Dionysius () was a Greek of the 3rd century BCE, who was sent by
Ptolemy Philadelphus of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
as ambassador to the court of the
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
, in the reign of either
Bindusara or
Ashoka.
Dionysius is mentioned in a passage of
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
:
But India has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, as Megasthenes, and by Dionysius, who was sent thither by Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations. —Pliny the Elder, ''The Natural History'', book 6, Chap. 21Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", 6, 21
/ref>
Notes
References
*Edward James Rapson (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of India'', Vol 1, Cambridge 1922, p. 433.
*
See also
*
Megasthenes
*
Deimachus
3rd-century BC Greek people
Ancient Greek ambassadors
Hellenistic-era people
Greek Indologists
3rd-century BC diplomats
{{AncientGreece-bio-stub