Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [2] for these were the first of all the Greeks to cross the Ionian Gulf, under the leadership of Oenotrus, the son of Lycaon, and to settle in Italy. This Oenotrus was the fifth from Aezeius and Phoroneus, who were the first kings in the Peloponnesus. For Niobê was the daughter of Phoroneus, and Pelasgus was the son of Niobê and Zeus, it is said; Lycaon was the son of Aezeius and Deïanira was the daughter of Lycaon; Deïanira and Pelasgus were the parents of another Lycaon, whose son Oenotrus was born seventeen generations before the Trojan expedition. This, then, was the time when the Greeks sent the colony into Italy.

  [3] ἀπανέστη δὲ τῆς Ἑλλάδος Οἴνωτρος οὐκ ἀρκούμενος τῇ μοίρᾳ: δύο γὰρ καὶ εἴκοσι παίδων Λυκάονι γενομένων εἰς τοσούτους ἔδει κλήρους νεμηθῆναι τὴν Ἀρκάδων χώραν. ταύτης μὲν δὴ τῆς αἰτίας ἕνεκα Πελοπόννησον Οἴνωτρος ἐκλιπὼν καὶ κατασκευασάμενος ναυτικὸν διαίρει τὸν Ἰόνιον πόντον καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ [p. 18] Πευκέτιος τῶν ἀδελφῶν εἷς. εἵποντο δὲ αὐτοῖς τοῦ τε οἰκείου λαοῦ συχνοί, πολυάνθρωπον γὰρ δὴ τὸ ἔθνος τοῦτο λέγεται κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς γενέσθαι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ὅσοι χώραν εἶχον ἐλάττω τῆς ἱκανῆς.

  [3] Oenotrus left Greece because he was dissatisfied with his portion of his father’s land; for, as Lycaon had twenty-two sons, it was necessary to divide Arcadia into as many shares. For this reason Oenotrus left the Peloponnesus, prepared a fleet, and crossed the Ionian Gulf with Peucetius, one of his brothers. They were accompanied by many of their own people — for this nation is said to have been very populous in early times — and by as many other Greeks as had less land than was sufficient for them.

  [4] Πευκέτιος μὲν οὖν, ἔνθα τὸ πρῶτον ὡρμίσαντο τῆς Ἰταλίας, ὑπὲρ ἄκρας Ἰαπυγίας ἐκβιβάσας τὸν λεὼν αὐτοῦ καθιδρύεται, καὶ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ οἱ περὶ ταῦτα τὰ χωρία οἰκοῦντες Πευκέτιοι ἐκλήθησαν. Οἴνωτρος δὲ τὴν πλείω τοῦ στρατοῦ μοῖραν ἀγόμενος εἰς τὸν ἕτερον ἀφικνεῖται κόλπον τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑσπερίων μερῶν παρὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἀναχεόμενον, ὃς τότε μὲν Αὐσόνιος ἐπὶ τῶν προσοικούντων Αὐσόνων ἐλέγετο, ἐπεὶ δὲ Τυρρηνοὶ θαλασσοκράτορες ἐγένοντο, μετέλαβεν ἣν ἔχει νῦν προσηγορίαν.

  [4] Peucetius landed his people above the Iapygian Promontory, which was the first part of Italy they made, and settled there; and from him the inhabitants of this region were called Peucetians. But Oenotrus with the greater part of the expedition came into the other sea that washes the western regions along the coast of Italy; it was then called the Ausonian Sea, from the Ausonians who dwelt beside it, but after the Tyrrhenians became masters at sea its name was changed to that which it now bears.

  [1] εὑρὼν δὲ χώραν πολλὴν μὲν εἰς νομάς, πολλὴν δὲ εἰς ἀρότους εὔθετον, ἔρημον δὲ τὴν πλείστην καὶ οὐδὲ τὴν οἰκουμένην πολυάνθρωπον, ἀνακαθήρας τὸ βάρβαρον ἐκ μέρους τινὸς αὐτῆς ᾤκισε πόλεις μικρὰς καὶ συνεχεῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄρεσιν, ὅσπερ ἦν τοῖς παλαιοῖς τρόπος οἰκήσεως συνήθης. ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ ἥ τε χώρα πᾶσα πολλὴ οὖσα ὅσην κατέσχεν Οἰνωτρία, καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι πάντες ὅσων ἦρξεν Οἴνωτροι, τρίτην μεταλαβόντες ὀνομασίαν ταύτην. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ Αἰζειοῦ [p. 19] βασιλεύοντος Αἰζειοὶ ἐλέγοντο, Λυκάονος δὲ παραλαβόντος τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνου αὖθις Λυκάονες ὠνομάσθησαν, Οἰνώτρου δὲ κομίσαντος αὐτοὺς εἰς Ἰταλίαν Οἴνωτροι χρόνον τινὰ ἐκλήθησαν.

  [12.1] And finding there much land suitable for pasturage and much for tillage, but for the most part unoccupied, and even that which was inhabited not thickly populated, he cleared some of it of the barbarians and built small towns contiguous to one another on the mountains, which was the customary manner of habitation in use among the ancients. And all the land he occupied, which was very extensive, was called Oenotria, and all the people under his command Oenotrians, which was the third name they had borne. For in the reign of Aezeius they were called Aezeians, when Lycaon succeeded to the rule, Lycaonians, and after Oenotrus led them into Italy they were for a while called Oenotrians.

  [2] μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι τῷ λόγῳ Σοφοκλῆς μὲν ὁ τραγῳδοποιὸς ἐν Τριπτολέμῳ δράματι: πεποίηται γὰρ αὐτῷ Δημήτηρ διδάσκουσα τὸν Τριπτόλεμον, ὅσην χώραν ἀναγκασθήσεται σπείρων τοῖς δοθεῖσιν ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς καρποῖς διεξελθεῖν: μνησθεῖσα δὲ τῆς ἑῴου πρῶτον Ἰταλίας, ἥ ἐστιν ἀπ᾽ ἄκρας Ἰαπυγίας μέχρι πορθμοῦ Σικελικοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἀντικρὺ ἁψαμένη Σικελίας, ἐπὶ τὴν ἑσπέριον Ἰταλίαν αὖθις ἀναστρέφει καὶ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν παράλιον ταύτην ἐθνῶν διεξέρχεται, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Οἰνώτρων οἰκήσεως ποιησαμένη. ἀπόχρη δὲ ταῦτα μόνα λεχθέντα τῶν ἰαμβείων, ἐν οἷς φησι:

  τὰ δ᾽ ἐξόπισθε, χειρὸς εἰς τὰ δεξιά,

  Οἰνωτρία τε πᾶσα καὶ Τυρρηνικὸς

  κόλπος Λιγυστική τε γῆ σε δέξεται.

  [2] What I say is supported by the testimony of Sophocles, the tragic poet, in his drama entitled Triptolemus; for he there represents Demeter as informing Triptolemus how large a tract of land he would have to travel over while sowing it with the seeds she had given him. For, after first referring to the eastern part of Italy, which reaches from the Iapygian Promontory to the Sicilian Strait, and then touching upon Sicily on the opposite side, she returns again to the western part of Italy and enumerates the most important nations that inhabit this coast, beginning with the settlement of the Oenotrians. But it is enough to quote merely the iambics in which he says:

  “And after this, — first, then, upon the right,

  Oenotria wide-outstretched and Tyrrhene Gulf,

  And next the Ligurian land shall welcome thee.”

  [3] Ἀντίοχος δὲ ὁ Συρακούσιος, συγγραφεὺς πάνυ ἀρχαῖος, ἐν Ἰταλίας οἰκισμῷ τοὺς παλαιοτάτους οἰκήτορας διεξιὼν, ὡς ἕκαστοί τι μέρος αὐτῆς κατεῖχον, Οἰνώτρους λέγει πρώτους τῶν μνημονευομένων ἐν αὐτῇ κατοικῆσαι, εἰπὼν ὧδε: （Ἀντίοχος Ξενοφάνεος τάδε συνέγραψε περὶ Ἰταλίης ἐκ τῶν ἀρχαίων λόγων [p. 20] τὰ πιστότατα καὶ σαφέστατα: τὴν γῆν ταύτην, ἥτις νῦν Ἰταλίη καλεῖται, τὸ παλαιὸν εἶχον Οἴνωτροι）. ἔπειτα διεξελθὼν ὃν τρόπον ἐπολιτεύοντο, καὶ ὡς βασιλεὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς Ἰταλὸς ἀνὰ χρόνον ἐγένετο, ἀφ᾽ οὗ μετωνομάσθησαν Ἰταλοί, τούτου δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν Μόργης διεδέξατο, ἀφ᾽ οὗ Μόργητες ἐκλή
θησαν, καὶ ὡς Σικελὸς ἐπιξενωθεὶς Μόργητι ἰδίαν πράττων ἀρχὴν διέστησε τὸ ἔθνος, ἐπιφέρει ταυτί: （οὕτω δὲ Σικελοὶ καὶ Μόργητες ἐγένοντο καὶ Ἰταλίητες ἐόντες Οἴνωτροι）.

  [3] And Antiochus of Syracuse, a very early historian, in his account of the settlement of Italy, when enumerating the most ancient inhabitants in the order in which each of them held possession of any part of it, says that the first who are reported to have inhabited that country are the Oenotrians. His words are these: “Antiochus, the son of Xenophanes, wrote this account of Italy, which comprises all that is most credible and certain out of the ancient tales; this country, which is now called Italy, was formerly possessed by the Oenotrians.” Then he relates in what manner they were governed and says that in the course of time Italus came to be their king, after whom they were named Italians; that this man was succeeded by Morges, after whom they were called Morgetes, and that Sicelus, being received as a guest by Morges and setting up a kingdom for himself, divided the nation. After which he adds these words: “Thus those who had been Oenotrians became Sicels, Morgetes and Italians.”

  [1] φέρε δὴ καὶ τὸ γένος ὅθεν ἦν τὸ τῶν Οἰνώτρων ἀποδείξωμεν, ἕτερον ἄνδρα τῶν ἀρχαίων συγγραφέων παρασχόμενοι μάρτυρα, Φερεκύδην τὸν Ἀθηναῖον, γενεαλόγων οὐδενὸς δεύτερον. πεποίηται γὰρ αὐτῷ περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ βασιλευσάντων ὅδε ὁ λόγος: Π̔ελασγοῦ καὶ Δηιανείρης γίνεται Λυκάων: οὗτος γαμεῖ Κυλλήνην, Νηίδα νύμφην, ἀφ᾽ ἧς τὸ ὄρος ἡ Κυλλήνη καλεῖταἰ. ἔπειτα τοὺς ἐκ τούτων γεννηθέντας διεξιὼν καὶ τίνας ἕκαστοι τόπους ᾤκησαν, Οἰνώτρου καὶ Πευκετίου μιμνήσκεται λέγων ὧδε: （καὶ Οἴνωτρος, ἀφ᾽ οὗ Οἴνωτροι καλέονται οἱ ἐν Ἰταλίῃ οἰκέοντες, καὶ Πευκέτιος, ἀφ᾽ οὗ Πευκέτιοι καλέονται οἱ ἐν τῷ Ἰονίῳ κόλπᾠ. τὰ

  [13.1] Now let me also show the origin of the Oenotrian race, offering as my witness another of the early historians, Pherecydes of Athens, who was a genealogist inferior to none. He thus expresses himself concerning the kings of Arcadia: “Of Pelasgus and Deïanira was born Lycaon; this man married Cyllenê, a Naiad nymph, after whom Mount Cyllenê is named.” Then, having given an account of their children and of the places each of them inhabited, he mentions Oenotrus and Peucetius, in these words: “And Oenotrus, after whom are named the Oenotrians who live in Italy, and Peucetius, after whom are named the Peucetians who live on the Ionian Gulf.”

  [2] μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν εἰρημένα ποιητῶν τε καὶ [p. 21] μυθογράφων περί τε οἰκήσεως καὶ γένους τῶν Οἰνώτρων τοιαῦτά ἐστιν: οἷς ἐγὼ πειθόμενος, εἰ τῷ ὄντι Ἑλληνικὸν φῦλον ἦν τὸ τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων, ὡς Κάτωνι καὶ Σεμπρωνίῳ καὶ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις εἴρηται, τούτων ἔγγονον αὐτῶν τῶν Οἰνώτρων ὑποτίθεμαι. τὸ γὰρ δὴ Πελασγικὸν καὶ τὸ Κρητικὸν καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ ᾤκησεν, ὑστέροις εὑρίσκω χρόνοις ἀφικόμενα. παλαιότερον δὲ τούτου στόλον ἀπαναστάντα τῆς Ἑλλάδος εἰς τὰ προσεσπέρια τῆς Εὐρώπης οὐδένα δύναμαι καταμαθεῖν.

  [2] Such, then, are the accounts given by the ancient poets and writers of legends concerning the places of abode and the origin of the Oenotrians; and on their authority I assume that if the Aborigines were in reality a Greek nation, according to the opinion of Cato, Sempronius and many others, they were descendants of these Oenotrians. For I find that the Pelasgians and Cretans and the other nations that lived in Italy came thither afterwards; nor can I discover that any other expedition more ancient than this came from Greece to the western parts of Europe.

  [3] τοὺς δὲ Οἰνώτρους τῆς τ᾽ ἄλλης Ἰταλίας πολλὰ χωρία οἴομαι κατασχεῖν, τὰ μὲν ἔρημα, τὰ δὲ φαύλως οἰκούμενα καταλαβόντας, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῆς Ὀμβρικῶν γῆς ἐστιν ἣν ἀποτεμέσθαι, κληθῆναι δὲ Ἀβοριγῖνας ἐπὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν οἰκήσεως （Ἀρκαδικὸν γὰρ τὸ φιλοχωρεῖν ἐν ὄρεσιν᾽, ὡς ὑπερακρίους τινὰς καὶ παραλίους Ἀθήνησιν.

  [3] I am of the opinion that the Oenotrians, besides making themselves masters of many other regions in Italy, some of which they found unoccupied and others but thinly inhabited, also seized a portion of the country of the Umbrians, and that they were called Aborigines from their dwelling on the mountains (for it is characteristic of the Arcadians to be fond of the mountains), in the same manner as at Athens some are called Hyperakriori, and others Paralioi.

  [4] εἰ δέ τινες πεφύκασι μὴ ταχεῖς εἶναι περὶ πραγμάτων παλαιῶν ἀβασανίστως τὰ λεγόμενα δέχεσθαι, μὴ ταχεῖς ἔστωσαν μηδὲ Λίγυας ἢ Ὀμβρικοὺς ἢ ἄλλους τινὰς βαρβάρους αὐτοὺς νομίσαι, περιμείναντες δὲ καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ μαθεῖν κρινέτωσαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τὸ πιθανώτατον.

  [4] But if any are naturally slow in giving credit to accounts of ancient matters without due examination, let them be slow also in believing the Aborigines to be Ligurians, Umbrians, or any other barbarians, and let them suspend their judgment till they have heard what remains to be told and then determine which opinion out of all is the most probable.

  [1] τῶν δὲ πόλεων, ἐν αἷς τὸ πρῶτον ᾤκησαν Ἀβοριγῖνες, ὀλίγαι περιῆσαν ἐπ᾽ ἐμοῦ: αἱ δὲ πλεῖσται ὑπό τε πολέμων καὶ ἄλλων κακῶν οἰκοφθορηθεῖσαι [p. 22] ἔρημοι ἀφεῖνται. ἦσαν δ᾽ ἐν τῇ Ῥεατίνῃ γῇ τῶν Ἀπεννίνων ὀρῶν οὐ μακρὰν, ὡς Οὐάρρων Τερέντιος ἐν ἀρχαιολογίαις γράφει, ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πόλεως αἱ τὸ βραχύτατον ἀπέχουσαι ἡμερήσιον διάστημα ὁδοῦ: ὧν ἐγὼ τὰς ἐπιφανεστάτας, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἱστορεῖ, διηγήσομαι.

  [14.1] Of the cities first inhabited by the Aborigines few remained in my day; the greatest part of them, having been laid waste both by wars and other calamities, are abandoned. These cities were in the Reatine territory, not far from the Apennine mountains, as Terentius Varro writes in his Antiquities, the nearest being one day’s journey distant from Rome. I shall enumerate the most celebrated of them, following his account.

  [2] Παλάτιον μὲν πέντε πρὸς τοῖς εἴκοσι σταδίοις ἀφεστῶσα Ῥεάτου, πόλεως οἰκουμένης ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἔτι καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ, Κοϊντίας ὁδοῦ πλησίον. Τριβόλα δὲ ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἑξήκοντα σταδίους τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως ἀφεστῶσα, λόφον ἐπικαθημένη σύμμετρον. Συεσβόλα δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ διάστημα τῆς Τριβόλας ἀπέχουσα, τῶν Κεραυνίων ὀρῶν πλησίον. ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τετταράκοντα σταδίοις διῃρημένη πόλις ἐπιφανὴς Σούνα, ἔνθα νεὼς πάνυ ἀρχαῖός ἐστιν Ἄρεος.

  [2] Palatium, twenty-five stades distant from Reate (a city th
at was still inhabited by Romans down to my time), near the Quintian Way. Tribula, about sixty stades from Reate and standing upon a low hill. Suesbula, at the same distance from Tribula, near the Ceraunian Mountains. Suna, a famous city forty stades from Suesbula; in it there is a very ancient temple of Mars.

  [3] Μήφυλα δὲ ὡς τριάκοντα σταδίους ἄπωθεν τῆς Σούνης: δείκνυται δὲ αὐτῆς ἐρείπιά τε καὶ τείχους ἴχνη. τετταράκοντα δὲ σταδίους ἀπέχουσα Μηφύλης Ὀρουΐνιον, εἰ καί τις ἄλλη τῶν αὐτόθι πόλεων ἐπιφανὴς καὶ μεγάλη: δῆλοι γάρ εἰσιν αὐτῆς οἵ τε θεμέλιοι τῶν τειχῶν καὶ τάφοι τινὲς ἀρχαιοπρεπεῖς καὶ πολυανδρίων ἐν ὑψηλοῖς χώμασι μηκυνομένων περίβολοι: ἔνθα καὶ νεὼς Ἀθηνᾶς ἐστιν ἀρχαῖος, ἱδρυμένος ἐπὶ τῆς ἄκρας.

  [3] Mefula, about thirty stades from Suna; its ruins and traces of its walls are pointed out. Orvinium, forty stades from Mefula, a city as famous and large as any in that region; for the foundations of its walls are still to be seen and some tombs of venerable antiquity, as well as the circuits of burying-places extending over lofty mounds; and there is also an ancient temple of Minerva built on the summit.