The Testimonies is a lost grammatical work attributed to the Hellenistic scholar and mythographer Dionysius Scytobrachion of Mytilene. Preserved only through six fragmentary citations in later sources, the work's title indicates it was a compilation of authoritative quotations from earlier authors, a standard philological tool in antiquity. As a collection of martyriai, or textual "testimonies," its contents likely served the practical needs of scholarly debate, providing evidence for textual criticism, illustrating correct linguistic or metrical usage, and offering authoritative citations from poets and prose writers. The work survives not as an independent volume but solely through its incorporation into later doxographical and grammatical texts. Its primary significance lies in its form, as it represents a clear example of the Hellenistic scholarly practice of assembling canonical excerpts for use in grammatical and critical discourse, a methodology that underpinned much of ancient literary scholarship.
Σοῦδα Διονύσιος Μιτυληναῖος· ἐποποιός, οὗτος ἐκλήθη Σκυτοβραχίων καὶ Σκυτεύς. … τὴν Διονύσου καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς στρατείαν· Ἀργοναῦται ἐν βιβλίοις ἕξ. ταῦτα δέ ἐστι πεζά. Μυθικὰ πρὸς Παρμένωντα.
Διόδωρος ὁ Σικελιώτης Διονυσίωι τῶι συντεταγμένωι τὰ περὶ τοὺς Ἀργοναύτας καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ ἕτερα πολλὰ τῶν ἐν τοῖς παλαιοτάτοις χρόνοις πραχθέντων.
Διονυσίωι τῶι συνταξαμένωι τὰς παλαιὰς μυθοποιίας. οὗτος γὰρ τά τε περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τὰς Ἀμαζόνας, ἔτι δὲ τοὺς Ἀργοναύτας καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰλιακὸν πόλεμον πραχθέντα καὶ πόλλʼ ἕτερα συντέτακται, παρατιθεὶς τὰ ποιήματα τῶν ἀρχαίων, τῶν τε μυθολόγων καὶ τῶν ποιητῶν.
Σοῦδα Διονύσιος Μιλήσιος· ἱστορικός. Τὰ μετὰ Δαρεῖον ἐν βιβλίοις ε· Περιήγησιν Οἰκουμένης· Περσικά, Ἰάδι διαλέκτωι. Τρωικῶν βιβλία γ· Μυθικά· Κύκλον ἱστορικὸν ἐν βιβλίοις ζ.
Ἀθήναιος Ξάνθος ὁ Λυδὸς ἢ ὁ τὰς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀναφερομένας ἱστορίας συγγεγραφώς—Διονύσιος δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ Σκυτοβραχίων, ὡς Ἀρτέμων φησὶν ὁ Κασανδρεὺς ἐν τῶι Περὶ Συναγωγῆς βιβλίων— ...
