[54.1] But the divine Providence, which has on every occasion preserved this city and down to my own times continues to watch over it, brought their plans to light, information being given to Sulpicius, one of the consuls, by two brothers, Publius and Marcus Tarquinius of Laurentum, who were among the heads of the conspiracy and were forced by the compulsion of Heaven to reveal it.
[2] ἐφίσταντο γὰρ αὐτοῖς, ὅτε κοιμηθεῖεν, ὄψεις ὀνείρων φοβεραὶ τιμωρίας ἐπαπειλοῦσαι μεγάλας, εἰ μὴ παύσαιντο καὶ ἀποσταῖεν τῆς ἐπιθέσεως, διώκεσθαί τε ὑπὸ δαιμόνων τινῶν καὶ παίεσθαι καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξορύττεσθαι καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ καὶ σχέτλια πάσχειν τελευτῶντες ἐδόκουν: ὑφ᾽ ὧν περίφοβοι καὶ τρόμῳ παλλόμενοι διηγείροντο καὶ οὐδὲ καθεύδειν διὰ τὰ δείματα ταῦτ᾽ ἐδύναντο.
[2] For frightful visions haunted them in their dreams whenever they slept, threatening them with dire punishments if they did not desist and abandon their attempt; and at last they thought that they were pursued and beaten by some demons, that their eyes were gouged out, and that they suffered many other cruel torments. In consequence of which they would wake with fear and trembling, and they could not even sleep because of these terrors.
[3] κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ἀποτροπαίοις τισὶ καὶ ἐξακεστηρίοις θυσίαις ἐπειρῶντο παραιτεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐνισταμένους σφίσι δαίμονας: ὡς δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινον, ἐπὶ μαντείας ἐτράποντο τὴν μὲν διάνοιαν τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως ἀπόρρητον φυλάττοντες, τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἀξιοῦντες μαθεῖν, εἰ καιρὸς ἤδη πράττειν, ἃ βούλονται. ἀποκριναμένου δὲ τοῦ μάντεως, ὅτι πονηρὰν καὶ ὀλέθριον [p. 220] βαδίζουσιν ὁδὸν καί, εἰ μὴ μεταθήσονται τὰ βουλεύματα, τὸν αἴσχιστον ἀπολοῦνται τρόπον, δείσαντες μὴ φθάσωσιν αὐτοὺς ἕτεροι τὰ κρυπτὰ εἰς φῶς ἐξενέγκαντες, αὐτοὶ μηνυταὶ γίνονται πρὸς τὸν ἐνδημοῦντα 20 τῶν ὑπάτων.
[3] At first they endeavoured, by means of certain propitiatory and expiatory sacrifices, to avert the anger of the demons who haunted them; but accomplishing naught, they had recourse to divination, keeping secret the purpose of their enterprise and asking only to know whether it was yet the time to carry out their plan; and when the soothsayer answered that they were travelling an evil and fatal road, and that if they did not change their plans they would perish in the most shameful manner, fearing lest others should anticipate them in revealing the secret, they themselves gave information of the conspiracy to the consul who was then at Rome.
[4] ὁ δ᾽ ὕπατος ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς καὶ πολλὰ ὑποσχόμενος εὖ ποιήσειν, ἐὰν καὶ τὰ ἔργα ὅμοια τοῖς λόγοις ἐπιδείξωνται, τούτους μὲν ἔνδον παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ κατεῖχεν οὐδενὶ φράσας: τοὺς δὲ τῶν Λατίνων πρέσβεις ἀναβαλλόμενος τέως καὶ παρέλκων τὴν ἀπόκρισιν τότε εἰσαγαγὼν εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον τὰ
[4] He, having commended them and promised them great rewards if they made their actions conform to their words, kept them in his house without telling anyone; and introducing to the senate the ambassadors of the Latins, whom he had hitherto kept putting off, delaying his answer, he now gave them the answer that the senators had decided upon.
[5] δόξαντα τοῖς συνέδροις ἀποκρίνεται πρὸς αὐτούς: ἄνδρες φίλοι τε καὶ συγγενεῖς ἀπαγγέλλετε ἀπιόντες πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Λατίνων, ὅτι Ῥωμαίων ὁ δῆμος οὔτε πρότερον Ταρκυνιήταις ἀξιοῦσιν ἐχαρίσατο τὴν τῶν τυράννων κάθοδον, οὔθ᾽ ὕστερον ἅπασι Τυρρηνοῖς, οὓς ἦγε βασιλεὺς Πορσίνας, ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν δεομένοις καὶ πόλεμον ἐπάγουσιν ἁπάντων πολέμων βαρύτατον ἐνέκλινεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἠνέσχετο γῆν τε κειρομένην ὁρῶν καὶ αὐλὰς ἐμπιπραμένας, τειχήρης γενόμενος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας καὶ τοῦ μηθὲν ὧν μὴ βούλεται πράττειν κελευσθείς: ὑμῶν τ᾽, ὦ Λατῖνοι, τεθαύμακεν, εἰ ταῦτ᾽ εἰδότες οὐδὲν ἧττον δέχεσθαι τοὺς τυράννους καὶ τὴν Φιδήνης πολιορκίαν λύειν ἐπιτάττοντες ἥκετε [p. 221] καὶ μὴ πειθομένοις πόλεμον ἀπειλεῖτε. παύσασθε δὴ ψυχρὰς καὶ ἀπιθάνους τῆς ἔχθρας παραβαλλόμενοι προφάσεις καὶ εἰ διὰ ταῦτα μέλλετε διαλύειν τὸ συγγενὲς καὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἐπικυροῦν, μηθὲν ἔτι ἀναβάλλεσθε.
[5] “Friends and kinsmen,” he said, “go back and report to the Latin nation that the Roman people did not either in the first instance grant the request of the Tarquinienses for the restoration of the tyrants or afterwards yield to all the Tyrrhenians, led by King Porsena, when they interceded in behalf of these same exiles and brought upon the commonwealth the most grievous of all wars, but submitted to seeing their land laid waste, their farm-houses set on fire, and themselves shut up within their walls for the sake of liberty and of not having to act otherwise than they wished at the command of another. And they wonder, Latins, that though you are aware of this, you have nevertheless come to them with orders to receive the tyrants and to raise the siege of Fidenae, and, if they refuse to obey you, threaten them with war. Cease, then, putting forward these stupid and improbable excuses for enmity; and if for these reasons you are determined to dissolve your ties of kinship and to declare war, defer it no longer.”
[1] ταῦτα τοῖς πρέσβεσιν ἀποκρινάμενος καὶ προπέμψας ἐκ τῆς πόλεως μετὰ τοῦτο φράζει τῇ βουλῇ περὶ τῆς ἀπορρήτου συνωμοσίας, ἃ παρὰ τῶν μηνυτῶν ἔμαθε: καὶ λαβὼν ἐξουσίαν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν αὐτοκράτορα τοῦ διερευνήσασθαι τοὺς μετασχόντας τῶν ἀπορρήτων βουλευμάτων καὶ τοῦ κολάσαι τοὺς ἐξευρεθέντας, οὐ τὴν αὐθάδη καὶ τυραννικὴν ἦλθεν ὁδόν, ὡς ἕτερος ἄν τις ἐποίησεν εἰς τοσαύτην κατακλεισθεὶς ἀνάγκην: ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν εὐλόγιστόν τε καὶ ἀσφαλῆ καὶ τῷ σχήματι τῆς καθεστώσης τότε πολιτείας ἀκόλουθον ἐτράπετο.
[55.1] Having given this answer to the ambassadors and ordered them to be conduct out of the city, he then told the senate everything relating to the secret conspiracy which he had learned from the informers. And receiving from the senate full authority to seek out the participants in the conspiracy and to punish those who should be discovered, he did not pursue the arbitrary and tyrannical course that anyone else might have followed under the like necessity, but resorted to the reasonable and safe course that was consistent with the form of government then established.
[2] οὔτε γὰρ ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν συλλαμβανομένους ἄγεσθαι τοὺς πολίτας ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον ἀποσπωμένους ἀπὸ γυναικῶν τε καὶ τέκνων καὶ πατέρων ἐβουλήθη, τόν
τ᾽ οἶκτον ἐνθυμούμενος, οἷος ἔσται τῶν προσηκόντων ἑκάστοις παρὰ τὸν ἀποσπασμὸν τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων καὶ δεδοικώς, μή τινες ἀπονοηθέντες ἐπὶ τὰ ὅπλα τὴν ὁρμὴν λάβωσι, καὶ δι᾽ αἵματος ἐμφυλίου χωρήσῃ τὸ ἀναγκασθὲν παρανομεῖν: οὔτε δικαστήρια καθίζειν αὐτοῖς ᾤετο δεῖν, λογιζόμενος, ὅτι πάντες ἀρνήσονται καὶ οὐθὲν ἔσται βέβαιον τοῖς δικασταῖς τεκμήριον οὐδ᾽ ἀναμφίλεκτον ἔξω τῆς μηνύσεως, ᾧ πιστεύσαντες θάνατον τῶν πολιτῶν καταψηφιοῦνται:
[2] Thus he was unwilling, in the first place, that citizens should be seized in their own houses and haled thence to death, torn from the embraces of their wives, children and parents, but considered the compassion which the relations of the various culprits would feel at the violent snatching away of those who were closest to them, and also feared that some of the guilty, if they were driven to despair, might rush to arms, and those who were forced to turn to illegal methods might engage in civil bloodshed. Nor, again, did he think he ought to appoint tribunals to try them, since he reasoned that they would deny all guilty and that no certain and incontrovertible proof of it, besides the information he had just received, could be laid before the judges to which they would give credit and condemn the citizens to death.
[3] καινὸν δέ τινα [p. 222] τρόπον ἀπάτης ἐξεῦρε τῶν νεωτεριζόντων, δι᾽ οὗ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτοὶ μηδενὸς ἀναγκάζοντες εἰς ἓν χωρίον ἥξουσιν οἱ τῶν ἀπορρήτων βουλευμάτων ἡγεμόνες, ἔπειτ᾽ ἀναμφιλέκτοις ἁλώσονται τεκμηρίοις, ὥστε μηδ᾽ ἀπολογίαν αὐτοῖς καταλείπεσθαι μηδεμίαν, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις οὐκ εἰς ἔρημον συναχθέντες τόπον οὐδ᾽ ἐν ὀλίγοις μάρτυσιν ἐξελεγχθέντες, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀγορᾷ πάντων ὁρώντων γενόμενοι καταφανεῖς ἃ προσήκει πείσονται, ταραχή τ᾽ οὐδεμία γενήσεται κατὰ τὴν πόλιν οὐδ᾽ ἐπαναστάσεις ἑτέρων, οἷα συμβαίνειν φιλεῖ περὶ τὰς κολάσεις τῶν νεωτεριζόντων, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐν ἐπισφαλέσι καιροῖς.
[3] But he devised a new method of outwitting those who were stirring up sedition, a method by which, in the first place, the leaders of the conspiracy would of themselves, without any compulsion, meet in one place, and then would be convicted by incontrovertible proofs, so that they would be left without any defence whatever; furthermore, as they would not then be assembled in an unfrequented place nor convicted before a few witnesses only, but their guilt would be made manifest in the Forum before the eyes of all, they would suffer the punishment they deserved, and there would be no disturbance in the city nor uprisings on the part of others, as often happens when the seditious are punished, particularly in dangerous times.
[1] ἄλλος μὲν οὖν ἄν τις ἀποχρῆν ὑπέλαβεν αὐτὸ τὸ κεφάλαιον εἰπεῖν, ὅτι συλλαβὼν τοὺς μετασχόντας τῶν ἀπορρήτων βουλευμάτων ἀπέκτεινεν, ὡς ὀλίγης τοῖς πράγμασι δηλώσεως δέον: ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς συλλήψεως τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἱστορίας ἄξιον εἶναι νομίσας ἔκρινα μὴ παρελθεῖν, ἐνθυμούμενος ὅτι τοῖς ἀναγινώσκουσι τὰς ἱστορίας οὐχ ἱκανόν ἐστιν εἰς ὠφέλειαν τὸ τέλος αὐτὸ τῶν πραχθέντων ἀκοῦσαι, ἀπαιτεῖ δ᾽ ἕκαστος καὶ τὰς αἰτίας ἱστορῆσαι τῶν γινομένων καὶ τοὺς τρόπους τῶν πράξεων καὶ τὰς διανοίας τῶν πραξάντων καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου συγκυρήσαντα, καὶ μηδενὸς ἀνήκοος γενέσθαι τῶν πεφυκότων τοῖς πράγμασι παρακολουθεῖν: τοῖς δὲ πολιτικοῖς καὶ [p. 223] πάνυ ἀναγκαίαν ὑπάρχουσαν ὁρῶν τὴν τούτων μάθησιν, ἵνα παραδείγμασιν ἔχοιεν πρὸς τὰ συμβαίνοντα χρῆσθαι.
[56.1] Another historian, now, might have thought it sufficient to state merely the gist of this matter, namely, that the consul apprehended those who had taken part in the conspiracy and point them to death, as if the facts needed little explanation. But I, since I regarded the manner also of their apprehension as being worthy of history, decided not to omit it, considering that the readers of histories do not derive sufficient profit from learning the bare outcome of events, but that everyone demands that the causes of events also be related, as well as the ways in which things were done, the motives of those who did them, and the instances of divine intervention, and that they be left uninformed of none of the circumstances that naturally attend those events. And for statesmen I perceive that the knowledge of these things is absolutely necessary, to the end that they may have precedents for their use in the various situations that arise.
[2] ἦν δ᾽ ὁ τρόπος τῆς συλλήψεως τῶν συνωμοτῶν, ὃν ἐξεῦρεν ὁ ὕπατος, τοιόσδε. τῶν μετεχόντων τοῦ βουλευτικοῦ συνεδρίου τοὺς ἀκμαιοτάτους ἐπιλεξάμενος ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοῖς, ὅταν λάβωσι τὸ σύνθημα μετὰ τῶν πιστοτάτων φίλων τε καὶ συγγενῶν τοὺς ἐρυμνοὺς τῆς πόλεως καταλαβέσθαι τόπους, ἐν οἷς ἐτύγχανον ἕκαστοι τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχοντες: τοῖς θ᾽ ἱππεῦσι προεῖπεν ἐν ταῖς ἐπιτηδειοτάταις τῶν περὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν οἰκιῶν περιμένειν ἔχουσι ξίφη καὶ ποιεῖν, ὅ τι ἂν αὐτοῖς κελεύῃ.
[2] Now the manner of apprehending the conspirators devised by the consul was this: From among the senators he selected those who were in the vigour of their age and ordered that, as soon as the signal should be given, they, together with their most trusted friends and relations, should seize the strong places of the city where each of them chanced to dwell; and the knights he commanded to wait, equipped with their swords, in the most convenient houses round the Forum and to do whatever he should command.
[3] ἵνα δὲ μηθὲν ἐν τῇ συλλήψει τῶν πολιτῶν νεωτερίσωσιν οἱ προσήκοντες αὐτοῖς ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινὲς πολιτῶν μηδ᾽ ἐμφύλιοι διὰ τὴν ταραχὴν ταύτην γένωνται φόνοι, γράμματα πέμψας πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς πολιορκίας τῆς Φιδηναίων τεταγμένον ὕπατον ἐκέλευσεν ἀρχομένης τῆς νυκτὸς ἄγοντα τὸ κράτιστον τῆς στρατιᾶς ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ πλησίον τοῦ τείχους ἐν ὀρεινῷ τόπῳ θέσθαι τὰ ὅπλα.
[3] And to the end that, while he was apprehending the citizens, neither their relations nor any of the other citizens should create a disturbance and that there might be no civil bloodshed by reason of this commotion, he sent a letter to the consul who had been appointed to conduct the siege of Fidenae, bidding him come to the city at the beginning of night with the flower of his army and to encamp upon a height near the walls.
[1] παρασκευασάμενος δὲ ταῦτα τοῖς μηνύσασι τὴν πρᾶξιν εἶπε ..., πρὸς τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τῶν συνωμοτῶν ἥκειν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν περὶ μέσ
ας νύκτας, ἄγοντας οἷς μάλιστα πιστεύουσι τῶν ἑταίρων, ὡς ἐκεῖ τάξιν τε καὶ χώραν καὶ σύνθημα ληψομένους, καὶ ἃ δεῖ [p. 224] πράττειν ἑκάστους ἀκούσοντας. ἐγίγνετο ταῦτα: καὶ ἐπειδὴ συνήχθησαν οἱ προεστηκότες τῶν ἑταίρων ἅπαντες εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν, διὰ συνθημάτων ἀδήλων ἐκείνοις εὐθὺς αἵ τε ἄκραι πλήρεις ἐγίγνοντο τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἀνειληφότων τὰ ὅπλα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν ὑπὸ τῶν ἱππέων ἐφρουρεῖτο κύκλῳ, μία τε οὐ κατελείπετο τοῖς ἀπιέναι βουλομένοις ἔξοδος.
[57.1] Having made these preparations, he ordered those who had given information of the plot to send word to the heads of the conspiracy to come to the Forum about midnight bringing with them their most trusted friends, there to learn their appointed place and station and the watch-word and what each of them was to do. This was done. And when all the leaders among the conspirators had assembled in the Forum, signals, not perceived by them, were given, and immediately the heights were filling with men who had taken up arms in defence of the state and all the parts round the Forum were under guard by the knights, not a single outlet being left for any who might desire to leave.
[2] καὶ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ὁ ἕτερος τῶν ὑπάτων Μάνιος ἀπὸ τῆς Φιδήνης ἀναστὰς παρῆν εἰς τὸ πεδίον ἄγων τὴν δύναμιν. ὡς δ᾽ ἡμέρα τάχιστα διέλαμψεν, ὁπλίτας περὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἔχοντες οἱ ὕπατοι προῆλθον ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα: καὶ διὰ πάντων τῶν στενωπῶν τοῖς κήρυξι περιαγγεῖλαι κελεύσαντες ἥκειν τὸν δῆμον εἰς ἐκκλησίαν, παντὸς τοῦ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ὄχλου συνδραμόντος, δηλοῦσί τε αὐτοῖς τὴν γενομένην ἐπὶ τῇ καθόδῳ τοῦ τυράννου συνωμοσίαν καὶ τοὺς μηνυτὰς ἀναβιβάζονται.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 541