# Dinocrates

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{{Short description|Ancient Greek architect and adviser to Alexander the Great}}
[[File:Ste01945.jpg|thumb|upright=1.13|Modern engraving of Dinocrates' proposal for [Mount Athos](/source/Mount_Athos).]]

'''Dinocrates of Rhodes''' (also '''Deinocrates''', '''Dimocrates''', '''Cheirocrates''' and '''Stasicrates''';<ref>A. M. Chugg (2006). ''Alexander's Lovers''. Lightning Source UK Ltd. {{ISBN|978-1-4116-9960-1}}, p. 116, note no. 184.</ref> {{langx|grc|Δεινοκράτης ὁ Ῥόδιος}}, {{floruit}} late 4th century BC) was a [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greece) [architect](/source/architect) and technical adviser to [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great). He is remembered for his plan of [Alexandria](/source/Alexandria), the monumental funeral pyre for [Hephaestion](/source/Hephaestion), and the reconstruction of the [Temple of Artemis](/source/Temple_of_Artemis) at [Ephesus](/source/Ephesus). Ancient sources and modern historians, including Will Durant in ''The Story of Civilization'', emphasize his role in shaping the architectural vision of Alexander’s empire.<ref>{{cite book|last=Durant|first=Will|title=The Life of Greece|series=The Story of Civilization, Vol. 2|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1939|pages=563–564}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dinocrates|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dinocrates|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=30 December 2025}}</ref>

==City proposal of Mount Athos==
Dinocrates is noted by [Vitruvius](/source/Vitruvius), in his treatise ''De Architectura'', for proposing to sculpt [Mount Athos](/source/Mount_Athos) into a colossal statue of a man. The figure would hold a city in one hand and pour a river into the sea with the other.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html Vitruvius, ''On Architecture'', Book II, ch. 2–4]</ref> Alexander rejected the plan, as Dinocrates had not considered agricultural needs for the inhabitants. The fertile Nile delta site of Alexandria was chosen instead.

==Plan of Alexandria==
In 332 BC, Alexander appointed Dinocrates to direct the surveying and [urban planning](/source/urban_planning) of [Alexandria](/source/Alexandria). The city was laid out on a [Hippodamian plan](/source/Hippodamian_plan), with wide streets intersecting at right angles. Dinocrates worked alongside [Cleomenes of Naucratis](/source/Cleomenes_of_Naucratis) and [Crates of Olynthus](/source/Crates_(engineer)), who designed the waterworks and sewer system.<ref>{{cite book|last=Durant|first=Will|title=The Life of Greece|year=1939|pages=564}}</ref> Durant notes that Alexandria’s rational grid plan contrasted sharply with the irregular streets of older Greek cities, symbolizing Alexander’s ambition to impose order and grandeur on his empire.

==Pyre of Hephaestion==
In [Babylon](/source/Babylon), Dinocrates designed the funerary monument for Alexander’s closest companion, [Hephaestion](/source/Hephaestion), who died in 324 BC. Ancient writers including [Diodorus Siculus](/source/Diodorus_Siculus), [Arrian](/source/Arrian), [Strabo](/source/Strabo), and [Plutarch](/source/Plutarch) describe the pyre as a gilded, six‑story structure imitating a Babylonian ziggurat.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dinocrates|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dinocrates|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|access-date=30 December 2025}}</ref> Durant remarks that the pyre was “a mountain of gold and stone, raised to honor friendship as much as conquest.”<ref>{{cite book|last=Durant|first=Will|title=The Life of Greece|year=1939|pages=564}}</ref>

==Second Temple of Artemis==
Dinocrates contributed to the reconstruction of the [Temple of Artemis](/source/Temple_of_Artemis) at [Ephesus](/source/Ephesus), one of the [Seven Wonders of the Ancient World](/source/Seven_Wonders_of_the_Ancient_World), after its destruction by [Herostratus](/source/Herostratus) in 356 BC. The temple was rebuilt on a grander scale, coinciding with the birth year of Alexander.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dinocrates|url=https://interestingengineering.com/engineers-directory/dinocrates|website=Interesting Engineering|access-date=30 December 2025}}</ref>

==Other works==
Dinocrates also worked on an unfinished funerary monument for [Philip II of Macedon](/source/Philip_II_of_Macedon), Alexander’s father. He is credited with city plans and temples in [Delphi](/source/Delphi), [Delos](/source/Delos), and other Greek centers. Some archaeologists have suggested he may have been involved in the design of the [Casta Tomb](/source/Casta_Tomb) at [Amphipolis](/source/Amphipolis), discovered in 2012.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28758920 Greek tomb at Amphipolis is 'important discovery'] BBC News Europe.</ref>

==Legacy==
Dinocrates is remembered as one of antiquity’s most imaginative architects. His works combined technical skill with symbolic grandeur, aligning architecture with Alexander’s vision of empire. Will Durant observed that “in Dinocrates, Alexander found an architect equal to his dreams, one who could translate ambition into stone and city.”<ref>{{cite book|last=Durant|first=Will|title=The Life of Greece|year=1939|pages=563–564}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Dinocrates|short=x}}
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html Vitruvius, ''On Architecture'']

{{Authority control}}

Category:Architects of Alexander the Great
Category:Ancient Greek architects
Category:Ancient Greek urban planners
Category:Ancient Rhodian scientists
Category:4th-century BC Rhodians
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Year of death unknown
Category:4th-century BC architects
Category:Temple of Artemis
Category:Mount Athos
Category:Ancient Alexandria

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dinocrates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinocrates) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinocrates?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.