Civil War in Syracuse

Dion was exiled and heartbroken when Dionysius forced his wife to marry another. Ignoring Plato's advice, he gathered a small army and sailed to Syracuse. The people welcomed him joyfully and marched with him to the palace. Dionysius was away; his friends fled to the citadel. When the tyrant returned, a chain blocked the harbor, forcing him into the besieged citadel. Dion was truthful and strict—but so rigorous that people grew weary. He rewarded good and punished evil severely, making enemies including the courtier Heraclides, who plotted secretly. Starving in the citadel, Dionysius tried trickery: he threw a letter over the wall making it seem Dion wanted to be tyrant.