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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [1] τοῦτο καταμαθὼν ὁ Δέκιος ἐκεῖνος, ὁ καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ βουλῇ ποιησάμενος λόγους καὶ τὸ προβούλευμα περὶ τῆς δίκης γραφῆναι παρασκευάσας, ἀνέστη καὶ σιωπὴν γενέσθαι κελεύσας ἔλεξεν: ἐπειδή, ὦ δημόται, τῶν ἐν τῇ βουλῇ λεχθέντων ὑπὸ Μαρκίου λόγων, καὶ τῶν διὰ τούτους ἀκολουθησάντων ἔργων βιαίων τε καὶ ὑπερηφάνων ἀπολύουσιν αὐτὸν οἱ πατρίκιοι καὶ οὐδ᾽ ἡμῖν ἐπιτρέπουσι κατηγορεῖν, ἀκούσατε, οἷον ὑμῖν ἔργον ἕτερον ἔξω τῶν λόγων ὁ γενναῖος οὗτος ἀνὴρ τυγχάνει διαπεπραγμένος, ὡς αὔθαδες καὶ τυραννικόν, καὶ οἷον ὑμῶν κατέλυσε νόμον αὐτὸς ἰδιώτης ὢν μάθετε.

  [63.1] when this had been observed by Decius, the one who had spoken in the senate and prevailed on them to pass the decree for the trial, he rose up, and having commanded silence, said: “Since, plebeians, the patricians acquit Marcius of the words he spoke in the senate and of the violent and overbearing deeds that followed because of them, and do not permit us, either, to accuse him, hear what other deed, quite apart from words, this honourable man has been guilty of toward you, how insolent and tyrannical a deed, and learn what law of yours he, though a private citizen, has broken.

  [2] ἴστε δήπου πάντες, ὅτι τὰ ἐκ τῶν πολέμων λάφυρα, ὅσων ἂν ἡμῖν ὑπάρχῃ τυχεῖν δι᾽ ἀρετήν, δημόσια εἶναι κελεύει ὁ νόμος, καὶ τούτων οὐχ ὅπως τις ἰδιώτης γίνεται κύριος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς [p. 99] δυνάμεως ἡγεμών: ὁ δὲ ταμίας αὐτὰ παραλαβὼν ἀπεμπολᾷ καὶ εἰς τὸ δημόσιον ἀναφέρει τὰ χρήματα: καὶ τοῦτον τὸν νόμον, ἐξ οὗ τήνδε οἰκοῦμεν τὴν πόλιν, οὐχ ὅπως κατέλυσέ τις, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ᾐτιάσατο μὴ οὐχὶ καλῶς ἔχειν: ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος ὁ Μάρκιος πρῶτος καὶ μόνος ὑπεριδὼν αὐτοῦ κειμένου καὶ κυρίου ὄντος ἠξίωσε σφετερίσασθαι τὰ κοινὰ ἡμῶν, ὦ δημόται, λάφυρα, πέρυσι καὶ οὐ πάλαι.

  [2] You all know, of course, that the law ordains that all the spoils we are able to take from the enemy by our valour shall belong to the public and that not only no private citizen has the disposition of them, but not even the general of our forces himself; but the quaestor, taking them over, sells them and turns the proceeds over to the public treasury. And this law, during all the time our city has been inhabited, not only has been violated by no one, but has not even been criticized as being a bad law. But Marcius here is there is and only man who, in contempt of this law while it stood and was valid, has thought fit, plebeians, to appropriate to himself the spoils which belong to us in common; and this was only last year, not long ago.

  [3] ποιησαμένων γὰρ ὑμῶν καταδρομὴν τῆς Ἀντιατῶν γῆς καὶ πολλὰ μὲν σώματα, πολλὰ δὲ βοσκήματα, πολὺν δὲ σῖτον, πολλὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα χρήματα περιβαλομένων οὔτε τῷ ταμίᾳ ταῦτ᾽ ἀπέδειξεν οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς ἀποδόμενος εἰς τὸ δημόσιον ἀνήνεγκε τὸ ἀργύριον, ἀλλὰ διένειμε καὶ κατεχαρίσατο τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ φίλοις ἅπασαν τὴν λείαν: τοῦτο δὴ τυραννίδος τεκμήριον εἶναι φημὶ τὸ ἔργον: πῶς γὰρ οὔ; ὃς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ κόλακάς τε καὶ σωματοφύλακας καὶ τῆς μελλούσης τυραννίδος συνεργοὺς ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων εὐηργέτει χρημάτων:

  [3] For when you made an incursion into the territory of the Antiates and captured many prisoners, many cattle, and a great quantity of corn, together with many other effects, he neither reported these to the quaestor nor sold them himself and turned the proceeds over to the public treasury, but distributed and gave as a present to his own friends the entire booty. This action, now, I aver to be a proof of his aiming at tyranny. What else could it be, when he used the public funds to gratify his flatterers, his bodyguards, and the accomplices in the tyranny he meditated? And this I maintain to be an open violation of the law.

  [4] καὶ νόμου κατάλυσιν εἶναι φανερὰν ταύτην λέγω. δυεῖν δὴ θάτερον ἀποφηνάτω παρελθὼν Μάρκιος, ἢ ὡς οὐ διένειμε τὰ λάφυρα τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ φίλοις, ἃ ἔλαβεν ἐκ τῆς πολεμίας, ἢ ὡς ταῦτα ποιῶν οὐ καταλύει τοὺς νόμους: ὧν οὐδέτερον ἕξει πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν. αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀμφότερα ἴστε, καὶ τὸν νόμον καὶ τὸ ἔργον, καὶ οὐκ ἔνεσθ᾽ ὑμῖν ἀποψηφισαμένοις αὐτοῦ τὰ δίκαια καὶ [p. 100] τὰ εὔορκα δοκεῖν ἐγνωκέναι. ἐάσας δὴ τοὺς στεφάνους καὶ τὰ ἀριστεῖα καὶ τὰ τραύματα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην τερατείαν πρὸς ταῦτα λέγε, ὦ Μάρκιε: παραδίδωμι γὰρ ἤδη σοὶ τὸν λόγον.

  [4] Let Marcius, then, come forward and show one of two things — either that he did not distribute among his friends the spoils he took from the enemy’s country, or that in doing so he is not violating the laws. But neither of these things will he be able to say to you. For you yourselves are acquainted with both matters — with the law and with what he did. And if you acquit him, your decision cannot possibly be regarded as in accordance with justice and your oaths. Say naught, then, about your crowns, your rewards of valour, your wounds, and all the rest of that claptrap, and answer to these points, Marcius: for now I yield the floor to you.”

  [1] τοῦτο τὸ κατηγόρημα πολλὴν ἐποίησε τὴν ἐπὶ θάτερα μεταβολήν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐπιεικέστεροί τε καὶ σπουδάζοντες ὑπὲρ ἀφέσεως τοῦ ἀνδρὸς μαλακώτεροι τούτων ἀκούσαντες ἐγένοντο, τὸ δὲ κακόηθες ἅπαν, ὃ τοῦ δήμου πλεῖστον μέρος ἦν, ἐκ παντὸς ἀπολέσαι τὸν ἄνδρα δήπου προθυμούμενον, ἔτι μᾶλλον εἰς ταῦτ᾽ ἐπερρώσθη μεγάλης ἀφορμῆς καὶ φανερᾶς

  [64.1] This accusation caused a great shift in sentiment to the other side. For those who were more reasonable and were zealously working for the acquittal of Marcius, upon hearing these things, grew less confident, and all the malevolent, who constituted the larger part of the Potomac and were of course eager to destroy him at all costs, were still more encouraged in their purpose now that they had got hold of an important and clear ground for their attack.

  [2] λαβόμενον. ἦν γὰρ ἀληθὴς ἡ τῶν λαφύρων διάδοσις, οὐ μὴν ἐκ προαιρέσεώς γε πονηρᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ κατασκευῇ τυραννίδος, ὡς ὁ Δέκιος ᾐτιᾶτο, γενομένη, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ παντὸς τοῦ βελτίστου καὶ ἐπανορθώσεως ἕνεκα τῶν κατεχόντων τὰ κοινὰ κακῶν. στασιάζοντος γὰρ ἔτι καὶ διεστηκότος ἀπὸ τῶν πατρικίων τοῦ πλήθους τότε καταφρονήσαντες οἱ πολέμιοι καταδρομὰς τῆς χώρας ἐποιοῦντο καὶ λεηλασίας συνεχεῖς: καὶ ὁπότε δόξειε τῇ βουλῇ τὴν κωλύσουσαν ταῦτα δύναμιν ἐξελθεῖν, οὐδ
εὶς ἐξῄει τῶν δημοτῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπέχαιρόν τε καὶ περιεώρων τὰ γινόμενα: ἡ δὲ τῶν πατρικίων χεὶρ οὐκ ἦν καθ᾽

  [2] For the distribution of the spoils was a fact, though it had been made without any evil intent and not for the setting up of a tyranny, as Decius charged, but from only the best of motives and for the correction of the evils that beset the commonwealth. For as the sedition still continued at that time and the populace was then divided from the patricians, their enemies, despising them, made raids into their country and plundered it without intermission; and whenever the senate decided to send out an army to stop these raids, none of the plebeians would serve in it, but rejoiced at what was happening and permitted it to continue; and the force of the patricians alone was inadequate.

  [3] ἑαυτὴν ἀξιόμαχος. τοῦτο καταμαθὼν ὁ Μάρκιος ὑπέσχετο τοῖς ὑπάτοις, ἐὰν ἐπιτρέψωσιν αὐτῷ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, στρατιὰν ἄξειν ἑκούσιον ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ δίκην λήψεσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν τάχει. λαβὼν δὲ τὴν ἐξουσίαν συνεκάλει τούς τε πελάτας καὶ τοὺς φίλους [p. 101] καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν οἷς ἦν βουλομένοις ἀπολαῦσαί τι τῆς τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τύχης κατὰ τὰ πολέμια καὶ ἀρετῆς. ὡς δ᾽ αὐτῷ χεὶρ ἀξιόμαχος ἐδόκει συνεληλυθέναι, προῆγεν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους οὐθέν πω προειδότας.

  [3] Marcius, observing this, promised the consuls that he would march against the enemy with an army of volunteers if they would give him the command of it, and would soon take revenge on them; and having received authority to do so, he called together his clients and friends and such of the citizens as wished to share in the advantages expected from the general’s good fortune in war and his valour. When he thought an adequate force had assembled, he led them against the enemy, who had no previous knowledge of his purpose.

  [4] ἐμβαλὼν δ᾽ εἰς χώραν πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν μεστὴν γενόμενος ἀφθόνου λείας κύριος ἐφῆκε τοῖς στρατιώταις ἅπαντα τὰ ληφθέντα διανείμασθαι, ἵν᾽ οἱ μὲν συναράμενοι τοῦ ἔργου τὸν τῶν πόνων καρπὸν κομισάμενοι προθύμως ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας στρατείας ἀπαντῶσιν: οἱ δ᾽ ἀποκνήσαντες ἐνθυμηθέντες, ὅσων ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ἐξὸν μεταλαβεῖν, διὰ τὸ στασιάζειν ἀπεκωλύθησαν εἰς τὰς λοιπὰς ἐξόδους γένωνται φρονιμώτεροι.

  [4] And making an incursion into their country, which was well stocked with many good things, and capturing a vast amount of booty, he permitted his soldiers to divide up all the spoils among themselves, to the end that both those who had assisted him in this expedition, by receiving the fruit of their labours, might cheerfully engage in the service upon other occasions, and the others who had declined it, considering all the benefits they had lost through their sedition, when they might have shared in them, might act with greater prudence in the case of future expeditions.

  [5] διάνοια μὲν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἥδε ἐγένετο περὶ τὸ ἔργον: χόλῳ δ᾽ ὑπούλῳ καὶ φθόνῳ δυσμενῶν αὐτὴ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν ἡ πρᾶξις ἐξεταζομένη δημαγωγία τις ἐφαίνετο εἶναι καὶ δεκασμὸς τυραννικός. ὥστε βοῆς καὶ θορύβου πᾶσα ἦν ἀνάπλεως ἡ ἀγορά, καὶ οὔθ᾽ ὁ Μάρκιος πρὸς ταῦτ᾽ εἶχεν, ὅ τι ἀπολογήσαιτο, οὔθ᾽ ὁ ὕπατος οὔτ᾽ ἄλλος οὐδείς, οἷα δὴ παραδόξου καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτου φανείσης ἐπὶ σφίσι τῆς αἰτίας.

  [5] Such was the intention of Marcius in this affair; but to the festering anger and envy of enemies the action, when considered by itself, appeared a kind of flattery of the people and a bribery tending toward tyranny. As a result the whole Forum was full of clamour and tumult and neither Marcius himself nor the consul nor anyone else had any answer to make to the charge, so incredible and unexpected did it appear to them.

  [6] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ οὐδεὶς οὐκέτι ἀπελογεῖτο, ἀνέδωκαν οἱ δήμαρχοι τὴν ψῆφον ταῖς φυλαῖς τίμημα ἐπιγράψαντες τῇ δίκῃ φυγὴν ἀίδιον, κατὰ δέος, οἶμαι, τοῦ μὴ ἂν ἁλῶναι τὸν ἄνδρα θανάτου αὐτῷ τιμησάντων. ὡς δ᾽ ἐπεψήφισαν ἅπαντες, [p. 102] διαριθμουμένων τῶν ψήφων οὐ μέγα τὸ διάλλαγμα ἐφάνη. μιᾶς γὰρ καὶ εἴκοσι τότε φυλῶν οὐσῶν, οἷς ἡ ψῆφος ἀνεδόθη, τὰς ἀπολυούσας φυλὰς ἔσχεν ὁ Μάρκιος ἐννέα: ὥστ᾽ εἰ δύο προσῆλθον αὐτῷ φυλαί, διὰ τὴν ἰσοψηφίαν ἀπελέλυτ᾽ ἄν, ὥσπερ ὁ νόμος ἠξίου.

  [6] When nothing further was said in his defence, the tribunes called upon the tribes to cast their votes, and fixed perpetual banishment as the penalty in the case. This, I suspect, was due to their fear that he could not be convicted if death were set as the penalty. After they had all voted and the votes were counted, the difference was found to be slight. For out of the twenty-one tribes that were then in existence and gave their votes Marcius had nine in favour of his acquittal; so that if two more tribes had joined his side, he would have been acquitted as the result of the equal division of the votes, as the law prescribed.

  [1] αὕτη πρώτη κατ᾽ ἀνδρὸς πατρικίου πρόσκλησις εἰς τὸν δῆμον ἐγένετο ἐπὶ δίκῃ. καὶ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου τοῖς ὕστερον λαμβάνουσι τὴν τοῦ δήμου προστασίαν ἔθος κατέστη καλεῖν οὓς δόξειε τῶν πολιτῶν δίκην ὑφέξοντας ἐπὶ τοῦ δήμου: καὶ ἐνθένδε ἀρξάμενος ὁ δῆμος ἤρθη μέγας, ἡ δ᾽ ἀριστοκρατία πολλὰ τοῦ ἀρχαίου ἀξιώματος ἀπέβαλε βουλῆς τε μετέχειν ἐπιτρέπουσα τοῖς δημοτικοῖς καὶ ἀρχὰς μετιέναι συγχωροῦσα ἱερῶν τε προστασίας λαμβάνειν οὐ κωλύουσα καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τιμιώτατα ἦν καὶ ἴδια τῶν πατρικίων μόνων ἅπασι κοινωσαμένη, τὰ μὲν ὑπ᾽ ἀνάγκης τε καὶ ἄκουσα, τὰ δ᾽ ἐκ προνοίας τε καὶ σοφίας, ὑπὲρ ὧν κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρὸν ἐρῶ.

  [65] This was the first summoning of a patrician before the tribunal of the plebeians; and from this time it became customary for those who afterwards assumed the patronship of the people to summon to stand trial before the people any of the citizens they thought fit. From this beginning the people rose to great power, while the aristocracy lost much of its ancient dignity by admitting the plebeians into the senate and allowing them to stand as candidates for magistracies, by not opposing their presiding over sacrifices, and by sharing with all the citizens the other privileges that were most highly prized and had been the special prerogatives of the patricians, some of which concessions they made because of necessity and against their will, and others through foresight and wisdom; but of these matters I shall speak at the proper time.

  [2] τοῦτο μέντοι τὸ ἔθος, λέγω δὲ τὸ καλεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει δυναστεύοντας ἐπὶ δίκην, ἧς ὁ δῆμος ἐγίνετο κύριος, πολλὰς ἂν παράσχοι λόγων ἀφορμὰς τοῖς ἐ�
�αινεῖν αὐτὸ βουλομένοις ἢ ψέγειν. πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἤδη καλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἄνδρες οὐκ ἄξια τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔπαθον, αἰσχρῶς καὶ κακῶς τὰς ψυχὰς ὑπὸ τῶν δημάρχων ἀφαιρεθέντες: πολλοὶ δ᾽ αὐθάδεις καὶ τυραννικοὶ τοὺς τρόπους λόγον [p. 103] ἀναγκασθέντες ὑποσχεῖν τοῦ βίου καὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων δίκας τὰς προσηκούσας ἔδοσαν.

  [2] However, this custom of summoning the men of power at Rome to a trial where the populace were always in control, would afford rich material for comment to those who are disposed either to commend or to blame it. For many good and worthy men have already been treated in a manner unworthy of their merits and have been put to a shameful and miserable death at the instigation of the tribunes, while many men of arrogant and tyrannical dispositions, being compelled to give an accounting of their lives and conduct, have suffered the punishment they deserved.

  [3] ὁπότε μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατίστου γένοιντο αἱ διαγνώσεις, καὶ καθαιρεθείη τὰ τῶν μεγάλων αὐχήματα σὺν δίκῃ, μέγα τι καὶ θαυμαστὸν ἐφαίνετο εἶναι χρῆμα καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων ἐπῃνεῖτο, ὁπότε δ᾽ ἀρετὴ φθονηθεῖσα ἀνδρὸς τὰ κοινὰ εὖ διοικοῦντος ἀδίκως ἀναιρεθείη, δεινόν τι τοῖς ἄλλοις κατεφαίνετο, καὶ οἱ τοῦ ἔθους ἄρξαντες κατηγοροῦντο. πολλάκις τε βουλευσάμενοι οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, πότερα χρὴ καταλῦσαι αὐτὸ ἢ φυλάττειν, οἷον παρὰ τῶν προγόνων παρέλαβον, οὐθὲν ἐπέθηκαν τῇ βουλῇ πέρας.