[5] For they fabulously affirm that a certain nymph, Egeria, used to visit him and instruct him on each occasion in the art of reigning, though others say that it was not a nymph, but one of the Muses. And this, they claim, became clear to every one; for, when people were incredulous at first, as may well be supposed, and regarded the story concerning the goddess as an invention, he, in order to give the unbelievers a manifest proof of his converse with this divinity, did as follows, pursuant to her instructions.
[6] καλέσαντα Ῥωμαίων πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, ἐν ᾗ διαιτώμενος ἐτύγχανεν, ἔπειτα δείξαντα τοῖς ἐλθοῦσι τὰ ἔνδον τῇ τε ἄλλῃ κατασκευῇ φαύλως κεχορηγημένα καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν εἰς ἑστίασιν ὀχλικὴν ἐπιτηδείων ἄπορα, τότε μὲν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι κελεύειν, εἰς ἑσπέραν δὲ
[6] He invited to the house where he lived a great many of the Romans, all men of worth, and having shown them his apartments, very meanly provided with furniture and particularly lacking in everything that was necessary to entertain a numerous company, he ordered them to depart for the time being, but invited them to dinner in the evening.
[7] καλεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον: παραγενομένοις δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀποδειχθεῖσαν ὥραν ἐπιδεῖξαι στρωμνάς τε πολυτελεῖς καὶ τραπέζας ἐκπωμάτων γεμούσας πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἑστίασίν τε αὐτοῖς παραθεῖναι κατακλιθεῖσιν ἁπάσης ἐδωδῆς, ἣν οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐκ πολλοῦ πάνυ χρόνου παρασκευάσασθαί τινι τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων ῥᾴδιον ἦν. τοῖς δὲ Ῥωμαίοις κατάπληξίν τε πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν ὁρωμένων ὑπελθεῖν καὶ δόξαν ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου παραστῆναι βέβαιον, ὅτι θεά τις αὐτῷ συνῆν.
[7] And when they came at the appointed hour, he showed them rich couches and tables laden with a multitude of beautiful cups, and when they were at table, he set before them a banquet consisting of all sorts of viands, such a banquet, indeed, as it would not have been easy for any man in those days to have prepared in a long time. The Romans were astonished at everything they saw, and from that time they entertained a firm belief that some goddess held converse with him.
[1] οἱ δὲ τὰ μυθώδη πάντα περιαιροῦντες ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας πεπλάσθαι φασὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Νόμα τὸν περὶ τῆς Ἠγερίας λόγον, ἵνα ῥᾷον αὐτῷ προσέχωσιν οἱ τὰ θεῖα δεδιότες καὶ προθύμως δέχωνται τοὺς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τιθεμένους νόμους, ὡς παρὰ θεῶν κομιζομένους.
[61.1] But those who banish everything that is fabulous from history say that the report concerning Egeria was invented by Numa, to the end that, when once the people were possessed with a fear of the gods, they might more readily pay regard to him and willingly receive the laws he should enact, as coming from the gods.
[2] λαβεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν τὴν τούτων μίμησιν ἀποφαίνουσιν ἐκ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν παραδειγμάτων ζηλωτὴν γενόμενον τῆς τε Μίνω τοῦ Κρητὸς καὶ τῆς Λυκούργου τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου σοφίας: ὧν ὁ μὲν ὁμιλητὴς [p. 242] ἔφη γενέσθαι τοῦ Διὸς καὶ φοιτῶν εἰς τὸ Δικταῖον ὄρος, ἐν ᾧ τραφῆναι τὸν Δία μυθολογοῦσιν οἱ Κρῆτες ὑπὸ τῶν Κουρήτων νεογνὸν ὄντα, κατέβαινεν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἄντρον καὶ τοὺς νόμους ἐκεῖ συντιθεὶς ἐκόμιζεν, οὓς ἀπέφαινε παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς λαμβάνειν: ὁ δὲ Λυκοῦργος εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀφικνούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ
[2] They say that in this he followed the example of the Greeks, emulating the wisdom both of Minos the Cretan and of Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian. For the former of these claimed to hold converse with Zeus, and going frequently to the Dictaean mountain, in which the Cretan legends say that the new-born Zeus was brought up by the Curetes, he used to descend into the holy cave; and having composed his laws there, he would produce them, affirming that he had received them from Zeus. And Lycurgus, paying visits to Delphi, said he was forming his code of laws under the instruction of Apollo.
[3] Ἀπόλλωνος ἔφη διδάσκεσθαι τὴν νομοθεσίαν. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι περὶ τῶν μυθικῶν ἱστορημάτων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν εἰς θεοὺς ἀναφερομένων μακρῶν λόγων δεόμενον ὁρῶν ἐάσω, ἃ δέ μοι δοκοῦσιν ἀγαθὰ Ῥωμαῖοι λαβεῖν ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνου τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρχῆς, ὡς ἐκ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἔμαθον ἱστοριῶν ἀφηγήσομαι, προειπὼν ἐν οἵαις ἐτύγχανε ταραχαῖς τὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως ὄντα, πρὶν ἐκεῖνον ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν παρελθεῖν.
[3] But, as I am sensible that to give a particular account of the legendary histories, and especially of those relating to gods, would require a long discussion, I shall omit doing so, and shall relate instead the benefits which the Romans seem to me to have received from this man’s rule, according to the information I have derived from their own histories. But first I will show in what confusion the affairs of the State were before he came to the throne.
[1] μετὰ τὴν Ῥωμύλου τελευτὴν ἡ βουλὴ τῶν κοινῶν γενομένη κυρία καὶ χρόνον ἐνιαύσιον, ὥσπερ ἔφην, κατασχοῦσα τὴν δυναστείαν διαφέρεσθαι καὶ στασιάζειν αὐτὴ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν ἤρξατο περὶ τοῦ πλείονός τε καὶ ἴσου. ὅσον μὲν γὰρ αὐτῆς μέρος Ἀλβανῶν ἦν ἀπὸ τῶν ἅμα Ῥωμύλῳ τὴν ἀποικίαν στειλάντων, γνώμης τε ἄρχειν ἠξίου καὶ τιμῶν τὰς μεγίστας λαμβάνειν καὶ θεραπεύεσθαι πρὸς τῶν
[62.1] After the death of Romulus the senate, being now in full control of the government and having held the supreme power for one year, as I have related, began to be at odds with itself and to split into factions over questions of pre-eminence and equality. For the Alban element, who together with Romulus had planted the colony, claimed the right, not only of delivering their opinions first and enjoying the greatest honours, but also of being courted by the newcomers.
[2] ἐπηλύδων: οἱ δ᾽ ὕστερον εἰς τοὺς πατρικίους καταγραφέντες ἐκ τῶν ἐποίκων οὐδεμιᾶς ᾤοντο δεῖν ἀπελαύνεσθαι τιμῆς οὐδὲ μειονεκτεῖν τῶν ἑτέρων, μάλιστα δ᾽ ὅσοι τοῦ Σαβίνων ἐτύγχανον ὄντες γένους καὶ κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας τὰς γενομένας Ῥωμύλῳ πρὸς [p. 243] Τάτιον ἐπὶ τοῖς ἴσοις γενόμενοι μετειληφέναι τῆς πόλεως παρὰ τῶν ἀρχαίων οἰκητόρων καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν χάριν ἐκείνοις αὐτοὶ δεδωκέναι ἐδόκουν.
[2] Those, on the other hand, who had been admitted afterwards into the number of the patricians from among the new settlers thought that they ought not to be excluded from any honours or to stand in an inferior position to the others. This was felt particularly by those who were of the Sabine race and who, in virtue the treaty made by Romulus with Tatius, supposed they had been granted citizenship by the original inhabitants on equal terms, a
nd that they had shown the same favour to the former in their turn.
[3] ἅμα δὲ τῷ τὴν βουλὴν διαστῆναι καὶ τὸ τῶν πελατῶν πλῆθος διχῇ μερισθὲν ἑκατέρᾳ συνέβαινε τῶν στάσεων. ἦν δέ τι τοῦ δημοτικοῦ μέρος οὐκ ὀλίγον ἐκ τῶν νεωστὶ προσεληλυθότων τῇ πολιτείᾳ, ὃ διὰ τὸ μηδενὸς συνάρασθαι τῷ Ῥωμύλῳ πολέμου παρημελημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος οὔτε γῆς εἰλήφει μοῖραν οὔτε ὠφελείας. τοῦτο ἀνέστιον καὶ πτωχὸν ἀλώμενον ἐχθρὸν ἐκ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου τοῖς κρείττοσιν ἦν καὶ νεωτερίζειν ἑτοιμότατον.
[3] The senate being thus at odds, the clients also were divided into two parties and each joined their respective factions. There were, too, among the plebeians not a few, lately admitted into the number of the citizens, who, having never assisted Romulus in any of his wars, had been neglected by him and had received neither a share of land nor any booty. These, having no home, but being poor and vagabonds, were by necessity enemies to their superiors and quite ripe for revolution.
[4] ἐν τοιούτῳ δὴ κλύδωνι τὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως σαλεύοντα ὁ Νόμας καταλαβών, πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς ἀπόρους τῶν δημοτῶν ἀνέλαβε διανείμας αὐτοῖς ἀφ᾽ ἧς Ῥωμύλος ἐκέκτητο χώρας καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς δημοσίας μοῖράν τινα ὀλίγην: ἔπειτα τοὺς πατρικίους οὐδὲν μὲν ἀφελόμενος ὧν οἱ κτίσαντες τὴν πόλιν εὕροντο, τοῖς δ᾽ ἐποίκοις ἑτέρας τινὰς ἀποδοὺς τιμάς, ἔπαυσε διαφερομένους.
[4] So Numa, having found the affairs of the State in such a raging sea of confusion, first relieved the poor among the plebeians by distributing to them some small part of the land which Romulus had possessed and of the public land; and afterwards he allayed the strife of the patricians, not by depriving them of anything the founders of the city had gained, but by bestowing some other honours on the new settlers.
[5] ἁρμοσάμενος δὲ τὸ πλῆθος ἅπαν ὥσπερ ὄργανον πρὸς ἕνα τὸν τοῦ κοινῇ συμφέροντος λογισμὸν καὶ τῆς πόλεως τὸν περίβολον αὐξήσας τῷ Κυρινείῳ λόφῳ ῾τέως γὰρ ἔτι ἀτείχιστος ἦν᾽ τότε τῶν ἄλλων πολιτευμάτων ἥπτετο [p. 244] δύο ταῦτα πραγματευόμενος, οἷς κοσμηθεῖσαν ὑπελάμβανεν ἂν τὴν πόλιν εὐδαίμονα γενησεσθαι καὶ μεγάλην: εὐσέβειαν μὲν πρῶτον, διδάσκων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὅτι παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ θεοὶ δοτῆρές εἰσι τῇ θνητῇ φύσει καὶ φύλακες, ἔπειτα δικαιοσύνην, δι᾽ ἣν καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀπέφαινεν ἀγαθὰ καλὰς τὰς ἀπολαύσεις φέροντα τοῖς κτησαμένοις.
[5] And having attuned the whole body of the people, like a musical instrument, to the sole consideration of the public good and enlarged the circuit of the city by the addition of the Quirinal hill (for till that time it was still without a wall), he then addressed himself to the other measures of government, labouring to inculcate these two things by the possession of which he conceived the State would become prosperous and great: first, piety, by informing his subjects that the gods are the givers and guardians of every blessing to mortal men, and, second, justice, through which, he showed them, the blessings also which the gods bestow bring honest enjoyment to their possessors.
[1] ἐξ ὧν δὲ διεπράξατο νόμων τε καὶ πολιτευμάτων ἑκάτερον τούτων εἰς μεγάλην ἐπίδοσιν προελθεῖν ἅπαντα μὲν οὐκ ἀξιῶ γράφειν, τὸ μῆκος ὑφορώμενος τοῦ λόγου καὶ ἅμα οὐδ᾽ ἀναγκαίαν ὁρῶν τὴν ἀναγραφὴν αὐτῶν Ἑλληνικαῖς ἱστορίαις, αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ κυριώτατα καὶ φανερὰν δυνάμενα ποιῆσαι πᾶσαν τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐπὶ κεφαλαίων ἐρῶ, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὰ θεῖα διακοσμήσεως ποιησάμενος.
[63.1] As regards the laws and institutions by which he made great progress in both these directions, I do not think it fitting that I should enter into all the details, not only because I fear the length of such a discussion but also because I do not regard the recording of them as necessary to a history intended for Greeks; but I shall give a summary account of the principal measures, which are sufficient to reveal the man’s whole purpose, beginning with his regulations concerning the worship of the gods.
[2] ὅσα μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου ταχθέντα ἐν ἐθισμοῖς τε καὶ νόμοις παρέλαβεν, ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατίστου τετάχθαι πάντα ἡγησάμενος εἴα κατὰ χώραν μένειν, ὅσα δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνου παραλελεῖφθαι ἐδόκει, ταῦτα προσετίθει πολλὰ μὲν ἀποδεικνὺς τεμένη τοῖς μήπω τιμῶν τυγχάνουσι θεοῖς, πολλοὺς δὲ βωμοὺς καὶ ναοὺς ἱδρυόμενος ἑορτάς τε ἑκάστῳ αὐτῶν ἀπονέμων καὶ τοὺς ἐπιμελησομένους αὐτῶν ἱερεῖς καθιστὰς ἁγνείας τε καὶ θρησκείας καὶ καθαρμοὺς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας θεραπείας καὶ τιμὰς πάνυ πολλὰς νομοθετῶν, ὅσας οὔθ᾽ Ἑλληνὶς οὔτε βάρβαρος ἔχει πόλις οὐδ᾽ αἱ
[2] I should state, however, that all those rites which he found established by Romulus, either in custom or in law, he left untouched, looking upon them all as established in the best possible manner. But whatever he thought had been overlooked by his predecessor, he added, consecrating many precincts to those gods who had hitherto received no honours, erecting many altars and temples, instituting festivals in honour of each, and appointing priests to have charge of their sanctuaries and rites, and enacting laws concerning purifications, ceremonies, expiations and many other observances and honours in greater number than are to be found in any other city, either Greek or barbarian, even in those that have prided themselves the most at one time or another upon their piety.
[3] μέγιστον ἐπ᾽ εὐσεβείᾳ φρονοῦσαί ποτε: αὐτόν τε τὸν Ῥωμύλον ὡς κρείττονα γενόμενον ἢ κατὰ τὴν θνητὴν [p. 245] φύσιν ἱεροῦ κατασκευῇ καὶ θυσίαις διετησίοις ἔταξε Κυρῖνον ἐπονομαζόμενον γεραίρεσθαι. ἔτι γὰρ ἀγνοούντων τὸν ἀφανισμὸν αὐτοῦ Ῥωμαίων εἴτε κατὰ δαίμονος πρόνοιαν εἴτ᾽ ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἐγένετο, παρελθών τις εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν Ἰούλιος ὄνομα τῶν ἀπ᾽ Ἀσκανίου γεωργικὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ τὸν βίον ἀνεπίληπτος, οἷος μηδὲν ἂν ψεύσασθαι κέρδους ἕνεκα οἰκείου, ἔφη παραγιγνόμενος ἐξ ἀγροῦ Ῥωμύλον ἰδεῖν ἀπιόντα ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἔχοντα τὰ ὅπλα, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐγγὺς ἐγένετο ἀκοῦσαι ταῦτα αὐτοῦ λέγοντος:
[3] He also ordered that Romulus himself, as one who had shown a greatness beyond mortal nature, should be honoured, under the name of Quirinus, by the erection of a temple and by sacrifices throughout the year. For while the Romans were yet in doubt whether divine providence or human treachery
had been the cause of his disappearance, a certain man, named Julius, descended from Ascanius, who was a husbandman and of such a blameless life that he would never have told an untruth for his private advantage, arrived in the Forum and said that, as he was coming in from the country, he saw Romulus departing from the city fully armed and that, as he drew near to him, he heard him say these words:
[4] Ἀγγέλλε Ῥωμαίοις Ἰούλιε τὰ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι με ὁ λαχὼν ὅτ᾽ ἐγενόμην δαίμων εἰς θεοὺς ἄγεται τὸν θνητὸν ἐκπληρώσαντα αἰῶνα: εἰμὶ δὲ Κυρῖνος. περιλαβὼν δὲ ἅπασαν τὴν περὶ τὰ θεῖα νομοθεσίαν γραφαῖς διεῖλεν εἰς ὀκτὼ μοίρας, ὅσαι τῶν ἱερῶν ἦσαν αἱ συμμορίαι.
[4] “Julius, announce to the Romans from me, that the genius to whom I was allotted at my birth is conducting me to the gods, now that I have finished my mortal life, and that I am Quirinus.” Numa, having reduced his whole system of religious laws to writing, divided them into eight parts, that being the number of the different classes of religious ceremonies.
[1] ἀπέδωκε δὲ μίαν μὲν ἱερουργιῶν διάταξιν τοῖς τριάκοντα κουρίωσιν, οὓς ἔφην τὰ κοινὰ
[64.1] The first division of religious rites he assigned to the thirty curiones, who, as I have stated, perform the public sacrifices for the curiae.
[2] θύειν ὑπὲρ τῶν φρατριῶν ἱερά. τὴν δὲ δευτέραν τοῖς καλουμένοις ὑπὸ μὲν Ἑλλήνων στεφανηφόροις, ὑπὸ δὲ Ῥωμαίων φλάμοσιν, οὓς ἐπὶ τῆς φορήσεως τῶν πίλων τε καὶ στεμμάτων, ἃ καὶ νῦν ἔτι φοροῦσι φλάμα καλοῦντες, οὕτω προσαγορεύουσι.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 465