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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [6] The populace, who had suffered naught at his hands in the former consulship, permitted him to obtain this power for the second time because they hated Appius and were greatly pleased that he seemed to have been deprived of an honour; while those in authority, having succeeded in advancing to the consulship a man of action and one who would show no weakness toward the populace, thought the dissension had taken a course favourable to their designs.

  [1] ἐπὶ τῆς τούτων ἀρχῆς Αἰκανοὶ μὲν εἰς τὴν Λατίνων χώραν ἐμβαλόντες ἀπήλασαν ἀνδράποδα καὶ βοσκήματα πολλὰ λῃστρικῇ ἐφόδῳ χρησάμενοι: Τυρρηνῶν δ᾽ οἱ καλούμενοι Οὐιεντανοὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς πολλὴν ἠδίκησαν προνομαῖς. τῆς δὲ βουλῆς τὸν μὲν πρὸς Αἰκανοὺς πόλεμον εἰς ἕτερον ἀναβαλομένης χρόνον, παρὰ δὲ Οὐιεντανῶν δίκας αἰτεῖν ψηφισαμένης, Αἰκανοὶ μὲν ἐπειδὴ τὰ πρῶτα αὐτοῖς κατὰ νοῦν ἐχώρησε, καὶ οὐθεὶς ὁ κωλύσων τὰ λοιπὰ ἐφαίνετο, θράσει ἐπαρθέντες ἀλογίστῳ λῃστρικὴν μὲν οὐκέτι στρατείαν ἔγνωσαν ποιεῖσθαι, δυνάμει δὲ βαρείᾳ ἐλάσαντες ἐπὶ πόλιν Ὀρτῶνα κατὰ κράτος αἱροῦσι: καὶ διαρπάσαντες τά τ᾽ ἐκ τῆς χώρας καὶ τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἀπῄεσαν εὐπορίαν πολλὴν ἀγόμενοι.

  [91.1] During the consulship of these men the Aequians, making a raid into the territory of the Latins after the manner of brigands, carried off a great number of slaves and cattle; and the people of Tyrrhenia called the Veientes injured a large part of the Roman territory by their forays. The senate voted to put off the war against the Aequians to another time, but to demand satisfaction of the Veientes. The Aequians, accordingly, since their first attempts had been successful and there appeared to be no one to prevent their further operations, grew elated with an unreasoning boldness, and resolving no longer to send out a mere marauding expedition, marched with a large force to Ortona and took it by storm; then, after plundering everything both in the country and in the city, they returned home with rich booty.

  [2] Οὐιεντανοὶ δὲ [p. 270] πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥώμης ἥκοντας ἀποκρινάμενοι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἴησαν οἱ προνομεύοντες τὴν χώραν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων Τυρρηνῶν, ἀπέλυσαν τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐθὲν τῶν δικαίων ποιήσαντες: καὶ οἱ πρέσβεις ἐπιτυγχάνουσι τοῖς Οὐιεντανοῖς λείαν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῶν χώρας ἄγουσι. ταῦτα παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἡ βουλὴ μαθοῦσα πολεμεῖν τ᾽ ἐψηφίσατο Οὐιεντανοῖς καὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους ἀμφοτέρους ἐξάγειν τὴν στρατιάν.

  [2] As for the Veientes, they returned answer to the ambassadors who came from Rome that those who were ravaging their country were not from their city, but from the other Tyrrhenian cities, and then dismissed them without giving them any satisfaction; and the ambassadors fell in with the Veientes as these were driving off booty from the Roman territory. The senate, learning of these things from the ambassadors, voted to declare war against the Veientes and that both consuls should lead out the army.

  [3] ἐγένετο μὲν οὖν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ἀμφιλογία, καὶ πολλοὶ ἦσαν οἱ τὸν πόλεμον οὐκ ἐῶντες ἐκφέρειν τῆς τε κληρουχίας ὑπομιμνήσκοντες τοὺς δημοτικούς, ἧς γε πέμπτον ἔτος ἐψηφισμένης ὑπὸ τοῦ συνεδρίου κενῇ πιστεύσαντες ἐλπίδι ἐξηπάτηντο, καὶ κοινὸν ἀποφαίνοντες πόλεμον, εἰ κοινῇ χρήσεται γνώμῃ πᾶσα Τυρρηνία τοῖς ὁμοεθνέσι

  [3] There was a controversy, to be sure, over the decree, and there were many who opposed engaging in the war and reminded the plebeians of the allotment of land, of which they had been defrauded after a vain hope, though the senate had passed the decree four years before; and they declared that there would be a general war if all Tyrrhenia by common consent should assist their countrymen.

  [4] βοηθοῦσα. οὐ μὴν ἴσχυσάν γ᾽ οἱ τῶν στασιαστῶν λόγοι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκύρωσε καὶ ὁ δῆμος τὸ τῆς βουλῆς δόγμα τῇ Σπορίου Λαρκίου γνώμῃ τε καὶ παρακλήσει χρησάμενος. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἐξῆγον τὰς δυνάμεις οἱ ὕπατοι: στρατοπεδευσάμενοι δὲ χωρὶς ἀλλήλων οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως καὶ μείναντες ἡμέρας συχνάς, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἀντεξῆγον οἱ πολέμιοι τὰς δυνάμεις, προνομεύσαντες αὐτῶν τῆς γῆς ὅσην ἐδύναντο πλείστην ἀπῆγον ἐπ᾽ οἴκου τὴν στρατιάν. ἄλλο δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῆς τούτων ὑπατείας λόγου ἄξιον οὐδὲν ἐπράχθη.

  [4] However, the arguments of the seditious speakers did not prevail, but the populace also confirmed the decree of the senate, following the opinion and advice of Spurius Larcius. Thereupon the consuls marched out with their forces and encamped apart at no great distance from the city; but after they had remained there a good many days and the enemy did not lead their forces out to meet them, they ravaged as large a part of their country as they could and then returned home with the army. Nothing else worthy of notice happened during their consulship.

  BOOK IX

  [1] τῷ δὲ μετὰ τούτους ἔτει διαφορᾶς γενομένης τῷ δήμῳ πρὸς τὴν βουλὴν περὶ τῶν ἀποδειχθησομένων ὑπάτων: οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἠξίουν ἀμφοτέρους ἐκ τῶν ἀριστοκρατικῶν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν προαγαγεῖν, ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐκ τῶν ἑαυτῷ κεχαρισμένων: γνωσιμαχήσαντες πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος τέλος συνέπεισαν ἀλλήλους ἀφ᾽ ἑκάστης μερίδος ὕπατον αἱρεθῆναι: καὶ ἀποδείκνυται Καίσων μὲν Φάβιος τὸ δεύτερον ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς, ὁ τὸν Κάσσιον ἐπὶ τῇ τυραννίδι κρίνας, Σπόριος δὲ Φούριος ὑπὸ τῶν δημοτικῶν, ἐπὶ τῆς ἑβδομηκοστῆς καὶ πέμπτης ὀλυμπιάδος ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησι [p. 272] Καλλιάδου, καθ᾽ ὃν χρόνον ἐστράτευσε Ξέρξης ἐπὶ

  [1.1] The following year, a dispute having arisen between the populace and the senate concerning the men who were to be elected consuls, the senators demanding that both men promoted to that magistracy should be of the aristocratic party and the populace demanding that they be chosen from among such as were agreeable to them, after an obstinate struggle they finally convinced each other that a consul should be chosen from each party. Thus Caeso Fabius, who had accused Cassius of aiming at a tyranny, was elected consul, for the second time, on the part of the senate, and Spurius Furius on the part of the populace, in the seventy-fifth Olympiad, Calliades being archon at Athens, at the time when Xerxes made his expedition against Greece.

  [2] τὴν Ἑλλάδα. ἄρτι δὲ παρειληφότων αὐτῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν Λατίνων τε πρέσβεις ἧκον ἐπὶ τὴν βουλὴν δεόμενοι πέμψαι σφίσι τὸν ἕτερον τῶν ὑπάτων μετὰ δυνάμεως, ὃς οὐκ ἐάσει προσωτέρω χωρεῖν τὴν Αἰκανῶν καταφρόνησιν, καὶ Τυρρηνία πᾶσ�
� ἠγγέλλετο κεκινημένη καὶ οὐ διὰ μακροῦ χωρήσουσα εἰς πόλεμον. συνήχθη γὰρ εἰς κοινὴν ἐκκλησίαν τὸ ἔθνος, καὶ πολλὰ Οὐιεντανῶν δεηθέντων συνάρασθαι σφίσι τοῦ κατὰ Ῥωμαίων μαίων πολέμου, τέλος ἐξήνεγκεν ἐξεῖναι τοῖς βουλομένοις Τυρρηνῶν μετέχειν τῆς στρατείας: καὶ ἐγένετο χεὶρ ἀξιόμαχος ἡ τοῖς Οὐιεντανοῖς ἑκουσίως τοῦ πολέμου συναραμένη. ταῦτα μαθοῦσι τοῖς ἐν τέλει Ῥωμαίων ἔδοξε στρατιάς τε καταγράφειν καὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους ἀμφοτέρους ἐξιέναι, τὸν μὲν Αἰκανοῖς τε πολεμήσοντα καὶ Λατίνοις τιμωρὸν ἐσόμενον, τὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ

  [2] They had no sooner taken office than ambassadors of the Latins came to the senate asking them to send to them one of the consuls with an army to put a check to the insolence of the Aequians, and at the same time word was brought that all Tyrrhenia was aroused and would soon go to war. For that nation had been convened in a general assembly and at the urgent solicitation of the Veientes for aid in their war against the Romans had passed a decree that any of the Tyrrhenians who so desired might take part in the campaign; and it was a sufficiently strong body of men that voluntarily aided the Veientes in the war. Upon learning of this the authorities in Rome resolved to raise armies and also that both consuls should take the field, one to make war on the Aequians and to aid the Latins, and the other to march with his forces against Tyrrhenia.

  [3] Τυρρηνίας ἄξοντα τὰς δυνάμεις. ἀντέπραττε δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα Σπόριος Ἰκίλιος τῶν δημάρχων εἷς: καὶ συνάγων εἰς ἐκκλησίαν τὸν δῆμον ὁσημέραι τὰς περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας ὑποσχέσεις ἀπῄτει παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ οὐδὲν ἔφη συγχωρήσειν οὔτε τῶν ἐπὶ πόλεμον οὔτε τῶν κατὰ πόλιν ὑπ᾽ αὐτῆς ψηφιζομένων ἐπιτελεσθῆναι, ἐὰν μὴ τοὺς δέκα ἄνδρας ἀποδείξωσι πρότερον ὁριστὰς τῆς δημοσίας χώρας, καὶ διέλωσι τὴν γῆν, ὡς [p. 273]

  [3] All this was opposed by Spurius Icilius, one of the tribunes, who, assembling the populace every day, demanded of the senate the performance of its promises relating to the allotment of land and said that he would allow none of their decrees, whether they concerned military or civil affairs, to take effect unless they should first appoint the decemvir so fix the boundaries of the public land and divide it among the people as they had promised.

  [4] ὑπέσχοντο τῷ δήμῳ. ἀπορουμένῃ δὲ τῇ βουλῇ καὶ ἀμηχανούσῃ, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν, Ἄππιος Κλαύδιος ὑποτίθεται σκοπεῖν, ὅπως διαστήσεται τὰ τῶν ἄλλων δημάρχων πρὸς αὐτόν, διδάσκων, ὅτι τὸν κωλύοντα καὶ ἐμποδὼν γινόμενον τοῖς δόγμασι τῆς βουλῆς ἱερὸν ὄντα καὶ νόμῳ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντα ταύτην ἄλλως οὐκ ἔστι παῦσαι τῆς δυναστείας, ἐὰν μή τις ἕτερος τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἴσης τιμῆς καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐξουσίαν ἐχόντων τἀναντία πράττῃ καί, οἷς ἂν ἐκεῖνος ἐμποδὼν γένηται,

  [4] When the senate was at a loss and did not know what to do, Appius Claudius suggested that they should consider how the other tribunes might be brought to dissent from Icilius, pointing out that there is no other method of putting an end to the power of a tribune who opposes and obstructs the decrees of the senate, since his person is sacred and this authority of his legal, than for another of the men of equal rank and possessing the same power to oppose him and to order to be done what the other tries to obstruct.

  [5] ταῦτα κωλύῃ. συνεβούλευέ τε τοῖς αὖθις παραληψομένοις τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπάτοις τοῦτο πράττειν καὶ σκοπεῖν, ὅπως ἕξουσί τινας ἀεὶ τῶν δημάρχων οἰκείους σφίσι καὶ φίλους: μίαν εἶναι λέγων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀρχείου κατάλυσιν, ἐὰν στασιάζωσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἱ ἄνδρες.

  [5] And he advised all succeeding consuls to do this and to consider how they might always have some of the tribunes well disposed and friendly to them, saying that only method of destroying the power of the college was to sow dissension among its members.

  [1] ταύτην εἰσηγησαμένου τὴν γνώμην Ἀππίου δόξαντες αὐτὸν ὀρθῶς παραινεῖν οἵ τε ὕπατοι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἱ δυνατώτατοι, πολλῇ θεραπείᾳ διεπράξαντο τοὺς τέτταρας ἐκ τῶν δημάρχων οἰκείους τῇ βουλῇ

  [2.1] When Appius had expressed this opinion, both the consuls and the more influential of the others, believing his advice to be sound, courted the other four tribunes so effectually as to make them well disposed toward the senate.

  [2] γενέσθαι. οἱ δὲ τέως μὲν λόγῳ μεταπείθειν τὸν Ἰκίλιον ἐπεχείρουν ἀποστῆναι τῶν περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας πολιτευμάτων, ἕως οἱ πόλεμοι λάβωσι τέλος: ὡς δ᾽ ἠναντιοῦτο καὶ διώμνυτο λόγον τε τὸν αὐθαδέστερον εἰπεῖν ἐτόλμησε τοῦ δήμου παρόντος, ὅτι μᾶλλον ἂν βούλοιτο Τυρρηνοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πολεμίους κρατήσαντας [p. 274] τῆς πόλεως ἐπιδεῖν, ἢ τοὺς κατέχοντας τὴν χώραν τὴν δημοσίαν ἀφεῖναι, δόξαντες ἀφορμὴν εἰληφέναι καλὴν πρὸς αὐθάδειαν τοσαύτην τοῦ τἀναντία λέγειν τε καὶ πράττειν, οὐδὲ τοῦ δήμου τὸν λόγον ἡδέως δεξαμένου, κωλύειν αὐτὸν ἔφησαν, καὶ φανερῶς ἔπραττον, ὅσα τῇ βουλῇ τε καὶ τοῖς ὑπάτοις δοκοίη:

  [2] These for a time endeavoured by argument to persuade Icilius to desist from his course with respect to the allotment of land till the wars should come to an end. But when he kept opposing them and swore that he would continue to do so, and had the assurance to make a rather insolent remark in the presence of the populace to the effect that he had rather see the Tyrrhenians and their other enemies masters of the city than leave unpunished those who were occupying public land, they thought they had got an excellent opportunity for opposing so great insolence both by their words and by their acts, and since even the populace showed displeasure at his remark, they said they interposed their veto; and they openly pursued such measures as were agreeable to both the senate and the consuls. Thus Icilius being deserted by his colleagues, no longer had any authority.

  [3] μονωθεὶς δ᾽ Ἰκίλιος οὐδενὸς ἔτι κύριος ἦν. μετὰ τοῦθ᾽ ἡ στρατιὰ κατεγράφετο καί, ὅσων ἔδει τῷ πολέμῳ πάντα ὑπηρετεῖτο, τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων, τὰ δ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ἁπάσῃ προθυμίᾳ: καὶ διὰ τάχους οἱ ὕπατοι διακληρωσάμενοι τὰ στρατεύματα ἐξῄεσαν, Σπόριος μὲν Φούριος ἐπὶ τὰς Αἰκανῶν πόλεις, Καίσων δὲ Φάβιος ἐπὶ Τυρρηνούς.

  [3] After this the army was raised and everything that was necessary for the war was supplied, partly from public and partly from private sources, with all possible alacrity; and the consuls, having drawn lots for
the armies, set out in haste, Spurius Furius marching against the cities of the Aequians and Caeso Fabius against the Tyrrhenians.

  [4] Σπορίῳ μὲν οὖν ἅπαντα κατὰ νοῦν ἐχώρησεν οὐχ ὑπομεινάντων εἰς χεῖρας ἐλθεῖν τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ πολλὰ ἐκ τῆς στρατείας ἐξεγένετο χρήματά τε καὶ σώματα λαβεῖν. ἐπῆλθε γὰρ ὀλίγου δεῖν πᾶσαν ὅσην οἱ πολέμιοι χώραν κατεῖχον, ἄγων καὶ φέρων, καὶ τὰ λάφυρα τοῖς στρατιώταις ἅπαντα ἐχαρίσατο.

  [4] In the case of Spurius everything succeeded according to his wish, the enemy not daring to come to an engagement, so that in this expedition he had the opportunity of taking much booty in both money and slaves. For he overran almost all the territory that the enemy possessed, carrying and driving off everything, and he gave all the spoils to the soldiers.

  [5] δοκῶν δὲ καὶ τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον εἶναι φιλόδημος, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐκ ταύτης τῆς στρατηγίας ἐθεράπευσε τὸ πλῆθος. καί, ἐπειδὴ παρῆλθεν ὁ χρόνος τῆς στρατείας, ἄγων τὴν δύναμιν ὁλόκληρόν τε καὶ ἀπαθῆ χρήμασιν εὔπορον κατέστησε τὴν πατρίδα.

  [5] Though he had been regarded even before this time as a friend of the people, he gained the favour of the multitude still more by his conduct in this command; and when the season for military operations was over, he brought his army home intact and unscathed, and made the fatherland rich with the money he had taken.

  [1] Καίσων δὲ Φάβιος ὁ ἕτερος τῶν ὑπάτων, οὐδενὸς [p. 275] χεῖρον στρατηγήσας, ἀφῃρέθη τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἔπαινον παρ᾽ οὐδὲν ἁμάρτημα ἴδιον, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι τὸ δημοτικὸν οὐκ εἶχε κεχαρισμένον αὐτῷ, ἐξ οὗ τὸν ὕπατον Κάσσιον ἐπὶ τῇ τυραννίδι προσαγγείλας ἀπέκτεινεν.