Damŏcles

, one of the flatterers of Dionysius the elder, of Sicily. He admired the tyrant’s wealth, and pronounced him the happiest man on earth. Dionysius prevailed upon him to undertake for a while the charge of royalty, and be convinced of the happine which a sovereign enjoyed. Damocles ascended the throne, and while he gazed upon the wealth and splendour that surrounded him, he perceived a sword hanging over his head by a horse hair. This so terrified him that all his imaginary felicity vanished at once, and he begged Dionysius to remove him from a situation which exposed his life to such fears and dangers. Cicero , Tusculanæ Dis put at i ones , bk. 5 , ch. 21 .