Dium
DIUM
1.（Δῖον: Eth. Διεύς, Steph. B.; Scyl. p. 26; Strab. 7. p. 330), a city which, though not large (πόλισμα, Thuc. 4.78), was considered as one of the leading towns of Macedonia, and the great bulwark of its maritime frontier to the S. Brasidas was conducted to this place, which is described as being in the territories of Perdiccas, by his Perrhaebian guides, over the pass of Mt. Olympus. It suffered considerably during the Social War from an incursion of the Aetolians, under their strategus Scopas, who razed the walls, and almost demolished the city itself (Plb. 4.28); an outrage which Philip and the Macedonians afterwards amply avenged by their attack on the Aetolian capital (Plb. 5.9). In the war against Perseus Dium had, it appears, completely recovered from that disaster; for in B.C. 169 it was occupied by Perseus, who unaccountably abandoned his strong position on the approach of the consul. Q. Marcius Philippus, however, remained there only a short time; and Perseus returned to Dium, after having repaired the damage which the walls of the city had received from the Romans. (Liv. 44.7.) At a later period it became a Roman colony. (Plin. Nat. 4.10; Ptol. 3.13.15.) Leake ( Northern Greece, vol. iii. pp. 408, foll.) has discovered the site near Malathría, in a position which agrees with the statements of the Itineraries ( Itin. Anton.; Peut. Tab. ), and Pausanias (Paus. 9.30.8). In the space between the village and the sources of the BAPHYRUShe found some remains of a stadium and theatre; the stone-work which formed the seats and superstructure of these monuments no longer exists, except two or three squared masses outside the theatre. The original form and dimensions are sufficiently preserved to show that the stadium was equal in length to the other buildings of that kind in Greece, and that the theatre was about 250 feet in diameter. Below the theatre, on the edge of the water, are the foundations of a large building, and a detached stone which seems to have belonged to a flight of steps. Some foundations of the walls of the city can be just seen, and one sepulchral stelewas found. Dium, though situated in a most unhealthy spot, was noted for its splendid buildings and the multitude of its statues. (Liv. l. c.) Without the town was the temple of Zeus Olympius from which Dium received its name, and here were celebrated the public games called Olympia instituted by Archelaus. (Diod. 17.16; Steph. B. s. v. Δῖον.) The theatre and stadium served doubtlessly for that celebration. Alexander placed here the group of 25 chieftains who fell at the battle of Granicus,--the work of Lysippus. (Arrian, Arr. Anab. 1.16.) Q. Metellus, after his victory over the Pseudo-Philip, transferred this chef d'oeuvre( turma statuarum equestrium,Vell. 1.11) to Rome. Coins of the Colonialof Dium are extant, usually with the type of a standing Pallas. (Eckhel, vol. 2. p. 70.)
2.A city in the peninsula of Acte (Hdt. 7.32; Thuc. 4.109; Strab. 7. p. 331), which Scylax, coasting from Torone, put before Thyssus and Cleonae. The statements of Herodotus and Thucydides differ from that of the Periplus, as they tend to place Dium on the N. coast. But as they all agree in showing that it was the nearest town to the isthmus,--in which Strabo concurs,--it is very possible that Dium was neither on the N. nor S. shore of the peninsula, but on the W.; perhaps the promontory of Platy, in the Gulfs of Erisso. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 3. p. 151.) [E.B.J]
DIUM(Δίον ἄκρον, Ptol. 3.17.7), a promontory of Crete on the N. coast, where the island has its greatest breadth. Pliny (Plin. Nat. 4.20) speaks of an inland town of this name (comp. Euseb. Praep. Ev. 5.31), which probably, however, was situated in the neighbourhood of this headland, which is now called Kávo Stravró(Höck, Kreta, vol. i. pp. 394, 398).
[E.B.J]DIUM(Δῖον), a town in the NW. of Euboea near the promontory Cenaeum, from which Canae in Aeolis is said to have been a colony. Dium is mentioned by Homer. (Hom. Il. 2.538; Strab. 10. p. 446; Plin. Nat. 4.12; Ptol. 3.15.25.)
(Δῖον). (1) An important town in Macedonia on the Thermaic Gulf (Thuc.iv. 28).
(2) A promontory on the northern coast of Crete where the island has its greatest breadth (Ptol.iii. 17, 7).
- Hdt. 7.22
- Paus. 9.30.7, 8, 11, Paus. 10.13.5