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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [9] καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀπέφαινεν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν ἅμα τοῖς ἄλλοις εἰρηνοδίκαις παραγενόμενος ὅτι πέπρακται πᾶν αὐτοῖς ὅσον ἦν ὅσιον ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν νόμων καὶ εἰ βούλοιντο ψηφίζεσθαι πόλεμον οὐδὲν ἔσται τὸ κωλῦσον ἀπὸ θεῶν. εἰ δέ τι μὴ γένοιτο τούτων οὔτε ἡ βουλὴ κυρία ἦν ἐπιψηφίσασθαι πόλεμον οὔτε ὁ δῆμος. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν εἰρηνοδικῶν τοσαῦτα παρελάβομεν.

  [9] Afterwards he, together with the other fetiales, appeared before the senate and declared that they had done everything that was ordained by the holy laws, and that, if the senators wished to vote for war, there would be no obstacle on the part of the gods. But if any of these things was omitted, neither the senate nor the people had the power to vote for war. Such, then, is the account we have received concerning the fetiales.

  [1] τελευταῖος δ᾽ ἦν τῆς Νόμα διατάξεως μερισμὸς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἱερῶν, ὧν ἔλαχον οἱ τὴν μεγίστην παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις ἱερατείαν καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντες. οὗτοι κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἑαυτῶν διάλεκτον ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς τῶν ἔργων ὃ πράττουσιν ἐπισκευάζοντες τὴν ξυλίνην γέφυραν ποντίφικες προσαγορεύονται, εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν μεγίστων

  [73.1] The last branch of the ordinances of Numa related to the sacred offices allotted to those who held the higher priesthoods and the greatest power among the Romans. These, from one of the duties they perform, namely, the repairing of the wooden bridge, are in their own language called pontifices; but they have jurisdiction over the most weighty matters.

  [2] πραγμάτων κύριοι. καὶ γὰρ δικάζουσιν οὗτοι τὰς ἱερὰς δίκας ἁπάσας ἰδιώταις τε καὶ ἄρχουσι καὶ λειτουργοῖς θεῶν καὶ νομοθετοῦσιν ὅσα τῶν ἱερῶν ἄγραφα ὄντα καὶ ἀνέθιστα κρίνοντες ἃ ἂν ἐπιτήδεια [p. 261] τυγχάνειν αὐτοῖς φανείη νόμων τε καὶ ἐθισμῶν: τάς τε ἀρχὰς ἁπάσας, ὅσαις θυσία τις ἢ θεραπεία θεῶν ἀνάκειται, καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἅπαντας ἐξετάζουσιν, ὑπηρέτας τε αὐτῶν καὶ λειτουργούς, οἷς χρῶνται πρὸς τὰ ἱερά, οὗτοι φυλάττουσι μηδὲν ἐξαμαρτάνειν περὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς νόμους: τοῖς τε ἰδιώταις ὁπόσοι μὴ ἴσασι τοὺς περὶ τὰ θεῖα ἢ δαιμόνια σεβασμούς, ἐξηγηταὶ γίνονται καὶ προφῆται: καὶ εἴ τινας αἴσθοιντο μὴ πειθομένους ταῖς ἐπιταγαῖς αὐτῶν, ζημιοῦσι πρὸς ἕκαστον χρῆμα ὁρῶντες, εἰσί τε ἀνυπεύθυνοι πάσης δίκης τε καὶ ζημίας οὔτε βουλῇ λόγον ἀποδιδόντες οὔτε δήμῳ, περὶ γοῦν τῶν ἱερῶν:

  [2] For they the judges in all religious causes wherein private citizens, magistrates or the ministers of the gods are concerned; they make laws for the observance of any religious rites, not established by written law or custom, which may seem to them worthy of receiving the sanction of law and custom; they inquire into the conduct of all magistrates to whom the performance of any sacrifice or other religious duty is committed, and also into that of all the priests; they take care that their servants and ministers whom they employ in religious rites commit no error in the matter of the sacred laws; to the laymen who are unacquainted with such matters they are the expounders and interpreters of everything relating to the worship of the gods and genii; and if they find that any disobey their orders, they inflict punishment upon them with due regard to every offence; moreover, they are not liable to any prosecution or punishment, nor are they accountable to the senate or to the people, at least concerning religious matters.

  [3] ὥστε εἰ βούλεταί τις αὐτοὺς ἱεροδιδασκάλους καλεῖν εἴτε ἱερονόμους εἴτε ἱεροφύλακας εἴτε, ὡς ἡμεῖς ἀξιοῦμεν, ἱεροφάντας, οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται τοῦ ἀληθοῦς. ἐκλιπόντος δέ τινος αὐτῶν τὸν βίον ἕτερος εἰς τὸν ἐκείνου καθίσταται τόπον οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου αἱρεθείς, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων, ὃς ἂν ἐπιτηδειότατος εἶναι δοκῇ τῶν πολιτῶν: παραλαμβάνει δὲ τὴν ἱερατείαν ὁ δοκιμασθείς, ἐὰν εὐόρνιθες αὐτῷ τύχωσιν οἰωνοὶ

  [3] Hence, if anyone wishes to call them hierodidaskaloi, hieronomoi, hierophylakes, or, as I think proper, hierophantai, he will not be in error. When one of them dies, another is appointed in his place, being chosen, not by the people, but by the pontifices themselves, who select the person they think best qualified among their fellow citizens; and the one thus approved of receives the priesthood, provided the omens are favourable to them.

  [4] γενόμενοι. τὰ μὲν δὴ περὶ τὸ θεῖον νομοθετηθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ Νόμα καὶ διαιρεθέντα κατὰ τὰς συμμορίας τῶν ἱερῶν, ἐξ ὧν εὐσεβεστέραν συνέβη γενέσθαι τὴν [p. 262] πόλιν, πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐλάττοσι τὰ μέγιστα καὶ φανερώτατα ταῦτ᾽ ἦν.

  [4] These — not to speak of others less important — are the greatest and the most notable regulations made by Numa concerning religious worship and divided by him according to the different classes of sacred rites; and through these it came about that the city increased in piety.

  [1] τὰ δ᾽ εἰς εὐτέλειάν τε καὶ σωφροσύνην ἄγοντα τὸν ἑκάστου βίον καὶ εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν καταστήσαντα τῆς φυλαττούσης ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ τὴν πόλιν δικαιοσύνης πλεῖστα ὅσα, τὰ μὲν ἐγγράφοις περιληφθέντα νόμοις, τὰ δ᾽ ἐξω γραφῆς εἰς ἐπιτηδεύσεις ἀχθέντα καὶ συνασκήσεις χρονίους: ὑπὲρ ὧν ἁπάντων μὲν πολὺ ἂν ἔργον εἴη λέγειν, ἀρκέσει δὲ δύο τὰ μεγίστης μνήμης τυχόντα τεκμήρια καὶ τῶν ἄλλων

  [74.1] His regulations, moreover, that tended to inspire frugality and moderation in the life of the individual citizen and to create a passion for justice, which preserves the harmony of the State, were exceedingly numerous, some of them being comprehended in written laws, and others not written down but embodied in custom and long usage. To treat of all these would be a difficult task; but mention of the two of them which have been most frequently cited will suffice to give evidence of the rest.

  [2] γενέσθαι: τῆς μὲν αὐταρκείας καὶ τοῦ μηδένα τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐπιθυμεῖν ἡ περὶ τοὺς ὁρισμοὺς τῶν κτήσεων νομοθεσία. κελεύσας γὰρ ἑκάστῳ περιγράψαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κτῆσιν καὶ στῆσαι λίθους ἐπὶ τοῖς ὅροις ἱεροὺς ἀπέδειξεν ὁρίου Διὸς τοὺς λίθους, καὶ θυσίας ἔταξεν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτελεῖν ἅπαντας ἡμέρᾳ τακτῇ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον συνερχομένους, ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πάνυ τιμίαν καὶ τὴν τῶν ὁρίων θεῶν καταστησάμενος.

  [2] First, to the end that people should be content with what they had and should not covet what belonged to others, ther
e was the law that appointed boundaries to every man’s possessions. For, having ordered every one to draw a line around his own land and to place stones on the bounds, he consecrated these stones to Jupiter Terminalis and ordained that all should assemble at the place every year on a fixed day and offer sacrifices to them; and he made the festival in honour of these gods of boundaries among the most dignified of all.

  [3] ταύτην Ῥωμαῖοι Τερμινάλια καλοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν τερμόνων καὶ τοὺς ὅρους αὐτοὺς ἑνὸς ἀλλαγῇ γράμματος παρὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν διάλεκτον ἐκφέροντες τέρμινας προσαγορεύουσιν. εἰ δέ τις ἀφανίσειεν ἢ μεταθείη τοὺς ὅρους, ἱερὸν ἐνομοθέτησεν εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν τούτων τι διαπραξάμενον, ἵνα τῷ βουλομένῳ κτείνειν αὐτὸν ὡς ἱερόσυλον ἥ τε ἀσφάλεια καὶ τὸ καθαρῷ μιάσματος εἶναι προσῇ.

  [3] This festival the Romans call Terminalia, from the boundaries, and the boundaries themselves, by the change of one letter as compared with our language, they call termines. He also enacted that, if any person demolished or displaced these boundary stones he should be looked upon as devoted to the god, to the end that anyone who wished might kill him a sacrilegious person with impunity and without incurring any stain of guilt.

  [4] τοῦτο [p. 263] δ οὐκ ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδιωτικῶν κατεστήσατο μόνον κτήσεων τὸ δίκαιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν δημοσίων, ὅροις κἀκείνας περιλαβών, ἵνα καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων γῆν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀστυγείτονος ὅριοι διαιρῶσι θεοὶ καὶ τὴν κοινὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας. τοῦτο μέχρι τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς χρόνων φυλάττουσι Ῥωμαῖοι τοῦ χρόνου μνημεῖα τῆς ὁσίας αὐτῆς ἕνεκα. θεούς τε γὰρ ἡγοῦνται τοὺς τέρμονας καὶ θύουσιν αὐτοῖς ὁσέτη τῶν μὲν ἐμψύχων οὐδὲν ῾οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον αἱμάττειν τοὺς λίθουσ᾽ πελάνους δὲ

  [4] He established this law with reference not only to private possessions but also to those belonging to the public; for he marked these also with boundary stones, to the end that the gods of boundaries might distinguish the lands of the Romans from those of their neighbours, and the public lands from such as belonged to private persons. Memorials of this custom are observed by the Romans down to our times, purely as a religious form. For they look upon these boundary stones as gods and sacrifice to them yearly, offering up no kind of animal (for it is not lawful to stain these stones with blood), but cakes made of cereals and other first-fruits of the earth.

  [5] δημητρίους καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς καρπῶν ἀπαρχάς. ἐχρῆν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἔτι φυλάττειν πιστὸν αὐτούς, οὗ χάριν θεοὺς ἐνόμισε τοὺς τέρμονας ὁ Νόμας, ἱκανουμένους τοῖς ἑαυτῶν κτήμασι, τῶν δ᾽ ἀλλοτρίων μήτε βίᾳ σφετεριζομένους μηδὲν μήτε δόλῳ. νῦν δ᾽ οὐχ ὡς ἄμεινον οὐδ᾽ ὡς οἱ πρόγονοι παρέδοσαν ὁρίζουσί τινες ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τὰ οἰκεῖα, ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς ὅρος τῶν κτήσεων οὐχ ὁ νόμος, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ πάντων ἐπιθυμία, πρᾶγμα οὐ καλόν. ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων ἐν ἑτέροις παρίεμεν σκοπεῖν.

  [5] But they ought still to observe the motive, as well, which led Numa to regard these boundary stones as gods and content themselves with their own possessions without appropriating those of others either by violence or by fraud; whereas now there are some who, in disregard of what is best and of the example of their ancestors, instead of distinguishing that which is theirs from that which belongs to others, set as bounds to their possessions, not the law, but their greed to possess everything, — which is disgraceful behaviour. But we leave the considerations of these matters to others.

  [1] ὁ δὲ Νόμας εἰς μὲν εὐτέλειαν καὶ σωφροσύνην διὰ τοιούτων συνέστειλε νόμων τὴν πόλιν, [p. 264] εἰς δὲ τὴν περὶ τὰ συμβόλαια δικαιοσύνην ὑκηγάγετο πρᾶγμα ἐξευρὼν ἠγνοημένον ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν καταστησαμένων τὰς ἐλλογίμους πολιτείας. ὁρῶν γὰρ ὅτι τῶν συμβολαίων τὰ μὲν ἐν φανερῷ καὶ μετὰ μαρτύρων πραττόμενα ἡ τῶν συνόντων αἰδὼς φυλάττει, καὶ σπάνιοί τινές εἰσιν οἱ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀδικοῦντες, τὰ δὲ ἀμάρτυρα πολλῷ πλείω τῶν ἑτέρων ὄντα μίαν ἔχει φυλακὴν τὴν τῶν συμβαλόντων πίστιν, περὶ ταύτην ᾤετο δεῖν σπουδάσαι παντὸς ἄλλου μάλιστα καὶ ποιῆσαι θείων σεβασμῶν ἀξίαν.

  [75.1] By such laws Numa brought the State to frugality and moderation. And in order to encourage the observance of justice in the matter of contracts, he hit upon a device which was unknown to all who have established the most celebrated institutions. For, observing that contracts made in public and before witnesses are, out of respect for the persons present, generally observed and that few are guilty of any violation of them, but that those which are made without witnesses — and these are much more numerous than the others — rest on no other security than the faith of those who make them, he thought it incumbent on him to make this faith the chief object of his care and to render it worthy of divine worship.

  [2] δίκην μὲν γὰρ καὶ Θέμιν καὶ Νέμεσιν καὶ τὰς καλουμένας παρ᾽ Ἕλλησιν Ἐρινύας καὶ ὅσα τούτοις ὅμοια ὑπὸ τῶν πρότερον ἀποχρώντως ἐκτεθειῶσθαί τε καὶ καθωσιῶσθαι ἐνόμισε, Πίστιν δέ, ἧς οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτε ἱερώτερον πάθος ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐδέν, οὔπω σεβασμῶν τυγχάνειν οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς τῶν πόλεων πράγμασιν οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις.

  [2] For he felt that Justice, Themis, Nemesis, and those the Greeks call Erinyes, with other concepts of the kind, had been sufficiently revered and worshipped as gods by the men of former times, but that Faith, than which there is nothing greater nor more sacred among men, was not yet worshipped either by states in their public capacity or by private persons.

  [3] ταῦτα δὴ διανοηθεὶς πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων ἱερὸν ἱδρύσατο Πίστεως δημοσίας καὶ θυσίας αὐτῇ κατεστήσατο, καθάπερ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις θεοῖς, δημοτελεῖς. ἔμελλε δὲ ἄρα σὺν χρόνῳ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς πόλεως ἦθος πιστὸν καὶ βέβαιον πρὸς ἀνθρώπους γενόμενον τοιούτους ἀπεργάσασθαι καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἰδιωτῶν τρόπους. οὕτω γοῦν σεβαστόν τι πρᾶγμα καὶ ἀμίαντον ἐνομίσθη τὸ πιστόν, ὥστε ὅρκον τε μέγιστον γενέσθαι τὴν ἰδίαν ἑκάστῳ πίστιν καὶ μαρτυρίας συμπάσης ἰσχυροτάτην, καὶ ὁπότε ὑπὲρ [p. 265] ἀμαρτύρου συναλλάγματος ἀμφίλογόν τι γένοιτο ἑνὶ πρὸς ἕνα, ἡ διαιροῦσα τὸ νεῖκος καὶ προσωτέρω χωρεῖν οὐκ ἐῶσα τὰς φιλονεικίας ἡ θατέρου τῶν διαδικαζομένων αὐτῶν πίστις ἦν, αἵ τε ἀρχαὶ καὶ τὰ δικαστήρια τὰ πλεῖστ
α τῶν ἀμφισβητημάτων τοῖς ἐκ τῆς πίστεως ὅρκοις διῄτων.

  [3] As the result of these reflexions he, first of all men, erected a temple to the Public Faith and instituted sacrifices in her honour at the public expense in the same manner as to the rest of the gods. And in truth the result was bound to be that this attitude of good faith and constancy on the part of the State toward all men would in the course of time render the behaviour of the individual citizens similar. In any case, so revered and inviolable a thing was good faith in their estimation, that the greatest oath a man could take was by his own faith, and this had greater weight than all the testimony taken together. And if there was any dispute between one man and another concerning a contract entered into without witnesses, the faith of either of the parties was sufficient to decide the controversy and prevent it from going any farther.

  [4] τοιαῦτα μὲν δὴ σωφροσύνης τε παρακλητικὰ καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἀναγκαστήρια ὑπὸ τοῦ Νόμα τότε ἐξευρεθέντα κοσμιωτέραν οἰκίας τῆς κράτιστα οἰκουμένης τὴν Ῥωμαίων πόλιν ἀπειργάσατο.

  [4] And the magistrates and courts of justice based their decisions in most causes on the oaths of the parties attesting by their faith. Such regulations, devised by Numa at that time to encourage moderation and enforce justice, rendered the Roman State more orderly than the best regulated household.

  [1] ἃ δὲ μέλλω νῦν λέγειν ἐπιμελῆ τε αὐτὴν ἀπέδωκε τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐργάτιν. ἐνθυμούμενος γὰρ ὁ ἀνήρ, ὅτι πόλιν τὴν μέλλουσαν ἀγαπήσειν τὰ δίκαια καὶ μενεῖν ἐν τῷ σώφρονι βίῳ τῆς ἀναγκαίου δεῖ χορηγίας εὐπορεῖν, διεῖλε τὴν χώραν ἅπασαν εἰς τοὺς καλουμένους πάγους καὶ κατέστησεν ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν πάγων ἄρχοντα ἐπίσκοπόν τε καὶ περίπολον τῆς ἰδίας μοίρας.