[3] And having found the swine shortly afterwards, he wished to perform his vow to the heroes, but found himself in great perplexity, being unable to discover the largest cluster of grapes. In his anxiety over the matter he prayed to the gods to reveal to him by omens what he sought. Then by a divine inspiration he divided the vineyard into two parts, taking one on his right hand and the other on his left, after which he observed the omens that showed over each; and when there appeared in one of them such birds as he desired, he again divided that into two parts and distinguished in the same manner the birds that came to it. Having continued this method of dividing the places and coming up to the last vine that was pointed out by the birds, he found an incredibly huge cluster. As he was carrying it to the chapel of the heroes he was observed by his father;
[4] θαυμάσαντι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς σταφυλῆς καὶ πόθεν εἰλήφει πυνθανομένῳ διηγεῖται πάντα ἐξ ἀρχῆς. ὁ δ᾽ ὑπολαβών, ὅπερ ἦν, ἐμφύτους εἶναί τινας ἀρχὰς μαντικῆς ἐν τῷ παιδί, κομίσας αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν πόλιν γραμμάτων διδασκάλοις συνίστησιν: ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς κοινῆς παιδείας ἀποχρώντως μετέλαβε, Τυρρηνῶν αὐτὸν παραδίδωσι τῷ λογιωτάτῳ
[4] and when the latter marvelled at the size of the cluster and inquired where he had got it, the boy informed him of the whole matter from the beginning. His father concluded, as was indeed the case, that there were some innate rudiments of the art of divination in the boy, and taking him to the city, he put him in the hands of elementary teachers; then, after he had acquired sufficient general learning, he placed him under the most celebrated master among the Tyrrhenians to learn the augural art.
[5] τὴν οἰωνοσκοπικὴν τέχνην διδαχθησόμενον. ἔχων δὲ τὴν ἔμφυτον ὁ Νέβιος μαντικὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπίκτητον [p. 398] παρὰ Τυρρηνῶν προσλαβὼν μακρῷ δή που τοὺς ἄλλους οἰωνοσκόπους ἅπαντας, ὡς ἔφην, ὑπερεβάλετο, εἰς ἁπάσας τε τὰς δημοσίας ἐπισκέψεις οἱ τῆς πόλεως οἰωνομάντεις οὐκ ὄντα ἐκ τοῦ συστήματος παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν διὰ τὴν ἐπιτυχίαν τῶν μαντευμάτων καὶ οὐθὲν ὅ τι μὴ δόξειεν ἐκείνῳ προὔλεγον.
[5] Thus Nevius, who possessed an innate skill of divination and had now added to it the knowledge acquired from the Tyrrhenians, naturally far surpassed, as I said, all the other augurs. And the augurs in the city, even though he was not of their college, used to invite him to their public consultations because of the success of his predictions, and they foretold nothing without his approval.
[1] οὗτος ὁ Νέβιος βουλομένῳ ποτὲ τῷ Ταρκυνίῳ τρεῖς φυλὰς ἑτέρας ἀποδεῖξαι νέας ἐκ τῶν ὑφ᾽ αὑτοῦ πρότερον κατειλεγμένων ἱππέων καὶ ποιῆσαι τὰς ἐπιθέτους φυλὰς ἑαυτοῦ τε καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἑταίρων ἐπωνύμους μόνος ἀντεῖπε κατὰ τὸ καρτερόν, οὐκ ἐῶν κινεῖν τῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου κατασταθέντων οὐθέν.
[71.1] This Nevius, when Tarquinius once desired to create three new tribes out of the knights he had previously enrolled, and to give his own name and the names of his personal friends to these additional tribes, alone violently opposed it and would not allow any of the institutions of Romulus to be altered.
[2] ἀχθόμενος δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῇ κωλύσει καὶ δι᾽ ὀργῆς ἔχων τὸν Νέβιον ὁ βασιλεὺς καταβαλεῖν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπιστήμην εἰς τὸ μηδὲν ἐπεχείρησεν, ὡς ἀλαζονευομένου καὶ μηθὲν ἀληθὲς λέγοντος. ταῦτα διανοηθεὶς ἐκάλει τὸν Νέβιον ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα πολλοῦ παρόντος ὄχλου κατὰ τὴν ἀγοράν. προδιαλεχθεὶς δὲ τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν δι᾽ οὗ τρόπου ψευδόμαντιν ἀποδείξειν τὸν οἰωνοσκόπον ὑπελάμβανεν, ἐπειδὴ παρεγένετο φιλανθρώποις αὐτὸν ἀσπασμοῖς ἀναλαβών, Νῦν, ἔφη, καιρὸς ἐπιδείξασθαί σε τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῆς μαντικῆς ἐπιστήμης, ὦ Νέβιε. πράξει γὰρ ἐπιχειρεῖν μεγάλῃ διανοούμενος, εἰ τὸ δυνατὸν αὐτῇ πρόσεστι μαθεῖν βούλομαι. ἀλλ᾽ ἄπιθι καὶ διαμαντευσάμενος ἧκε ταχέως, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐνθάδε καθήμενος ἀναμενῶ.
[2] The king, resenting this opposition and being angry with Nevius, endeavoured to bring his science to nought and show him up as a charlatan who did not speak a word of truth. With this purpose in mind he summoned Nevius before the tribunal when a large crowd was present in the Forum; and having first informed those about him in what manner he expected to show the augur to be a false prophet, he received Nevius upon his arrival with friendly greetings and said: “Now is the time, Nevius, for you to display the accuracy of your prophetic science. For I have in mind to undertake a great project, and I wish to know whether it is possible. Go, therefore, take the auspices and return speedily. I will sit here and wait for you.”
[3] ἐποίει τὰ κελευόμενα ὁ μάντις καὶ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ παρῆν αἰσίους [p. 399] εἰληφέναι λέγων οἰωνοὺς καὶ δυνατὴν εἶναι τὴν πρᾶξιν ἀποφαίνων. γελάσας δ᾽ ὁ Ταρκύνιος ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ προενέγκας ἐκ τοῦ κόλπου ξυρὸν καὶ ἀκόνην λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν, ἑάλωκας, ὦ Νέβιε, φενακίζων ἡμᾶς καὶ καταψευδόμενος τοῦ δαιμονίου καταφανῶς, ὁπότε καὶ τὰς ἀδυνάτους πράξεις τετόλμηκας λέγειν δυνατάς. ἔγωγ᾽ οὖν διεμαντευόμην, εἰ τῷ ξυρῷ τῷδε τὴν ἀκόνην πλήξας μέσην δυνήσομαι διελεῖν.
[3] The augur did as he was ordered, and returning soon after, said he had obtained favourable omens and declared the undertaking to be possible. But Tarquinius laughed at his words, and taking out a razor and a whetstone from his bosom, said to him: “Now you are convicted, Nevius, of imposing on us and openly lying about the will of the gods, since you have dared to affirm that even impossible things are possible. I wanted to know from the auspices whether if I strike the whetstone with this razor I shall be able to cut it in halves.”
[4] γέλωτος δ᾽ ἐξ ἁπάντων γενομένου τῶν περὶ τὸ βῆμα οὐθὲν ἐπιταραχθεὶς ὁ Νέβιος ὑπὸ τοῦ τωθασμοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ θορύβου, παῖε θαρρῶν, ἔφη, Ταρκύνιε, τὴν ἀκόνην, ὡς προαιρῇ: διαιρεθήσεται γὰρ ἢ πάσχειν ὁτιοῦν ἕτοιμος ἐγώ. θαυμάσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸ θράσος τοῦ μάντεως φέρει τὸ ξυρὸν κατὰ τῆς ἀκόνης, ἡ δὲ ἀκμὴ τοῦ σιδήρου δι᾽ ὅλου κατελθοῦσα τοῦ λίθου τήν τε ἀκόνην διαιρεῖ καὶ τῆς κατεχούσης αὐτὴν χειρὸς ἐπιτέμνει τι μέρος.
[4] At this, laughter arose from all who stood round the tribunal; but Nevius, nothing daunted by their raillery and clamour, said: “Strike the whetstone confidently, as you propose, Tarquinius. For it will be cut asunder, or I am ready to submit to any punishment.” The king, surprised at the confidence of the augur, struck the razor against the whetstone, and the edge of the steel, making its way quite through the stone, not only cut the whet
stone asunder but also cut off a part of the hand that held it.
[5] οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι πάντες ὡς τὸ θαυμαστὸν τοῦτο καὶ ἄπιστον ἔργον ἐθεάσαντο, καταπλαγέντες ἀνεβόησαν, ὁ δὲ Ταρκύνιος αἰδεσθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ διαπείρᾳ τῆς τέχνης καὶ τὸ ἀπρεπὲς τῶν ὀνειδισμῶν ἐπανορθώσασθαι βουλόμενος πρῶτον μὲν τῶν περὶ τὰς φυλὰς ἐγχειρημάτων ἀπέστη, ἔπειτα δ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸν Νέβιον ἀποθεραπεῦσαι διαγνούς, ὡς ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων θεοφιλέστατον, ἄλλαις τε πολλαῖς φιλανθρωπίαις ὑπηγάγετο καὶ ἵνα μνήμης αἰωνίου τυγχάνῃ παρὰ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων εἰκόνα κατασκευάσας αὐτοῦ χαλκῆν ἀνέστησεν [p. 400] ἐν ἀγορᾷ, ἣ καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ ἦν ἔτι πρὸ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου κειμένη πλησίον τῆς ἱερᾶς συκῆς ἐλάττων ἀνδρὸς μετρίου τὴν περιβολὴν ἔχουσα κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς. ὀλίγον δὲ ἄπωθεν αὐτῆς ἥ τε ἀκόνη κεκρύφθαι λέγεται κατὰ γῆς καὶ τὸ ξυρὸν ὑπὸ βωμῷ τινι: καλεῖται δὲ Φρέαρ ὁ τόπος ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων. καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τοῦ μάντεως τούτου μνημονευόμενα ταῦτά ἐστι.
[5] All the others who beheld this wonderful and incredible feat cried out in their astonishment; and Tarquinius, ashamed of having made this trial of the man’s skill and desiring to atone for his unseemly reproaches, resolved to win back the goodwill of Nevius himself, seeing in him one favoured above all men by the gods. Among many other instances of kindness by which he won him over, he caused a bronze statue of him to be made and set up in the Forum to perpetuate his memory with posterity. This statue still remained down to my time, standing in front of the senate-house near the sacred fig-tree; it was shorter than a man of average stature and the head was covered with the mantle. At a small distance from the statue both the whetstone and the razor are said to be buried in the earth under a certain altar. The place is called a well by the Romans. Such then, is the account given of this augur.
[1] βασιλεὺς δὲ Ταρκύνιος ἀναπεπαυμένος ἤδη τῶν πολεμικῶν ἔργων διὰ γῆρας, ἦν γὰρ ὀγδοηκονταέτης, δολοφονηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἄγκου Μαρκίου παίδων ἀποθνήσκει ἐπιχειρησάντων μὲν ἔτι πρότερον ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ πολλάκις τοῦτο πραγματευσαμένων κατ᾽ ἐλπίδα τοῦ περιπεσεῖν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐκπεσόντος ἐκείνου τὴν δυναστείαν, ὡς δὴ πατρῴαν σφίσιν ὑπάρχουσαν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου πρὸς τῶν πολιτῶν δοθησομένην.
[72.1] King Tarquinius, being now obliged to desist from warlike activities by reason of old age (for he was eighty years old), lost his life by the treachery of the sons of Ancus Marcius. They had endeavoured even before this to dethrone him, indeed had frequently made the attempt, in the hope that when he had been removed the royal power would devolve upon them; for they looked upon it as theirs by inheritance from their father and supposed that it would very readily be granted to them by the citizens.
[2] ἐπεὶ δὲ διήμαρτον τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἐπιβουλὴν ἄφυκτον κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐμηχανήσαντο, ἣν οὐκ εἴασεν ἀτιμώρητον γενέσθαι τὸ δαιμόνιον. διηγήσομαι δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς τρόπον ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἐπιχειρήσεως αὐτῶν ἀρξάμενος.
[2] When they failed in their expectation, they formed against him a plot from which there would be no escape; but Heaven did not allow it to go unpunished. I shall now relate the nature of their plot, beginning with their first attempt.
[3] ὁ Νέβιος ἐκεῖνος ὁ δεινὸς οἰωνομάντις, ὃν ἔφην ἐναντιωθῆναί ποτε τῷ βασιλεῖ πλείονας ἐξ ἐλασσόνων ποιῆσαι τὰς φυλὰς βουλομένῳ, ὅτε μάλιστα ἤνθει διὰ τὴν τέχνην καὶ πλεῖστον ἠδύνατο Ῥωμαίων ἁπάντων, εἴτε φθονηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀντιτέχνων τινὸς εἴτ᾽ [p. 401] ἐπιβουλευθεὶς ὑπ᾽ ἐχθρῶν εἴτε ὅ τι δή ποτε ἄλλο παθὼν ἀφανὴς ἄφνω γίνεται, καὶ οὔτε τὸν μόρον αὐτοῦ τις ἠδύνατο τῶν προσηκόντων συμβαλεῖν οὔτε τὸ σῶμα ἐξευρεῖν:
[3] Nevius, that skilful augur who, as I said, once opposed the king when he wished to increase the number of the tribes, had, at the very time when he was enjoying the greatest repute for his art and exceeded all the Romans in power, suddenly disappeared, either through the envy of some rival in his own profession or through the plotting of enemies or some other mischance, and one of his relations could either guess his fate or find his body.
[4] ἀχθομένου δὲ τοῦ δήμου καὶ δεινῶς φέροντος τὸ πάθος ὑπονοίας τε πολλὰς καὶ κατὰ πολλῶν λαμβάνοντος, κατανοήσαντες τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ πλήθους οἱ τοῦ Μαρκίου παῖδες, ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα Ταρκύνιον τὴν διαβολὴν τοῦ ἄγους ἀνέφερον ἄλλο μὲν οὐθὲν ἔχοντες φέρειν τῆς διαβολῆς οὔτε τεκμήριον οὔτε σημεῖον, δυσὶ δὲ τοῖς εἰκόσι τούτοις κρατυνόμενοι πρῶτον μέν, ὅτι πολλὰ καὶ καινὰ περὶ τὴν πολιτείαν διεγνωκὼς παρανομεῖν τὸν ἐναντιωσόμενον ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν προτέρων ἐκ ποδῶν ἐβούλετο ποιήσασθαι, ἔπειτα ὅτι δεινοῦ πάθους γεγονότος οὐδεμίαν ἐποιήσατο τῶν δεδρακότων ζήτησιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀμελείᾳ παρέδωκε τὸ πραχθέν, ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν ποιῆσαί
[4] And while the people were grieving over and resenting the calamity and entertaining many suspicions against many persons, the sons of Marcius, observing this impulse on the part of the multitude, endeavoured to put the blame for the pollution upon King Tarquinius, though they had no proof or evidence to offer in support of their accusation, but relied upon these two specious arguments: first, that the king, having resolved to make many unlawful innovations in the constitution, wished to get rid of the man who was sure to oppose him again as he had done on the former occasions, and second, that, when a dreadful calamity had occurred, he had caused no search to be made for the perpetrators, but had neglected the matter — a thing, they said, which no innocent man would have done.
[5] τινα τῶν ἔξω τῆς αἰτίας ὑπαρχόντων. παρασκευασάμενοι δὲ μεγάλας ἑταιρείας περὶ αὑτοὺς πατρικίων τε καὶ δημοτικῶν, οἷς τὰς ἑαυτῶν οὐσίας κατηγορήγουν, πολλὴν ἐποιοῦντο τοῦ Ταρκυνίου κατηγορίαν καὶ τῷ δήμῳ παρῄνουν μὴ περιορᾶν ἄνδρα μιαρὸν ἱεροῖς τε προσφέροντα τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν μιαίνοντα καὶ ταῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἐπιχώριον ἀλλ᾽ ἐπήλυτον ὄντα καὶ ἄπολιν.
[5] And having gathered about them strong bands of partisans, both patricians and plebeians, upon whom they had lavished their fortunes, they made many accusations against Tarquinius and exhorted the people not to permit a polluted person to lay hands on the sacr
ifices and defile the royal dignity, especially one who was not a Roman, but some newcomer and a man without a country.
[6] τοιαῦτα κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν δημηγοροῦντες ἄνδρες ἰταμοὶ καὶ λέγειν οὐκ ἀδύνατοι πολλοὺς μὲν ἠρέθισαν τῶν δημοτικῶν, οἳ παραγενόμενον [p. 402] αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἀπολογίας χάριν ἐξελαύνειν ἐπεχείρησαν ὡς οὐ καθαρόν: οὐ μὴν καταγωνίσασθαί γε τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἴσχυσαν οὐδὲ πεῖσαι τὸν δῆμον ἐδυνήθησαν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 496