[4] Well, but after he had obtained the sovereignty — in whatever manner he got it — did he use it in a fashion becoming a king, in imitation of his predecessors, whose words and actions were invariably such that they handed down the city to their successors more prosperous and greater than they themselves had received it? When man in his senses could say so, when he sees to what a pitiable and wretched state we all have been brought by him?
[1] τὰς μὲν οὖν ἡμετέρας τῶν πατρικίων συμφοράς, ἃς καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἄν τις μαθὼν δακρύσειε, σιωπῶ, εἴ γ᾽ ὀλίγοι μὲν ἐκ πολλῶν λελείμμεθα, ταπεινοὶ δ᾽ ἐκ μεγάλων γεγόναμεν, εἰς πενίαν δὲ καὶ δεινὴν ἀπορίαν ἥκομεν ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ μακαρίων ἐκπεσόντες ἀγαθῶν. οἱ λαμπροὶ δ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι καὶ δεινοὶ καὶ μεγάλοι, δἰ οὓς ἐπιφανὴς ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν ποτε ἦν, οἱ μὲν ἀπολώλασιν,
[81.1] “I shall say nothing of the calamities we who are patricians have suffered, of which no one even of our enemies could hear without tears, since we are left but few out of many, have been brought low from having been exalted, and have come to poverty and dire want after being stripped of many enviable possessions. Of all those illustrious men, those great and able leaders because of whom our city was once distinguished, some have been put to death and others banished.
[2] οἱ δὲ φεύγουσι τὴν πατρίδα. ἀλλὰ τὰ ὑμέτερα πράγματα, ὦ δημόται, πῶς ἔχει; οὐκ ἀφῄρηται μὲν ὑμῶν τοὺς νόμους, ἀφῄρηται δὲ τὰς ἐφ᾽ ἱερὰ καὶ θυσίας συνόδους, πέπαυκε δὲ τοὺς ἀρχαιρεσιάζοντας καὶ ψηφοφοροῦντας καὶ περὶ τῶν κοινῶν ἐκκλησιάζοντας, ἀναγκάζει δ᾽ ὅσα δούλους ἀργυρωνήτους αἰσχύνης ἄξια ταλαιπωρεῖν λατομοῦντας ὑλοτομοῦντας ἀχθοφοροῦντας, ἐν ταρτάροις καὶ βαράθροις δαπανωμένους, ἀνάπαυσιν τῶν κακῶν οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην λαμβάνοντας;
[2] But what is your condition, plebeians? Has not Tarquinius taken away your laws? Has he not abolished your assemblages for the performance of religious rites and sacrifices? Has he not put an end to your electing of magistrates, to your voting, and to your meeting in assembly to discuss public affairs? Does he not force you, like slaves purchased with money, to endure shameful hardships in quarrying stone, hewing timber, carrying burdens, and wasting your strength in deep pits and caverns, without allowing you the least respite from your miseries?
[3] τίς οὖν ὅρος ἔσται τῶν συμφορῶν, καὶ μέχρι τίνος χρόνου ταῦτα πάσχοντες ὑπομενοῦμεν, καὶ πότε τὴν πάτριον ἐλευθερίαν ἀνακτησόμεθα; ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ Ταρκύνιος; νὴ Δία. καὶ τί πλέον ἡμῖν ἔσται τότε, τί δ᾽ οὐ χεῖρον; τρεῖς γὰρ ἐξ ἑνὸς Ταρκυνίους ἕξομεν [p. 130]
[3] What, then, will be the limit of our calamities? And when shall we recover the liberty our fathers enjoyed? When Tarquinius dies? To be sure! And how shall we be in a better condition then? Why should it not be a worse? For we shall have three Tarquinii sprung from the one, all far more abominable than their sire.
[4] πολλῷ μιαρωτέρους τοῦ πατρός. ὅπου γὰρ ὁ γενόμενος ἐξ ἰδιώτου τύραννος καὶ ὀψὲ ἀρξάμενος πονηρὸς εἶναι, πᾶσαν ἀκριβοῖ τὴν τυραννικὴν κακίαν, ποδαποὺς χρὴ νομίζειν ἔσεσθαι τοὺς ἐξ ἐκείνου φύντας, οἷς πονηρὸν μὲν γένος, πονηραὶ δὲ τροφαί, πολιτικὸν δὲ καὶ μέτριον οὐδὲν οὔτ᾽ ἰδεῖν ἐξεγένετο πώποτε πραττόμενον οὔτε μαθεῖν; ἵνα δὲ μὴ μαντεύησθε τὰς καταράτους αὐτῶν φύσεις, ἀλλ᾽ ἀκριβῶς μάθητε, οἵους σκύλακας ὑμῖν ἡ Ταρκυνίου τυραννὶς ὑποτρέφει, θεάσασθε ἔργον ἑνὸς αὐτῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτάτου.
[4] For when one who from a private station has become a tyrant and has begun late to be wicked, is an expert in all tyrannical mischief, what kind of men may we expect those to be who are sprung from him, whose parentage has been depraved, whose nurture has been depraved, and who never had an opportunity of seeing or hearing of anything done with the moderation befitting free citizens? In order, therefore, that you may not merely guess at their accursed natures, but may know with certainty what kind of whelps the tyranny of Tarquinius is secretly rearing up for your destruction, behold the deed of one of them, the eldest of the three.
[1] αὕτη Σπορίου μέν ἐστι Λουκρητίου θυγάτηρ, ὃν ἀπέδειξε τῆς πόλεως ἔπαρχον ὁ τύραννος ἐξιὼν ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον, Ταρκυνίου δὲ Κολλατίνου γυνὴ τοῦ συγγενοῦς τῶν τυράννων καὶ πολλὰ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν κακοπαθήσαντος. αὕτη μέντοι σωφρονεῖν βουλομένη καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἑαυτῆς φιλοῦσα, ὥσπερ ἀγαθῇ προσήκει γυναικί, ξενιζομένου παρ᾽ αὐτῇ Σέξτου διὰ τὴν συγγένειαν τῇ παρελθούσῃ νυκτί, Κολλατίνου δὲ τότ᾽ ἀποδημοῦντος ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου, τὴν ἀκόλαστον ὕβριν τῆς τυραννίδος οὐκ ἐδυνήθη διαφυγεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτος ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης κρατηθεῖσα ὑπέμεινεν ὅσα μὴ θέμις ἐλευθέρᾳ γυναικὶ παθεῖν.
[82.1] “This woman is the daughter of Spurius Lucretius, whom the tyrant, when he went to the war, appointed prefect of the city, and the wife of Tarquinius Collatinus, a kinsman of the tyrant who has undergone many hardships for their sake. Yet this woman, who desired to preserve her virtue and loved her husband as becomes a good wife, could not, when Sextus was entertained last night at her house as a kinsman and Collatinus was absent at the time in camp, escape the unbridled insolence of tyranny, but like a captive constrained by necessity, had to submit to indignities that it is not right any woman of free condition should suffer.
[2] ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἀγανακτοῦσα καὶ ἀφόρητον ἡγουμένη τὴν ὕβριν ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συγγενεῖς τὰς κατασχούσας αὐτὴν ἀνάγκας διεξῆλθε πολλὰς ποιησαμένη διήσεις καὶ ἀράς, ἵνα τιμωροὶ τοῖς κακοῖς αὐτῆς γένοιντο καὶ τὸ κεκρυμμένον ὑπὸ τοῖς κόλποις ξίφος [p. 131] σπασαμένη τοῦ πατρὸς ὁρῶντος, ὦ δημόται, διὰ τῶν ἑαυτῆς σπλάγχνων ἔβαψε τὸν σίδηρον.
[2] Resenting this treatment and looking upon the outrage as intolerable, she related to her father and the rest of her kinsmen the straits to which she had been reduced, and after earnestly entreating and adjuring them to avenge the wrongs she had suffered, she drew out the dagger she had concealed under the folds of her dress and before her father’s very eyes, plebeians, plunged the steel into her vitals.
[3] ὦ θαυμαστὴ σὺ καὶ πολλῶν ἐπαίνων ἀξία τῆς εὐγενοῦς προαιρέσεως, οἴχῃ καὶ ἀπόλωλας οὐχ ὑπομείνασα τυραννικὴν ὕβριν, ἁπάσας ὑπεριδοῦσα τὰς ἐν τῷ ζῆν ἡδονάς, ἵνα σοι μηδὲν ἔτι τοιοῦτον συμβῇ παθεῖν. ἔπειτα σ�
�� μέν, ὦ Λουκρητία, γυναικείας τυχοῦσα φύσεως ἀνδρὸς εὐγενοῦς φρόνημα ἔσχες, ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ἄνδρες γενόμενοι γυναικῶν χείρους ἀρετῇ γενησόμεθα; καὶ σοὶ μέν, ὅτι μίαν ἐτυραννήθης νύκτα τὴν ἀμίαντον ἀφαιρεθεῖσ᾽ αἰδῶ μετὰ βίας, ἡδίων καὶ μακαριώτερος ἔδοξεν ὁ θάνατος εἶναι τοῦ βίου, ἡμῖν δ᾽ ἆρ᾽ οὐ παραστήσεται τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὑπολαβεῖν, ὧν Ταρκύνιος οὐ μίαν ἡμέραν, ἀλλὰ πέμπτον καὶ εἰκοστὸν ἔτος ἤδη τυραννῶν, πάσας ἀφῄρηται τὰς ἐν τῷ ζῆν ἡδονὰς ἐλευθερίαν ἀφελόμενος;
[3] O admirable woman and worthy of great praise for your noble resolution! You are gone, you are dead, being unable to hear the tyrant’s insolence and despising all the pleasures of life in order to avoid suffering any such indignity again. After this example, Lucretia, when you, who were given a woman’s nature, have shown the resolution of a brave man, shall we, who were born men, show ourselves inferior to women in courage? To you, because you had been deprived by force of your spotless chastity by submission to a tyrant during one night, death appeared sweeter and more blessed than life; and shall not the same feelings sway us, whom Tarquinius, by a tyranny, and of one day only, but of twenty-five years, has deprived of all the pleasures of life in depriving us of our liberty?
[4] οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν, ὦ δημόται, βιωτὸν ἐν τοιούτοις καλινδουμένοις κακοῖς, ἐκείνων τῶν ἀνδρῶν οὖσιν ἀπογόνοις, οἳ τὰ δίκαια τάττειν ἠξίουν τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ πολλοὺς ὑπὲρ ἀρχῆς καὶ δόξης ἤραντο κινδύνους: ἀλλὰ δυεῖν θάτερον ἅπασιν αἱρετέον, ἢ βίον ἐλεύθερον, ἢ θάνατον ἔνδοξον.
[4] Life is intolerable to us, plebeians, while we wallow amid such wretchedness — to us who are the descendants of those men who thought themselves worthy to give laws to others and exposed themselves to many dangers for the sake of power and fame. Nay, but we must all choose one of two things — life with liberty or death with glory.
[5] ἥκει δὲ καιρός, οἷον εὐχόμεθα, μεθεστηκότος μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως Ταρκυνίου, ἡγουμένων δὲ τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως τῶν πατρικίων, οὐδενὸς δ᾽ ἡμῖν ἐλλείψοντος, ἐὰν ἐκ προθυμίας χωρήσωμεν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα, οὐ σωμάτων, οὐ χρημάτων, οὐχ ὅπλων, [p. 132] οὐ στρατηγῶν, οὐ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς εἰς τὰ πολέμια παρασκευῆς: μεστὴ γὰρ ἁπάντων ἡ πόλις, αἰσχρόν τε Οὐολούσκων καὶ Σαβίνων καὶ μυρίων ἄλλων ἄρχειν ἀξιοῦν, αὐτοὺς δὲ δουλεύοντας ἑτέροις ὑπομένειν, καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς Ταρκυνίου πλεονεξίας πολλοὺς ἀναιρεῖσθαι πολέμους, περὶ δὲ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἐλευθερίας μηδένα.
[5] An opportunity has come such as we have been praying for. Tarquinius is absent from the city, the patricians are the leaders of the enterprise, and naught will be lacking to us if we enter upon the undertaking with zeal — neither men, money, arms, generals, nor any other equipment of warfare, for the city is full of all these; and it would be disgraceful if we, who aspire to rule the Volscians, the Sabines and countless other peoples, should ourselves submit to be slaves of others, and should undertake many wars to gratify the ambition of Tarquinius but not one to recover our own liberty.
[1] τίσιν οὖν ἀφορμαῖς εἰς τὰ πράγματα χρησόμεθα καὶ ποίαις συμμαχίαις; τοῦτο γὰρ λοιπὸν εἰπεῖν. πρώταις μὲν ταῖς παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἐλπίσιν, ὧν ἱερὰ καὶ τεμένη καὶ βωμοὺς μιαίνει Ταρκύνιος ταῖς αἱμοφύρτοις χερσὶ καὶ παντὸς ἐμφυλίου γεμούσαις ἄγους θυσιῶν καὶ σπονδῶν καταρχόμενος: ἔπειτα ταῖς ἐξ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν οὔτ᾽ ὀλίγων ὄντων οὔτ᾽ ἀπείρων πολέμου: πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ταῖς παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων ἐπικουρίαις, οἳ μὴ καλούντων μὲν ἡμῶν οὐδὲν ἀξιώσουσι πολυπραγμονεῖν, ἐὰν δ᾽ ἀρετῆς ὁρῶσι μεταποιουμένους ἄσμενοι συναροῦνται τοῦ πολέμου: τυραννὶς γὰρ ἅπασιν ἐχθρὰ τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐλευθέροις εἶναι.
[83.1] “What resources, therefore, what assistance shall we have for our undertaking? For this remains to be discussed. First there are the hopes we place in the gods, whose rites, temples and altars Tarquinius pollutes with hands stained with blood and defiled with every kind of crime against his own people every time he begins the sacrifices and libations. Next, there are the hopes that we place in ourselves, who are neither few in number nor unskilled in war. Besides these advantages there are the forces of our allies, who, so long as they are not called upon by us, will not presume to busy themselves with our affairs, but if they see us acting the part of brave men, will gladly assist us in the war; for tyranny is odious to all who desire to be free.
[2] εἰ δέ τινες ὑμῶν τοὺς ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου συνόντας ἅμα Ταρκυνίῳ πολίτας δεδοίκασιν, ὡς ἐκείνῳ μὲν συναγωνιουμένους, ἡμῖν δὲ πολεμήσοντας, οὐκ ὀρθῶς δεδοίκασι. βαρεῖα γὰρ κἀκείνοις ἡ τυραννὶς καὶ ἔμφυτος ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ὁ τῆς ἐλευθερίας πόθος, καὶ πᾶσα μεταβολῆς πρόφασις τοῖς δι᾽ ἀνάγκην ταλαιπωροῦσιν ἱκανή: οὕς, εἰ ψηφιεῖσθε τῇ πατρίδι βοηθεῖν, οὐ φόβος ὁ καθέξων ἔσται παρὰ τοῖς τυράννοις, οὐ χάρις, οὐχ [p. 133] ἕτερόν τι τῶν βιαζομένων ἢ πειθόντων ἀνθρώπους τὰ
[2] But if any of you are afraid that the citizens who are in the camp with Tarquinius will assist him and make war upon us, their fears are groundless. For the tyranny is grievous to them also and the desire of liberty is implanted by Nature in the minds of all men, and every excuse for a change is sufficient for those who are compelled to bear hardships; and if you by your votes order them to come to the aid of their country, neither fear nor favour, nor any of the other motives that compel or persuade men to commit injustice, will keep them with the tyrants.
[3] μὴ δίκαια πράττειν. εἰ δέ τισιν αὐτῶν ἄρα διὰ κακὴν φύσιν ἢ πονηρὰς τροφὰς τὸ φιλοτύραννον ἐμπέφυκεν οὐ πολλοῖς οὖσι μὰ Δία, μεγάλαις καὶ τούτους ἀνάγκαις ἐνζεύξομεν, ὥστ᾽ ἐκ πονηρῶν γενέσθαι χρηστούς: ὅμηρα γὰρ αὐτῶν ἔχομεν ἐν τῇ πόλει τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ γονεῖς, ἃ τιμιώτερα τῆς ἰδίας ἐστὶν ἑκάστῳ ψυχῆς. ταῦτά τ᾽ οὖν αὐτοῖς ἀποδώσειν, ἐὰν ἀποστῶσι τῶν τυράννων, ὑπισχνούμενοι καὶ ἄδειαν ὧν ἥμαρτον ψηφιζόμενοι ῥᾳδίως πείσομεν.
[3] But if by reason of an evil nature or a bad upbringing the love of tyranny is, after all, rooted in some of them — though surely there are not many such — we will bring strong compulsion to bear upon these men too, so that they will become good citizens instead of bad. For we have, as hostages for them in the city, their children, wives and parent
s, who are dearer to every man than his own life. By promising to restore these to them if they will desert the tyrants, and by passing a vote of amnesty for the mistakes they have made, we shall easily prevail upon them to join us.
[4] ὥστε θαρροῦντες, ὦ δημόται, καὶ ἀγαθὰς ἔχοντες ὑπὲρ τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδας χωρεῖτε πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα, κάλλιστον ὧν πώποτε ἤρασθε πολέμων τόνδε ὑποστησόμενοι. ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν, ὦ θεοὶ πατρῷοι, φύλακες ἀγαθοὶ τῆσδε τῆς γῆς, καὶ δαίμονες, οἳ τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν λελόγχατε, καὶ πόλις θεοφιλεστάτη πόλεων, ἐν ᾗ γενέσεώς τε καὶ τροφῆς ἐτύχομεν, ἀμυνοῦμεν ὑμῖν καὶ γνώμαις καὶ λόγοις καὶ χερσὶ καὶ ψυχαῖς, καὶ πάσχειν ἕτοιμοι πᾶν, ὅ τι ἂν ὁ δαίμων καὶ τὸ χρεὼν φέρῃ.
[4] Advance to the struggle, therefore, plebeians, with confidence and with good hopes for the future; for this war which you are about to undertake is the most glorious of all the wars you have ever waged. Ye gods of our ancestors, kindly guardians of this land, and ye other divinities, to whom the care of our fathers was allotted, and thou City, dearest to the gods of all cities, the city in which we received our birth and nurture, we shall defend you with our counsels, our words, our hands and our lives, and we are ready to suffer everything that Heaven and Fate shall bring.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 523