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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [3] But he fought on, making use of their own weapons against them, and hurling these into the crowd, he was bound, as may well be supposed, to find some mark every time. Finally, when he was overwhelmed with missiles and had a great number of wounds in many parts of his body, and one in particular inflicted by a spear which, passing straight through one of his buttocks above the hip-joint, weakened him with the pain and impeded his steps, he heard those behind him shouting out that the greater part of the bridge was broken down. Thereupon he leaped with his arms into the river and swimming across the stream with great difficulty (for the current, being divided by the piles, ran swift and formed large eddies), he emerged upon the shore without having lost any of his arms in swimming.

  [1] τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ἀθάνατον αὐτῷ δόξαν εἰργάσατο. παραχρῆμά τε γὰρ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι στεφανώσαντες αὐτὸν ἀπέφερον εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὑμνοῦντες ὡς τῶν ἡρώων ἕνα, καὶ πᾶς ὁ κατοικίδιος ὄχλος ἐξεχεῖτο ποθῶν αὐτόν, ἕως ἔτι περιῆν, θεάσασθαι τὴν τελευταίαν πρόσοψιν: ἐδόκει γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν τραυμάτων οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν διαφθαρήσεσθαι:

  [25.1] This deed gained him immortal glory. For the Romans immediately crowned him and conducted him into the city with songs, as one of the heroes; and all the inhabitants poured out of their houses, desiring to catch the last sight of him while he was yet alive, since they supposed he would soon succumb to his wounds.

  [2] καὶ ἐπειδὴ διέφυγε τὸν θάνατον, εἰκόνα χαλκῆν ἔνοπλον ὁ δῆμος ἔστησεν αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐν τῷ κρατίστῳ καὶ χώραν ἐκ τῆς δημοσίας ἔδωκεν, ὅσην αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ ζεύγει βοῶν περιαρόσει: χωρὶς δὲ τῶν δημοσίᾳ δοθέντων κατὰ κεφαλὴν ἕκαστος [p. 175] ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, ὅτε μάλιστα δεινὴ σπάνις τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐπιτηδείων ἅπαντας κατεῖχε, μιᾶς ἡμέρας τροφὴν ἐχαρίσαντο μυριάδες ἀνθρώπων αἱ

  [2] And when he escaped death, the people erected a bronze statue of him fully armed in the principal part of the Forum and gave him as much of the public land as he himself could plough round in one day with a yoke of oxen. Besides these things bestowed upon him by the public, every person, both man and woman, at a time when they were all most sorely oppressed by a dreadful scarcity of provisions, gave him a day’s ratio of food; and the number of people amounted to more than three hundred thousand in all.

  [3] σύμπασαι πλείους ἢ τριάκοντα. Ὁράτιος μὲν δὴ τοιαύτην ἀποδειξάμενος ἀρετὴν ἐν τῷ τότε χρόνῳ ζηλωτὸς μὲν εἰ καί τις ἄλλος Ῥωμαίων ἐγένετο, ἄχρηστος δ᾽ εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως διὰ τὴν πήρωσιν τῆς βάσεως: καὶ διὰ τὴν συμφορὰν ταύτην οὔθ᾽ ὑπατείας οὔτ᾽ ἄλλης ἡγεμονίας στρατιωτικῆς οὐδεμιᾶς ἔτυχεν.

  [3] Thus Horatius, who had shown so great valour upon that occasion, occupied as enviable a position as any Roman who ever lived, but he was rendered useless by his lameness for further services to the state; and because of this misfortune he obtained neither the consulship nor any military command either.

  [4] οὗτός τε δὴ θαυμαστὸν ἔργον ἀποδειξάμενος ἐν τῷ τότε ἀγῶνι Ῥωμαίοις ἄξιος εἴπερ τις καὶ ἄλλος τῶν ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρείᾳ διονομασθέντων ἐπαινεῖσθαι, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτῳ Γάιος Μούκιος, ᾧ Κόρδος ἐπωνύμιον ἦν, ἀνὴρ ἐξ ἐπιφανῶν πατέρων καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγχειρήματι ἐπιβαλόμενος μεγάλῳ, περὶ οὗ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐρῶ διηγησάμενος πρῶτον, ἐν οἵαις ἡ πόλις ἦν τότε συμφοραῖς.

  [4] This was one man, therefore, who for the wonderful deed he performed for the Romans in that engagement deserves as great praise as any of those who have ever won renown for valour. And besides him there was also Gaius Mucius, surnamed Cordus, a man of distinguished ancestry, who also undertook to perform a great deed; but of him I shall speak a little later, after first relating in what dire circumstances the state found itself at that time.

  [1] μετὰ γὰρ τὴν μάχην ἐκείνην ὁ μὲν Τυρρηνῶν βασιλεὺς ἐν τῷ πλησίον ὄρει καταστρατοπεδευσάμενος, ὅθεν τὴν Ῥωμαίων φρουρὰν ἐξέβαλε, τῆς ἐπέκεινα τοῦ Τεβέριος ποταμοῦ χώρας ἁπάσης ἐκράτει. οἱ δὲ Ταρκυνίου παῖδες καὶ ὁ κηδεστὴς αὐτοῦ Μαμίλιος σχεδίαις τε καὶ σκάφαις διαβιβάσαντες τὰς ἑαυτῶν δυνάμεις ἐπὶ θάτερα μέρη τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὰ πρὸς τὴν Ῥώμην φέροντα ἐν ἐχυρῷ τίθενται χωρίῳ τὸν χάρακα: ὅθεν ὁρμώμενοι τῶν τε Ῥωμαίων ἐδῄουν τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰς αὐλὰς κατέσκαπτον καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ νομὰς [p. 176] ἐξιοῦσιν ἐκ τῶν ἐρυμάτων βοσκήμασιν ἐπετίθεντο.

  [26] After the battle that has been described the king of the Tyrrhenians, encamping on the neighbouring hill, from whence he had driven the garrison of Rome, was master of all the country on that side of the river Tiber. The sons of Tarquinius and his son-in-law, Mamilius, having transported their forces in rafts and boats to the other, or Roman, side of the river, encamped in a strong position. And making excursions from there, they laid waste the territory of the Romans, demolished their farm houses, and attacked their herds of cattle when they went out of the strongholds to pasture.

  [2] κρατουμένης δὲ τῆς ὑπαίθρου πάσης ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ οὔτ᾽ ἐκ γῆς εἰσκομιζομένων εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῶν ἀγορῶν οὔτε μὴν διὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ καταγομένων ὅτι μὴ σπανίων, ταχεῖα τῶν ἀναγκαίων σπάνις ἐγένετο μυριάσι πολλαῖς τὰ παρασκευασθέντα οὐ πολλὰ ὄντα δαπανώσαις.

  [2] All the open country being in the power of the enemy and no food supplies being brought into the city by land and but small quantities even by the river, a scarcity of provisions was speedily felt as the many thousands of people consumed the stores previously laid in, which were inconsiderable.

  [3] καὶ μετὰ τοῦθ᾽ οἱ θεράποντες πολλοὶ καταλιπόντες τοὺς δεσπότας ηὐτομόλουν ὁσημέραι, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ δημοτικοῦ πλήθους οἱ πονηρότατοι πρὸς τοὺς Τυρρηνοὺς ἀφίσταντο: ταῦθ᾽ ὁρῶσι τοῖς ὑπάτοις ἔδοξε Λατίνων μὲν δεῖσθαι τῶν ἔτι αἰδουμένων τὸ συγγενὲς καὶ μένειν δοκούντων ἐν τῇ φιλίᾳ συμμαχίας σφίσι πέμψαι διὰ ταχέων, εἰς δὲ τὴν Καμπανίδα Κύμην καὶ τὰς ἐν τῷ Πωμεντίνῳ πεδίῳ πόλεις ἀποστεῖλαι πρέσβεις ἀξιώσοντας αὐτὰς σίτου σφίσιν ἐξαγωγὴν ἐπιτρέψαι.

  [3] Thereupon the slaves, leaving their masters, deserted in large numbers daily, and the worst element among the common people went over to the tyrants. The consuls, seeing these things, resolved to ask those of the Latins who still respected the tie of kinship and seemed to be continuing in their friendship to send troops promptly to their assistanc
e; and also resolved to send ambassadors both to Cumae in Campania and to the cities in the Pomptine plain to ask leave to import grain from there.

  [4] Λατῖνοι μὲν οὖν διεκρούσαντο τὴν ἐπικουρίαν, ὡς οὐχ ὅσιον αὐτοῖς ὂν οὔτε Ταρκυνίοις πολεμεῖν οὔτε Ῥωμαίοις, ἐπειδὴ κοινῇ συνέθεντο πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους τὰ περὶ τῆς φιλίας ὅρκια: ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Πωμεντίνου πεδίου Λάρκιός τε καὶ Ἑρμίνιος οἱ πεμφθέντες ἐπὶ τὴν παρακομιδὴν τοῦ σίτου πρέσβεις πολλὰς γεμίσαντες σκάφας παντοίας τροφῆς ἀπὸ θαλάττης ἀνὰ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐν νυκτὶ ἀσελήνῳ λαθόντες τοὺς πολεμίους διεκόμισαν.

  [4] The Latins, for their part, refused to send the desired assistance, on the ground that it was not right for them to make war against either the Tarquinii or the Romans, since they had made their treaty of friendship jointly with both of them. But Larcius and Herminius, the ambassadors who had been sent to convey the grain from the Pomptine plain, filled a great many boats with all sorts of provisions and brought them from the sea up the river on a moonless night, escaping the notice of the enemy.

  [5] ταχὺ δὲ καὶ ταύτης ἐξαναλωθείσης τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς κατασχούσης τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπορίας μαθὼν παρὰ τῶν αὐτομόλων ὁ Τυρρηνός, ὅτι κάμνουσιν [p. 177] ὑπὸ τοῦ λιμοῦ οἱ ἔνδον, ἐπεκηρυκεύσατο πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπιτάττων δέχεσθαι Ταρκύνιον, εἰ βούλονται πολέμου τε καὶ λιμοῦ ἀπηλλάχθαι.

  [5] When these supplies also had soon been consumed and the people were oppressed by the same scarcity as before, the Tyrrhenian, learning from the deserters that the inhabitants were suffering from famine, sent a herald to them commanding them to receive Tarquinius if they desired to be rid of both war and famine.

  [1] οὐκ ἀνασχομένων δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων τὰς ἐπιταγάς, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ δεινὰ ὑπομένειν βουλομένων, καταμαθὼν ὁ Μούκιος, ὅτι δυεῖν αὐτοῖς συμβήσεται θάτερον ἢ μὴ διαμεῖναι πολὺν ἐν τοῖς λελογισμένοις χρόνον ὑπὸ τῆς ἀπορίας τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐκβιασθεῖσιν, ἢ φυλάττουσι βεβαίας τὰς κρίσεις τὸν οἴκτιστον ἀπολέσθαι μόρον, δεηθεὶς τῶν ὑπάτων τὴν βουλὴν αὐτῷ συναγαγεῖν, ὡς μέγα τι καὶ ἀναγκαῖον ἐξοίσων πρὸς αὐτήν, ἐπειδὴ συνήχθη, λέγει τοιάδε: ἄνδρες πατέρες, ἐγχείρημα τολμᾶν διανοούμενος, ὑφ᾽ οὗ τῶν παρόντων ἀπαλλαγήσεται κακῶν ἡ πόλις, τῷ μὲν ἔργῳ πάνυ θαρρῶ καὶ ῥᾳδίως αὐτοῦ κρατήσειν οἴομαι: περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ ψυχῆς, εἰ περιέσται μοι μετὰ τὸ ἔργον, οὐ πολλὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχω, μᾶλλον δ᾽ εἰ χρὴ τἀληθὲς λέγειν οὐδεμίαν.

  [27.1] When the Romans would not listen to this command, but chose rather to bear any calamities whatever, Mucius, foreseeing that one of two things would befall them, either that they would not adhere long to their resolution through want of the necessaries of life, or, if they held firmly to their decision, that they would perish by the most miserable of deaths, asked the consuls to assemble the senate for him, as he had something important and urgent to lay before them; and when they were met, he spoke as follows:

  “Fathers, having it in my mind to venture upon an undertaking by which the city will be freed from the present evils, I feel great confidence in the success of the plan and believe I shall easily carry it out; but as for my own life, I have small hopes of surviving the accomplishment of the deed, or, to say the truth, none at all.

  [2] εἰς τοσοῦτον δὴ κίνδυνον ἐμαυτὸν καθιέναι μέλλων οὐκ ἀξιῶ λαθεῖν ἅπαντας αἰωρηθεὶς ὑπὲρ μεγάλων, ἐὰν ἄρα συμβῇ μοι διαμαρτεῖν τῆς πείρας, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ καλοῖς ἔργοις μεγάλων ἐπαίνων τυγχάνειν, ἐξ ὧν ἀντὶ τοῦ θνητοῦ σώματος ἀθάνατον ὑπάρξει μοι κλέος.

  [2] As I am about to expose myself, then, to so great a danger, I do not think it right that the world should remain in ignorance of the high stakes for which I have played — in case it should be my fate to fail after all in the undertaking — but I desire in return for noble deeds to gain great praise, by which I shall exchange this mortal body for immortal glory.

  [3] δήμῳ μὲν φράζειν ἃ διανοοῦμαι πράττειν οὐκ ἀσφαλές, μή τις ἴδια κέρδη περιβαλλόμενος πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους αὐτὰ ἐξενέγκῃ, δέον αὐτοῖς ὥσπερ μυστηρίου ἀπορρήτου φυλακῆς: ὑμῖν δ᾽ οὓς καθέξειν [p. 178] αὐτὰ πεπίστευκα ἐγκρατῶς πρώτοις τε καὶ μόνοις ἐκφέρω: παρ᾽ ὑμῶν δ᾽ οἱ ἄλλοι πολῖται ἐν τῷ προσήκοντι καιρῷ μαθήσονται.

  [3] It is not safe, of course, to communicate my plan to the people, lest some one for his own advantage should inform the enemy of a thing which ought to be concealed with the same care as an inviolable mystery. But you, who, I am persuaded, will keep the secret inviolate, are the first and the only persons to whom I am disclosing it; and from you the rest of the citizens will learn of it at the proper season.

  [4] τὸ δ᾽ ἐγχείρημά μου τοιόνδε ἐστίν. αὐτομόλου σχῆμα μέλλω λαβὼν ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα τῶν Τυρρηνῶν πορεύεσθαι. ἐὰν μὲν οὖν ἀπιστηθεὶς πρὸς αὐτῶν ἀποθάνω, ἑνὶ πολίτῃ μόνον ἐλάττους οἱ λοιποὶ γενήσεσθε: ἐὰν δὲ παρελθεῖν εἴσω τοῦ χάρακος ἐκγένηταί μοι, τὸν βασιλέα τῶν πολεμίων ἀποκτενεῖν ὑμῖν ὑποδέχομαι: ἀποθανόντος δὲ Πορσίνου καταλυθήσεται μὲν ὁ πόλεμος, ἐγὼ δ᾽ εἰ ὅ τι ἂν τῷ δαιμονίῳ δόξῃ πείσομαι, τούτων συνίστορας ὑμᾶς ἕξων καὶ μάρτυρας πρὸς τὸν δῆμον ἄπειμι τὴν κρείττονα τύχην τῆς πατρίδος ἡγεμόνα τῆς ὁδοῦ ποιησάμενος.

  [4] My enterprise is this: I propose to go to the camp of the Tyrrhenians in the guise of a deserter. If I am disbelieved by them and put to death, the number of you citizens who remain will be only one less. But if I can enter the enemy’s camp, I promise you to kill their king; and when Porsena is dead, the war will be at an end. As for myself, I shall be ready to suffer whatever Heaven may see fit. In the assurance that you are privy to my purpose and will bear witness of it to the people, I go my way, making the better fortune of my country the guide of my journey.”

  [1] ἐπαινεθεὶς δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ καὶ λαβὼν οἰωνοὺς αἰσίους τῆς πράξεως διαβαίνει τὸν ποταμόν. καὶ παραγενόμενος ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα τῶν Τυρρηνῶν εἰσέρχεται, παρακρουσάμενος τοὺς φυλάττοντας τὰς πύλας ὡς τῶν ὁμοεθνῶν τις, ὅπλον τ᾽ οὐθὲν φανερὸν ἔχων καὶ γλώττῃ Τυρρηνικῇ διαλεγόμενος, ἣν ἐξέμαθεν ἔτι παῖς ὢν ὑπὸ τροφοῦ Τυρρηνίδος τὸ

  [28.1] After he had
received the praises of the senators and obtained favourable omens for his enterprise, he crossed the river. And arriving at the camp of the Tyrrhenians, he entered it, having deceived the guard at the gates, who took him for one of their own countrymen since he carried no weapon openly and spoke the Tyrrhenian language, which he had been taught when a child by his nurse, who was a Tyrrhenian.

  [2] γένος ἐκδιδαχθείς. ὡς δ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν καὶ τὸ στρατήγιον ἀφίκετο, ἄνδρα ὁρᾷ μεγέθει τε καὶ ῥώμῃ σώματος διαφέροντα, ἐσθῆτα πορφυρᾶν ἐνδεδυκότα, καθήμενον ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατηγικοῦ βήματος, καὶ περὶ αὐτὸν ἑστῶτας ἐνόπλους συχνούς. διαμαρτὼν δὲ τῆς δόξης, [p. 179] οἷα δὴ μηδέποτε τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Τυρρηνῶν θεασάμενος, τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ὑπέλαβε Πορσίναν εἶναι: ὁ δ᾽ ἦν ἄρα γραμματεὺς τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐκάθητο δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος διαριθμῶν τοὺς στρατιώτας καὶ διαγράφων αὐτοῖς τοὺς ὀψωνιασμούς.

  [2] When he came to the forum and to the general’s tent, he perceived a man remarkable both for his stature and for his physical strength, clad in a purple robe and seated upon the general’s tribunal with many armed men standing round him. And jumping to a false conclusion, as he had never seen the king of the Tyrrhenians, he took this man to be Porsena. But it seems he was the king’s secretary, who sat upon the tribunal while numbering the soldiers and making a record of the pay due them.

  [3] ἐπὶ τοῦτον δὴ τὸν γραμματέα χωρήσας διὰ τοῦ περιεστηκότος ὄχλου καὶ ἀναβὰς ὡς ἄνοπλος ὑπ᾽ οὐθενὸς κωλυόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα, σπᾶται τὸ ξιφίδιον, ὃ τῆς περιβολῆς ἐντὸς ἔκρυπτε, καὶ παίει τὸν ἄνδρα κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς. ἀποθανόντος δὲ τοῦ γραμματέως πληγῇ μιᾷ, συλληφθεὶς εὐθὺς ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸ βῆμα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα πεπυσμένον ἤδη τὴν τοῦ γραμματέως ἀναίρεσιν ἀπάγεται.