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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [45.1] At that time the Trojans who had fled with Aeneas from Troy after its capture landed at Laurentum, which is on the coast of the Aborigines facing the Tyrrhenian sea, not far from the mouth of the Tiber. And having received from the Aborigines some land for their habitation and everything else they desired, they built a town on a hill not far from the sea and called it Lavinium.

  [2] ὀλίγῳ δ᾽ ὕστερον χρόνῳ τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἀλλάξαντες ὀνομασίαν ἅμα τοῖς Ἀβοριγῖσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς χώρας Λατῖνοι ὠνομάσθησαν: καὶ μεταναστάντες ἐκ τοῦ Λαουϊνίου κοινῇ μετὰ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων μείζονα περιβάλλονται πόλιν, ἣν Ἄλβαν ἐκάλεσαν, ἐξ ἧς ὁρμώμενοι πολλὰς μὲν καὶ ἄλλας πόλεις ἔκτισαν τῶν κληθέντων Πρίσκων Λατίνων, ἐξ ὧν αἱ πλεῖσται ἔτι καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ ἦσαν οἰκούμεναι,

  [2] Soon after this they changed their ancient name and, together with the Aborigines, were called Latins, after the king of that country. And leaving Lavinium, they joined with the inhabitants of those parts in building a larger city, surrounded by a wall, which they called Alba; and setting out thence, they built many other cities, the cities of the so-called Prisci Latini, of which the greatest part were inhabited even to my day.

  [3] γενεαῖς δ᾽ ὕστερον ἑκκαίδεκα μετὰ τὴν Ἰλίου ἅλωσιν ἐκπέμψαντες ἀποικίαν εἰς τὸ Παλλάντιόν τε καὶ τὴν Σατορνίαν, ἔνθα Πελοποννήσιοί τε καὶ Ἀρκάδες τὴν πρώτην οἴκησιν ἐποιήσαντο καὶ ἦν ἔτι ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν ζώπυρ᾽ ἄττα περιλειπόμενα τοῦ παλαιοῦ γένους, οἰκίζουσι τοὺς τόπους περιλαβόντες τείχεσι τὸ Παλλάντιον, ὥστε λαβεῖν πόλεως σχῆμα τότε πρῶτον. τίθενται δὲ τῷ κτίσματι Ῥώμην ὄνομα ἀπὸ τοῦ στείλαντος τὴν ἀποικίαν Ῥωμύλου, ὃς ἦν ἕβδομος καὶ

  [3] Then, sixteen generations after the taking of Troy, sending out a colony to Pallantium and Saturnia, where the Peloponnesians and the Arcadians had made their first settlement and where there were still left some remains of the ancient race, they settled these places and surrounded Pallantium with a wall, so that it then first received the form of a city. This settlement they called Rome, after Romulus, who was the leader of the colony and the seventeenth in descent from Aeneas.

  [4] δέκατος ἀπ᾽ Αἰνείου γεγονώς. βούλομαι δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς Αἰνείου παρουσίας εἰς Ἰταλίαν, ἐπεὶ τῶν συγγραφέων τοῖς μὲν ἠγνόηται, τοῖς δὲ διαπεφώνηται ὁ περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγος, μὴ παρέργως διελθεῖν τάς τε τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τὰς Ῥωμαίων τῶν μάλιστα πιστευομένων ἱστορίας παραβαλών. ἔχει δὲ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ λεγόμενα ὧδε. [p. 72]

  [4] But also concerning the arrival of Aeneas in Italy, since some historians have been ignorant of it and others have related it in a different manner, I wish to give more than a cursory account, having compared the histories of those writers, both Greek and Roman, who are the best accredited. The stories concerning him are as follows:

  [1] Ἰλίου κρατηθέντος ὑπ᾽ Ἀχαιῶν, εἴτε τοῦ δουρείου ἵππου τῇ ἀπάτῃ, ὡς Ὁμήρῳ πεποίηται, εἴτε τῇ προδοσίᾳ τῶν Ἀντηνοριδῶν εἴτε ἄλλως πως, τὸ μὲν ἄλλο πλῆθος ἐν τῇ πόλει Τρωικόν τε καὶ συμμαχικὸν ἐν ταῖς εὐναῖς ἔτι καταλαμβανόμενον ἐφονεύετο ῾νυκτὸς γὰρ δὴ τὸ δεινὸν ἀφυλάκτοις αὐτοῖς ἐπιστῆναι ἔοικεν᾽, Αἰνείας δὲ καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ παρόντες Ἰλιεῦσιν ἐπίκουροι Τρῶες ἐκ Δαρδάνου τε πόλεως καὶ Ὀφρυνίου τῶν τε ἄλλων ὅσοι τῆς κάτω πόλεως ἁλισκομένης ἔφθασαν αἴσθησιν τοῦ δεινοῦ λαβεῖν, ἐπὶ τὰ καρτερὰ τοῦ Περγάμου συμφυγόντες τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἰδίῳ τείχει φρουρουμένην καταλαμβάνονται, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ἱερὰ τὰ πατρῷα τοῖς Τρωσὶν ἦν καὶ χρημάτων ὁ πολὺς πλοῦτος, οἷα εἰκὸς ἐν ἐχυρῷ,

  [46.1] When Troy had been taken by the Achaeans, either by the stratagem of the wooden horse, as Homer represents, or by the treachery of the Antenoridae, or by some other means, the greatest part of the Trojans and of their allies then in the city were surprised and slain in their beds; for it seems that this calamity came upon them in the night, when they were not upon their guard. But Aeneas and his Trojan forces which he had brought from the cities of Dardanus and Ophrynium to the assistance of the people of Ilium, and as many others as had early notice of the calamity, while the Greeks were taking the lower town, fled together to the stronghold of Pergamus, and occupied the citadel, which was fortified with its own wall; here were deposited the holy things of the Trojans inherited from their fathers and their great wealth in valuables, as was to be expected in a stronghold, and here also the flower of their army was stationed.

  [2] καὶ τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ τὸ κράτιστον: ἔνθα ὑπομένοντες ἀπεκρούοντο τοὺς πειρωμένους ἐπιβαίνειν τῆς ἄκρας καὶ τὸ διαπῖπτον ὑπὸ τῆς ἁλώσεως πλῆθος ἐμπειρίᾳ στενωπῶν ὑποθέοντες ἀνελάμβανον: καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ καταληφθέντος πλεῖον τὸ διαφυγόν. τὴν μὲν δὴ αὐτίκα ὁρμὴν τῶν πολεμίων, ἣν εἶχον ὅλην διαχρήσασθαι τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὸ μὴ πᾶν ἐξ ἐφόδου καταληφθῆναι τὸ ἄστυ τοῦτο τὸ μηχάνημα ἐξευρὼν Αἰνείας ἐπέσχε. λογισμὸν δὲ τὸν εἰκότα περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος λαμβάνων, ὡς ἀμήχανον εἴη πρᾶγμα σῶσαι πόλιν, ἧς τὰ πλείω ἤδη ἐκρατεῖτο, εἰς νοῦν βάλλεται τοῦ μὲν τείχους ἐρήμου παραχωρῆσαι τοῖς πολεμίοις, [p. 73] τὰ δὲ σώματα αὐτὰ καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ τὰ πατρῷα καὶ χρήματα ὁπόσα φέρειν δύναιτο διασώσασθαι.

  [2] Here they awaited and repulsed the enemy who were endeavouring to gain a foothold on the acropolis, and by making secret sallies they were able, through their familiarity with the narrow streets, to rescue the multitude which was seeking to escape at the taking of the city; and thus a larger number escaped than were taken prisoner. But with respect to the future he reasoned very properly that it would be impossible to save a city the greater part of which was already in possession of the enemy, and he therefore decided to abandon the wall, bare of defenders, to the enemy

  [3] δόξαν δὲ αὐτῷ, παῖδας μὲν καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ γηραιὰ σώματα καὶ ὁπόσοις ἄλλοις βραδείας ἔδει φυγῆς προεξελθεῖν κελεύει τῆς πόλεως κατὰ τὰς ἐπὶ τὴν Ἴδην φερούσας ὁδοὺς, ἕως Ἀχαιοὶ τὴν ἄκραν ἑλεῖν προθυμούμενοι διώξεως τοῦ διαπίπτοντος ἐκ τῆς πόλεως πλήθους οὐδὲν προεμηχανῶντο, τοῦ δὲ στρατιωτικοῦ τὸ μὲν ἐπὶ φυλακῇ τῶν ἐξιόντων ἔταξεν, ὡς ἀσφαλής τε καὶ ἀταλαίπωρος ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων ἡ φυγὴ αὐτ�
�ῖς γένοιτο, εἴρητο δὲ τούτοις τὰ καρτερώτατα καταλαβέσθαι τῆς Ἴδης: τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν, ὃ δὴ κράτιστον ἦν, αὐτὸς ἔχων ὑπέμενεν ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους καὶ παρεῖχε τοῖς προεξελθοῦσιν ἧττον ἐπιπόνους διηρτημένων τειχομαχίᾳ τῶν πολεμίων τὰς φυγάς.

  [3] and to save the inhabitants themselves as well as the holy objects inherited from their fathers and all the valuables he could carry away. Having thus resolved, he first sent out from the city the women and children together with the aged and all others whose condition required much time to make their escape, with orders to take the roads leading to Mount Ida, while the Achaeans, intent on capturing the citadel, were giving no thought to the pursuit of the multitude who were escaping from the city. Of the army, he assigned one part to escort the inhabitants who were departing, in order that their flight might be as safe and free from hardships as the circumstances would permit; and they were ordered to take possession of the strongest parts of Mount Ida. With the rest of the troops, who were the most valiant, he remained upon the wall of the citadel and, by keeping the enemy occupied in assaulting it, he rendered less difficult the flight of those who had gone on ahead.

  [4] Νεοπτολέμου δὲ σὺν τοῖς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐπιβάντος μέρους τινὸς τῆς ἄκρας καὶ προσβοηθησάντων αὐτοῖς Ἀχαιῶν ἁπάντων τῆς μὲν ἄκρας μεθίεται, ἀνοίξας δὲ τὰς πύλας ἀπῄει συντεταγμένους ἔχων τοὺς λοιποὺς φυγάδας, ἀγόμενος ἐπὶ ταῖς κρατίσταις συνωρίσι τόν τε πατέρα καὶ θεοὺς τοὺς πατρῴους γυναῖκά τε καὶ τέκνα καὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἴ τι πλείστου ἄξιον ἦν σῶμα ἢ χρῆμα.

  [4] But when Neoptolemus and his men gained a foothold on part of the acropolis and all the Achaeans rallied to their support, Aeneas abandoned the place; and opening the gates, he marched away with the rest of the fugitives in good order, carrying with him in the best chariots his father and the gods of his country, together with his wife and children and whatever else, either person or thing, was most precious.

  [1] ἐν δὲ τούτῳ κατὰ κράτος εἰλήφεσαν Ἀχαιοὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ περὶ τὰς ἁρπαγὰς ἐσπουδακότες [p. 74] πολλὴν ἄδειαν σώζεσθαι τοῖς φεύγουσι παρῆκαν. οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Αἰνείαν ἔτι καθ᾽ ὁδὸν εὑρόντες τοὺς σφετέρους καὶ καθ᾽ ἓν ἅπαντες γενόμενοι τὰ ὀχυρώτατα καταλαμβάνονται τῆς Ἴδης.

  [47.1] In the meantime the Achaeans had taken the city by storm, and being intent on plunder, gave those who fled abundant opportunity of making their escape. Aeneas and his band overtook their people while still on the road, and being united now in one body, they seized the strongest parts of Mount Ida.

  [2] ἦλθον δ᾽ ὡς αὐτοὺς οἵ τ᾽ ἐν Δαρδάνῳ τότε οἰκοῦντες, ὡς εἶδον φλόγα πολλὴν παρὰ τὰ εἰωθότα φερομένην ἐξ Ἰλίου, νύκτωρ καταλιπόντες τὴν πόλιν ἔρημον, χωρὶς ἢ ὅσοι σὺν Ἐλύμῳ καὶ Αἰγέστῳ ναυτικόν τι συνεσκευασμένοι ἔτυχον προεξεληλυθότες τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἐξ Ὀφρυνίου πόλεως ὁ δῆμος ἅπας καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων Τρωικῶν πόλεων τῆς ἐλευθερίας οἱ περιεχόμενοι: δύναμίς τε αὕτη δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου χρόνου μεγίστη τῶν Τρωικῶν ἐγένετο.

  [2] Here they were joined not only by the inhabitants of Dardanus, who, upon seeing a great and unusual fire rising from Ilium, had in the night left their city undefended, — all except the men with Elymus and Aegestus, who had got ready some ships and had departed even earlier, — but also by the whole populace of Ophrynium and by those of the other Trojan cities who clung to their liberty; and in a very short time this force of the Trojans became a very large one.

  [3] οἱ μὲν οὖν σὺν Αἰνείᾳ διασωθέντες ἐκ τῆς καταλήψεως ἐν τούτοις ὑπομένοντες τοῖς χωρίοις οὐ διὰ μακροῦ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὰ σφέτερα κατελεύσεσθαι ἤλπιζον τῶν πολεμίων ἀποπλευσάντων, Ἀχαιοὶ δὲ ἀνδραποδισάμενοι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ σύνεγγυς χωρία καὶ φρούρια δῃώσαντες παρεσκευάζοντο μὲν ὡς καὶ

  [3] Accordingly, the fugitives who had escaped with Aeneas from the taking of the city and were tarrying on Mount Ida were in hopes of returning home soon, when the enemy should have sailed away; but the Achaeans, having reduced to slavery the people who were left in the city and in the places near by and having demolished the forts, were preparing to subdue those also who were in the mountains.

  [4] τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι χειρωσόμενοι. πεμψάντων δὲ κήρυκας αὐτῶν περὶ διαλύσεων καὶ δεομένων μὴ σφᾶς εἰς ἀνάγκην καταστῆσαι πολέμου, συνελθόντες εἰς ἐκκλησίαν ἐπὶ τοῖς2δε ποιοῦνται πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὰς διαλύσεις: Αἰνείαν μὲν καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ τὰ χρήματα φέροντας ὅσα διεσώσαντο κατὰ τὴν φυγὴν ἐν ὡρισμένοις τισὶ χρόνοις ἐκ τῆς Τρωάδος ἀπελθεῖν, παραδόντας [p. 75] Ἀχαιοῖς τὰ φρούρια: Ἀχαιοὺς δὲ παρασχεῖν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἐξ ἁπάσης ὅσης ἐκράτουν γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ἀπιοῦσι κατὰ τὰς ὁμολογίας.

  [4] When, however, the Trojans sent heralds to treat for peace and begged them not to reduce them to the necessity of making war, the Achaeans held an assembly and made peace with them upon the following terms: Aeneas and his people were to depart from the Troad with all the valuables they had saved in their flight within a certain fixed time, after first delivering up the forts to the Achaeans; and the Achaeans were to allow them a safe-conduct by land and sea throughout all their dominions when they departed in pursuance of these terms.

  [5] δεξάμενος δὲ ταῦτα Αἰνείας καὶ νομίσας ἐκ τῶν ἐνόντων κράτιστα εἶναι Ἀσκάνιον μὲν τὸν πρεσβύτατον τῶν παίδων ἔχοντα τοῦ συμμαχικοῦ τινα μοῖραν, ἧς Φρύγιον ἦν τὸ πλεῖστον, εἰς τὴν Δασκυλῖτιν καλουμένην γῆν, ἔνθα ἐστὶν ἡ Ἀσκανία λίμνη, μετάπεμπτον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων γενόμενον ἐπὶ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ ἔθνους ἀποπέμπει: καὶ ᾤκησεν Ἀσκάνιος αὐτόθι χρόνον τινὰ οὐ πολύν. ἐλθόντων δὲ ὡς αὐτὸν Σκαμανδρίου τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑκτοριδῶν ἀφειμένων ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ὑπὸ Νεοπτολέμου, κατάγων αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν πατρῴαν ἀρχὴν εἰς Τροίαν ἀφικνεῖται.

  [5] Aeneas, having accepted these conditions, which he looked upon as the best possible in the circumstances, sent away Ascanius, his eldest son, with some of the allies, chiefly Phrygians, to the country of Dascylitis, as it is called, in which lies the Ascanian lake, since he had been invited by the inhabitants to reign over them. But Ascanius did not tarry there for any great length of time; for when Scamandrius and the other descendants of Hector who had been permitted by Neoptolemus to return home from Greece, came to him, he went to Troy, in order to restore them to their ancestral kingdom.


  [6] καὶ περὶ μὲν Ἀσκανίου τοσαῦτα λέγεται: τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους παῖδας Αἰνείας παραλαβὼν καὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὰ ἕδη τῶν θεῶν, ἐπειδὴ παρεσκευάσθη τὸ ναυτικὸν αὐτῷ, διαπλεῖ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ἐπὶ τῆς ἔγγιστα κειμένης χερρονήσου τὸν πλοῦν ποιούμενος, ἣ πρόκειται μὲν τῆς Εὐρώπης, καλεῖται δὲ Παλλήνη. ἔθνος δ᾽ εἶχεν αὐτὴν Θρᾴκιον σύμμαχον Κρουσαῖον καλούμενον ἁπάντων προθυμότατον τῶν συναραμένων αὐτοῖς τοῦ πολέμου.

  [6] Regarding Ascanius, then, this is all that is told. As for Aeneas, after his fleet was ready, he embarked with the rest of his sons and his father, taking with him the images of the gods, and crossing the Hellespont, sailed to the nearest peninsula, which lies in front of Europe and is called Pallenê. This country was occupied by a Thracian people called Crusaeans, who were allies of the Trojans and had assisted them during the war with greater zeal than any of the others.

  [1] ὁ μὲν οὖν πιστότατος τῶν λόγων, ᾧ κέχρηται τῶν παλαιῶν συγγραφέων Ἑλλάνικος ἐν τοῖς [p. 76] Τρωικοῖς, περὶ τῆς Αἰνείου φυγῆς τοιός2δε ἐστίν. εἴρηνται δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις τισὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν οὐ κατὰ ταὐτὰ ἔχοντες λόγοι, οὓς ἧττον ἔγωγε τούτου πιθανοὺς εἶναι νομίζω. κρινέτω δὲ ὡς ἕκαστος τῶν ἀκουόντων βούλεται.

  [48.1] This, then, is the most credible account concerning the flight of Aeneas and is the one which Hellanicus, among the ancient historians, adopts in his Troica. There are different accounts given of the same events by some others, which I look upon as less probable than this. But let every reader judge as he thinks proper.