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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [6] The altar on which Hercules offered up the tithes is called by the Romans the Greatest Altar. It stands near the place they call the Cattle Market and no other is held in greater veneration by the inhabitants; for upon this altar oaths are taken and agreements made by those who wish to transact any business unalterably and the tithes of things are frequently offered there pursuant to vows. However, in its construction it is much inferior to its reputation. In many other places also in Italy precincts are dedicated to this god and altars erected to him, both in cities and along highways; and one could scarcely find any place in Italy in which the god is not honoured. Such, then, is the legendary account that has been handed down concerning him.

  [1] ὁ δ᾽ ἀληθέστερος, ᾧ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν ἱστορίας σχήματι τὰς πράξεις αὐτοῦ διηγησαμένων ἐχρήσαντο, τοιός2δε: ὡς στρατηλάτης γενόμενος ἁπάντων κράτιστος τῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν Ἡρακλῆς καὶ δυνάμεως πολλῆς ἡγούμενος ἅπασαν ἐπῆλθε τὴν ἐντὸς Ὠκεανοῦ, καταλύων μὲν εἴ τις εἴη τυραννὶς βαρεῖα καὶ λυπηρὰ τοῖς ἀρχομένοις ἢ πόλις ὑβρίζουσα καὶ λωβωμένη τὰς πέλας ἢ μοναὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀνημέρῳ [p. 66] διαίτῃ καὶ ξενοκτονίαις ἀθεμίστοις χρωμένων, καθιστὰς δὲ νομίμους βασιλείας καὶ σωφρονικὰ πολιτεύματα καὶ βίων ἔθη φιλάνθρωπα καὶ κοινοπαθῆ: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ἕλλησί τε βαρβάρους συγκεραννύμενος καὶ θαλαττίοις ἠπειρώτας, οἳ τέως ἀπίστους καὶ ἀσυναλλάκτους εἶχον ὁμιλίας, ἐρήμῳ τε γῇ πόλεις ἐνιδρυόμενος καὶ ποταμοὺς ἐκτρέπων ἐπικλύζοντας πεδία καὶ τρίβους ἐκτέμνων ἀβάτοις ὄρεσι καὶ τἆλλα μηχανώμενος, ὡς ἅπασα γῆ καὶ θάλαττα κοινὴ ταῖς ἁπάντων χρείαις γενήσοιτο.

  [41.1] But the story which comes nearer to the truth and which has been adopted by many who have narrated his deeds in the form of history is as follows: Hercules, who was the greatest commander of his age, marched at the head of a large force through all the country that lies on this side of the Ocean, destroying any despotisms that were grievous and oppressive to their subjects, or commonwealths that outraged and injured the neighbouring states, or organized bands of men who lived in the manner of savages and lawlessly put strangers to death, and in their room establishing lawful monarchies, well-ordered governments and humane and sociable modes of life. Furthermore, he mingled barbarians with Greeks, and inhabitants of the inland with dwellers on the sea coast, groups which hitherto had been distrustful and unsocial in their dealings with each other; he also built cities in desert places, turned the course of rivers that overflowed the fields, cut roads through inaccessible mountains, and contrived other means by which every land and sea might lie open to the use of all mankind.

  [2] ἀφίκετο δὲ εἰς Ἰταλίαν οὐ μονόστολος οὐδὲ ἀγέλην βοῶν ἐπαγόμενος: ῾οὔτε γὰρ ὁ χῶρος ἐν τρίβῳ τοῖς εἰς Ἄργος ἐξ Ἰβηρίας ἀνασκευαζομένοις, οὔτε τοῦ διελθεῖν ἕνεκα τὴν χώραν τοσαύτης ἂν ἠξιώθη τιμῆς:᾿ ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ δουλώσει καὶ ἀρχῇ τῶν τῇδε ἀνθρώπων στρατὸν ἄγων πολὺν Ἰβηρίαν ἤδη κεχειρωμένος: διατρῖψαί τε αὐτόθι πλείω χρόνον ἠναγκάσθη τοῦ τε ναυτικοῦ τῇ ἀπουσίᾳ, ἣ ἐγένετο χειμῶνος ἐπιλαβόντος, καὶ τῷ μὴ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τὰ κατέχοντα Ἰταλίαν προσχωρῆσαι αὐτῷ ἑκούσια. [p. 67]

  [2] And he came into Italy not alone nor yet bringing a herd of cattle (for neither does this country lies on the road of those returning from Spain to Argos nor would he have been deemed worthy of so great an honour merely for passing through it), but at the head of a great army, after he had already conquered Spain, in order to subjugate and rule the people in this region; and he was obliged to tarry there a considerable time both because of the absence of his fleet, due to stormy weather that detained it, and because not all the nations of Italy willingly submitted to him.

  [3] χωρὶς γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων βαρβάρων τὸ Λιγύων γένος πολὺ καὶ μάχιμον, ἐπὶ ταῖς παρόδοις τῶν Ἀλπείων ὀρῶν ἱδρυμένον, ἀποκωλύειν ὅπλοις τὰς εἰς2βολὰς αὐτοῦ τὰς εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐπεχείρησεν, ἔνθα μέγιστος ἀγὼν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐγένετο πάντων αὐτοὺς ἐπιλειπόντων ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τῶν βελῶν. δηλοῖ δὲ τὸν πόλεμον τόνδε τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν Αἰσχύλος ἐν Προμηθεῖ λυομένῳ. πεποίηται γὰρ αὐτῷ ὁ Προμηθεὺς Ἡρακλεῖ τά τε ἄλλα προλέγων, ὡς ἕκαστον αὐτῷ τι συμβήσεσθαι ἔμελλε κατὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Γηρυόνην στρατείαν, καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Λιγυστικοῦ πολέμου ὡς οὐ ῥᾴδιος ὁ ἀγὼν ἔσται διηγούμενος. τὰ δὲ ποιήματα ὧδ᾽ ἔχει:

  ἥξεις δὲ Λιγύων εἰς ἀτάρβητον στρατὸν,

  ἔνθ᾽ οὐ μάχης, σάφ᾽ οἶδα, καὶ θοῦρός περ ὢν μέμψει. πέπρωται γάρ σε καὶ βέλη λιπεῖν.

  [3] For, besides the other barbarians, the Ligurians, a numerous and warlike people seated in the passes of the Alps, endeavoured to prevent his entrance into Italy by force of arms, and in that place so great a battle was fought by the Greeks that all their missiles gave out in the course of the fighting. This war is mentioned by Aeschylus, among the ancient poets, in his Prometheus Unbound; for there Prometheus is represented as foretelling to Hercules in detail how everything else was to befall him on his expedition against Geryon and in particular recounting to him the difficult struggle he was to have in the war with the Ligurians. The verses are these:

  “And thou shalt come to Liguria’s dauntless host,

  Where no fault shalt thou find, bold though thou art,

  With the fray: ’tis fated thy missiles all shall fail.”

  [1] ἐπειδὴ δὲ τούτους καταστρεψάμενος τῶν παρόδων ἐκράτησεν, οἱ μέν τινες ἑκούσιοι παρεδίδοσαν αὐτῷ τὰς πόλεις, μάλιστα δὲ ὅσοι ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ γένους ἦσαν ἢ δυνάμεις οὐκ εἶχον ἀξιοχρέους, οἱ δὲ πλείους ἐκ πολέμου καὶ πολιορκίας παρίσταντο.

  [42.1] After Hercules had defeated this people and gained the passes, some delivered up their cities to him of their own accord, particularly those who were any other Greek extraction or who had no considerable forces; but the greatest part of them were reduced by war and siege.

  [2] ἐν δὴ τούτοις τοῖς μάχῃ κρατηθεῖσι καὶ τὸν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων μυθολογούμενον Κάκον, δυνάστην τινὰ κομιδῇ βάρβαρον καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἀνημέρων ἄρχοντα, γενέσθαι φασὶν αὐτῷ διάφορον, ἐρυμνοῖς χωρίοις ἐπικαθήμενον καὶ διὰ ταῦτα τοῖς πλησιοχώροις ὄντα λυπηρόν. [p. 68] ὃς ἐπειδὴ καταστρατοπεδεύσαντα τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἔμαθεν ἐν τῷ προσεχεῖ πεδίῳ, λῃστρικῶς διασκευασάμενος ἐπιδρομῇ αἰφνιδίῳ ἐχρήσατο κατακοιμω�
�ένου τοῦ στρατοῦ καὶ τῆς λείας ὅσῃ ἐπέτυχεν ἀφυλάκτῳ

  [2] Among those who were conquered in battle, they say, was Cacus, who is celebrated in the Roman legend, an exceedingly barbarous chieftain reigning over a savage people, who had set himself to oppose Hercules; he was established in the fastnesses and on that account was a pest to his neighbours. He, when he heard that Hercules lay encamped in the plain hard by, equipped his followers like brigands and making a sudden raid while the army lay sleeping, he surrounded and drove off as much of their booty as he found unguarded.

  [3] περιβαλόμενος ἀπήλασεν. ὕστερον δὲ κατακλεισθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἰς πολιορκίαν, τά τε φρούρια κατὰ κράτος ἁλόντ᾽ ἐπεῖδε καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τοῖς ἐρύμασιν ἀνῃρέθη. τῶν δὲ φρουρίων αὐτοῦ κατασκαφέντων τὰ πέριξ χωρία οἱ συνεξελθόντες Ἡρακλεῖ κατὰ σφᾶς ἕτεροι παρέλαβον Ἀρκάδες τέ τινες οἱ σὺν Εὐάνδρῳ καὶ Φαῦνος ὁ τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων βασιλεύς. εἰκάσειε δ᾽ ἄν τις καὶ τοὺς ὑπομείναντας αὐτόθι τῶν Ἑλλήνων Ἐπειοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἐκ Φενεοῦ Ἀρκάδας καὶ Τρῶας ἐπὶ

  [3] Afterwards, being besieged by the Greeks, he not only saw his forts taken by storm, but was himself slain amid his fastnesses. And when his forts had been demolished, those who had accompanied Hercules on the expedition (these were some Arcadians with Evander, and Faunus, king of the Aborigines) took over the districts round about, each group for itself. And it may be conjectured that those of the Greeks who remained there, that is, the Epeans and the Arcadians from Pheneus, as well as the Trojans, were left to guard the country.

  [4] φυλακῇ τῆς χώρας καταλειφθῆναι. στρατηγικὸν γὰρ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τῶν Ἡρακλέους ἔργων καὶ οὐδενὸς ἧττον θαυμάζεσθαι ἐπιτήδειον, τὸ δὴ τοὺς ἀνασπάστους ἐκ τῶν κεκρατημένων πόλεων τέως μὲν ἐπάγεσθαι κατὰ τὰς στρατείας, ἐπεὶ δὲ προθύμως τοὺς πολέμους συνδιενέγκαιεν εἰς τὰ δορίκτητα κατοικίζειν καὶ τοῖς παρ᾽ ἑτέρων ἐπιχορηγηθεῖσι δωρεῖσθαι πλούτοις. διὰ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα μέγιστον ὄνομα καὶ κλέος Ἡρακλέους [p. 69] ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ οὐ τῆς παρόδου χάριν, ᾗ σεμνὸν οὐδὲν προσῆν.

  [4] For among the various measures of Hercules that bespoke the true general none was more worthy of admiration than his practice of carrying along with him for a time on his expeditions the prisoners taken from the captured cities, and then, after they had cheerfully assisted him in his wars, settling them in the conquered regions and bestowing on them the riches he had gained from others. It was because of these deeds that Hercules gained the greatest name and renown in Italy, and not because of his passage through it, which was attended by nothing worthy of veneration.

  [1] λέγουσι δέ τινες αὐτὸν καὶ παῖδας ἐν τοῖς χωρίοις τούτοις, ἃ νῦν Ῥωμαῖοι κατοικοῦσιν, ἐκ δύο γυναικῶν γενομένους καταλιπεῖν: Πάλλαντα μὲν ἐκ τῆς Εὐάνδρου θυγατρός, ᾗ Λαῦναν ὄνομά φασιν εἶναι, Λατῖνον δὲ ἔκ τινος ὑπερβορίδος κόρης, ἣν πατρὸς εἰς ὁμηρείαν δόντος ἐπήγετο καὶ αὐτὴν μέχρι μέν τινος ἁγνὴν γάμων ἐφύλαττεν, ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἔπλει ἐρασθεὶς ἐγκύμονα ποιεῖ, ἣν καὶ ὅτε δὴ ἀπαίρειν εἰς Ἄργος ἔμελλε τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων Φαύνῳ γυναῖκα ποιήσασθαι δίδωσι: δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίαν τοὺς πολλοὺς τὸν Λατῖνον τούτου υἱὸν νομίζειν, οὐχ Ἡρακλέους.

  [43] Some say that he also left sons by two women in the region now inhabited by the Romans. One of these sons was Pallas, whom he had by the daughter of Evander, whose name, they say, was Lavinia; the other, Latinus, whose mother was a certain Hyperborean girl whom he brought with him as a hostage given to him by her father and preserved for some time untouched; but while he was on his voyage to Italy, he fell in love with her and got her with child. And when he was preparing to leave for Argos, he married her to Faunus, king of the Aborigines; for which reason Latinus is generally looked upon as the son of Faunus, not of Hercules.

  [2] Πάλλαντα μὲν οὖν πρὶν ἡβῆσαι λέγουσιν ἀποθανεῖν, Λατῖνον δὲ ἀνδρωθέντα τὴν Ἀβοριγίνων ἀρχὴν παραλαβεῖν. τούτου δὲ ἄπαιδος ἀρρένων παίδων τελευτήσαντος ἐν τῇ πρὸς τοὺς ὁμόρους Ῥοτόλους μάχῃ περιστῆναι τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς Αἰνείαν τὸν Ἀγχίσου κηδεστὴν αὐτοῦ γενόμενον. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν ἑτέροις χρόνοις ἐγένετο.

  [2] Pallas, they say, died before he arrived at puberty; but Latinus, upon reaching man’s estate, succeeded to the kingdom of the Aborigines, and when he was killed in the battle against the neighbouring Rutulians, without leaving any male issue, the kingdom devolved on Aeneas, the son of Anchises, his son-in-law. But these things happened at other times.

  [1] Ἡρακλῆς δ᾽ ἐπεὶ τά τε κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἅπαντα ὡς ἐβούλετο κατεστήσατο καὶ ὁ ναυτικὸς αὐτῷ στρατὸς σῶος ἐξ Ἰβηρίας ἀφίκετο, θύσας τοῖς θεοῖς τὰς δεκάτας τῶν λαφύρων καὶ πολίχνην ἐπώνυμον αὑτοῦ κτίσας, ἔνθα ὁ στόλος αὐτῷ ἐναυλόχει, [p. 70] ἣ καὶ νῦν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένη Νέας Πόλεως καὶ Πομπηίας ἐν μέσῳ κεῖται λιμένας ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ βεβαίους ἔχουσα, δόξης τε καὶ ζήλου καὶ τιμῶν ἰσοθέων παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ

  [44.1] After Hercules had settled everything in Italy according to his desire and his naval force had arrived in safety from Spain, he sacrificed to the gods the tithes of his booty and built a small town named after himself in the place where his fleet lay at anchor (it is now occupied by the Romans, and lying as it does between Neapolis and Pompeii, has at all times Etruria havens); and having gained fame and glory and received divine honours from all the inhabitants of Italy, he set sail for Sicily.

  [2] τυχὼν ἀπῆρεν εἰς Σικελίαν. οἱ δὲ καταλειφθέντες ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ φρουροὶ καὶ οἰκήτορες Ἰταλίας οἱ περὶ τὸν Σατόρνιον ὄχθον ἱδρυμένοι τέως μὲν ἐπολιτεύοντο καθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς, χρόνῳ δ᾽ ὕστερον οὐ μακρῷ δίαιτάν τε καὶ νόμους καὶ θεῶν ἱερὰ συνενεγκάμενοι τὰ σφέτερα τοῖς Ἀβοριγίνων ὥσπερ Ἀρκάδες καὶ ἔτι πρότερον Πελασγοὶ πόλεώς τε τῆς αὐτῆς τοῖς Ἀβοριγῖσι κοινωνήσαντες συνέβησαν ὁμοεθνεῖς νομίζεσθαι. Ἡρακλέους μὲν δὴ στρατείας πέρι καὶ Πελοποννησίων ὑπομονῆς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω.

  [2] Those who were left behind by him as a garrison to dwell in Italy and were settled around the Saturnian hill lived for some time under an independent government; but not long afterwards they adapted their manner of life, their laws and their religio
us ceremonies to those of the Aborigines, even as the Arcadians and, still earlier, the Pelasgians had done, and they shared in the same government with them, so that in time they came to be looked upon as of the same nation with them. But let this suffice concerning the expedition of Hercules and concerning the Peloponnesians who remained behind in Italy.

  [3] δευτέρᾳ δ᾽ ὕστερον γενεᾷ μετὰ τὴν Ἡρακλέους ἄπαρσιν, ἔτει δὲ πέμπτῳ καὶ πεντηκοστῷ μάλιστα, ὡς αὐτοὶ Ῥωμαῖοι λέγουσι, βασιλεὺς μὲν Ἀβοριγίνων ἦν Λατῖνος ὁ Φαύνου, γόνος δὲ Ἡρακλέους, πέμπτον δὲ καὶ τριακοστὸν ἔτος ἔχων τὴν ἀρχήν.

  [3] In the second generation after the departure of Hercules, and about the fifty-fifth year, according to the Romans’ own account, the king of the Aborigines was Latinus, who passed for the son of Faunus, but was actually the son of Hercules; he was now in the thirty-fifth year of his reign.

  [1] κατὰ δὲ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον Τρῶες οἱ σὺν Αἰνείᾳ διαφυγόντες ἐξ Ἰλίου τῆς πόλεως ἁλούσης κατέσχον εἰς Λωρεντόν, αἰγιαλὸν Ἀβοριγίνων ἐπὶ τῷ Τυρρηνικῷ πελάγει κείμενον, οὐ πρόσω τῶν ἐκβολῶν τοῦ Τεβέριος: λαβόντες δὲ παρὰ τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων [p. 71] χωρίον εἰς οἴκησιν καὶ ὅσα ἠξίουν, πολίζονται μικρὸν ἀποσχόντες ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἐπὶ λόφῳ τινὶ Λαουΐνιον ὄνομα τῇ πόλει θέμενοι.