Dionysius
Dionysius, the name of two rulers, father and son, of ancient Syracuse, a Greek city in Sicily.
Dionysius the Elder(430–367 B.C.) was a mule-driver's son who rose from clerk to army general. He staged the overthrow of a council that governed Syracuse and thus became its tyrant (ruler) in 405 B.C. Dionysius expanded Syracuse into an empire principally at the expense of Carthage, which he defeated in two wars. In a third war, however, Carthage defeated his forces and Syracuse lost much of its territory.
For legends involving Dionysius,
Dionysius the Younger(395 B.C.-?) succeeded his father. In 357 B.C. he was displaced briefly by his uncle, and in 344 he was deposed by Timoleon of Corinth.