Dionysius I of Syracuse Essay -- History, Dionysius

Dionysius I of Syracuse garnered a reputation as a warmongering tyrant who harmed his people with his tyrannous regime. However umteen surviving sources that explore his come up were written by people who were ideologically opposed to perceived tyrants. It is therefore quite manageable that aspects of Dionysius rule where go away out or exaggerated to suit the writes anti-tyrannical agenda. It is the intention of this paper to argue that Dionysius rule did in event benefit Syracuse more than he harmed it during his lifetime. His domestic and foreign personal business result 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 further that overall Dionysius rule was beneficial in his lifetime.Sources tend to portray Dionysius rule in a negative light and seemingly avoid the latter(prenominal) part of his reign. L. Pearson suggested tha t 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. harmonize to Diodorus, Dionysius came to power by discrediting the military leaders in order to pretend him appointed general with supreme power by the assembly (Diodorus 13.91-2, 95). Dionysius was outright able to do whatever was necessary to win the war enceinte him virtually limitless power over the state. He also confident(p) 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 physique of years. Stabile employment was found by m any people and projects much(prenominal) as the fortified wall saved them from a Carthaginian siege. Dionysius salient army helped to protect the state as well as augment its influence in both Sicily and Italy. As time went on the despotic aspects of Dionysius reign ebbed away as he sought to improve his stunt man in order to gain powerful allies. This eventually bore issue 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 enfeebling 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.