[3] Making his way, therefore, to this man through the crowd that surrounded him and ascending the tribunal (for as he seemed unarmed nobody hindered him), he drew the dagger he had concealed under his garment and struck the man on the head. And the secretary being killed with one blow, Mucius was promptly seize by those who stood round the tribunal and brought before the king, who had already been informed by others of his secretary’s death.
[4] ὁ δ᾽ ὡς εἶδεν αὐτόν, Ὦ μιαρώτατε πάντων, εἶπεν, ἀνθρώπων, καὶ δίκας ὑφέξων οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ὧν ἄξιος εἶ, λέγε, τίς εἶ καὶ πόθεν ἀφιγμένος καὶ τίνι βοηθείᾳ πεποιθὼς ἐπεχείρησας ἔργῳ τηλικῷδε: καὶ πότερον τὸν γραμματέα τὸν ἐμὸν ἀποκτεῖναί σοι προὔκειτο μόνον ἢ κἀμέ: καὶ τίνας ἔχεις κοινωνοὺς τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἢ συνίστορας; ἀποκρύψῃ δὲ μηδὲν τῶν ἀληθῶν, ἵνα μὴ βασανιζόμενος ἀναγκασθῇς λέγειν.
[4] Porsena, upon seeing him, said: “Most accursed of all men and destined to suffer the punishment you deserve, tell who you are and from whence you come and what assistance you counted on when you dared to commit such a deed? Did you propose to kill my secretary only, or me also? And who are your accomplices in this attempt, or privy to it? Conceal no part of the truth, les you be forced to declare it under torture.”
[1] καὶ ὁ Μούκιος οὔτε μεταβολῇ χρώματος οὔτε συννοίᾳ προσώπου τὸν ὀρρωδοῦντα διασημήνας οὔτ᾽ ἄλλο παθὼν οὐδέν, ὧν φιλοῦσι πάσχειν οἱ μέλλοντες ἀποθνήσκειν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν: ἐγὼ Ῥωμαῖος μέν εἰμι, καὶ οὐ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἕνεκα γένους, ἐλευθερῶσαι [p. 180] δὲ τὴν πατρίδα τοῦ πολέμου βουληθεὶς ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ὑμῶν ὡς τῶν αὐτομόλων τις, ἀποκτεῖναί σε βουλόμενος: οὐκ ἀγνοῶν μέν, ὅτι καὶ κατορθώσαντι καὶ διαμαρτόντι τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀποθανεῖν ὑπάρχει μοι, χαρίσασθαι δὲ τῇ γειναμένῃ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ψυχὴν προαιρούμενος καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ θνητοῦ σώματος ἀθάνατον δόξαν καταλιπεῖν: ψευσθεὶς δὲ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀντὶ σοῦ τὸν γραμματέα, ὃν οὐθὲν ἐδεόμην, ἀνῄρηκα τῇ τε πορφύρᾳ καὶ τῷ δίφρῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τῆς 11 ἐξουσίας συμβόλοις πλανηθείς.
[29.1] Mucius, without showing any sign of fear, either by a change of colour or by an anxious countenance, or experiencing any other weakness common to men who are about to die, said to him: “I am a Roman, and no ordinary man as regards birth; and having conceived a desire to free my country from the war, I came into your camp as a deserter with the purpose of killing you. I knew well that, whether I succeeded or failed in the attempt, death would be my portion; yet I resolved to give my life to my country from which I received it and in place of my mortal body to leave behind me immortal glory. But being cheated of my hope, I slew, instead of you, your clerk, whom I had no cause to slay, misled by the purple, the chair of state, and the other insignia of power.
[2] τὸν μὲν οὖν θάνατον, ὃν αὐτὸς ἐμαυτοῦ κατεψηφισάμην, ὅτ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ἔμελλον ὁρμᾶν, οὐ παραιτοῦμαι: βασάνους δὲ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ὕβρεις εἴ μοι παρείης, πίστεις δοὺς ἐπὶ θεῶν ὑπισχνοῦμαί σοι μέγα πρᾶγμα δηλώσειν καὶ πρὸς τὴν 12 σωτηρίαν ἀνῆκόν σοι.
[2] As for death, therefore, to which I condemned myself when I was planning to set out on this undertaking, I do not ask to escape that; but if you would remit for me the tortures and the other indignities and give me assurances of this by the gods, I promise to reveal to you a matter of great moment which concerns your own safety.”
[3] ὁ μὲν δὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἔλεγε καταστρατηγῆσαι τὸν ἄνδρα διανοούμενος: ὁ δ᾽ ἔξω τοῦ φρονεῖν γεγονὼς καὶ ἅμα κινδύνους ἐκ πολλῶν μαντευόμενος ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ἀληθεῖς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ δι᾽ ὅρκων τὸ πιστόν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦθ᾽ ὁ Μούκιος καινότατον ἐνθυμηθεὶς ἀπάτης τρόπον, ὃς ἐν ἀφανεῖ τὸν ἔλεγχον εἶχε, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν: ὦ βασιλεῦ, Ῥωμαίων ἄνδρες τριακόσιοι τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντες ἡλικίαν ἐκ τοῦ γένους τοῦ τῶν πατρικίων ἅπαντες ἐβουλευσάμεθα συνελθόντες ἀποκτεῖναί σε καὶ τὸ πιστὸν ὅρκοις παρ᾽
[3] This he said with the purpose of tricking the other; and the king, being out of his wits and at the same time conjuring up imaginary perils as threatening him from many people, gave him upon oath the pledge he desired. Thereupon Mucius, having thought of a most novel kind of deceit that could not be put to an open test, said to him: “O king, three hundred of us Romans, all of the same age and all of patrician birth, met together and formed a plot to kill you; and we took pledges from one another under oath.
[4] 13 ἀλλήλων ἐλάβομεν. ἔδοξε δ᾽ ἡμῖν βουλευομένοις ὅστις ὁ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἦν τρόπος, μήθ᾽ ἅπαντας ἅμα χωρεῖν [p. 181] ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον, ἀλλὰ καθ᾽ ἕνα, μήτε φράζειν ἕτερον ἑτέρῳ πότε καὶ πῶς καὶ ποῦ καὶ τίσιν ἀφορμαῖς χρησάμενος ἐπιθήσεταί σοι, ἵνα ῥᾷον ἡμῖν ὑπάρχῃ τὸ λαθεῖν. ταῦτα διανοηθέντες ἐκληρωσάμεθα, καὶ πρῶτος ἄρξαι τῆς πείρας ἔλαχον ἐγώ. προειδὼς οὖν, ὅτι πολλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ τὴν αὐτήν μοι διάνοιαν ἕξουσιν ἐπιθυμίᾳ δόξης, ὧν ὡς εἰκάσαι τις ἀμείνονι τύχῃ χρήσεται τῆς ἐμῆς, σκόπει, τίς ἔσται σοι πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀρκοῦσα φυλακή.
[4] And when we were considering what form our plot should take, we resolved not to set about the business all together, but one at a time, nor yet to communicate to one another when, how, where, or by what expedients each of us was to attack you, to the end that it might be easier for us to escape discovery. After we had settled these matters, we drew lots and it fell to my lot to make the first attempt. Since, therefore, you know in advance that many brave men will have the same purpose as I, induced by a thirst for glory, and that some one of them presumably will meet with better fortune than I, consider how you may sufficiently guard yourself against them all.”
[1] ὡ δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἤκουσεν ὁ βασιλεύς, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἀπαγαγόντας τοὺς δορυφόρους ἐκέλευσε δῆσαι καὶ φυλάττειν ἐπιμελῶς: αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς πιστοτάτους τῶν φίλων παραλαβὼν καὶ τὸν υἱὸν Ἄρροντα παρακαθισάμενος, μετ᾽ ἐκείνων ἐσκόπει, τί ποιῶν τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς αὐτῶν διακρούσεται.
[30.1] When the king heard this, he commanded his bodyguards to lead Mucius away and bind him, guarding him diligently. He himself assembled the most trustworthy of his friends, and causing his son Arruns to sit beside him, considered with them what he should do to escape the plots of these men.
[2] τῶν μὲν οὖν ἄλλων ἕκαστος εὐήθεις ἀσφαλείας λέγων ἐδόκει τῶν δ�
�όντων φρονεῖν οὐδέν: ὁ δ᾽ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ τελευταίαν ἀπεφήνατο γνώμην πρεσβυτέραν τῆς ἡλικίας, ἀξιῶν αὐτὸν μὴ σκοπεῖν, τίσι φυλακαῖς χρώμενος οὐδὲν πείσεται δεινόν, ἀλλὰ τί ποιῶν οὐ δεήσεται φυλακῆς: θαυμασάντων δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτοῦ πάντων καὶ πῶς ἂν τοῦτο γένοιτο [p. 182] μαθεῖν βουλομένων, Εἰ φίλους ἀντὶ πολεμίων, ἔφη, ποιήσαιο τοὺς ἄνδρας, τιμιωτέραν ἡγησάμενος τὴν σεαυτοῦ ψυχὴν τῆς καθόδου τῶν σὺν Ταρκυνίῳ φυγάδων.
[2] All the rest proposed such simple precautionary measures that they seemed to have no understanding of what was needed; but his son, who expressed his opinion last, showed a wisdom beyond his years. For he advised his father not to consider what precautions he should take in order to meet with no misfortune, but what he should do in order to have no need of precaution/precautions. When all had marvelled at his advice and desired to know how this might be accomplished, he said, “If you would make these men friends instead of enemies and would set a greater value of your own life than on the restoration of the exiles with Tarquinius.”
[3] καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὰ κράτιστα μὲν ἔφησεν αὐτὸν λέγειν, βουλῆς δ᾽ εἶναι ἄξιον τὸ πρᾶγμα, πῶς εὐπρεπεῖς γενήσονται πρὸς αὐτοὺς αἱ διαλλαγαί: μεγάλην αἰσχύνην φάσκων εἶναι, εἰ κρατήσας αὐτῶν μάχῃ καὶ τειχήρεις ἔχων ἀπελεύσεται, μηθὲν ὧν Ταρκυνίοις ὑπέσχετο διαπραξάμενος, ὥσπερ ἡττημένος ὑπὸ τῶν νενικημένων καὶ πεφευγὼς τοὺς μηδ᾽ ἐκ τῶν πυλῶν ὑπομένοντας ἔτι προελθεῖν: μίαν δὲ μόνην ἔσεσθαι ἀποφαίνων καλὴν τῆς ἔχθρας λύσιν, εἰ παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων παραγένοιντό τινες πρὸς αὐτὸν περὶ φιλίας διαλεγόμενοι.
[3] The king said his advice was most excellent, but that it was a matter calling for deliberation how an honourable peace could be made with them; for he said it would be a great disgrace if, after he had defeated them in battle and kept them shut up within their walls, he should then retire without having effected anything he had promised to the Tarquinii, just as if he had been conquered by those he had overcome and had fled from those who dared no longer even set foot outside their gates; and he declare days that there would be one and only one honourable way of ending this war, namely, if some persons should come to him from the enemy to treat for friendship.
[1] ταῦτα μὲν τότε πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν καὶ τοὺς παρόντας εἶπεν: ὀλίγαις δ᾽ ὕστερον ἡμέραις αὐτὸς ἠναγκάσθη πρότερος ἄρχειν λόγων διαλλακτηρίων διὰ τοιαύτην αἰτίαν: ἐσκεδασμένων ἀνὰ τὴν χώραν τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ τὰς ἀγομένας εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀγορὰς ἀφαιρουμένων καὶ τοῦτο ποιούντων συνεχῶς, οἱ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὕπατοι λοχήσαντες αὐτοὺς ἐν καλῷ χωρίῳ διαφθείρουσί τε συχνοὺς καὶ ἔτι πλείους τῶν ἀναιρεθέντων αἰχμαλώτους λαμβάνουσιν. ἐφ᾽ ᾧ χαλεπαίνοντες οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ διελέγοντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους κατὰ συστροφάς, δἰ αἰτίας τόν τε βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἡγεμόνας ἔχοντες ἐπὶ τῇ τριβῇ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ ἀπαλλάττεσθαι ποθοῦντες ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα.
[31.1] This is what the king then said to his son and to the others present. But a few days later he was obliged to take the initiative himself in proposing terms of accommodation, for the following reason: While his soldiers were dispersed about the country and plundering the provisions that were being conveyed to the city, and doing this continually, the Roman consuls lay in wait for them in a favourable place and destroying a goodly number, took even more of them prisoners than they slew. Upon this the Tyrrhenians were angered and talked matters over with one another as they gathered in knots, blaming both the king and the other commanders for the prolonging of the war, and desiring to be dismissed to their homes.
[2] δόξας μὲν οὖν [p. 183] ἅπασι κεχαρισμένας φανήσεσθαι τὰς διαλλαγάς, ἀποστέλλει πρεσβευτὰς ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων φίλων τοὺς ἀναγκαιοτάτους. τινὲς μὲν οὖν φασι καὶ τὸν Μούκιον ἅμα τούτοις ἀποσταλῆναι δόντα τὴν πίστιν τῷ βασιλεῖ δι᾽ ὅρκων ὑπὲρ τοῦ πάλιν ἐλεύσεσθαι: ἕτεροι δὲ λέγουσιν ὅμηρον, ἕως αἱ διαλλαγαὶ γένωνται, τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ φυλάττεσθαι: καὶ τάχ᾽ ἂν εἴη τοῦτ᾽
[2] The king, therefore, believing that an accommodation would be acceptable to them all, sent the closest of his personal friends as ambassadors. Some, indeed, say that Mucius also was sent with them, having given the king his pledge upon oath that he would return; but others say that he was kept in the camp as a hostage till peace should be concluded, and this may perhaps be the truer account.
[3] ἀληθέστερον. ἐντολαὶ δ᾽ ἦσαν, ἃς ἔδωκε τοῖς πρεσβευταῖς ὁ βασιλεύς, τοιαίδε: περὶ μὲν καθόδου Ταρκυνίων μηδένα ποιεῖσθαι λόγον, τὰ δὲ χρήματα αὐτοῖς ἀξιοῦν ἀποδοθῆναι, μάλιστα μὲν ἅπαντα ὅσα Ταρκύνιός θ᾽ ὁ πρεσβύτατος κατέλιπε καὶ αὐτοὶ σὺν τῷ δικαίῳ κτησάμενοι κατέσχον: εἰ δὲ μή γ᾽ ὅσα δυνατὰ ἀγρῶν τε καὶ οἰκιῶν καὶ βοσκημάτων καὶ ὧν ἐκ γῆς ἀνῄρηνται καρπῶν τὰς ἀξίας, ὁποτέρως ἂν αὐτοῖς δόξῃ συμφέρειν, ἐάν τε τοὺς κατέχοντας αὐτὰ καὶ καρπουμένους εἰσφέρειν, ἐάν τ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου διαλύειν.
[3] The instructions given by the king to the ambassadors were these: Not to make the least mention of the restoration of the Tarquinii, but to demand the restitution of their property, preferably of all that the elder Tarquinius had left and they themselves had justly acquired and possessed, or, if that could not be, then to demand so far as possible the value of their lands, houses and cattle, and of the produce taken from the land, leaving it to the Romans to determine whether it was to their advantage that this should be paid by those who were in the possession and enjoyment of the land or defrayed by the public treasury.
[4] ταῦτα μὲν ὑπὲρ ἐκείνων, ἑαυτῷ δ᾽ αἰτεῖσθαι διαλυομένῳ τὴν ἔχθραν τοὺς καλουμένους Ἑπτὰ πάγους: αὕτη Τυρρηνῶν ἡ χώρα τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἦν, Ῥωμαῖοι δ᾽ αὐτὴν κατέσχον πολέμῳ τοὺς ἔχοντας ἀφελόμενοι: καὶ ἵνα μένωσι Ῥωμαῖοι Τυρρηνοῖς βέβαιοι φίλοι, παῖδας ἐκ τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων οἰκιῶν τοὺς ὁμηρεύσοντας ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως αἰτεῖν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν.
[4] So far their instructions related to the Tarquinii. Then, for himself, they were to demand, upon his putting an end to the war, the so-called Seven Districts (this territory had formerly belonged to the Tyrrhenians, but the Romans had taken it from them in war and occupied it), and, in order that the Romans should remain firm friends of the Tyrrhenians,
they were to demand of them the sons of their most illustrious families to serve as hostages for the state.
[1] ἀφικομένης δὲ τῆς πρεσβείας εἰς Ῥώμην ἡ βουλὴ μὲν ἐψηφίσατο Ποπλικόλᾳ θατέρῳ τῶν ὑπάτων [p. 184] πεισθεῖσα πάντα συγχωρεῖν, ὅσα ὁ Τυρρηνὸς ἠξίου, κάμνειν τὸν δημότην καὶ ἄπορον ὄχλον οἰομένη τῇ σπάνει τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, καὶ ἀγαπητῶς δέξεσθαι τὴν τοῦ πολέμου λύσιν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἂν γένηται δικαίοις.
[32.1] When the embassy came to Rome, the senate, by the advice of Publicola, one of the consuls, voted to grant everything that the Tyrrhenian demanded, believing that the crowd of plebeians and poor people, oppressed by the scarcity of provisions, would cheerfully accept the termination of the war upon any terms whatever.
[2] ὁ δὲ δῆμος τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τοῦ προβουλεύματος ἐψηφίσατο κύρια εἶναι, τὴν δ᾽ ἀπόδοσιν τῶν χρημάτων οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, ἀλλὰ τἀναντία ἔγνω, μήτ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων μήτ᾽ ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν τοῖς τυράννοις μηδὲν ἀποδιδόναι, πρεσβευτὰς δὲ περὶ τούτων πρὸς βασιλέα Πορσίναν ἀποστεῖλαι, οἵτινες ἀξιώσουσιν αὐτὸν τὰ μὲν ὅμηρα καὶ τὴν χώραν παραλαβεῖν, περὶ δὲ τῶν χρημάτων αὐτὸν δικαστὴν γενόμενον Ταρκυνίοις τε καὶ Ῥωμαίοις, ὅταν ἀμφοτέρων ἀκούσῃ κρῖναι τὰ δίκαια μήτε χάριτι μήτ᾽
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 533