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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [2] This, however, the people would not permit; but the tribunes, having assembled them and paid lengthy tributes to the achievements of Agrippa in both war and peace, lauding to the highest degree his moderation and his frugal manner of life, and, above all, his refraining from amassing riches, said it would be the most dishonourable thing imaginable that such a man should be buried in an obscure and humble manner by reason of his poverty; and they advised the people to take the expense of his funeral upon themselves and every man to contribute towards it such an amount as they, the tribunes, should assess.

  [3] τάξωσι. τοῖς δ᾽ ἀκούσασιν ἄσμενον ἐγένετο, καὶ αὐτίκα φέροντος ἑκάστου τὸ ταχθὲν πολύ τι χρῆμα συνήχθη διαφόρου. μαθοῦσα δὲ τοῦθ᾽ ἡ βουλὴ δι᾽ αἰσχύνης τὸ πρᾶγμα ἔλαβε καὶ ἔκρινε μὴ κατ᾽ ἄνδρα ἐρανισμῷ τὸν ἐπιφανέστατον Ῥωμαίων περιιδεῖν θαπτόμενον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων ἐδικαίωσε τὸ ἀνάλωμα γενέσθαι τοῖς ταμίαις ἐπιτρέψασα τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν. οἱ δὲ πολλῶν πάνυ μισθώσαντες χρημάτων τὰς παροχὰς κόσμῳ τε πολυτελεστάτῳ κοσμήσαντες αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα καὶ πάντα τὰ λοιπὰ ἐπιχορηγήσαντες εἰς μεγαλοπρέπειαν ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἀξίως τῆς ἀρετῆς.

  [3] His audience gladly heard this proposal, and when each man had presently contributed the amount he was assessed, a large sum was collected. The senate, being informed of this, was ashamed of the business and resolved not to allow the most illustrious of all the Romans to be buried by private contributions, but thought it fitting that the expense should be defrayed from the public funds; and it entrusted the care of the matter to the quaestors. These let the contract for the furnishing of his funeral for a very large sum of money; and having arrayed his body in the most sumptuous manner, and furnished everything else that could tend to magnificence, they buried him in a manner worthy of his virtue.

  [4] ἀντιφιλοτιμούμενος δ᾽ ὁ δῆμος πρὸς τὴν βουλὴν οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς ἠξίωσε τὸ συνεισενεχθὲν διάφορον ἀποδιδόντων τῶν ταμιῶν ἀπολαβεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐχαρίσατο τοῖς παισὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς οἰκτείρων τὴν ἀπορίαν, ἵνα μηδὲν ἀνάξιον ἐπιτηδεύσωσι [p. 408] τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἀρετῆς. ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ τίμησις ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ διὰ τῶν ὑπάτων: ἐξ ἧς εὑρέθησαν ὑπὲρ ἕνδεκα πάντων μυριάδες αἱ τιμησάμεναι. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς τούτων ὑπατείας πραχθέντα Ῥωμαίοις ταῦτ᾽ ἦν

  [4] Thereupon the people, in emulation of the senate, refused on their part to receive back the sum they had contributed, when the quaestors offered to return it, but presented it to the children of the deceased in compassion for their poverty and to prevent them from engaging in any pursuits unworthy of their father’s virtue. There was also a census taken at this time by the consuls, according to which the number of the citizens who registered was found to amount to more than 110,000.

  These were the acts of the Romans in this consulship.

  BOOK VII

  [1] Τίτου δὲ Γεγανίου Μακερίνου καὶ Ποπλίου Μηνυκίου τὴν ὕπατον ἐξουσίαν παραλαβόντων σίτου σπάνις ἰσχυρὰ τὴν Ῥώμην κατέσχεν ἐκ τῆς ἀποστάσεως λαβοῦσα τὴν ἀρχήν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ δῆμος ἀπέστη τῶν πατρικίων μετὰ τὴν μετοπωρινὴν ἰσημερίαν ὑπ᾽ αὐτὴν μάλιστα τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ σπόρου: ἐξέλιπον δὲ τὴν χώραν οἱ γεωργοῦντες ἅμα τῇ κινήσει καὶ διέστησαν οἱ μὲν εὐχερέστεροι πρὸς τοὺς πατρικίους, τὸ δὲ θητικὸν μέρος ὡς τοὺς δημοτικούς: καὶ διέμειναν ἐξ ἐκείνου χωρὶς ἀλλήλων ὄντες, ἕως οὗ κατέστη καὶ συνῆλθεν ἡ πόλις εἰς ἑαυτὴν οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον διαλλαγεῖσα τῆς [p. 2]

  [1.1] After Titus Geganius Macerinus and Publius Minucius had entered upon their consulship, Rome suffered from a great scarcity of corn, which had its origin in the secession. For the populace seceded from the patricians after the autumnal equinox, just about the beginning of seed-time, and the husbandmen left their farms at the time of this uprising and divided, the more prosperous joining the patricians, while the labourers went over to the plebeians; and from that time the two classes remained aloof from each other till the commonwealth was composed and reunited, the reconciliation being effected not long before the winter solstice.

  [2] χειμερινῆς τροπῆς. τὸν δὲ μεταξὺ χρόνον, ἐν ᾧ ὁ πᾶς ἐπιτελεῖται σπόρος ὡραῖος, ἔρημος ἡ χώρα τῶν ἐπιμελησομένων ἦν καὶ ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον διετέλεσεν, ὥστε μηδὲ κατελθοῦσι τοῖς γεωργοῖς ἀναλαβεῖν αὐτὴν ἔτι ῥᾴδιον εἶναι δούλων τ᾽ ἀποστάσει καὶ κτηνῶν ὀλέθρῳ, μεθ᾽ ὧν αὐτὴν ἔμελλον ἐργάζεσθαι κεκακωμένην, ἀφορμῆς τ᾽ οὐ πολλοῖς εἰς τὸν ἐπιόντα ἐνιαυτὸν ὑπαρχούσης οὔτε σπερμάτων οὔτε τροφῆς.

  [2] During that interval, which is the season in which all pointing of corn is best done, the land was destitute of people to cultivate it, and remained so for a long time. So that even when the husbandmen returned, it was no longer easy for them to bring it back under cultivation, inasmuch as it had suffered both from the desertion of slaves and the loss of animals with which they were to cultivate it, and as few of the husbandmen had any store of grain on hand for the next year for either seed or food.

  [3] ταῦθ᾽ ἡ βουλὴ μαθοῦσα πρέσβεις διεπέμπετο πρὸς Τυρρηνοὺς καὶ Καμπανοὺς καὶ τὸ καλούμενον Πωμεντῖνον πεδίον σῖτον ὅσον ἂν δύναιντο πλεῖστον ὠνησομένους: Πόπλιος δὲ Οὐαλέριος καὶ Λεύκιος Γεγάνιος εἰς Σικελίαν ἀπεστάλησαν, Οὐαλέριος μὲν υἱὸς ὢν Ποπλικόλα, Γεγάνιος δὲ θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων ἀδελφός.

  [3] The senate, being informed of this, sent ambassadors to the Tyrrhenians and to the Campanians and also to the Pomptine plain, as it is called, to buy up all the corn they could, while Publius Valerius and Lucius Geganius were sent to Sicily; Valerius was a son of Publicola, and Geganius was brother to one of the consuls.

  [4] τύραννοι δὲ τότε κατὰ πόλεις μὲν ἦσαν, ἐπιφανέστατος δὲ Γέλων ὁ Δεινομένους νεωστὶ τὴν Ἱπποκράτους τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τυραννίδα παρειληφώς, οὐχὶ Διονύσιος ὁ Συρακούσιος, ὡς Λικίννιος γέγραφε καὶ Γέλλιος καὶ ἄλλοι συχνοὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων συγγραφέων οὐθὲν ἐξητακότες τῶν περὶ τοὺς χρόνους ἀκριβῶς, ὡς αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τοὖργον, ἀλλ᾽ εἰκῆ τὸ προστυχὸν ἀποφαινόμενοι.

  [4] Tyrants ruled in the various cities at that time, and the most illustrious was Gelon, the son of Deinomenes, who had lately succeeded to the tyranny of Hippocrates, — not Dionysius of Syracuse, as Licinius and Gellius and many others of the Roman historians have stated, without having made any careful investigation of the dates involved, as the facts show o
f themselves, but rashly relating the first account that offered itself.

  [5] ἡ μὲν γὰρ εἰς Σικελίαν ἀποδειχθεῖσα πρεσβεία κατὰ τὸν δεύτερον ἐνιαυτὸν τῆς ἑβδομηκοστῆς καὶ δευτέρας ὀλυμπιάδος ἐξέπλευσεν ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Ὑβριλίδου, ἑπτακαίδεκα διελθόντων ἐτῶν μετὰ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τῶν βασιλέων, ὡς οὗτοί τε καὶ [p. 3] οἱ ἄλλοι σχεδὸν ἅπαντες συγγραφεῖς ὁμολογοῦσι: Διονύσιος δ᾽ ὁ πρεσβύτερος ὀγδοηκοστῷ καὶ πέμπτῳ μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἔτει Συρακουσίοις ἐπαναστὰς κατέσχε τὴν τυραννίδα κατὰ τὸν τρίτον ἐνιαυτὸν τῆς ἐνενηκοστῆς καὶ τρίτης ὀλυμπιάδος ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησι Καλλίου τοῦ μετ᾽

  [5] For the embassy appointed to go to Sicily set sail in the second year of the seventy-second Olympiad, when Hybrilides was archon at Athens, seventeen years after the expulsion of the kings, as these and almost all the other historians agree; whereas Dionysius the Elder, having made an uprising against the Syracusans in the eighty-fifth year after this, possessed himself of the tyranny in the third year of the ninety-third Olympiad, Callias, the successor of Antigenes, being then archon at Athens.

  [6] Ἀντιγένη. ὀλίγοις μὲν οὖν ἔτεσι διαμαρτεῖν τῶν χρόνων δοίη τις ἂν ἱστορικοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἀρχαίας καὶ πολυετεῖς συνταττομένοις πραγματείας, γενεαῖς δὲ δυσὶν ἢ τρισὶν ὅλαις ἀποπλανηθῆναι τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἂν ἐπιτρέψειεν. ἀλλ᾽ ἔοικεν ὁ πρῶτος ἐν ταῖς ὡρογραφίαις τοῦτο καταχωρίσας, ᾧ πάντες ἠκολούθησαν οἱ λοιποί, τοσοῦτο μόνον ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαίαις εὑρὼν ἀναγραφαῖς, ὅτι πρέσβεις ἀπεστάλησαν ἐπὶ τούτων τῶν ὑπάτων εἰς Σικελίαν σῖτον ὠνησόμενοι καὶ παρῆσαν ἐκεῖθεν ἄγοντες ἣν ὁ τύραννος ἔδωκε δωρεάν, οὐκέτι μὴν παρὰ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἐξετάσαι συγγραφέων, ὅστις ἦν τύραννος τότε Σικελίας, ἀβασανίστως δέ πως καὶ κατὰ τὸ προστυχὸν θεῖναι τὸν Διονύσιον.

  [6] Now an error of a few years in their dates might be allowed to historians who are composing works dealing with ancient events extending over many years, but a deviation from the truth by two or three generations would not be permissible. But it is probable that the first writer to record this event in his annals — whom all the rest then followed — finding in the ancient records only this, that ambassadors were sent under these consuls to Sicily to buy corn and returned from thence with the present of corn which the tyrant had given them, did not proceed further to discover from the Greek historians who was tyrant of Sicily at that time, but without examination and at random set down Dionysius.

  [1] οἱ μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ Σικελίας πλέοντες πρέσβεις χειμῶνι χρησάμενοι κατὰ θάλατταν καὶ κύκλῳ τὴν νῆσον περιπλεῖν ἀναγκασθέντες χρόνιοί τε κατήχθησαν πρὸς τὸν τύραννον, καὶ τὴν χειμερινὴν ἐκεῖ διατρίψαντες ὥραν μετὰ θέρος ἐπανῆλθον εἰς Ἰταλίαν πολλὰς κομίζοντες ἀγοράς.

  [2.1] The ambassadors who were sailing to Sicily, having met with a storm at sea and being obliged to sail round the island, were a long time in reaching the tyrant; then, after spending the winter season there, they returned to Italy in the summer bringing with them a great quantity of provisions.

  [2] οἱ δ᾽ εἰς τὸ Πωμεντῖνον ἀποσταλέντες πεδίον ὀλίγου μὲν ἐδέησαν ὡς κατάσκοποι πρὸς τῶν Οὐολούσκων ἀναιρεθῆναι διαβληθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ [p. 4] Ῥώμης φυγάδων, χαλεπῶς δὲ πάνυ διὰ τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἰδιοξένων αὐτὰ διασῶσαι δυνηθέντες τὰ σώματα, δίχα τῶν χρημάτων ἀνέστρεψαν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἄπρακτοι.

  [2] But those who had been sent to the Pomptine plain came very near being put to death by the Volscians as spies, the Roman exiles having accused them of being such. And having with very great difficulty been able to escape with their lives, through the zealous efforts of their personal friends there, they returned to Rome without their funds and without having effected anything.

  [3] ὅμοια δὲ τούτοις συνέβη παθεῖν καὶ τοῖς εἰς τὴν Ἰταλιῶτιν ἀφικομένοις Κύμην. καὶ γὰρ αὐτόθι πολλοὶ Ῥωμαίων διατρίβοντες, οἱ σὺν τῷ βασιλεῖ Ταρκυνίῳ διασωθέντες ἐκ τῆς τελευταίας μάχης φυγάδες, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐξαιτεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐπεχείρησαν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, ἀποτυχόντες δὲ τούτου ῥύσια κατασχεῖν ταῦτα τὰ σώματα παρὰ τῆς ἀπεσταλκυίας πόλεως ἠξίουν, ἕως ἀπολάβωσι τὰς ἑαυτῶν οὐσίας, ἃς ἔφασαν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἀδίκως δεδημεῦσθαι, καὶ ταύτης ᾤοντο δεῖν τῆς δίκης τὸν τύραννον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι κριτήν.

  [3] The same fate happened to those who went to Cumae. For many Roman exiles who had escaped with Tarquinius from the last battle, and were now residing in that city, at first endeavoured to prevail upon the tyrant to deliver up the ambassadors to them to be put to death; and when they failed to gain this request, they asked that they might detain their persons as pledges till they should receive from the city that had sent them their own fortunes, which they declared had been unjustly confiscated by the Romans; and they thought it proper that the tyrant should be the judge of their cause.

  [4] ὁ δὲ τυραννῶν τότε τῆς Κύμης Ἀριστόδημος ἦν ὁ Ἀριστοκράτους, ἀνὴρ οὐ τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἕνεκα γένους, ὃς ἐκαλεῖτο Μαλακὸς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀστῶν καὶ σὺν χρόνῳ γνωριμωτέραν τοῦ ὀνόματος ἔσχε τὴν κλῆσιν, εἴθ᾽ ὅτι θηλυδρίας ἐγένετο παῖς ὢν καὶ τὰ γυναιξὶν ἁρμόττοντα ἔπασχεν, ὡς ἱστοροῦσί τινες, εἴθ᾽ ὅτι πρᾷος ἦν φύσει καὶ μαλακὸς εἰς ὀργήν, ὡς ἕτεροι γράφουσιν.

  [4] The tyrant of Cumae at that time was Aristodemus, the son of Aristocrates, a man of no obscure birth, who was called by the citizens Malacus or “Effeminate” — a nickname which in time came to be better known than his own name — either because when a boy he was effeminate and allowed himself to be treated as a woman, as some relate, or because he was of a mild nature and slow to anger, as others state.

  [5] ἀφορμαῖς δὲ τῆς τυραννίδος ὁποίαις ἐχρήσατο καὶ τίνας ἦλθεν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ὁδοὺς καὶ πῶς διῴκησε τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν καταστροφῆς θ᾽ ὁποίας ἔτυχεν, οὐκ ἄκαιρον εἶναι δοκῶ μικρὸν ἐπιστήσας τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν διήγησιν: κεφαλαιωδῶς διεξελθεῖν. [p. 5]

  [5] It seems to me that it is not out of place to interrupt my account of Roman affairs at this point for a short time in order to relate briefly what opportunities he had to seek the tyranny, by what methods he attained to it, how he conducted the government, and to what end he
came.

  [1] ἐπὶ τῆς ἑξηκοστῆς καὶ τετάρτης ὀλυμπιάδος ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησι Μιλτιάδου Κύμην τὴν ἐν Ὀπικοῖς Ἑλληνίδα πόλιν, ἣν Ἐρετριεῖς τε καὶ Χαλκιδεῖς ἔκτισαν, Τυρρηνῶν οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἰόνιον κόλπον κατοικοῦντες ἐκεῖθέν θ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Κελτῶν ἐξελασθέντες σὺν χρόνῳ, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς Ὀμβρικοί τε καὶ Δαύνιοι καὶ συχνοὶ τῶν ἄλλων βαρβάρων ἐπεχείρησαν ἀνελεῖν οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντες εἰπεῖν πρόφασιν τοῦ μίσους δικαίαν ὅτι μὴ

  [3.1] In the sixty-fourth Olympiad, when Miltiades was archon at Athens, the Tyrrhenians who had inhabited the country lying near the Ionian Gulf, but had been driven from thence in the course of time by the Gauls, joined themselves to the Umbrians, Daunians, and many other barbarians, and undertook to overthrow Cumae, the Greek city in the country of the Opicans founded by Eretrians and Chalcidians, though they could allege no other just ground for their animosity than the prosperity of the city.