[60.1] After the Trojans’ city was built all were extremely desirous of enjoying the mutual benefit of their new alliance. And their kings setting the example, united the excellence of the two races, the native and the foreign, by ties of marriage, Latinus giving his daughter Lavinia to Aeneas. [2] Thereupon the rest also conceived the same desire as their kings; and combining in a very brief time their customs, laws and religious ceremonies, forming ties through intermarriages and becoming mingled together in the wars they jointly waged, and all calling themselves by the common name of Latins, after the king of the Aborigines, they adhered so firmly to their pact that no lapse of time has yet severed them from one another.
[3] The nations, therefore, which came together and shared in a common life and from which the Roman people derived their origin before the city they now inhabit was built, are these: first, the Aborigines, who drove the Sicels out of these parts and were originally Greeks from the Peloponnesus, the same who with Oenotrus removed from the country now called Arcadia, according to my opinion; then, the Pelasgians, who came from Haemonia, as it was then called, but now Thessaly; third, those who came into Italy with Evander from the city of Pallantium; after them the Epeans and Pheneats, who were part of the Peloponnesian army commanded by Hercules, with whom a Trojan element also was commingled; and, last of all, the Trojans who had escaped with Aeneas from Ilium, Dardanus and the other Trojan cities.
[61.1] That the Trojans, too, were a nation as truly Greek as any and formerly came from the Peloponnesus has long been asserted by some authors and shall be briefly related by me also. The account concerning them is as follows. Atlas was the first king of the country now called Arcadia, and he lived near the mountain called Thaumasius. He had seven daughters, who are said to be numbered now among the constellations under the name of the Pleiades; Zeus married one of these, Electra, and had by her two sons, Iasus and Dardanus. [2] Iasus remained unmarried, but Dardanus married Chrysê, the daughter of Pallas, by whom he had two sons, Idaeus and Deimas; and these, succeeding Atlas in the kingdom, reign for some time in Arcadia. Afterwards, a great deluge occurring throughout Arcadia, the plains were overflowed and for a long time could not be tilled; and the inhabitants, living upon the mountains and eking out a sorry livelihood, decided that the land remaining would not be sufficient for the support of them all, and so divided themselves into two groups, one of which remained in Arcadia, after making Deimas, the son of Dardanus, their king, while the other left the Peloponnesus on board a large fleet. [3] And sailing along the coast of Europe, they came to a gulf called Melas and chanced to land on a certain island of Thrace, as to which I am unable to say whether it was previously inhabited or not. They called the island Samothrace, a name compounded of the name of a man and the name of a place. For it belongs to Thrace and its first settler was Samon, the son of Hermes and a nymph of Cyllenê, named Rhenê. [4] Here they remained but a short time, since the life proved to be no easy one for them, forced to contend, as they were, with both a poor soil and a boisterous sea; but leaving some few of their people in the island, the greater part of them removed once more and went to Asia under Dardanus as leader of their colony (for Iasus had died in the island, being struck with a thunderbolt for desiring to have intercourse with Demeter), and disembarking in the strait now called the Hellespont, they settled in the region which was afterwards called Phrygia. Idaeus, the son of Dardanus, with part of the company occupied the mountains which are now called after him the Idaean mountains, and there built a temple to the Mother of the Gods and instituted mysteries and ceremonies which are observed to this day throughout all Phrygia. And Dardanus built a city named after himself in the region now called the Troad; the land was given to him by Teucer, the king, after whom the country was anciently called Teucris. [5] Many authors, and particularly Phanodemus, who wrote about the ancient lore of Attica, say that Teucer had come into Asia from Attica, where he had been chief of the deme called Xypetê, and of this tale they offer many proofs. They add that, having possessed himself of a large and fertile country with but a small native population, he was glad to see Dardanus and the Greeks who came with him, both because he hoped for their assistance in his wars against the barbarians and because he desired that the land should not remain unoccupied.
[62] But the subject requires that I relate also how Aeneas was descended: this, too, I shall do briefly. Dardanus, after the death of Chrysê, the daughter of Pallas, by whom he had his first sons, married Bateia, the daughter of Teucer, and by her had Erichthonius, who is said to have been the most fortunate of all men, since he inherited both the kingdom of his father and that of his maternal grandfather. [2] Of Erichthonius and Callirrhoê, the daughter of Scamander, was born Tros, from whom the nation has received its name; of Tros and Acallaris, the daughter of Eumedes, Assaracus; of Assaracus and Clytodora, the daughter of Laomedon, Capys; of Capys and a Naiad nymph, Hieromnemê, Anchises; of Anchises and Aphroditê, Aeneas. Thus I have shown that the Trojan race, too, was originally Greek.
[63.1] Concerning the time when Lavinium was built there are various reports, but to me the most probable seems to be that which places it in the second year after the departure of the Trojans from Troy. For Ilium was taken at the end of the spring, seventeen days before the summer solstice, and the eighth from the end of the month Thargelion, according to the calendar of the Athenians; and there still remained twenty days after the solstice to complete that year. During the thirty-seven days that followed the taking of the city I imagine the Achaeans were employed in regulating the affairs of the city, in receiving embassies from those who had withdrawn themselves, and in concluding a treaty with them. [2] In the following year, which was the first after the taking of the city, the Trojans set sail about the autumnal equinox, crossed the Hellespont, and landing in Thrace, passed the winter season there, during which they received the fugitives who kept flocking to them and made the necessary preparations for their voyage. And leaving Thrace in the beginning of spring, they sailed as far as Sicily; when they had landed there that year came to an end, and they passed the second winter in assisting the Elymians to found their cities in Sicily. [3] But as soon as conditions were favourable for navigation they set sail from the island, and crossing the Tyrrhenian sea, arrived at last at Laurentum on the coast of the Aborigines in the middle of the summer. And having received the ground from them, they founded Lavinium, thus bringing to an end the second year from the taking of Troy. With regard to these matters, then, I have thus shown my opinion.
[64.1] But when Aeneas had sufficiently adorned the city with temples and other public buildings, of which the greatest part remained even to my day, the next year, which was the third after his departure from Troy, he reigned over the Trojans only. But in the fourth year, Latinus having died, he succeeded to his kingdom also, not only in consideration of his relationship to him by marriage, Lavinia being the heiress after the death of Latinus, but also because of his being commander in the war against the neighbouring tribes. [2] For the Rutulians had again revolted from Latinus, choosing for their leader one of the deserters, named Tyrrhenus, who was a nephew of Amata, the wife of Latinus. This man, blaming Latinus in the matter of Lavinia’s marriage, because he had ignored his kinsmen and allied his family with outsiders, and being goaded on by Amata and encouraged by others, had gone over to the Rutulians with the forces he commanded. [3] War arose out of these complaints and in a sharp battle that ensued Latinus, Tyrrhenus and many others were slain; nevertheless, Aeneas and his people gained the victory. Thereupon Aeneas succeeded to the kingdom of his father-in-law; but when he had reigned three years after the death of Latinus, in the fourth he lost his life in battle. [4] For the Rutulians marched out in full force from their cities against him, and with them Mezentius, king of the Tyrrhenians, who thought his own country in danger; for he was troubled at seeing the Greek power already making rapid headway. A severe battle took place not far from Lavinium and many were slain on both sides, but when night came on the arm
ies separated; and when the body of Aeneas was nowhere to be seen, some concluded that it had been translated to the gods and others that it had perished in the river beside which the battle was fought. [5] And the Latins built a hero-shrine to him with this inscription: “To the father and god of this place, who presides over the waters of the river Numicius.” But there are some who say the shrine was erected by Aeneas in honour of Anchises, who died in the year before this war. It is a small mound, round which have been set out in regular rows trees that are well worth seeing.
[65.1] Aeneas having departed this life about the seventh year after the taking of Troy, Euryleon, who in the flight had been renamed Ascanius, succeeded to the rule over the Latins. At this time the Trojans were undergoing a siege; the forces of the enemy were increasing daily, and the Latins were unable to assist those who were shut up in Lavinium. [2] Ascanius and his men, therefore, first invited the enemy to a friendly and reasonable accommodation, but when no heed was paid to them, they were forced to allow their enemies to put an end to the war upon their own terms. When, however, the gate of the Tyrrhenians, among other intolerable conditions that he imposed upon them, as upon a people already become his slaves, commanded them to bring to the Tyrrhenians every year all the wine the country of the Latins produced, they looked upon this as a thing beyond all endurance, and following the advice of Ascanius, voted that the fruit of the vine should be sacred to Jupiter. Then, exhorting one another to prove their zeal and valour and praying the gods to assist them in their dangerous enterprise, they fixed upon a moonless night and sallied out of the city. [3] And they immediately attacked that part of the enemy’s rampart which lay nearest to the city and which, being designed as an advanced post to cover the rest of their forces, had been constructed in a strong position and was defended by the choicest youth of the Tyrrhenians, under the command of Lausus, the son of Mezentius; and their attack being unforeseen, they easily made themselves masters of the stronghold. While they were employed in taking this post, those of the enemy who were encamped on the plains, seeing an unusual light and hearing the cries of the men who were perishing, left the level country and were fleeing to the mountains. [4] During this time there was great confusion and tumult, as was but natural with an army moving at night; for they expected the enemy would every moment fall upon them while they were withdrawing in disorder and with ranks broken. The Latins, after they had taken the fort by storm and learned that the rest of the army was in disorder, pressed after them, killing and pursuing. And not only did none of the enemy attempt to turn and resist, but it was not even possible for them to know in what evil plight they were, and in their confusion and helplessness some were falling over precipices and perishing, while others were becoming entangled in blind ravines and were being taken prisoner; but most of them, failing to recognize their comrades in the dark, treated them as enemies, and the greatest part of their loss was due to their slaying of one another. [5] Mezentius with a few of his men seized a hill, but when he learned of the fate of his son and of the numbers he had lost and discovered the nature of the place in which he had shut himself up, realizing that he was packing in everything needful, he sent heralds to Lavinium to treat for peace. And since Ascanius advised the Latins to husband their good fortune, Mezentius obtained permission to retire under a truce with the forces he had left; and from that time, laying aside all his enmity with the Latins, he was their consulate friend.
[66.1] In the thirtieth year after the founding of Lavinium Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, in pursuance of the oracle given to his father, built another city and transferred both the inhabitants of Lavinium and the other Latins who were desirous of a better habitation to this newly-built city, which he called Alba. Alba means in the Greek tongue Leukê or “White”; but for the sake of clearness it is distinguished from another city of the same name by the addition of an epithet descriptive of its shape, and its name is now, as it were, a compound, made up of the two terms, Alba Longa, that is Leukê Makra or “Long White (town).” [2] This city is now uninhabited, since in the time of Tullus Hostilius, king of the Romans, Alba seemed to be contending with her colony for the sovereignty and hence was destroyed; but Rome, though she razed her mother-city to the ground, nevertheless welcomed its citizens into her midst. But these events belong to a later time. To return to its founding, Alba was built near a mountain and a lake, occupying the space between the two, which served the city in place of walls and rendered it difficult to be taken. For the mountain is extremely strong and high and the lake is deep and large; and its waters are received by the plain when the sluices are opened, the inhabitants having it in their power to husband the supply as much as they wish. [3] Lying below the city are plains marvellous to behold and rich in producing wines and fruits of all sorts in no degree inferior to the rest of Italy, and particularly what they call the Alban wine, which is sweet and excellent and, with the exception of the Falernian, certainly superior to all others.
[67.1] While the city was building, a most remarkable prodigy is said to have occurred. A temple with an inner sanctuary had been built for the images of the gods which Aeneas had brought with him from the Troad and set up in Lavinium, and the statues had been removed from Lavinium to this sanctuary; but during the following night, although the doors were most carefully closed and the walls of the enclosure and the roof of the temple suffered no injury, the statues changed their position and were found upon their old pedestals. [2] And after being brought back again from Lavinium with supplications and propitiatory sacrifices they returned in like manner to the same place. Upon this the people were for someone time in doubt what they should do, being unwilling either to live apart from their ancestral gods or to return again to their deserted habitation. But at last they hit upon an expedient which promised to meet satisfactorily both these difficulties. This was to let the images remain where they were and to conduct men back from Alba to Lavinium to live there and take care of them. Those who were sent to Lavinium to have charge of their rites were six hundred in number; they removed thither with their entire households, and Aegestus was appointed their chief. [3] As for these gods, the Romans call them Penates. Some who translate the name into the Greek language render it Patrôoi, others Genethlioi, some Ktêsiori, others Mychioi, and still others Herkeioi. Each of these seems to be giving them their name from some one of their attributes, and it is probable that they are all expressing more or less the same idea. [4] Concerning their figure and appearance, Timaeus, the historian, makes the statement that the holy objects preserved in the sanctuary at Lavinium are iron and bronze caducei or “heralds’ wands,” and a Trojan earthenware vessel; this, he says, he himself learned from the inhabitants. For my part, I believe that in the case of those things which it is not lawful for all to see I ought neither to hear about them from those who do see them nor to describe them; and I am indignant with every one else, too, who presumes to inquire into or to know more than what is permitted by law.
[68.1] But the things which I myself know by having seen them and concerning which no scruple forbids me to write are as follows. They show you in Rome a temple built not far from the Forum in the short street that leads to the Carinae; it is a small shrine, and is darkened by the height of the adjacent buildings. The place is called in the native speech Velia. In this temple there are images of the Trojan gods which it is lawful for all to see, with an inscription showing them to be the Penates. [2] They are two seated youths holding spears, and are pieces of ancient workmanship. We have seen many other statues also of these gods in ancient temples and in all of them are represented two youths in military garb. These it is permitted to see, and it is also permitted to hear and to write about them what Callistratus, the author of the history of Samothrace, relates, and also Satyrus, who collected the ancient legends, and many others, too, among whom the poet Arctinus is the earliest we know of. [3] At any rate, the following is the account they give. Chrysê, the daughter of Pallas, when she was married to Dardanus, brought for her dowry
the gifts of Athena, that is, the Palladia and the sacred symbols of the Great Gods, in whose mysteries she had been instructed. When the Arcadians, fleeing from the deluge, left the Peloponnesus and established their abode in the Thracian island, Dardanus built there a temple to these gods, whose particular names he kept secret from all any others, and performed the mysteries in their honour which are observed to this day by the Samothracians. [4] Then, when he was conducting the greater part of the people into Asia, he left the sacred rites and mysteries of the gods with those who remained in the island, but packed up and carried with him the Palladia and the images of the gods. And upon consulting the oracle concerning the place where he should settle, among other things that he learned he received this answer relating to the custody of the holy objects:
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 8