Dionysius (ambassador)

Dionysius (Greek: Διονύσιος) was a Greek of the 3rd century BCE, who was sent as ambassador to the court of the Indian emperor Ashoka, by Ptolemy Philadelphus.[1]

He was preceded in this role by Megasthenes, ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya, and Deimachus, ambassador to his son, and father of Ashoka, Bindusara.[1]

Dionysius is mentioned in a passage of Pliny the Elder:

"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. 21 [2]

Notes
  1. Mookerji 1988, p. 38.
  2. Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", 6, 21

References
  • Edward James Rapson (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol 1, Cambridge 1922, p. 433.
  • Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1988) [first published in 1966], Chandragupta Maurya and his times (4th ed.), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0433-3


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