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio (Dione. lib) was a Roman consul and noted historian.
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 of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (31 BC), up until AD 229.
The entire period covered by Dio's work is approximately 1,400 years.
Of the 80 books, written over 22 years, many survive into the modern age, intact, or as fragments, providing modern scholars with a detailed perspective on Roman history.
Dione 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 ("Dione") was the daughter or sister of the Greek orator and philosopher, Dio (DIONE) Chrysostom.
However, this relationship has been disputed.
Lucius is often identified as Dione's praenomen.
But a Macedonian inscription, published in 1970, reveals the abbreviation, "Cl.", presumably Claudius.[5]
Dione was a Roman citizen.
Dione always maintained a love for his hometown of Nicaea, calling it "his home", as opposed to his description of his villa in Italy ("my residence in Italy").
For the greater part of his life, Dione was a member of the public service.
Dione became a suffect consul in approximately the year 205.
Severus Alexander held Dione 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, Dio returned to his native country, where he eventually died.
Dione published a Roman History (Historia Romana), in 80 books, after twenty-two years of research and labour.
The books cover Roman history for a period of approximately 1,400 years, beginning with the arrival of the legendary 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 that document the Celtic revolt of AD 60 - 61 in Britain that was led by Boudica.
Until the first century BC, Dio provides only a summary of events.
After that period, Dione's accounts become more detailed.
From the time of Commodus (ruled 180 - 192 AD), 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 Book 35 (on the war of Lucullus against Mithridates VI of Pontus) and 36 (on the war with the pirates and the expedition of Pompey against the king of Pontus).
The books that follow, up until the Book 54, inclusive, are nearly all complete.
They cover the period from 65 BC to 12 BC, or, from the eastern campaign of Pompey and the death of Mithridates to the death of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
The 55th book contains a considerable gap, while the 56th to the 60th books (which cover the period from 9 through 54) are complete and contain events from the defeat of Varus in Germany to the death of Claudius.
Of the 20 subsequent books in the series, there remain only fragments and the meager abridgement of John Xiphilinus, a monk from the 11th century.
The abridgment of Xiphilinus, as now extant, commences with the Book 35t and continues to the end of the Book 80.
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 they have been collected, consist of four kinds:
Fragmenta Valesiana: fragments that were dispersed throughout various writers, scholiasts, grammarians, and lexicographers, and were collected by Henri Valois.
Fragmenta Peiresciana: 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 Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc.
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 of Fragmenta Ursiniana, as the manuscript in which they are contained was found in Sicily by Fulvio Orsini.
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 from the time of Constantine. Other fragments from Dio that are primarily associated with the first 34 books were found by Mai in two Vatican MSS.; these contain a collection that was compiled by Maximus Planudes. The annals of Joannes Zonaras also contain numerous extracts from Dio.
Dio attempted to emulate Thucydides in his writing style, but was unable to match the arrangement and the presentation of the materials, the soundness of his viewpoint, and the accuracy of his reasoning.[citation needed] Dio's style is generally 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 significant events of the Empire in the first-person, or he had direct contact with the key figures who were involved.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Uncertain | Consul suffectus of the Roman Empire around 205 with uncertain | Succeeded by Uncertain |
| Preceded by Quintus Aiacius Modestus Crescentianus, Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus | Consul of the Roman Empire 229 with Alexander Severus | Succeeded by Lucius Virius Agricola , Sextus Catius Clementinus Priscillianus |
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- Jump up ^ Dio's name: L'Année épigraphique 1971, 430 = Κλ΄ Κάδδιος Δίων. Roman Military Diplomas, Roxan, 133 = L. Cassius Dio.
- Jump up ^ Alain Gowing, who has edited Cassius Dio, argues that the evidence for Cocceianus is insufficient, and the ascription is a Byzantine confusion with Dio Chrysostom, whom Pliny shows to be named Cocceianus; he provides the previously unattested praenomen of Claudius.
- Jump up ^ Prof. Cary's Introduction at LacusCurtius
- Jump up ^ According to some scholars, such as Millar (Millar, F., A study of Cassius Dio, Oxford 1966, p. 13), he was born later, in 163/164.
- Jump up ^ Gowing, who adopts it; Claudius, however, is usually a nomen.
- Jump up ^ 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[edit]
- Alain Gowing, "Dio's Name". Classical Philology,Vol. 85, No. 1 (Jan., 1990), pp. 49–54. 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[edit]
Media related to Cassius Dio at Wikimedia Commons
Works written by or about Cassius Dio at Wikisource
- Cassius Dio, Roman History (English translation on LacusCurtius)
- Works by Cassius Dio at Project Gutenberg
- Greek text and French Translation
- Dio Cassius: the Manuscripts of "The Roman History"
- Dionis Romanarum historiarum (The Roman History), Greek text edited by Robert Estienne, 1548. Held by the Corning Museum of Glass.
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