Afire with the zeal of a protégé whose time has come, Dion, disciple of Plato, wrote to his mentor that now was the time to put his theories to the test. The tyrant of Sicily was dead and his son and heir was young and pliable. “What greater opportunity can we expect,” wrote Dion to Plato, “than that now offered by divine providence?”[6] Syracuse ruled the central Mediterranean; Dionysius Junior was young, enthusiastic about philosophy, and teachable. Now was the time to share the Platonic gospel with the new ruler and his siblings and relatives.
Dion was a trusted advisor to Dionysius. He was mature and steady and in a position to influence the course of the government. Plato admits to hesitating in his decision. In the end, his hopes and dreams of creating a great state with a wise government could not be denied. “If ever,” Plato wrote in his autobiographical letter, “anyone was in a position to implement the anticipated laws and policies, it was now—for by convincing just one man, I might bring about all the hoped-for benefits.”[7] Everything that Plato had written about and dreamed of now seemed within his grasp. If only philosophy might be put to work to reform and control the passions of the people, so that reason itself would lead the way to rational government and prosperity!
Plato did not want to look like an ivory-tower theorist whose theories had no practical applications to the world. True, he was a starry-eyed idealist who believed in Forms existing independently of the world. But he was well aware of the abuses that happened in the world, including and in part because of corruption in government and the follies of democratic initiatives unchecked by realistic assessments of what actions were possible and what measures were prudent. He was, in addition, concerned about his obligation to help his friend and disciple Dion. How could he abandon a man who had dedicated his life to philosophy and who strove to replace a defective autocracy with a forward-looking aristocracy of talent and reason? Surely Plato was the man of the hour and now was the time to act.[8]
Plato accepted Dionysius’ invitation. It was common for strongman rulers to invite to their courts celebrities, including sophists, poets, dramatists, and philosophers. To be able to receive Plato, the great philosopher and author of Socratic dialogues, was a public relations coup for the new ruler of Syracuse. He sent a trireme, a battleship with three banks of oars, to conduct him to Syracuse. When the warship arrived in port with the esteemed philosopher on board, Dionysius rolled out the red carpet. He sent a royal chariot decked out with decorations to the dockside to pick him up and carry him to a public reception where he offered a sacrifice in thanksgiving for the philosopher’s safe arrival.[9]
About the same time Dionysius called back from exile Philistus, who had been an advisor to his father and been the commander of the fortress of Ortygia, the peninsula adjoining Syracuse that formed a stronghold for the rulers of the city. Philistus was also a man of letters, who was writing a lengthy History of Sicily, consisting of seven books of early history, followed by a contemporary history of four books dealing with the reign of Dionysius Senior, to which he would later append two books on the reign of Dionysius Junior. He was a supporter of and propagandist for the tyranny. He would later serve as Junior’s admiral, commanding the considerable fleet of Syracuse.[10]
[6] Plato Letter 7.327e.
[7] Plato Letter 7.328b-c.
[8] Plato Letter 7.328c-329b.
[9] Plutarch Dion 13.1-2.
[10] See Nails 2002 s.v. Philistus; ps.Plato Letter 3, 315e.