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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [2] But the people, though they ratified every other article of the senate’s decree, would not hear of restoring the property. On the contrary, they voted that no resolution should be made to the tyrants either from private sources or from the public funds, and that ambassadors should be sent to King Porsena concerning these matters, to ask him to accept the hostages and the territory he demanded, but as regarded the property, that he himself, acting as judge between the Tarquinii and the Romans, should determine, after hearing both sides, what was just, being influenced by neither favour nor enmity.

  [3] ἔχθρᾳ παραχθέντα. ἀπῄεσαν οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ τὰς ἀποκρίσεις ταύτας πρὸς βασιλέα κομίζοντες καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς οἱ κατασταθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου πρέσβεις ἄγοντες ἐκ τῶν πρώτων οἰκιῶν εἴκοσι παῖδας, οὓς ἔδει περὶ τῆς πατρίδος ὁμηρεῦσαι, τῶν ὑπάτων πρώτων τὰ τέκνα ἐπιδόντων, Μάρκου μὲν Ὁρατίου τὸν υἱόν, Ποπλίου δὲ Οὐαλερίου τὴν θυγατέρα γάμων ἔχουσαν ὥραν.

  [3] The Tyrrhenians returned to the king with this answer, and with them the ambassadors appointed by the people, taking with them twenty children of the leading families to serve as hostages for their country; the consuls had been the first to give their children for that purpose, Marcus Horatius delivering his son to them and Publius Valerius his daughter, who had reached the age for marriage.

  [4] ἀφικομένων δὲ τούτων ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἥσθη τε ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ πολλὰ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐπαινέσας ἀνοχὰς σπένδεται πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἰς ὡρισμένον τινὰ ἡμερῶν ἀριθμὸν καὶ τὴν δίκην αὐτὸς ἀναδέχεται δικάζειν. Ταρκύνιοι δ᾽ ἤχθοντο μὲν ἀπὸ μειζόνων ἐκπεσόντες ἐλπίδων, ἃς εἶχον ἐπὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ, καταχθῆναι δόξαντες [p. 185] ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνου, στέργειν δὲ τὰ παρόντα ἠναγκάζοντο καὶ τὰ δεδομένα δέχεσθαι. ἀφικομένων δ᾽ εἰς τὸν ὁρισθέντα χρόνον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τῶν ἀπολογησομένων τὴν δίκην καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς βουλῆς τῶν πρεσβυτάτων, καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ὁ βασιλεὺς μετὰ τῶν φίλων καὶ τὸν υἱὸν συνδικάζειν κελεύσας ἀπέδωκεν αὐτοῖς λόγον.

  [4] When these arrived at the camp, the king was pleased, and heartily commending the Romans, have made a truce with them for a specified number of days and undertook to act as judge of the controversy himself. But the Tarquinii were aggrieved at finding themselves disappointed of the greater hopes they had been placing in the king, having expected to be restored by him to the sovereignty; however, they were obliged to be content with the present state of things and to accept the terms that were offered. And when the men who were sent to defend the cause of the commonwealth, . . . and the oldest of the senators had come from the city at the appointed time, the king seated himself upon the tribunal with his friends, and ordering his son to sit as judge with him, he gave them leave to speak.

  [1] ἔτι δὲ τῆς δικαιολογίας γινομένης ἧκέ τις ἀπαγγέλλων τὴν φυγὴν τῶν ὁμηρευουσῶν παρθένων. δεηθεῖσαι γὰρ τῶν φυλαττόντων, ἵνα συγχωρήσωσιν αὐταῖς λούσασθαι παραγενομέναις εἰς τὸν ποταμόν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ συγχώρημα ἔλαβον ἀποστῆναι μικρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν εἰποῦσαι, τέως ἂν ἀπολούσωνταί τε καὶ τὰς ἐσθῆτας ἀπολάβωσιν, ἵνα μὴ γυμνὰς ὁρῶσιν αὐτάς: ποιησάντων καὶ τοῦτο τῶν ἀνδρῶν, παρακελευσαμένης αὐταῖς τῆς Κλοιλίας καὶ πρώτης καταρχούσης, διανηξάμεναι τὸν ποταμὸν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπῆλθον.

  [33.1] While the cause was still pleading, a messenger brought word of the flight of the maidens who were serving as hostages. It seems that they had asked leave of their guards to go to the river and bathe, and after obtaining it they had told the men to withdraw a little way from the river till they had bathed and dressed themselves again, so that they should not see them naked; and the men having done this also, the maidens, following the advice and example of Cloelia, swam across the river and returned to the city.

  [2] ἔνθα δὴ πολὺς ὁ Ταρκύνιος ἦν ἐπιορκίαν τε καὶ ἀπιστίαν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἐγκαλῶν, καὶ τὸν βασιλέα παροξύνων ὡς ἐξαπατώμενον ὑπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων δολίων μηθὲν προσέχειν αὐτοῖς. ἀπολογουμένου δὲ τοῦ ὑπάτου καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐξ αὐτῶν λέγοντος εἶναι τῶν παρθένων δίχα τῆς ἐπιταγῆς τῶν πατέρων, καὶ τὸ πιστὸν οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν παρέξεσθαι λέγοντος ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδὲν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν πεπρᾶχθαι, πεισθεὶς [p. 186] ὁ βασιλεὺς συνεχώρησεν αὐτῷ πορευθέντι τὰς παρθένους ἀγαγεῖν, ὡς ὑπισχνεῖτο.

  [2] Then indeed Tarquinius was vehement in accusing the Romans of a breach of their oaths and of perfidy, and in goading the king, now that he had been deceived by treacherous persons, to pay no heed to them. But when the consul defended the Romans, declaring that the maidens had done this thing of themselves without orders from their fathers and that he would soon offer convincing proof that the consuls had not been guilty of any treachery, the king was persuaded and gave him leave to go to Rome and bring back the maidens, as he kept promising to do.

  [3] Οὐαλέριος μὲν δὴ τὰς παρθένους ἄξων ᾤχετο: Ταρκύνιος δὲ καὶ ὁ κηδεστὴς αὐτοῦ τῶν δικαίων ὑπεριδόντες πράγματι ἐπεβούλευσαν ἀνοσίῳ, λόχον ὑποπέμψαντες εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἱππέων, τάς τε παρθένους ἁρπάσαι τὰς ἀγομένας καὶ τὸν ὕπατον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐρχομένους συλλαβεῖν, ὡς ῥύσια καθέξοντες ἀνθ᾽ ὧν Ταρκύνιον ἀφείλοντο Ῥωμαῖοι χρημάτων τὰ σώματα ταῦτα, καὶ τῆς δίκης τὸ τέλος οὐκέτι περιμενοῦντες.

  [3] Valerius, accordingly, departed in order to bring them to the camp. But Tarquinius and his son-in-law, in contempt of all that was right, formed a wicked plot, sending out secretly a party of horse to lie in wait on the road, in order to seize not only the maidens as they were being brought back, but also the consul and the others who were coming to the camp. Their purpose was to hold these persons as pledges for the property the Romans had taken from Tarquinius, and not to wait any longer for the outcome of the hearing.

  [4] οὐκ εἴασε δ᾽ αὐτοῖς κατὰ νοῦν χωρῆσαι τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν τὸ δαιμόνιον. ἐν ὅσῳ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ Λατίνων χάρακος ἐξῄεσαν οἱ μέλλοντες τοῖς παραγενομένοις ἐπιθέσθαι, φθάσας ὁ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὕπατος ἦγε τὰς κόρας: καὶ πρὸς αὐταῖς ἤδη ταῖς πύλαις τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ χάρακος ὢν ὐπὸ τῶν ἐπιδιωξάντων ἐκ τῆς ἑτέρας στρατοπεδείας καταλαμβάνεται. ἔνθα τῆς συμπλοκῆς αὐτῶν γενομένης ταχεῖα τοῖς Τυρρηνοῖς
αἴσθησις ἐγένετο, καὶ κατὰ σπουδὴν ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως υἱὸς ἴλην ἱππέων ἐπαγόμενος ἐβοήθει, καὶ ἐκ τῶν πεζῶν οἱ προκαθήμενοι τοῦ χάρακος συνέδραμον.

  [4] But Heaven did not permit their plot to go according to their wish. For even as the horsemen who were intending to attack them upon their return were going out of the camp of the Latins, the consul was arriving with the maidens in time to forestall them, and he was already at the very gates of the Tyrrhenian camp when he was overtaken by the horsemen from the other camp who had pursued him. When the encounter between them occurred here, the Tyrrhenians quickly perceived it; and the king’s son came in haste with a squadron of horse to their assistance and those of the foot who were posted before the camp also rushed up.

  [1] ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἀγανακτῶν ὁ Πορσίνας εἰς ἐκκλησίαν τοὺς Τυρρηνοὺς συνεκάλει καὶ διεξελθών, ὡς ἐπιτρεψάντων αὐτῷ δίκας Ῥωμαίων δικάσαι περὶ ὧν ἐνεκαλοῦντο ὑπὸ Ταρκυνίου, πρὶν ἐπιτελεσθῆναι τὴν [p. 187] δίκην εἰς ἱερὰ σώματα πρέσβεών τε καὶ ὁμήρων παρανομεῖν ἐν σπονδαῖς ἐπεχείρησαν οἱ δικαίως ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐξελασθέντες: ὅθεν Τυρρηνοὶ Ῥωμαίους μὲν ἀπολύουσι τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, Ταρκυνίῳ δὲ καὶ Μαμιλίῳ διαλύονται τὴν ξενίαν: καὶ προεῖπεν αὐθημερὸν ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος ἀπιέναι.

  [34.1] Porsena, resenting this attempt, assembled the Tyrrhenians and informed them that after the Romans had appointed him judge of the accusations brought against them by Tarquinius, but before the cause was determined, the exiles justly expelled by the Romans had during a truce been guilty of a lawless attempt upon the inviolable persons both of ambassadors and of hostages; for which reason, he said, the Tyrrhenians now acquitted the Romans of those charges and at the same time renounced all friendly relations with the Tarquinii and Mamilius; and he ordered them to depart that very day from the camp.

  [2] Ταρκύνιοι μὲν οὖν ἐν ἐλπίσι χρησταῖς γενόμενοι κατ᾽ ἀρχάς, ὡς ἢ τυραννήσοντες αὖθις τῆς πόλεως Τυρρηνῶν σφίσι βοηθούντων ἢ τὰ χρήματα κομιούμενοι, διὰ τὴν εἰς τοὺς πρέσβεις καὶ τὰ ὅμηρα παρανομίαν ἀμφοτέρων διαμαρτόντες ἀπῆλθον ἐκ τοῦ

  [2] Thus the Tarquinii, who at first had entertained excellent hopes either of exercising their tyranny again in the city with the assistance of the Tyrrhenians or of getting their property back, were disappointed in both respects in consequence of their lawless attempt against the ambassadors and hostages, and departed from the camp with shame and the detestation of all.

  [3] στρατοπέδου σὺν αἰσχύνῃ τε καὶ μίσει. ὁ δὲ τῶν Τυρρηνῶν βασιλεὺς τὰ ὅμηρα τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα προαχθῆναι κελεύσας ἀποδίδωσι τῷ ὑπάτῳ εἰπών, ὅτι πάσης ὁμηρείας κρείττονα ἡγεῖται τὴν πίστιν τῆς πόλεως. μίαν δὲ παρθένον ἐκ τῶν ὁμήρων, ὑφ᾽ ἧς ἐπείσθησαν αἱ λοιπαὶ διανήξασθαι τὸν ποταμόν, ἐπαινέσας ὡς κρεῖττον ἔχουσαν φρόνημα τῆς τε φύσεως καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας, καὶ τὴν πόλιν μακαρίσας ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ μόνον ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς ἐκτρέφειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρθένους ἀνδράσιν ὁμοίας, δωρεῖται τὴν κόρην ἵππῳ πολεμιστῇ

  [3] Then the king of the Tyrrhenians, ordering the Roman hostages to be brought up to the tribunal, returned them to the consul, saying that he considered the good faith of the commonwealth as worth more than any hostages. And praising one maiden among them, by whom the others had been persuaded to swim across the river, as possessing a spirit superior both to her sex and age, and congratulating the commonwealth for producing not only brave men but also maidens the equals of men, he made her a present of a war-horse adorned with magnificent trappings.

  [4] φαλάροις κεκοσμημένῳ διαπρεπέσι. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τὰ περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ φιλίας ὅρκια πρὸς τοὺς πρέσβεις τῶν Ῥωμαίων ποιησάμενος καὶ ξενίσας αὐτοὺς δῶρα τῇ πόλει φέρεσθαι δίδωσι τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἅπαντας ἄνευ λύτρων συχνοὺς πάνυ ὄντας, καὶ τὸ χωρίον, ἐν ᾧ κατεστρατοπεδευκὼς ἦν, κατεσκευασμένον οὐχ ὡς στρατόπεδον ἐν ξένῃ γῇ πρὸς ὀλίγον [p. 188] καιρόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς πόλιν ἰδίαις τε καὶ δημοσίαις οἰκοδομαῖς ἀποχρώντως, οὐκ ὄντος τοῖς Τυρρηνοῖς ἔθους, ὁπότε ἀναστρατοπεδεύοιεν ἐκ πολεμίας, ὀρθὰς καταλείπειν τὰς κατασκευάς, ἀλλὰ καίειν, οὐ μικρὰν τῇ πόλει χαρισάμενος εἰς χρημάτων λόγον δωρεάν. ἐδήλωσε δ᾽ ἡ πράσις, ἣν ἐποιήσαντο μετὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν

  [4] After the assembly he made a treaty of peace and friendship with the Roman ambassadors, and having entertained them, he returned to them without ransom all the prisoners, who were very numerous, as a present to take to the commonwealth. He also gave them the place where he was encamped, which was not laid out, like a camp, for a short stay in a foreign country, but, like a city, was adequately equipped with buildings both private and public, — though it is not the custom of the Tyrrhenians, when they break camp and quit the enemy’s country, to leave these buildings standing, but to burn them. Thereby he made a present to the commonwealth of no small value in money, as appeared from the sale made by the quaestors after the king’s departure.

  [5] τοῦ βασιλέως οἱ ταμίαι. ὁ μὲν δὴ πόλεμος ὁ συστὰς Ῥωμαίοις πρὸς Ταρκυνίους τε καὶ βασιλέα Κλουσίνων Λάρον Πορσίναν, εἰς κινδύνους μεγάλους ἀγαγὼν τὴν πόλιν τοιούτου τέλους ἔτυχεν.

  [5] Such, then, was the outcome of the Romans’ war with the Tarquinii and Lars Porsena, king of the Clusians, a war which brought the commonwealth into great dangers.

  [1] ἡ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων βουλὴ μετὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν Τυρρηνῶν συνελθοῦσα ἐψηφίσατο Πορσίνᾳ μὲν πέμψαι θρόνον ἐλεφάντινον καὶ σκῆπτρον καὶ στέφανον χρυσοῦν καὶ θριαμβικὴν ἐσθῆτα, ᾗ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐκοσμοῦντο: Μουκίῳ δὲ τῷ προελομένῳ περὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἀποθανεῖν αἰτιωτάτῳ δόξαντι γεγονέναι τῆς καταλύσεως τοῦ πολέμου χώραν ἐκ τῆς δημοσίας δοθῆναι πέραν τοῦ Τεβέριος ποταμοῦ, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ὅνπερ Ὁρατίῳ τῷ πρὸ τῆς γεφύρας ἀγωνισαμένῳ πρότερον, ὅσην ἂν ἀρότρῳ περιλαβεῖν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ δύνηται. [p. 189] οὗτος ὁ χῶρος ἕως τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς χρόνων,

  [35.1] After the departure of the Tyrrhenians the Roman senate voted to send to Porsena a throne of ivory, a sceptre, a crown of gold, and a triumphal robe, which had been the insignia of the kings. And to Mucius, who had resolved to die for his country and was looked upon as the chief instrument in putting an end to the war, they voted that a portion of the public land bey the Ti
ber should be given (just as previously in the case of Horatius, who had fought in front of the bridge), as much, namely, as he could plough round in one day; and this place even to my day is called the Mucian Meadows. These were the rewards they gave to the men.

  [2] Μούκιοι λειμῶνες καλοῦνται. ταῦτα μὲν τοῖς ἀνδράσι: Κλοιλίᾳ δὲ τῇ παρθένῳ στάσιν εἰκόνος χαλκῆς ἔδοσαν, ἣν ἀνέθεσαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἱερᾶς ὁδοῦ τῆς εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν φερούσης οἱ τῶν παρθένων πατέρες. ταύτην ἡμεῖς μὲν οὐκέτι κειμένην εὕρομεν, ἐλέγετο δ᾽ ἐμπρήσεως περὶ

  [2] In honour of Cloelia, the maiden, they ordered a bronze statue to be set up, which was erected accordingly by the fathers of the maidens on the Sacred Way, that leads to the Forum. This statue I found no longer standing; it was said to have been destroyed when a fire broke out in the adjacent houses.

  [3] τὰς πλησίον οἰκίας γενομένης ἠφανίσθαι. κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ὁ νεὼς τοῦ Καπιτωλίου Διὸς εἰς συντέλειαν ἐξειργάσθη, περὶ οὗ τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου δεδήλωκα λόγῳ. τὴν δ᾽ ἀνιέρωσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ἔλαβε Μάρκος Ὁράτιος ὁ ἕτερος τῶν ὑπάτων φθάσας τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ συνάρχοντος. ἐτύγχανε δὲ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον Οὐαλέριος προεξεληλυθὼς μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐπὶ τὴν βοήθειαν τῆς χώρας. ἄρτι γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καταλιπόντων τὰ ἐρύματα καὶ συνιόντων εἰς τοὺς ἀγροὺς λῃστήρια πέμπων Μαμίλιος μεγάλα τοὺς γεωργοὺς ἔβλαπτεν. ταῦτ᾽ ἐπὶ τῆς τρίτης ὑπατείας ἐπράχθη.