Dionysius
Topic: The Mauryan Empire · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Dionysius was an envoy (official messenger). The Greek ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, sent him to the Mauryan court. He probably reached the court of Bindusara or Ashoka. The Roman writer Pliny mentions him. His mission shows that the Mauryas had regular diplomatic contact with the Greek kingdoms of West Asia and Egypt, not only with the Seleucids.
Example
Dionysius came from Ptolemaic Egypt to Pāṭaliputra in the 3rd century BCE. This fits Ashoka's own claim in his edicts that he sent emissaries to far-off lands.
Don't confuse with
- Deimachus: an envoy sent by the Seleucid king Antiochus I to Bindusara. Dionysius was sent from Egypt by Ptolemy II.
Related concepts
- Mauryan empire
- Chandragupta Maurya
- Kautilya
- Seleucus-Chandragupta treaty
- Megasthenes
- Indika
- Deimachus