The Historical Fragments represent the extant portions of a comprehensive universal history composed in Greek prose by the Athenian historian Diyllus around 300 BCE. The original work, now entirely lost, was structured as a continuous narrative spanning twenty-six books. It was conceived as a direct continuation of the history of Ephorus, beginning its account in 341 BCE and extending to at least 297 BCE, thereby encompassing the ascendance of Macedon under Philip II, the vast conquests of Alexander the Great, and the tumultuous wars waged by his successors in the decades following his death. The text survives only through a handful of scattered passages—eight in total—preserved as quotations or summaries within the works of later authors, including the Byzantine scholar Photius. The modern title Historical Fragments is thus a descriptive label for these collected excerpts, not the name of an original book. These fragments reveal Diyllus as a significant source for the early Hellenistic period, offering an Athenian perspective on an era marked by the erosion of traditional Greek autonomy. His history, written in a serious style for a learned readership, was later employed as a major source by the historian Diodorus Siculus, thereby influencing the transmission of the historical narrative concerning Alexander's successors to later antiquity.
ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΙ.
Πλούταρχος : Ἡρόδοτος τὴν διαβολὴν ... ἔχει κολακεύσας τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἀργύριον πολὺ λαβεῖν παρʼ αὐτῶν ... Ὅτι μέντοι δέκα τάλαντα δωρεὰν ἔλαβεν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν, Ἀνύτου τὸ ψήφισμα γράψαντος, ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναῖος οὐ τῶν παρημελημένων ἐν ἱστορίᾳ, Δίυλλος, εἴρηκεν.
ΤΡΙΤΗ ΣΥΝΤΑΞΙΣ.
Οὐαλέριος Ἁρποκρατίων : Ἀριστίων· Ὑπερίδης Κατὰ Δημοσθένους. Οὗτος Σάμιος μέν ἐστιν ἢ Πλαταιεὺς, ὡς Δίυλλός φησιν, ἐκ μειρακυλλίου δʼ ἑταῖρος Δημοσθένους, ἐπέμφθη δʼ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πρὸς Ἡφαιστίωνα ἕνεκα διαλλαγῶν, ὥς φησι Μαρσύας ἐν εʹ τῶν Περὶ Ἀλέξανδρον.
Ἀθήναιος : Δίυλλος δʼ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος ἐν τῇ ἐνάτῃ τῶν ἱστοριῶν φησὶν, ὡς Κάσσανδρος ἐκ Βοιωτίας ἐπανιὼν, καὶ θάψας τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὴν βασίλισσαν ἐν Αἰγαῖς, καὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν τὴν Κύνναν, τὴν Εὐρυδίκης μητέρα, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τιμήσας, οἷς προσήκει, καὶ μονομαχίας ἀγῶνα ἔθηκεν, εἰς ὃν κατέβησαν τέσσαρες τῶν στρατιωτῶν.
Ἀθήναιος : Δημήτριος δὲ ὁ Φαληρεὺς, Λαμπιτοῦς τῆς Σαμίας ἑταίρας ἐρασθεὶς, ἡδέως διʼ αὐτὴν καὶ Λαμπιτὼ προσηγορεύετο, ὥς φησι Δίυλλος· ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ καὶ Χαριτοβλέφαρος.
Ἐτυμολογικὸν τὸ Μέγα : Κόμανα παρὰ τὸ κόμη γίνεται θηλυκὸν κομάνη· τὸ οὐδέτερον, κόμανον, καὶ τὰ Κόμανα· λέγεται γὰρ τὸν Ἀγαμέμνονος υἱὸν Ὀρέστην φεύγοντα μετὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἐκεῖσε τὴν κόμην ἀποκείρασθαι. Πόλις Κόμανα Θύιλλις· μεθερμηνεύεται σύσκια κατὰ τὴν Ἰώνων φωνήν.
