Dionysius I of Syracuse Essay -- History, Dionysius

Dionysius I of Syracuse garnered a reputation as a warmongering tyrant who harmed his people with his oppressive regime. However many surviving sources that explore his rule were written by people who were ideologically opposed to perceived tyrants. It is therefore quite possible that aspects of Dionysius rule where left out or exaggerated to suit the author`s anti-tyrannical agenda. It is the intention of this paper to argue that Dionysius rule did in fact benefit Syracuse more than he harmed it during his lifetime. His domestic and foreign affairs will be explored in order to show how he in fact benefitted the Syracusan state as well as the majority of its people. It will however also be argued that his legacy did harm the Syracusan state but that overall Dionysius rule was beneficial in his lifetime. Sources tend to portray Dionysius rule in a negative light and seemingly avoid the latter part of his reign. L. Pearson suggested that the reason for this was because Philistus was in exile at the time (since many sources rely on him for a firsthand account) meaning there was a lack of information. Diodorus provides the most compressive surviving work of Dionysius rule but follows the anti-tyrannical tradition. According to Diodorus, Dionysius came to power by discrediting the military leaders` in order to have him appointed general with supreme power by the assembly (Diodorus 13.91-2, 95). Dionysius was now able to do whatever was necessary to win the war giving him virtually limitless power over the state. He also convinced the assembly to recall Syracusan who were in exile to help aid in the war, providing Dionysius with plenty of new supporters among the returning people (Diodorus 13.92). He then gained a bodyguard o... ...le benefited from his rule. The rulers building projects and preparations for war created many jobs that would last a number of years. Stabile employment was found by many people and projects such as the fortified wall saved them from a Carthaginian siege. Dionysius large army helped to protect the state as well as expand its influence in both Sicily and Italy. As time went on the oppressive aspects of Dionysius reign ebbed away as he sought to improve his image in order to gain powerful allies. This eventually bore fruit meaning Dionysus was able to elevate Syracuse to an international level. However his legacy was harmful to Syracuse as it led to the suffering of its people and the weakening of the state. During his life time however Dionysius did benefit Syracuse became it was ultimately left it in a better position than it was before he came to power.