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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [3] Secondly, finding that many of the cities in Italy were very badly governed, both by tyrannies and by oligarchies, he undertook to welcome and attract to himself the fugitives from these cities, who were very numerous, paying no regard either to their calamities or to their fortunes, provided only they were free men. His purpose was to increase the power of the Romans and to lessen that of their neighbours; but he invented a specious pretext for his course, making it appear that he was showing honour to a god.

  [4] τὸ γὰρ μεταξὺ χωρίον τοῦ τε Καπιτωλίου καὶ τῆς ἄκρας, ὃ καλεῖται νῦν κατὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων διάλεκτον μεθόριον δυεῖν δρυμῶν καὶ ἦν τότε τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ἐπώνυμον, ὕλαις ἀμφιλαφέσι κατ᾽ ἀμφοτέρας τὰς συναπτούσας τοῖς λόφοις λαγόνας ἐπίσκιον, ἱερὸν ἀνεὶς ἄσυλον ἱκέταις καὶ ναὸν ἐπὶ τοὺτῳ κατασκευασάμενος ῾ὅτῳ δὲ ἄρα θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων οὐκ ἔχω τὸ σαφὲς εἰπεῖν᾽ τοῖς καταφεύγουσιν εἰς τοῦτο τὸ ἱερὸν ἱκέταις τοῦ τε μηδὲν κακὸν ὑπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν παθεῖν ἐγγυητὴς ἐγίνετο τῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείας προφάσει καὶ εἰ βούλοιντο παρ᾽ αὐτῷ μένειν πολιτείας μετεδίδου καὶ γῆς μοῖραν, ἣν κτήσαιτο πολεμίους ἀφελόμενος. οἱ δὲ συνέρρεον ἐκ παντὸς τόπου τὰ οἰκεῖα φεύγοντες κακὰ καὶ οὐκέτι ἑτέρωσε ἀπανίσταντο ταῖς καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ὁμιλίαις καὶ χάρισιν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ κατεχόμενοι. [p. 176]

  [4] For he consecrated the place between the Capitol and the citadel which is now called in the language of the Romans “the space between the two groves,” — a term that was really descriptive at that time of the actual conditions, as the place was shaded by thick woods on both sides where it joined the hills, — and made it an asylum for suppliants. And built a temple there, — but to what god or divinity he dedicated it I cannot say for certain, — he engaged, under the colour of religion, to protect those who fled to it from suffering any harm at the hands of their enemies; and if they chose to remain with him, he promised them citizenship and a share of the land he should take from the enemy. And people came flocking thither from all parts, fleeing from their calamities at home; nor had they afterwards any thought of removing to any other place, but were held there by daily instances of his sociability and kindness.

  [1] τρίτον ἦν ἔτι Ῥωμύλου πολίτευμα, ὃ πάντων μάλιστα τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀσκεῖν ἔδει, κράτιστον ἁπάντων πολιτευμάτων ὑπάρχον, ὡς ἐμὴ δόξα φέρει, ὃ καὶ τῆς βεβαίου Ῥωμαίοις ἐλευθερίας ἦρχε καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἀγόντων οὐκ ἐλαχίστην μοῖραν παρέσχε, τὸ μήτε κατασφάττειν ἡβηδὸν τὰς ἁλούσας πολέμῳ πόλεις μήτε ἀνδραποδίζεσθαι μηδὲ γῆν αὐτῶν ἀνιέναι μηλόβοτον, ἀλλὰ κληρούχους εἰς αὐτὰς ἀποστέλλειν ἐπὶ μέρει τινὶ τῆς χώρας καὶ ποιεῖν ἀποικίας τῆς Ῥώμης τὰς κρατηθείσας, ἐνίαις δὲ καὶ πολιτείας μεταδιδόναι.

  [16.1] There was yet a third policy of Romulus, which the Greeks ought to have practised above all others, it being, in my opinion, the best of all political measures, as it laid the most solid foundation for the liberty of the Romans and was no slight factor in raising them to their position of supremacy. It was this: not to slay all the men of military age or to enslave the rest of the population of the cities captured in war or to allow their land to go back to pasturage for sheep, but rather to send settlers thither to possess some part of the country by lot and to make the conquered cities Roman colonies, and even to grant citizenship to some of them.

  [2] ταῦτά τε δὴ καὶ τἆλλα τούτοις ὅμοια καταστησάμενος πολιτεύματα μεγάλην ἐκ μικρᾶς ἐποίησε τὴν ἀποικίαν, ὡς αὐτὰ τὰ ἔργα ἐδήλωσεν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ συνοικίσαντες μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν Ῥώμην οὐ πλείους ἦσαν ἀνδρῶν τρισχιλίων πεζοὶ καὶ τριακοσίων ἐλάττους ἱππεῖς: οἱ δὲ καταλειφθέντες ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνου, ὅτ᾽ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἠφανίσθη, πεζοὶ μὲν ἑξακισχίλιοι πρὸς τέτταρσι μυριάσιν, ἱππεῖς δ᾽ οὐ πολὺ ἀπέχοντες χιλίων.

  [2] By these and other like measures he made the colony great from a small beginning, as the actual results showed; for the number of those who joined with him in founding Rome did not amount to more than three thousand foot nor quite to three hundred horse, whereas he left behind him when he disappeared from among men forty-six thousand foot and about a thousand horse.

  [3] ἐκείνου δὲ ἄρξαντος τῶν πολιτευμάτων τούτων οἵ τε βασιλεῖς οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν ἡγησάμενοι τῆς πόλεως τὴν αὐτὴν ἐφυλάξαντο προαίρεσιν καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ ἐκείνους τὰς ἐνιαυσίους λαμβάνοντες ἀρχὰς ἔστιν ἃ καὶ προστιθέντες, οὕτως ὥστε μηδενὸς ἔθνους τοῦ δοκοῦντος εἶναι πολυανθρωποτάτου τὸν Ῥωμαίων γενέσθαι δῆμον ἐλάττονα. [p. 177]

  [3] Romulus having instituted these measures, not alone the kings who ruled the city after him but also the annual magistrates after them pursued the same policy, with occasional additions, so successfully that the Roman people became inferior in numbers to none of the nations that were accounted the most populous.

  [1] τὰ δὲ Ἑλλήνων ἔθη παρὰ ταῦτα ἐξετάζων οὐκ ἔχω πῶς ἐπαινέσω τά τε Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ τὰ τῶν Θηβαίων καὶ τῶν μέγιστον ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ φρονούντων Ἀθηναίων, οἳ φυλάττοντες τὸ εὐγενὲς καὶ μηδενὶ μεταδιδόντες εἰ μὴ σπανίοις τῆς παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῖς πολιτείας ῾ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν ὅτι καὶ ξενηλατοῦντες ἔνιοἰ πρὸς τῷ μηδὲν ἀπολαῦσαι ταύτης τῆς μεγαληγορίας ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὰ μέγιστα δι᾽ αὐτὴν ἐβλάβησαν.

  [17.1] When I compare the customs of the Greeks with these, I can find no reason to extol either those of the Lacedaemonians or of the Thebans or of the Athenians, who pride themselves most on their wisdom; all of whom, jealous of their noble birth and granting citizenship to none or to very few (I say nothing of the fact that some even expelled foreigners), not only received no advantage from this haughty attitude, but actually suffered the greatest harm because of it.

  [2] Σπαρτιᾶται μέν γε πταίσαντες μάχῃ τῇ περὶ Λεῦκτρα, ἐν ᾗ χιλίους καὶ ἑπτακοσίους ἄνδρας ἀπέβαλον, οὐκέτι τὴν πόλιν ἠδυνήθησαν ἐκ τῆς συμφορᾶς ταύτης ἀναλαβεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπέστησαν τῆς ἡγεμονίας σὺν αἰσχύνῃ. Θηβαῖοι δὲ καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐξ ἑνὸς τοῦ περὶ Χαιρώνειαν ἀτυχήματος ἅμα τήν τε προστασίαν τῆς Ἑλλάδος καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τὴν πάτριον ὑπὸ Μακεδόνων ἀφῃρέθησαν.

  [2] Thus, the Spartans after their defeat at Leuctra, where they lost seventeen hundred men, were no longer able to restore their city to its former position after that
calamity, but shamefully abandoned their supremacy. And the Thebans and Athenians through the single disaster at Chaeronea were deprived by the Macedonians not only of the leadership of Greece but at the same time of the liberty they had inherited from their ancestors.

  [3] ἡ δὲ Ῥωμαίων πόλις ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ τε καὶ Ἰταλίᾳ πολέμους ἔχουσα μεγάλους Σικελίαν τε ἀφεστῶσαν ἀνακτωμένη καὶ Σαρδόνα καὶ τῶν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα πραγμάτων ἐκπεπολεμωμένων πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ Καρχηδόνος ἐπὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν πάλιν ἀνισταμένης καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας οὐ μόνον ἀφεστώσης ὀλίγου δεῖν πάσης, ἀλλὰ καὶ συνεπαγούσης τὸν Ἀννιβιακὸν κληθέντα πόλεμον, τοσούτοις περιπετὴς γενομένη κινδύνοις κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον οὐχ ὅπως ἐκακώθη διὰ τὰς τότε τύχας, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσέλαβεν ἰσχὺν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἔτι μείζονα τῆς προτέρας τῷ πλήθει τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ [p. 178] πρὸς ἅπαντα διαρκὴς γενομένη τὰ δεινά, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὥσπερ ὑπολαμβάνουσί τινες εὐνοίᾳ τύχης χρησαμένη:

  [3] But Rome, while engaged in great wars both in Spain and Italy and employed in recovering Sicily and Sardinia, which had revolted, at a time when the situation in Macedonia and Greece had become hostile to her and Carthage was again contending for the supremacy, and when all but a small portion of Italy was not only in open rebellion but was also drawing upon her the Hannibalic war, as it was called, — though surrounded, I say, by so many dangers at one and the same time, Rome was so far from being overcome by these misfortunes that she derived from them a strength even greater than she had had before, being enabled to meet every danger, thanks to the number of her soldiers, and not, as some imagine, to the favour of Fortune;

  [4] ἐπεὶ ταύτης γε χάριν ᾤχετ᾽ ἂν ὑποβρύχιος ἐξ ἑνὸς τοῦ περὶ Κάννας πτώματος, ὅτε αὐτῇ ἀπὸ μὲν ἑξακισχιλίων ἱππέων ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ τριακόσιοι περιελείφθησαν, ἀπὸ δὲ μυριάδων ὀκτὼ τῶν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν στράτευμα καταγραφεισῶν ὀλίγῳ πλείους τρισχιλίων ἐσώθησαν.

  [4] since for all of Fortune’s assistance the city might have been utterly submerged by the single disaster at Cannae, where of six thousand horse only three hundred and seventy survived, and of eighty thousand foot enrolled in the army of the commonwealth little more than three thousand escaped.

  [1] ταῦτά τε δὴ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἄγαμαι καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ἅ μέλλω λέγειν, ὅτι τοῦ καλῶς οἰκεῖσθαι τὰς πόλεις αἰτίας ὑπολαβών, ἃς θρυλοῦσι μὲν ἅπαντες οἱ πολιτικοί, κατασκευάζουσι δ᾽ ὀλίγοι, πρῶτον μὲν τὴν παρὰ τῶν θεῶν εὔνοιαν, ἧς παρούσης ἅπαντα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττω συμφέρεται, ἔπειτα σωφροσύνην τε καὶ δικαιοσύνην, δι᾽ ἃς ἧττον ἀλλήλους βλάπτοντες μᾶλλον ὁμονοοῦσι καὶ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν οὐ ταῖς αἰσχίσταις μετροῦσιν ἡδοναῖς ἀλλὰ τῷ καλῷ, τελευταίαν δὲ τὴν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις γενναιότητα τὴν παρασκευάζουσαν εἶναι καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρετὰς τοῖς ἔχουσιν ὠφελίμους, οὐκ ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου παραγίνεσθαι τούτων ἕκαστον τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐνόμισεν,

  [18.1] It is not only these institutions of Romulus that I admire, but also those which I am going to relate. He understood that the good government of cities was due to certain causes which all statesmen prate of but few succeed in making effective: first, the favour of the gods, the enjoyment of which gives success to men’s every enterprise; next, moderation and justice, as a result of which the citizens, being less disposed to injure one another, are more harmonious, and make honour, rather than the most shameful pleasures, the measure of their happiness; and, lastly, bravery in war, which renders the other virtues also useful to their possessors.

  [2] ἀλλ᾽ ἔγνω διότι νόμοι σπουδαῖοι καὶ καλῶν ζῆλος ἐπιτηδευμάτων εὐσεβῆ καὶ σώφρονα καὶ τὰ δίκαια ἀσκοῦσαν καὶ τὰ πολέμια ἀγαθὴν ἐξεργάζονται πόλιν: ὧν πολλὴν ἔσχε πρόνοιαν τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιησάμενος ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ τὰ θεῖα καὶ δαιμόνια σεβασμῶν. ἱερὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ τεμένη καὶ βωμοὺς καὶ ξοάνων [p. 179] ἱδρύσεις μορφάς τε αὐτῶν καὶ σύμβολα καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ δωρεάς, αἷς τὸ γένος ἡμῶν εὐηργέτησαν, ἑορτάς τε ὁποίας τινὰς ἑκάστῳ θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων ἄγεσθαι προς2ήκει καὶ θυσίας, αἷς χαίρουσι γεραιρόμενοι πρὸς ἀνθρώπων, ἐκεχειρίας τε αὖ καὶ πανηγύρεις καὶ πόνων ἀναπαύλας καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ὁμοίως κατεστήσατο τοῖς κρατίστοις τῶν παρ᾽ Ἕλλησι νομίμων:

  [2] And he thought that none of these advantages is the effect of chance, but recognized that good laws and the emulation of worthy pursuits render a State pious, temperate, devoted to justice, and brave in war. He took great care, therefore, to encourage these, beginning with the worship of the gods and genii. He established temples, sacred precincts and altars, arranged for the setting up of statues, determined the representations and symbols of the gods, and declared their powers, the beneficent gifts which they have made to mankind, the particular festivals that should be celebrated in honour of each god or genius, the sacrifices with which they delight to be honoured by men, as well as the holidays, festal assemblies, days of rest, and everything alike of that nature, in all of which he followed the best customs in use among the Greeks.

  [3] τοὺς δὲ παραδεδομένους περὶ αὐτῶν μύθους, ἐν οἷς βλασφημίαι τινὲς ἔνεισι κατ᾽ αὐτῶν ἢ κακηγορίαι, πονηροὺς καὶ ἀνωφελεῖς καὶ ἀσχήμονας ὑπολαβὼν εἶναι καὶ οὐχ ὅτι θεῶν ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἀγαθῶν ἀξίους, ἅπαντας ἐξέβαλε καὶ παρεσκεύασε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ κράτιστα περὶ θεῶν λέγειν τε καὶ φρονεῖν μηδὲν αὐτοῖς προσάπτοντας ἀνάξιον ἐπιτήδευμα τῆς μακαρίας φύσεως.

  [3] But he rejected all the traditional myths concerning the gods that contain blasphemies or calumnies against them, looking upon these as wicked, useless and indecent, and unworthy, not only of the gods, but even of good men; and he accustomed people both to think and to speak the best of the gods and to attribute to them no conduct unworthy of their blessed nature.

  [1] οὔτε γὰρ Οὐρανὸς ἐκτεμνόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ παίδων παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις λέγεται οὔτε Κρόνος ἀφανίζων τὰς ἑαυτοῦ γονὰς φόβῳ τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπιθέσεως οὔτε Ζεὺς καταλύων τὴν Κρόνου δυναστείαν καὶ κατακλείων ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τοῦ Ταρτάρου τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα οὐδέ γε πόλεμοι καὶ τραύματα καὶ

  [19.1] Indeed, there is no tradition among the Romans either of Caelus bein
g castrated by his own sons or of Saturn destroying his own offspring to secure himself from their attempts or of Jupiter dethroning Saturn and confining his own father in the dungeon of Tartarus, or, indeed, of wars, wounds, or bonds of the gods, or of their servitude among men.

  [2] δεσμοὶ καὶ θητεῖαι θεῶν παρ᾽ ἀνθρώποις: ἑορτή τε οὐδεμία παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς μελανείμων ἢ πένθιμος ἄγεται τυπετοὺς ἔχουσα καὶ θρήνους γυναικῶν ἐπὶ θεοῖς ἀφανιζομένοις, ὡς παρ᾽ Ἕλλησιν ἐπιτελεῖται περί τε Φερσεφόνης ἁρπαγὴν καὶ τὰ Διονύσου πάθη καὶ ὅσα [p. 180] ἄλλα τοιαῦτα: οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἴδοι τις παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, καίτοι διεφθαρμένων ἤδη τῶν ἐθῶν, οὐ θεοφορήσεις, οὐ κορυβαντιασμούς, οὐκ ἀγυρμούς, οὐ βακχείας καὶ τελετὰς ἀπορρήτους, οὐ διαπαννυχισμοὺς ἐν ἱεροῖς ἀνδρῶν σὺν γυναιξίν, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν παραπλησίων τούτοις τερατευμάτων οὐδέν, ἀλλ᾽ εὐλαβῶς ἅπαντα πραττόμενά τε καὶ λεγόμενα τὰ περὶ τοὺς θεούς, ὡς οὔτε παρ᾽ Ἕλλησιν οὔτε παρὰ βαρβάροις:

  [2] And no festival is observed among them as a day of mourning or by the wearing of black garments and the beating of breasts and the lamentations of women because of the disappearance of deities, such as the Greeks perform in commemorating the rape of Persephonê and the adventures of Dionysus and all the other things of like nature. And one will see among them, even though their manners are now corrupted, no ecstatic transports, no Corybantic frenzies, no begging under the colour of religion, no bacchanals or secret mysteries, no all-night vigils of men and women together in the temples, nor any other mummery of this kind; but alike in all their words and actions with respect to the gods a reverence is shown such as is seen among neither Greeks nor barbarians.