PHILISTUS

born c. 430 BC, , Syracuse, Sicily [now in Italy] died 356 Greek historian of Sicily during the reigns of the tyrants Dionysius the Elder and Dionysius the Younger. Philistus helped Dionysius the Elder to seize power in Syracuse in 405 and then became his right-hand man and commander of the citadel. He was later exiled (386/385) for unknown reasons but was recalled after 20 years by Dionysius the Younger at the time of Plato's first visit to his court. Philistus held high command first in the Adriatic and later at home in the civil war and died on active service. During his exile, spent mostly in Epirus, he began his history, which ultimately totaled 13 books, seven on Sicilian affairs before 405, four on the reign of Dionysius the Elder, and two on the early years of Dionysius the Younger (367-363). It was continued by the Syracusan Athanas. His history clearly became a standard work, used by Ephorus in his Sicilian sections and also by Timaeus and Plutarch, writers who disliked his pro-monarchical viewpoint.