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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [2] The assembly having been dismissed, during the following days he ordered lists to be made of all the debtors who were unable to keep their pledges, with the amount each owed and the names of the creditors; and when this list had been delivered to him, he commanded tables to be placed in the Forum and in the presence of all the citizens counted out to the lenders the amount of the debts.

  [3] ταῦτα διαπραξάμενος ἐξέθηκεν ἐν φανερῷ διάταγμα βασιλικόν, ἐκχωρεῖν τῆς δημοσίας γῆς τοὺς καρπουμένους τε καὶ ἰδίᾳ κατέχοντας αὐτὴν ἐν ὡρισμένῳ τινὶ χρόνῳ, καὶ τοὺς οὐδένα κλῆρον ἔχοντας τῶν πολιτῶν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀπογράφεσθαι: νόμους τε συνέγραφεν οὓς μὲν ἐκ τῶν ἀρχαίων καὶ παρημελημένων ἀνανεούμενος, οὓς Ῥωμύλος τ᾽ εἰσηγήσατο καὶ Νόμας Πομπίλιος, οὓς δ᾽

  [3] Having finished with this, he published a royal edict commanding that all those who were enjoying the use of the public lands and holding them for their own should quit possession within a certain specified time, and that those citizens who had no allotments of land should give in their names to him. He also drew up laws, in some cases renewing old laws that had been introduced by Romulus and Numa Pompilius and had fallen into abeyance, and establishing others himself.

  [4] αὐτὸς καθιστάμενος. ταῦτα δ᾽ αὐτοῦ πολιτευομένου χαλεπῶς ἔφερον οἱ πατρίκιοι καταλυομένην τὴν δυναστείαν τῆς βουλῆς ὁρῶντες καὶ λογισμοὺς οὐκέτι τοὺς αὐτούς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐναντίους τοῖς προτέροις ἐλάμβανον.

  [4] While he was pursuing these measures, the patricians were growing indignant as they saw the power of the senate being overthrown, and they proceeded to a plan of action which was no longer the same as before, but the opposite.

  [5] ἐν ἀρχαῖς μὲν γὰρ ὥρμησαν ἀφελέσθαι τὴν παράνομον αὐτοῦ δυναστείαν ἀποδείξαντες μεσοβασιλεῖς καὶ δι᾽ ἐκείνων ἑλέσθαι τὸν κατὰ νόμους ἕξοντα τὴν ἀρχήν: τότε δὲ στέργειν ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ᾤοντο δεῖν καὶ μηδὲν πολυπραγμονεῖν. εἰσῄει γὰρ αὐτοῖς λογισμός, ὅτι τῆς μὲν βουλῆς, ὃν αὐτὴ προῃρεῖτο, παραγούσης ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα ὁ δῆμος ἐναντιώσεται τὴν ψῆφον ἀναλαβών: ἐὰν δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ δήμῳ ποιήσωσι τὴν [p. 21] τοῦ βασιλέως προαίρεσιν, ἅπασαι τὸν Τύλλιον ψηφοφορήσουσιν αἱ φρᾶτραι, καὶ περιέσται τῷ ἀνδρὶ τὸ δοκεῖν κατὰ νόμους ἄρχειν. ἔδοξεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ἄμεινον εἶναι κλέπτοντα τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ παρακρουόμενον τοὺς πολίτας μᾶλλον ἢ πείσαντα καὶ φανερῶς λαβόντα κατέχειν.

  [5] For whereas at first they had determined to deprive him of his illegal power, to appoint interreges, and through them to choose one who should hold the office legally, they now thought they ought to acquiesce in the existing state of affairs and not to interfere at all. For it occurred to them that, if the senate attempted to place a man of its own choosing at the head of affairs, the people, when they came to give their votes, would oppose him; whereas, if they should leave the choice of the king to the people, all the curiae would elect Tullius and the result would be that he would seem to hold the office legally. They thought it better, therefore, to permit him to continue in the possession of the sovereignty by stealth and by deceiving the citizens rather than after persuading them and receiving it openly.

  [6] ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο προὔργου τῶν λελογισμένων: οὕτω κατεστρατήγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Τύλλιος καὶ κατέσχε τὴν βασιλείαν ἀκόντων ἐκείνων. κατασκευάσας γὰρ ἐκ πολλοῦ φήμας λέγεσθαι κατὰ τὴν πόλιν. ὡς ἐπιβουλευόντων αὐτῷ τῶν πατρικίων προῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐσθῆτα πιναρὰν περιβεβλημένος καὶ κατηφὴς συνούσης αὐτῷ καὶ τῆς μητρὸς Ὀκρισίας καὶ τῆς Ταρκυνίου γυναικὸς Τανακυλίδος καὶ τῆς συγγενείας τῆς βασιλικῆς ὅλης. ὄχλου δὲ συνδραμόντος πολλοῦ πρὸς τὸ παράδοξον τῆς ὄψεως ἐκκλησίαν συγκαλέσας προῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα καὶ διεξῆλθε τοιοῦτόν τινα λόγον.

  [6] But none of their calculations availed them aught, so artfully did Tullius outmanoeuvre them and get possession of the royal power against their will. For having long before caused a report to be spread through the city that the patricians were plotting against him, he came into the Forum meanly dressed and with a dejected countenance, accompanied by his mother Ocrisia, Tanaquil, the wife of Tarquinius, and all the royal family. And when great crowds flocked together at so unexpected a sight, he called an assembly, and ascending the tribunal, addressed them much as follows:

  [1] οὐκέτι μοι περὶ τῶν Ταρκυνίου παίδων μόνον ὁ κίνδυνός ἐστιν, ἵνα μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν δεινὸν πάθωσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς δέος εἰσέρχεται, μὴ πικρὰς ἀμοιβὰς τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀπολάβω. ἐπιβουλεύομαι γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν πατρικίων, καὶ μεμήνυνταί μοι τινὲς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποκτεῖναί με συνομνύμενοι ἀδίκημα μὲν οὐδὲν οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτ᾽ ἔλαττον ἔχοντες ἐγκαλεῖν, ὧν δὲ τὸν δῆμον εὖ πεποίηκα καὶ [p. 22] παρεσκεύασμαι ποιεῖν ἀχθόμενοί τε καὶ ἀναξιοπαθοῦντες:

  [11.1] “It is no longer the children of Tarquinius alone whom I see in danger of suffering some injury at the hands of their enemies, but I am already coming to fear for my own life, lest I receive a bitter requital for my justice. For the patricians are plotting against me and I have received information that some of them are conspiring to kill me, not because they can charge me with any crime, great or trivial, but because they resent the benefits I have conferred and am prepared to confer upon the people and feel that they are being treated unjustly.

  [2] οἱ δανεισταὶ μὲν ὅτι τοὺς πένητας ὑμῶν οὐκ εἴασα τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀφαιρεθῆναι πρὸς τὰ χρέα ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀχθέντας: οἱ δὲ κατανοσφιζόμενοι τὰ δημόσια καὶ κατέχοντες, ἣν ὑμεῖς δι᾽ αἵματος ἐκτήσασθε γῆν ἐκλιπεῖν ἀναγκαζόμενοι, ὥσπερ τὰ πατρῷα ἀποστερούμενοι καὶ οὐ τἀλλότρια ἀποδιδόντες: οἱ δ᾽ ἀνειμένοι τῶν εἰσφορῶν τῶν εἰς τοὺς πολέμους, εἰ τιμήσασθαι τοὺς βίους ἀναγκασθήσονται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν τιμημάτων τὰς εἰσφορὰς συνεισφέρειν: κοινῇ δὲ σύμπαντες, ὅτι κατὰ νόμους γεγραμμένους ἐθισθήσονται ζῆν τὰ δίκαια ἐξ ἴσου διδόντες ὑμῖν καὶ λαμβάνοντες, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὥσπερ ἀργυρωνήτοις παραχρήσονται τοῖς πένησιν, ὃ ποιοῦσι νῦν.

  [2] The money-lenders, for their part, feel aggrieved because I did not permit the poor among you to be haled to
prison by them because of their debts and to be deprived of their liberty. And those who misappropriate and hold what belongs to the state, finding themselves obliged to give up the land which you acquired with your blood, are as angry as if they were being deprived of their inheritances instead of merely restoring what belongs to others. Those, again, who have been exempt from war taxes resent being compelled to give in a valuation of their property and to pay taxes in property to those valuations. But the general complaint of them all is that they will have to accustom themselves to live according to written laws and impartially dispense justice to you and receive it from you, instead of abusing the poor, as they now do, as if they were so many purchased slaves.

  [3] καὶ ταῦτα δὴ τὰ ἐγκλήματα συνενέγκαντες εἰς τὸ κοινὸν βεβούλευνταί τε καὶ συνομωμόκασι κατάγειν τοὺς φυγάδας καὶ τοῖς Μαρκίου παισὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀποδιδόναι, οὓς ὑμεῖς Ταρκύνιον ἀποκτείναντας τὸν βασιλέα ὑμῶν ἄνδρα χρηστὸν καὶ φιλόπολιν καὶ τηλικοῦτο διαπραξαμένους ἄγος τάς τε δίκας ἐρήμους ἐκλιπόντας καὶ φυγῆς ἑαυτοῖς τιμησαμένους πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος εἴργειν ἐψηφίσασθε: ἔμελλόν τ᾽, εἰ μὴ θᾶττον ἐμοὶ περὶ τούτων ἐγένετο μήνυσις, ξενικὴν δύναμιν ἐπαγόμενοι νυκτὸς ἔτι πολλὴν κατάγειν εἰς τὴν πόλιν [p. 23]

  [3] And making common cause of these complaints, they have taken counsel and sworn to recall the exiles and to restore the kingdom to Marcius’ sons, against whom you passed a vote forbidding them the use of fire and water for having assassinated Tarquinius, your king, a worthy man and a lover of his country, and, after they had committed such an act of pollution, for having failed to appear for their trial and thus condemned themselves to exile. And if I had not received early information of these designs, they would, with the assistance of a foreign force, have brought back the exiles into the city in the dead of night.

  [4] τοὺς φυγάδας. τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντες ἴστε δήπου, κἂν ἐγὼ μὴ λέγω, ὅτι Μάρκιοι συλλαμβανόντων αὐτοῖς τῶν πατρικίων κατασχόντες τὰ πράγματα δίχα πόνου, πρῶτον μὲν ἐμὲ τὸν φύλακα τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τὰς κατ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐπιτελεσάμενον δίκας ἔμελλον ἀναρπάσεσθαι, ἔπειτα ταυτὶ τὰ παιδία καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συγγενεῖς τε καὶ φίλους Ταρκυνίου πάντας ἀρεῖσθαι: γυναῖκας δ᾽ ἡμῶν καὶ μητέρας καὶ θυγατέρας καὶ πᾶν τὸ θῆλυ γένος ἐν ἀνδραπόδων ποιήσασθαι λόγῳ, πολὺ

  [4] You all know, of course, what would have been the consequence of this, even without my mentioning it — that the Marcii, with the support of the patricians, after getting control of affairs without any trouble, would first have seized me, as the guardian of the royal family and as the person who had pronounced sentence against them, and after that would have destroyed these children and all the other kinsmen and friends of Tarquinius; and, as they have much of the savage and the tyrant in their nature, they would have treated our wives, mothers and daughters and all the female sex like slaves.

  [5] τὸ θηριῶδες ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ φύσει καὶ τυραννικόν. εἰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ὑμῖν ταῦτα βουλομένοις ἐστίν, ὦ δημόται, τοὺς μὲν ἀνδροφόνους κατάγειν καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀποδεικνύναι, τοὺς δὲ τῶν εὐεργετῶν παῖδας ἐξελαύνειν καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ πάππου καταλειφθεῖσαν ἀρχὴν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι, στέρξομεν τὴν τύχην. ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἁπάντων θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων, ὅσοι τὸν ἀνθρώπινον ἐποπτεύουσι βίον, ἱκέται πάντες ὑμῶν γινόμενοι σὺν γυναιξί τε καὶ τέκνοις ἀντὶ πολλῶν μέν, ὧν Ταρκύνιος ὁ τῶν παιδίων πάππος εὖ ποιῶν ὑμᾶς διετέλεσεν, ἀντὶ πολλῶν δέ, ὧν αὐτὸς ἐγὼ κατὰ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἐγενόμην ὑμῖν χρήσιμος, ἀξιοῦμεν ὑμᾶς μίαν ἡμῖν δοῦναι ταύτην δωρεάν, φανερὰν ποιῆσαι τὴν ὑμῶν αὐτῶν γνώμην.

  [5] If, therefore, it is your pleasure also, citizens, to recall the assassins and make them kings, to banish the sons of your benefactors and to deprive them of the kingdom their grandfather left them, we shall submit to our fate. But we all, together with our wives and children, make supplication to you by all the gods and lesser divinities who watch over the lives of men that, in return for the many benefits Tarquinius, the grandfather of these children, never ceased to confer upon you, and in return for the many services I myself, as far as I have been able, have done you, you will grant us this single boon — to declare your own sentiments.

  [6] εἰ γὰρ ἑτέρους τινὰς ἀξιονικοτέρους ἡμῶν ὑπειλήφατε εἶναι ταύτης τῆς τιμῆς τυγχάνειν, [p. 24] τὰ μὲν παιδία οἰχήσεται τὴν πόλιν ὑμῖν καταλιπόντα καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Ταρκυνίου συγγένεια: ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἕτερόν τι βουλεύσομαι γενναιότερον ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ: βεβίωται γὰρ ἤδη μοι καὶ πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ πρὸς εὐδοξίαν ἀποχρώντως καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἀξιώσαιμι τῆς παρ᾽ ὑμῶν εὐνοίας ψευσθείς, ἣν ἀντὶ παντὸς εἱλόμην ἀγαθοῦ, ζῆν αἰσχρῶς ἐν ἄλλοις τισί. παραλάβετε δὴ τὰς ῥάβδους καὶ δότε, εἰ βούλεσθε, τοῖς πατρικίοις: ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὑμῖν οὐκ ἐνοχλήσω παρών.

  [6] For if you have come to believe that any others are more worthy than we of this honour, the children, with all the other relations of Tarquinius, shall withdraw, leaving the city to you. As for me, I shall take a more generous resolution in my own case For I have already lived long enough both for virtue and for glory, and if I am disappointed of your goodwill, which I have preferred to every other good thing, I could never bring myself to live in disgrace among any other people. Take the rods, then, and give them to the patricians, if you wish; I shall not trouble you with my presence.”

  [1] ταῦτα λέγοντος αὐτοῦ καὶ παραχωρεῖν οἵου τε ὄντος ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος κραυγή τε παρὰ πάντων ἐξαίσιος ἐγίνετο καὶ δεήσεις μεμιγμέναι δάκρυσιν, ἵνα μένῃ τε καὶ διακατέχῃ τὰ πράγματα μηδένα δεδοικώς. ἔπειτ᾽ ἐγκέλευστοί τινες διειληφότες τὴν ἀγορὰν βασιλέα ποιεῖν αὐτὸν ἐβόων καὶ συγκαλεῖν τὰς φράτρας ἠξίουν καὶ ψῆφον ᾔτουν. ἀρξαμένων δὲ τούτων εὐθὺς ὁ δῆμος ἅπας ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς προαιρέσεως ἐγεγόνει.

  [12.1] While he was speaking these words and seemed about to leave the tribunal, they all raised a tremendous clamour, and mingling tears with their entreaties, besought him to remain and to retain control of affairs, fearing no one. Thereupon some of his partisans, who had stationed themselves in different parts of the Forum, following his instructions, cried out, “Make him king,” and demanded that the curiae should be called together and a vote taken; and after these had set the example, the whole populace was promptly of the same opinion.

  [2] τοῦτο καταμαθὼν ὁ Τύλλιος οὐκέ
τι παρῆκε τὸν καιρόν, ἀλλὰ πολλὰς αὐτοῖς εἰδέναι φήσας χάριτας, ὅτι μέμνηνται τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, καὶ ἔτι πλείονα ὑποσχόμενος ἀγαθὰ ποιήσειν, ἐὰν αὐτὸν ἀποδείξωσι βασιλέα, προεῖπεν ἡμέραν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν, εἰς ἣν ἐκέλευσε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν ἅπαντας παρεῖναι.

  [2] Tullius, seeing this, no longer let the occasion slip, but told them that he felt very grateful to them for remembering his services; and after promising to confer even more benefits if they should make him king, he appointed a day for the election, at which he ordered everybody to be present including those from the country.

  [3] συνελθόντος δὲ τοῦ δήμου καλῶν τὰς φράτρας κατὰ μίαν ἀνεδίδου τὰς ψήφους. ἁπάσαις δὲ ταῖς φράτραις κριθεὶς τῆς βασιλείας [p. 25] ἄξιος παραλαμβάνει τότε τὴν ἀρχὴν παρὰ τοῦ δημοτικοῦ πλήθους πολλὰ χαίρειν τῇ βουλῇ φράσας, ἣν οὐκ ἠξίωσεν ἐπικυρῶσαι τὰ τοῦ δήμου κρίματα, ὥσπερ αὐτῇ ποιεῖν ἔθος ἦν. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν τρόπον ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν παρελθὼν πολλῶν μὲν καὶ ἄλλων πολιτευμάτων εἰσηγητὴς ἐγένετο, μέγαν δὲ καὶ λόγου ἄξιον ἐπολέμησε πρὸς Τυρρηνοὺς πόλεμον. ποιήσομαι δὲ περὶ τῶν πολιτευμάτων αὐτοῦ πρῶτον τοὺς λόγους.