Born: fl. 4th c. BC
Died: fl. 4th c. BC
Cause of death: unspecified

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Socialite

Nationality: Ancient Greece
Executive summary: Sword of Damocles

Damocles, one of the courtiers of the elder Dionysius of Syracuse. When he spoke in extravagant terms of the happiness of his sovereign, Dionysius is said to have invited him to a sumptuous banquet, at which he found himself seated under a naked sword suspended by a single hair. The anecdote demonstrates the precariousness and danger always present in the lives of powerful men. This tale is related in Cicero's Tusculanae Disputationes.

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