DINWIDDIE

dinwiddie, robert (1693-1770), english colonial governor of virginia, was born near glasgow, scotland, in 1693. from the position of customs clerk in bermuda, which he held in 1727-1738, he was promoted to be surveyor-general of the customs "of the southern ports of the continent of america," as a reward for having exposed the corruption in the west indian customs service. in 1743 he was commissioned to examine into the customs service in the barbadoes and exposed similar corruption there. in 1751-1758 he was lieutenant-governor of virginia, first as the deputy of lord albemarle and then, from july 1756 to january 1758, as deputy for lord loudon. he was energetic in the discharge of his duties, but aroused much animosity among the colonists by his zeal in looking after the royal quit-rents, and by exacting heavy fees for the issue of land-patents. it was his chief concern to prevent the french from building in the ohio valley a chain of forts connecting their settlements in the north with those on the gulf of mexico; and in the autumn of 1753 he sent george washington to fort le boeuf, a newly established french post at what is now waterford, pennsylvania, with a message demanding the withdrawal of the french from english territory. as the french refused to comply, dinwiddie secured from the reluctant virginia assembly a grant of £10,000 and in the spring of 1754 he sent washington with an armed force toward the forks of the ohio river "to prevent the intentions of the french in settling those lands." in the latter part of may washington encountered a french force at a spot called great meadows, near the youghiogheny river, in what is now south-western pennsylvania, and a skirmish followed which precipitated the french and indian war. dinwiddie was especially active at this time in urging the co-operation of the colonies against the french in the ohio valley; but none of the other governors, except william shirley of massachusetts, was then much concerned about the western frontier, and he could accomplish very little. his appeals to the home government, however, resulted in the sending of general edward braddock to virginia with two regiments of regular troops; and at braddock's call dinwiddie and the governors of massachusetts, new york, pennsylvania and maryland met at alexandria, virginia, in april 1755, and planned the initial operations of the war. dinwiddie's administration was marked by a constant wrangle with the assembly over money matters; and its obstinate resistance to military appropriations caused him in 1754 and 1755 to urge the home government to secure an act of parliament compelling the colonies to raise money for their protection. in january 1758 he left virginia and lived in england until his death on the 27th of july 1770 at clifton, bristol. _the official records of robert dinwiddie, lieutenant-governor of virginia_ (1751-1758), published in two volumes, at richmond, va., in 1883-1884, by the virginia historical society, and edited by r. a. brock, are of great value for the political history of the colonies in this period. dio cassius (more correctly cassius dio), cocceianus (c. a.d. 150-235), roman historian, was born at nicaea in bithynia. his father was cassius apronianus, governor of dalmatia and cilicia under marcus aurelius, and on his mother's side he was the grandson of dio chrysostom, who had assumed the surname of cocceianus in honour of his patron the emperor cocceius nerva. after his father's death, dio cassius left cilicia for rome (180) and became a member of the senate. during the reign of commodus, dio practised as an advocate at the roman bar, and held the offices of aedile and quaestor. he was raised to the praetorship by pertinax (193), but did not assume office till the reign of septimius severus, with whom he was for a long time on the most intimate footing. by macrinus he was entrusted with the administration of pergamum and smyrna; and on his return to rome he was raised to the consulship about 220. after this he obtained the proconsulship of africa, and again on his return was sent as legate successively to dalmatia and pannonia. he was raised a second time to the consulship by alexander severus, in 229; but on the plea of ill health soon afterwards retired to nicaea, where he died. before writing his history of rome ([greek: rhomaika] or [greek: rhomaike historia]), dio cassius had dedicated to the emperor severus an account of various dreams and prodigies which had presaged his elevation to the throne (perhaps the [greek: enodia] attributed to dio by suidas), and had also written a biography of his fellow-countryman arrian. the history of rome, which consisted of eighty books,--and, after the example of livy, was divided into decades,--began with the landing of aeneas in italy, and was continued as far as the reign of alexander severus (222-235). of this great work we possess books 36-60, containing the history of events from 68 b.c.-a.d. 47; books 36 and 55-60 are imperfect. we also have part of 35 and 36-80 in the epitome of john xiphilinus, an 11th-century byzantine monk. for the earlier period the loss of dio's work is partly supplied by the history of zonaras, who followed him closely. numerous fragments are also contained in the excerpts of constantine porphyrogenitus. dio's work is a most important authority for the history of the last years of the republic and the early empire. his industry was great and the various important offices he held afforded him ample opportunities for historical investigation. his style, though marred by latinisms, is clearer than that of his model thucydides, and his narrative shows the hand of the practised soldier and politician; the language is correct and free from affectation. but he displays a superstitious regard for miracles and prophecies; he has nothing to say against the arbitrary acts of the emperors, which he seems to take as a matter of course; and his work, although far more than a mere compilation, is not remarkable for impartiality, vigour of judgment or critical historical faculty. the best edition with notes is that of h. s. reimar (1750-1752), new ed. by f. g. sturz (1824-1836); text by i. melber (1890 foll.), with account of previous editions, and u. p. boissevain (1895-1901); translation by h. b. foster (troy, new york, 1905 foll.), with full bibliography; see also w. christ, _geschichte der griechischen litteratur_ (1898), p. 675; e. schwartz in pauly-wissowa's _realencyclopadie_, iii. pt. 2 (1899); c. wachsmuth, _einleitung in das studium der alten geschichte_ (1895). diocese (formed on fr. _diocese_, in place of the eng. form _diocess_--current until the 19th century--from lat. _dioecesis_, med. lat. variant _diocesis_, from gr. [greek: dioikesis], "housekeeping," "administration," [greek: dioikein], "to keep house," "to govern"), the sphere of a bishop's jurisdiction. in this, its sole modern sense, the word diocese (_dioecesis_) has only been regularly used since the 9th century, though isolated instances of such use occur so early as the 3rd, what is now known as a diocese having been till then usually called a _parochia_ (parish). the greek word [greek: dioikesis], from meaning "administration," came to be applied to the territorial circumscription in which administration was exercised. it was thus first applied e.g. to the three districts of cibyra, apamea and synnada, which were added to cilicia in cicero's time (between 56 and 50 b.c.). the word is here equivalent to "assize-districts" (tyrrell and purser's edition of cicero _epist. ad fam._ iii. 8. 4; xiii. 67; cf. strabo xiii. 628-629). but in the reorganization of the empire, begun by diocletian and completed by constantine, the word "diocese" acquired a more important meaning, the empire being divided into twelve dioceses, of which the largest--oriens--embraced sixteen provinces, and the smallest--britain--four (see rome: _ancient history_; and w. t. arnold, _roman provincial administration_, pp. 187, 194-196, which gives a list of the dioceses and their subdivisions). the organization of the christian church in the roman empire following very closely the lines of the civil administration (see church history), the word diocese, in its ecclesiastical sense, was at first applied to the sphere of jurisdiction, not of a bishop, but of a metropolitan.[1] thus anastasius bibliothecarius (d. c. 886), in his life of pope dionysius, says that he assigned churches to the presbyters, and established dioceses (_parochiae_) and provinces (_dioeceses_). the word, however, survived in its general sense of "office" or "administration," and it was even used during the middle ages for "parish" (see du cange, _glossarium_, s. "dioecesis" 2). the practice, under the roman empire, of making the areas of ecclesiastical administration very exactly coincide with those of the civil administration, was continued in the organization of the church beyond the borders of the empire, and many dioceses to this day preserve the limits of long vanished political divisions. the process is well illustrated in the case of english bishoprics. but this practice was based on convenience, not principle; and the limits of the dioceses, once fixed, did not usually change with the changing political boundaries. thus hincmar, archbishop of reims, complains that not only his metropolitanate (_dioecesis_) but his bishopric (_parochia_) is divided between two realms under two kings; and this inconvenient overlapping of jurisdictions remained, in fact, very common in europe until the readjustments of national boundaries by the territorial settlements of the 19th century. in principle, however, the subdivision of a diocese, in the event of the work becoming too heavy for one bishop, was very early admitted, e.g. by the first council at lugo in spain (569), which erected lugo into a metropolitanate, the consequent division of diocese being confirmed by the king of the second council, held in 572. another reason for dividing a diocese, and establishing a new see, has been recognized by the church as duly existing "if the sovereign should think fit to endow some principal village or town with the rank and privileges of a city" (bingham, lib. xvii. c. 5). but there are canons for the punishment of such as might induce the sovereign so to erect any town into a city, solely with the view of becoming bishop thereof. nor could any diocese be divided without the consent of the primate. in england an act of parliament is necessary for the creation of new dioceses. in the reign of henry viii. six new dioceses were thus created (under an act of 1539); but from that time onward until the 19th century they remained practically unchanged. the ecclesiastical commissioners act 1836, which created two new dioceses (ripon and manchester), remodelled the state of the old dioceses by an entirely new adjustment of the revenues and patronage of each see, and also extended or curtailed the parishes and counties in the various jurisdictions. by the ancient custom of the church the bishop takes his title, not from his diocese, but from his see, i.e. the place where his cathedral is established. thus the old episcopal titles are all derived from cities. this tradition has been broken, however, by the modern practice of bishops in the united states and the british colonies, e.g. archbishop of the west indies, bishop of pennsylvania, wyoming, &c. (see bishop). see hinschius, _kirchenrecht_, ii. 38, &c.; joseph bingham, _origines ecclesiasticae_, 9 vols. (1840); du cange, _glossarium_, s. "dioecesis"; _new english dictionary_ (oxford, 1897), s. "diocese." footnote: [1] for exceptions see hinschius ii. p. 39, note 1. dio chrysostom (c. a.d. 40-115), greek sophist and rhetorician, was born at piusa (mod. _brusa_), a town at the foot of mount olympus in bithynia. he was called chrysostom ("golden-mouthed") from his eloquence, and also to distinguish him from his grandson, the historian dio cassius; his surname cocceianus was derived from his patron, the emperor cocceius nerva. although he did much to promote the welfare of his native place, he became so unpopular there that he migrated to rome, but, having incurred the suspicion of domitian, he was banished from italy. with nothing in his pocket but plato's _phaedo_ and demosthenes' _de falsa legatione_, he wandered about in thrace, mysia, scythia and the land of the getae. he returned to rome on the accession of nerva, with whom and his successor trajan he was on intimate terms. during this period he paid a visit to prusa, but, disgusted at his reception, he went back to rome. the place and date of his death are unknown; it is certain, however, that he was alive in 112, when the younger pliny was governor of bithynia. eighty orations, or rather essays on political, moral and philosophical subjects, have come down to us under his name; the _corinthiaca_, however, is generally regarded as spurious, and is probably the work of favorinus of arelate. of the extant orations the following are the most important:--_borysthenitica_ (xxxvi.), on the advantages of monarchy, addressed to the inhabitants of olbia, and containing interesting information on the history of the greek colonies on the shores of the black sea; _olympica_ (xii.), in which pheidias is represented as setting forth the principles which he had followed in his statue of zeus, one passage being supposed by some to have suggested lessing's _laocoon_; _rhodiaca_ (xxxi.), an attack on the rhodians for altering the names on their statues, and thus converting them into memorials of famous men of the day (an imitation of demosthenes' _leptines_); _de regno_ (i.-iv.), addressed to trajan, a eulogy of the monarchical form of government, under which the emperor is the representative of zeus upon earth; _de aeschylo et sophocle et euripide_ (lii.), a comparison of the treatment of the story of philoctetes by the three great greek tragedians; and _philoctetes_ (lix.), a summary of the prologue to the lost play by euripides. in his later life, dio, who had originally attacked the philosophers, himself became a convert to stoicism. to this period belong the essays on moral subjects, such as the denunciation of various cities (tarsus, alexandria) for their immorality. most pleasing of all is the _euboica_ (vii.), a description of the simple life of the herdsmen and huntsmen of euboea as contrasted with that of the inhabitants of the towns. _troica_ (xi.), an attempt to prove to the inhabitants of ilium that homer was a liar and that troy was never taken, is a good example of a sophistical rhetorical exercise. amongst his lost works were attacks on philosophers and domitian, and _getica_ (wrongly attributed to dio cassius by suidas), an account of the manners and customs of the getae, for which he had collected material on the spot during his banishment. the style of dio, who took plato and xenophon especially as his models, is pure and refined, and on the whole free from rhetorical exaggeration. with plutarch he played an important part in the revival of greek literature at the end of the 1st century of the christian era. editions: j. j. reiske (leipzig, 1784); a. emperius (brunswick, 1844); l. dindorf (leipzig, 1857), h. von arnim (berlin, 1893-1896). the ancient authorities for his life are philostratus, _vit. soph._ i. 7; photius, _bibliotheca_, cod. 209; suidas, s.v.; synesius, [greek: dion]. on dio generally see h. von arnim, _leben und werke des dion von prusa_ (berlin, 1898); c. martha, _les moralistes sous l'empire romain_ (1865); w. christ, _geschichte der griechischen litteratur_ (1898), § 520; j. e. sandys, _history of classical scholarship_ (2nd ed., 1906); w. schmid in pauly-wissowa's _realencyclopadie_, v. pt. 1 (1905). the _euboica_ has been abridged by j. p. mahaffy in _the greek world under roman sway_ (1890), and there is a translation of _select essays_ by gilbert wakefield (1800). diocletian (gaius aurelius valerius diocletianus) (a.d. 245-313), roman emperor 284-305, is said to have been born at dioclea, near salona, in dalmatia. his original name was diocles. of humble origin, he served with high distinction and held important military commands under the emperors probus and aurelian, and accompanied carus to the persian war. after the death of numerianus he was chosen emperor by the troops at chalcedon, on the 17th of september 284, and slew with his own hands arrius aper, the praefect of the praetorians. he thus fulfilled the prediction of a druidess of gaul, that he would mount a throne as soon as he had slain a wild boar (_aper_). having been installed at nicomedia, he received general acknowledgment after the murder of carinus. in consequence of the rising of the bagaudae in gaul, and the threatening attitude of the german peoples on the rhine, he appointed maximian augustus in 286; and, in view of further dangers and disturbances in the empire, proclaimed constantius chlorus and galerius caesars in 293. each of the four rulers was placed at a separate capital--nicomedia, mediolanum (milan), augusta trevirorum (trier), sirmium. this amounted to an entirely new organization of the empire, on a plan commensurate with the work of government which it now had to carry on. at the age of fifty-nine, exhausted with labour, diocletian abdicated his sovereignty on the 1st of may 305, and retired to salona, where he died eight years afterwards (others give 316 as the year of his death). the end of his reign was memorable for the persecution of the christians. in defence of this it may be urged that he hoped to strengthen the empire by reviving the old religion, and that the church as an independent state over whose inner life at least he possessed no influence, appeared to be a standing menace to his authority. under diocletian the senate became a political nonentity, the last traces of republican institutions disappeared, and were replaced by an absolute monarchy approaching to despotism. he wore the royal diadem, assumed the title of lord, and introduced a complicated system of ceremonial and etiquette, borrowed from the east, in order to surround the monarchy and its representative with mysterious sanctity. but at the same time he devoted his energies to the improvement of the administration of the empire; he reformed the standard of coinage, fixed the price of provisions and other necessaries of daily life, remitted the tax upon inheritances and manumissions, abolished various monopolies, repressed corruption and encouraged trade. in addition, he adorned the city with numerous buildings, such as the thermae, of which extensive remains are still standing (aurelius victor, _de caesaribus_, 39; eutropius ix. 13; zonaras xii. 31). see a. vogel, _der kaiser diocletian_ (gotha, 1857), a short sketch, with notes on the authorities; t. preuss, _kaiser diocletian und seine zeit_ (leipzig, 1869); v. casagrandi, _diocleziano_ (faenza, 1876); h. schiller, _gesch. der romischen kaiserzeit_, ii. (1887); t. bernhardt, _geschichte roms von valerian bis zu diocletians tod_ (1867); a. j. mason, _the persecution of diocletian_ (1876); p. allard, _la persecution de diocletien_ (1890); v. schultze in herzog-hauck's _realencyklopadie fur protestantische theologie_, iv. (1898); gibbon. _decline and fall_, chaps. 13 and 16; a. w. hunzinger, _die diocletianische staatsreform_ (1899); o. seeck, "die schatzungsordnung diocletians" in _zeitschrift fur social- und wirthschaftsgeschichte_ (1896), a valuable paper with notes containing references to sources; and o. seeck, _geschichte des untergangs der antiken welt_, vol. i. cap. 1. on his military reforms see t. mommsen in _hermes_, xxiv., and on his tariff system, diocletian, edict of.