DION FROM PROUSA

Prousa Bithynia, 40 - 120 A.D.

The orator-politician, sophist and philosopher Dion, called Prusaeus or Chrysostomos (an ancient Greek nickname that denoted the one with a "golden mouth", i.e. the fiery orator), lived between 40-120 AD. He was born in Bursa in Bithynia and came from an illustrious family, whose members had the right of Roman citizenship. He studied rhetoric in his homeland, while around 70 he went to Rome, where he studied philosophy under the Stoic Musonius Rufo. Around 85 he was exiled by the emperor Domitian. He then adopted the Cynic model of the wandering beggar philosopher and visited various cities and regions of the Roman Empire, enriching his knowledge and giving folk-philosophical lectures trying to awaken people's consciences. After the death of Domitian, in 96, he returned to Rome, where he enjoyed the esteem of the next emperors, Nerva and Trajan. Until the end of his life he continued to deal with the commons of his particular homeland and probably made philosophical tours. His approximately 80 extant speeches, some of which are brilliant examples of oratory, deal with a variety of topics in philosophy and ethics, mythology and literature, politics and everyday life. Being exceptional examples of the flourishing of Greek letters during the Second Sophistic period, they reveal the fertile combination of the elements of the rhetorician-politician, the sophist and the Cynic and Stoic philosopher that made up Dion's personality. (From the release presentation)

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