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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [2] And while he himself with the solid ranks of the foot followed at a normal pace, he sent ahead in all haste his legate, Spurius Larcius, who had been consul the year before, together with all the horse. Larcius, urging the horse forward at full speed, crossed the river with ease, as no one opposed him, and riding past the right wing of the enemy, charged the Sabine horse in fact; and there and then occurred a severe battle between the horse on both sides, who fought hand-to-hand for a long time.

  [3] ἐν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ὁ Ποστόμιος τοὺς πεζοὺς ἄγων πλησίον αὐτῶν ἐγίνετο: καὶ συρράξας τοῖς πεζοῖς ἀποκτείνει τε πολλοὺς μαχομένους καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐξωθεῖ τῆς τάξεως. εἰ δὲ μὴ νὺξ ἐπέλαβεν, ἅπαντες ἂν οἱ Σαβῖνοι κυκλωθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱπποκρατούντων ἤδη πανσυδὶ διεφθάρησαν. νῦν δὲ τὸ σκότος τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐκ τῆς μάχης ὄντας ἀνόπλους καὶ οὐ πολλοὺς [p. 195] ἐρρύσατο καὶ διέσωσεν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα. τῆς δὲ παρεμβολῆς αὐτῶν οἱ ὕπατοι χωρὶς ἀγῶνος ἐκράτησαν ἐκλειφθείσης ὑπὸ τῶν ἔνδον ἅμα τῷ θεάσασθαι τὴν τροπὴν τῶν σφετέρων: ἐξ ἧς πολλὰς ὠφελείας λαβόντες, ἃς τοῖς στρατιώταις ἄγειν τε καὶ φέρειν ἐπέτρεψαν,

  [3] In the mean time Postumius also drew near the combatants with the foot, and attacking that of the enemy, killed many in the conflict and threw the rest into confusion. And if night had not intervened, the whole army of the Sabines, being surrounded by the Romans, who had now become superior in horse, would have been totally destroyed. But as it was, the darkness saved those who fled from the battle unarmed and few in number, and brought them home in safety. The consuls, without meeting any resistance, made themselves masters of their camp, which had been abandoned by the troops inside as soon as they saw the rout of their own army; and, capturing much booty there, which they permitted the soldiers to drive or carry away, they returned home with their forces.

  [4] ἀπῆγον ἐπ᾽ οἴκου τὰς δυνάμεις. τότε πρῶτον ἡ πόλις ἀναλαβοῦσα ἑαυτὴν ἐκ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πταίσματος εἰς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀποκατέστη φρόνημα, καὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας τῶν περιοίκων ὡς πρότερον ἐθάρρησεν ἀντιποιεῖσθαι, καὶ ψηφίζεται κοινῇ μὲν ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς ὑπάτοις θριάμβου καταγωγήν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ θατέρῳ τῶν ἀνδρῶν Οὐαλερίῳ δωρεὰν τόπον εἰς οἴκησιν ἐν τῷ κρατίστῳ τοῦ Παλλαντίου τόπῳ δοθῆναι, καὶ τὰς εἰς τὴν κατασκευὴν δαπάνας ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου χορηγεῖσθαι. ταύτης τῆς οἰκίας, παρ᾽ ἣν ὁ χαλκοῦς ἕστηκε ταῦρος, αἱ κλισιάδες θύραι μόναι τῶν ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ δημοσίων τε καὶ ἰδιωτικῶν οἴκων εἰς τὸ ἔξω μέρος ἀνοίγονται.

  [4] Then for the first time the commonwealth, recovering from the defeat received at the hands of the Tyrrhenians, recovered its former spirit and dared as before to aim at the supremacy over its neighbours. The Romans decreed a triumph jointly to both the consuls, and, as a special gratification to one of them, Valerius, ordered that a site should be given him for his habitation on the best part of the Palatine Hill and that the cost of the building should be defrayed from the public treasury. The folding doors of this house, near which stands the brazen bull, are the only doors in Rome either of public or private buildings that open outwards.

  [1] παρὰ δὲ τούτων ἐκδέχονται τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὴν ὕπατον ἀρχὴν Πόπλιος Οὐαλέριος ὁ κληθεὶς Ποπλικόλας τὸ τέταρτον ἄρχειν αἱρεθεὶς καὶ Τῖτος Λουκρήτιος τὸ δεύτερον τῷ Οὐαλερίῳ συνάρχων. ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἅπαντες οἱ Σαβῖνοι κοινὴν ποιησάμενοι τῶν πόλεων ἀγορὰν ἐψηφίσαντο Ῥωμαίοις πολεμεῖν, ὡς λελυμένων σφίσι τῶν σπονδῶν, ἐπειδὴ βασιλεὺς Ταρκύνιος ἐξέπεσε τῆς ἀρχῆς, πρὸς ὃν ἐποιήσαντο τοὺς ὅρκους:

  [40.1] These men were succeeded in the consulship by Publius Valerius, surnamed Publicola, chosen to hold the office for the fourth time, and Titus Lucretius, now colleague to Valerius for the second time. In their consulship all the Sabines, holding a general assembly of their cities, resolved upon a war against the Romans, alleging that the treaty they had made with them was dissolved, since Tarquinius, to whom they had sworn their oaths, had been driven from power.

  [2] πεισθέντες ὑπὸ Σέξτου θατέρου τῶν Ταρκυνίου παίδων, [p. 196] ὃς αὐτοὺς ἰδίᾳ θεραπεύων καὶ λιπαρῶν τοὺς δυνατοὺς ἐξ ἑκάστης πόλεως ἐξεπολέμωσε κοινῇ πρὸς πάντας καὶ προσηγάγετο δύο πόλεις, Φιδήνην καὶ Καμερίαν, Ῥωμαίων μὲν ἀποστήσας, ἐκείνοις δὲ συμμαχεῖν πείσας: ἀνθ᾽ ὧν αὐτὸν αἱροῦνται στρατηγὸν αὐτοκράτορα καὶ δυνάμεις ἐπιτρέπουσιν ἐξ ἁπάσης πόλεως καταγράφειν, ὡς ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ μάχῃ δι᾽ ἀσθένειαν δυνάμεως καὶ στρατηγοῦ μωρίαν σφαλέντες.

  [2] They had been induced to take this step by Sextus, one of the sons of Tarquinius, who by privately courting them and importuning the influential men in each city had roused them all to united hostility against the Romans, and had won over two cities, Fidenae and Cameria, detaching them from the Romans and persuading them to become allies of the Sabines. In return for these services they appointed him general with absolute power and gave him leave to raise forces in every city, looking upon the defeat they had received in the last engagement as due to the weakness of their army and the stupidity of their general.

  [3] οἱ μὲν δὴ περὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἦσαν: τύχη δέ τις ἐξισῶσαι βουλομένη ταῖς βλάβαις τῶν Ῥωμαίων τὰς ὠφελείας ἀντὶ τῶν καταλιπόντων αὐτοὺς συμμάχων ἑτέραν οὐκ ἠλπισμένην ἐκ τῶν πολεμίων βοήθειαν προσέθηκε τοιάνδε. ἀνήρ τις ἐκ τοῦ Σαβίνων ἔθνους πόλιν οἰκῶν Ῥήγιλλον εὐγενὴς καὶ χρήμασι δυνατὸς Τῖτος Κλαύδιος, αὐτομολεῖ πρὸς αὐτοὺς συγγένειάν τε μεγάλην ἐπαγόμενος καὶ φίλους καὶ πελάτας συχνοὺς αὐτοῖς μεταναστάντας ἐφεστίοις, οὐκ ἐλάττους πεντακισχιλίων τοὺς ὅπλα φέρειν δυναμένους. ἡ δὲ καταλαβοῦσα αὐτὸν ἀνάγκη μετενέγκασθαι τὴν οἴκησιν εἰς Ῥώμην τοιαύτη 15 λέγεται γενέσθαι.

  [3] While they were employed in these preparations, some good fortune, designing to balance the losses of the Romans with corresponding advantages, gave them, in place of the allies who had deserted them, an unexpected accession of strength from among their enemies, of the following nature: A certain man of the Sabine nation who lived in a city called Regillum, a man of good family and influential for his wealth, Titus Claudius by name, deserted to them, bringing with him many kinsmen and friends and a great number of clients, who removed with their whole households, not less than five hundred in all who were able to bear arms. The reason that compelled him to remove to Rome i
s said to have been this:

  [4] οἱ δυναστεύοντες ἐν ταῖς ἐπιφανεστάταις πόλεσιν ἀλλοτρίως ἔχοντες πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς εἰς τὰ κοινὰ φιλοτιμίας, εἰς δίκην αὐτὸν ὑπῆγον αἰτιασάμενοι προδοσίαν, ὅτι τὸν κατὰ Ῥωμαίων πόλεμον ἐκφέρειν οὐκ ἦν πρόθυμος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ κοινῷ μόνος ἀντέλεγε τοῖς ἀξιοῦσι τὰς σπονδὰς λελύσθαι, [p. 197] καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ πολίτας οὐκ εἴα κύρια εἶναι τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἡγεῖσθαι. ταύτην ὀρρωδῶν τὴν δίκην:

  [4] The men in power in the principal cities, being hostile to him because of their political rivalry, were bringing him to trial on a charge of treason, because he was not eager to make war against the Romans, but both in the general assembly alone opposed those who maintained that the treaty was dissolved, and would not permit the citizens of his own town to regard as valid the decrees which had been passed by the rest of the nation.

  [5] ἔδει γὰρ αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων δικασθῆναι πόλεων: ἀναλαβὼν τὰ χρήματα καὶ τοὺς φίλους τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις προστίθεται ῥοπήν τ᾽ οὐ μικρὰν εἰς τὰ πράγματα παρέσχε καὶ τοῦ κατορθωθῆναι τόνδε τὸν πόλεμον ἁπάντων ἔδοξεν αἰτιώτατος γενέσθαι: ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος εἴς τε τοὺς πατρικίους αὐτὸν ἐνέγραψε καὶ τῆς πόλεως μοῖραν εἴασεν ὅσην ἐβούλετο λαβεῖν εἰς κατασκευὴν οἰκιῶν χώραν τ᾽ αὐτῷ προσέθηκεν ἐκ τῆς δημοσίας τὴν μεταξὺ Φιδήνης καὶ Πικετίας, ὡς ἔχοι διανεῖμαι κλήρους ἅπασι τοῖς περὶ αὐτόν, ἀφ᾽: ὧν καὶ φυλή τις ἐγένετο σὺν χρόνῳ Κλαυδία καλουμένη καὶ μέχρις ἐμοῦ διέμεινε τὸ αὐτὸ φυλάττουσα ὄνομα.

  [5] Dreading this trial, then, (for it was to be conduct by the other cities), he took his goods and his friends and came over to the Romans; and by adding no small weight to their cause he was looked upon as the principal instrument in the success of this war. In consideration of this, the senate and people enrolled him among the patricians and gave him leave to take as large a portion of the city as he wished for building houses; they also granted to him from the public land the region that lay between Fidenae and Picetia, so that he could give allotments to all his followers. Out of these Sabines was formed in the course of time a tribe called the Claudian tribe, a name which it continued to preserve down to my time.

  [1] ἐπεὶ δὲ παρεσκεύαστο ἅπαντα ἀμφοτέροις, πρῶτον μὲν ἐξῆγον οἱ Σαβῖνοι τὰς δυνάμεις καὶ ποιοῦνται δύο παρεμβολὰς μίαν μὲν ὕπαιθρον οὐ πρόσω Φιδήνης, ἑτέραν δ᾽ ἐν αὐτῇ Φιδήνῃ φυλακῆς τε τῶν ἔνδον ἕνεκα καὶ καταφυγῆς τῶν ἔξω στρατοπεδευόντων, ἄν τι γένηται πταῖσμα περὶ αὐτούς. ἔπειτα οἱ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὕπατοι μαθόντες τὴν τῶν Σαβίνων ἐπὶ σφᾶς ἔλασιν καὶ αὐτοὶ πάντας ἄγοντες τοὺς ἐν ἀκμῇ στρατοπεδεύονται χωρὶς ἀλλήλων, Οὐαλέριος μὲν ἀγχοῦ τῆς ὑπαίθρου τῶν Σαβίνων παρεμβολῆς, Λουκρήτιος

  [41.1] After all the necessary preparations had been made on both sides, the Sabines first led out their forces and formed two camps, one of which was in the open not far from Fidenae, and the other in Fidenae itself, to serve both as a guard for the citizens and as a refuge for those who lay encamped without the city, in case any disaster should befall them. Then, when the Roman consuls learned of the Sabines’ expedition against them, they too led out all their men of military age and encamped apart from each other, Valerius near the camp of the Sabines that lay in the open, and Lucretius not far distant, upon a hill from which the other camp was clearly in view.

  [2] δ᾽ ὀλίγον ἄπωθεν ἐπ᾽ ὄχθου τινός, ὅθεν ἦν ὁ ἕτερος χάραξ καταφανής. ἡ μὲν οὖν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὑπόληψις [p. 198] ἦν συμβαλεῖν τοῖς πολεμίοις αὐτίκα, ὡς ἐν ἀγῶνι φανερῷ τοῦ πολέμου ταχείαν ἕξοντος τὴν κρίσιν, ὁ δὲ τῶν Σαβίνων στρατηγὸς ὀρρωδῶν ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ συμφέρεσθαι πρὸς εὐτολμίαν τε καὶ καρτερίαν ἀνθρώπων ἅπαντα τὰ δεινὰ ὑπομένειν ἑτοίμων νύκτωρ ἐπιχειρεῖν αὐτοῖς ἔγνω:

  [2] It was the opinion of the Romans that the fate of the war would quickly be decided by an open battle; but the general of the Sabines, dreading to engage openly against the boldness and constancy of men prepared to face every danger, resolved to attack them by night,

  [3] καὶ παρασκευασάμενος τάφρου τε χώσει καὶ χάρακος ἐπιβάσει ἃ πρόσφορα εἶναι ἔμελλεν, ἐπειδὴ πάντα ἐγένετο τὰ πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα εὐτρεπῆ, μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον ὕπνον ἀναστήσας τὸ κράτιστον τοῦ στρατοῦ μέρος ἄξειν ἐπὶ τὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἔμελλεν ἔρυμα, τοῖς τ᾽ ἐν Φιδήνῃ κατεστρατοπεδευκόσι παρήγγειλεν, ἐπειδὰν ἐξεληλυθότας αἴσθωνται τοὺς σφετέρους ἐξιέναι καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως κούφῃ ἐσταλμένους ὁπλίσει: ἔπειτα λοχήσαντας ἐν χωρίοις ἐπιτηδείοις ἐκέλευσεν, εἴ τινες ἐπίκουροι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Οὐαλέριον ἐκ τῆς ἑτέρας στρατιᾶς ἐπίοιεν, ἀναστάντας καὶ κατὰ νώτου γενομένους σὺν βοῇ τε καὶ πατάγῳ πολλῷ χωρεῖν ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς.

  [3] and having prepared everything that would be of use for filling up the ditch and scaling the wall, he was intending, now that all was in readiness for the attack, to rouse up the flower of his army after the first watch and lead them against the entrenchments of the Romans. He also gave notice to the troops encamped in Fidenae that, as soon as they perceived that their comrades were come out of the camp, they also should march out of the city, with light equipment; and then, after setting ambuscades in suitable places, if any reinforcements should come to Valerius from the other army, they were to rise up and, getting behind them, attack them with shouts and a great din.

  [4] ὁ μὲν δὴ Σέξτος ταῦτα βουλευσάμενος καὶ τοῖς λοχαγοῖς φράσας, ἐπειδὴ κἀκείνοις ἦν βουλομένοις, περιέμεινε τὸν καιρόν: αὐτόμολος δέ τις ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν χάρακα τῶν Ῥωμαίων μηνύει τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν ὕπατον, καὶ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ τῶν ἱππέων τινὲς ἧκον ἄγοντες αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Σαβίνων, οὓς ἐπὶ ξυλισμὸν ἐξεληλυθότας συνέλαβον. οὗτοι χωρὶς ἀλλήλων ἀνακρινόμενοι, τί παρασκευάζεται: πράττειν [p. 199] σφῶν αὐτῶν ὁ στρατηγός, λέγουσιν, ὅτι κλίμακας τεκταίνεται καὶ διαβάθρας: ὅπου δ᾽ αὐταῖς καὶ ὁπότε μέλλοι χρῆσθαι, οὐκ ἔφασαν εἰδέναι.

  [4] This was the plan of Sextus, who communicated it to his centurions; and when they also approved o
f it, he waited for the proper moment. But a deserter came to the Roman camp and informed the consul of the plan, and a little later a party of horse came in bringing some Sabine prisoners who had been captured while they were out to get wood. These, upon being questioned separately as to what their general was preparing to do, said that he was ordering ladders and gang-boards to be constructed; but where and when he proposed to make use of them, they professed not to know.

  [5] ταῦτα μαθὼν ὁ Οὐαλέριος ἀποστέλλει τὸν πρεσβευτὴν Λάρκιον εἰς τὸν ἕτερον χάρακα τήν τε διάνοιαν τῶν πολεμίων ἀπαγγελοῦντα τῷ κατέχοντι τὴν παρεμβολὴν ἐκείνην Λουκρητίῳ, καὶ τίνα χρὴ τρόπον ἐπιχειρεῖν τοῖς πολεμίοις ὑποθησόμενον: αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς ταξιάρχους καὶ λοχαγοὺς καλέσας καὶ φράσας ὅσα τοῦ τ᾽ αὐτομόλου καὶ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἤκουσε καὶ παρακαλέσας ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι καιρὸν εἰληφέναι νομίσαντας εὐχῆς ἄξιον, ἐν ᾧ δίκας λήψονται παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν καλάς, ἅ τε δέοι πράττειν ἑκάστοις ὑποθέμενος καὶ τὸ σύνθημα δοὺς ἀπέλυσεν ἐπὶ τὰς τάξεις.