[2] To these human reasonings were added the terrible portents sent by the gods, some of which were neither found recorded in the public archives nor were the memory of them preserved by any other means.
[3] ὅσα μὲν γὰρ ἐν οὐρανῷ σέλα φερόμενα καὶ πυρὸς ἀνάψεις ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς μένουσαι τόπου γῆς τε μυκήματα καὶ τρόμοι συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο, μορφαί τ᾽ εἰδώλων ἄλλοτ᾽ ἀλλοῖαι δἰ ἀέρος φερόμεναι καὶ φωναὶ ταράττουσαι διάνοιαν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ πάντα ὅσα τούτοις ὅμοια συνέπιπτεν, εὑρίσκετο καὶ πάλαι ποτὲ γεγονότα ἧττον τε καὶ μᾶλλον: οὗ δὲ ἄπειροί τε καὶ ἀνήκοοι ἔτι ἦσαν καὶ ἐφ᾽ ᾧ μάλιστα ἐταράχθησαν, τοιόνδ᾽ ἦν: νιφετὸς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ κατέσκηψεν εἰς γῆν πολὺς οὐ χιόνα καταφέρων, ἀλλὰ σαρκῶν θραύσματα ἐλάττω τε καὶ μείζω.
[3] As for all the flashes shooting through the sky and outbursts of fire continuing in one place, the rumblings of the earth and its continual tremblings that occurred, the spectres, now of one shape and now of another, flitting through the air and voices that disturbed men’s minds, and everything else of that nature which took place, all these manifestations were found to have occurred in times past as well, to either a greater or lesser degree. But a prodigy which they were unfamiliar with as yet and had never heard of, and the one which caused them the greatest terror was this: There descended upon the earth from heaven what appeared to be a heavy snowstorm, only it brought down, instead of snow, pieces of flesh, some smaller and some larger.
[4] τούτων τὰ μὲν πολλὰ μετάρσια προσπετόμεναι πτηνῶν [p. 4] ὅσαι εἰσὶν ἀγέλαι τοῖς στόμασιν ἥρπαζον, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐνεχθέντα ἐν αὐτῇ τε τῇ πόλει καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ἀγροὺς μέχρι πολλοῦ χρόνου κείμενα ἦν οὔτε χρόαν μεταβάλλοντα, οἵαν ἴσχουσι παλαιούμεναι σάρκες, οὔτε σηπεδόνι διαλυόμενα, ὦζέ τε ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν οὐδὲν πονηρόν.
[4] Most of these while still in mid air were seized by flocks of birds of every kind, which flew up and snatched them in their beaks; but those pieces which fell to the ground, both in the city itself and in the country, lay there a long time without either changing to such a colour as pieces of flesh acquire with time, or becoming rotten, and no bad smell was given off by them.
[5] τοῦτο τὸ τέρας οἱ μὲν ἐπιχώριοι μάντεις οὐχ οἷοί τ᾽ ἦσαν συμβαλεῖν: ἐν δὲ τοῖς Σιβυλλείοις εὑρέθη χρησμοῖς, ὅτι πολεμίων ἀλλοεθνῶν παρελθόντων εἰς τὸ τεῖχος ἀγὼν ὑπὲρ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ καταλήψεται τὴν πόλιν, ἄρξει δὲ τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοεθνεῖς πολέμου στάσις ἐμφύλιος, ἣν χρῆν ἀρχομένην ἐξελαύνοντας ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ θεοὺς παραιτουμένους θυσίαις τε καὶ εὐχαῖς ἀποτρέψαι τὰ δεινά: καὶ
[5] The native soothsayers were unable to conjecture the meaning of this prodigy; but in the Sibylline books it was found that the city would be involved in a struggle to prevent the enslavement of its citizens after foreign enemies had penetrated inside the walls, and that this war against the foreigners would begin with civil strife, which they must banish from the city in its inception, invoking the gods by sacrifices and prayers to avert the dangers; then they would gain the victory over their enemies.
[6] κρείττους ἔσεσθαι τῶν ἐχθρῶν. ὡς δ᾽ ἐξηνέχθη ταῦτ᾽ εἰς τὸ πλῆθος, ἱερὰ μὲν πρῶτον ἔθυσαν, οἷς ἡ τούτων ἐπιμέλεια ἀνέκειτο, θεοῖς ἐξακεστηρίοις τε καὶ ἀποτροπαίοις, ἔπειτα συναχθέντες εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον οἱ σύνεδροι παρόντων καὶ τῶν δημάρχων ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας τε καὶ σωτηρίας τῆς πόλεως ἐσκόπουν.
[6] When this had been announced to the multitude, the priests who were in charge of such matters first sacrificed victims to the gods who remedy and avert evils; after which the senate assembled in the senate-house, the tribunes being also present, and considered means of safeguarding and preserving the commonwealth.
[1] τὸ μὲν οὖν καταλύσασθαι τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐγκλήματα καὶ μιᾷ χρήσασθαι γνώμῃ περὶ τῶν κοινῶν, ὡς ὑπετίθεντο οἱ χρησμοί, πάντες ὡμολόγουν: ὅπως δ᾽ ἂν τοῦτο γένοιτο καὶ ἀπὸ τίνων ἀρξαμένων εἴκειν τοῖς ἑτέροις τὸ διάφορον παύσαιτο στασιάζον, οὐ [p. 5]
[3.1] As for putting an end to their mutual recriminations and acting with unanimity concerning public affairs, as the oracles advised, all were in agreement; but how this was to be brought about, and which party should take the first step by yielding to the other the point at issue and thus put an end to the dissension, caused them no little embarrassment.
[2] μικρὰν αὐτοῖς παρεῖχεν ἀπορίαν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὕπατοι καὶ οἱ τῆς βουλῆς προεστῶτες τοὺς εἰσφέροντας καινὰ πολιτεύματα δημάρχους καὶ καταλύειν ἀξιοῦντας τὸν πάτριον τῆς πολιτείας κόσμον αἰτίους ἀπέφαινον τῆς ταραχῆς. οἱ δὲ δήμαρχοι σφᾶς μὲν αὐτοὺς οὐδὲν ἔλεγον ἀνάξιον δρᾶν οὔτε ἄδικον οὔτε ἀσύμφορον εὐνομίαν εἰσάγειν βουλομένους καὶ ἰσηγορίαν: τοὺς δὲ ὑπάτους καὶ τοὺς πατρικίους αἰτίους ἔσεσθαι τῆς στάσεως ἔλεγον ἀνομίαν αὔξοντας καὶ πλεονεξίαν καὶ
[2] For the consuls and the leaders of the senate declared that the tribunes who were proposing new measures and demanding the overthrow of the time-honoured constitution were to blame for the disturbance. On the other hand, the tribunes denied that they were asking for anything that was either unjust or disadvantageous when they wished to introduce a good system of laws and equality of rights, but declared that the consuls and the patrician would be to blame for the dissension if they increased the spirit of lawlessness and greed and emulated the usual practices of tyrants.
[3] ζηλοῦντας τὰ τῶν τυράννων ἔθη. ταῦτα καὶ πολλὰ τούτοις ὅμοια παρ᾽ ἑκατέρων ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ἐλέγετο, καὶ προὔβαινε διὰ κενῆς ὁ χρόνος: ἐν ᾧ τῶν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν οὔτε δημοσίων οὔτε ἰδίων οὐδὲν ἐτελεῖτο. ὡς δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐγίνετο τῶν προὔργου, λόγων μὲν ἐκείνων καὶ κατηγοριῶν, ἃς ἐποιοῦντο κατὰ τῆς βουλῆς, οἱ δήμαρχοι ἀπέστησαν: συναγαγόντες δὲ τὸ πλῆθος εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὑπέσχοντο τῷ δήμῳ νόμον εἰσοίσειν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἠξίουν.
[3] These and many like reproaches were uttered by each side for many days and the time passed in vain; meanwhile no business in the city, either public or private, was being brought to completion. When nothing worth while was being accomplished, the tribunes desisted from the kind of harangues and accusations they were wont to make against the senate; and calling an assembly of the populace, they promised them to bring in a law embodying their demands.
[4] ἐ
παινέσαντος δὲ τοῦ πλήθους τὸν λόγον οὐδὲν ἔτι ἀναβαλόμενοι τὸν παρασκευασθέντα νόμον ἀνέγνωσαν: κεφάλαια δὲ αὐτοῦ τάδε ἦν: ἄνδρας αἱρεθῆναι δέκα ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου συναχθείσης ἀγορᾶς ἐννόμου τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους τε καὶ φρονιμωτάτους, οἷς ἐστι πλείστη πρόνοια τιμῆς τε καὶ δόξης ἀγαθῆς: τούτους δὲ συγγράψαντας τοὺς ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων νόμους τῶν τε κοινῶν καὶ τῶν ἰδίων [p. 6] εἰς τὸν δῆμον ἐξενεγκεῖν: τοὺς δὲ συγγραφησομένους ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν νόμους κεῖσθαι ἐν ἀγορᾷ ταῖς καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν ἀποδειχθησομέναις ἀρχαῖς καὶ τοῖς ἰδιώταις ὅρους τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους δικαίων.
[4] This being approved of by the populace, they read without further delay the law which they had prepared, the chief provisions of which were as follows: That ten men should be chosen by the people meeting in a legitimate assembly, men who were at once the oldest and the most prudent and had the greatest regard for honour and a good reputation; that these men should draw up the laws concerning all matters both public and private and lay them before the people; and that the laws to be drawn up by them should be exposed in the Forum for the benefit of the magistrates who should be chosen each year and also of persons in private station, as a code defining the mutual rights of citizens.
[5] τοῦτον προθέντες τὸν νόμον ἐξουσίαν ἔδοσαν τοῖς βουλομένοις αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖν, ἀποδείξαντες τὴν τρίτην ἀγοράν. ἦσαν δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ οὐχ οἱ φαυλότατοι τῶν ἐκ τοῦ συνεδρίου, πρεσβύτεροι καὶ νέοι, κατήγοροι τοῦ νόμου, λόγους διεξιόντες ἐκ πολλῆς ἐπιμελείας καὶ παρασκευῆς: καὶ
[5] After the tribunes had proposed this law, they gave leave to all who so desired to speak against it, appointing the third market-day for this purpose. Many in fact — and those not the least important of the senators, both old and young — did speak against the law, delivering speeches that were the result of much thought and preparation; and this went on for many days.
[6] τοῦτ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέρας ἐγίνετο συχνάς. ἔπειτα οἱ δήμαρχοι δυσχεραίνοντες ἐπὶ τῇ διατριβῇ τοῦ χρόνου λόγον μὲν οὐδένα ἔτι τοῖς κατηγόροις τοῦ νόμου προέθεσαν, ἡμέραν δὲ ἀποδείξαντες, ἐν ᾗ κυρώσειν αὐτὸν ἔμελλον, παρεῖναι τοὺς δημότας εἰς αὐτὴν παρεκάλουν ἀθρόους, ὡς οὐκέτι ταῖς μακραῖς δημηγορίαις ἐνοχληθησομένους, ἀλλ᾽ ἐποίσοντας ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὴν ψῆφον κατὰ φυλάς. οἱ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ὑποσχόμενοι διέλυσαν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.
[6] Then the tribunes, chafing at the loss of time, would no longer permit the opponents of the law to speak against it, but appointing a day for ratifying it, urged the plebeians to be present in force, assuring them that they should not be bored by any more long harangues but should give their votes by tribes concerning the law. After making these promises the tribunes dismissed the assembly.
[1] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οἵ τε ὕπατοι καὶ τῶν πατρικίων οἱ πλεῖστον δυνάμενοι τραχύτερον ἤδη αὐτῶν προσιόντες καθήπτοντο λέγοντες, ὡς οὐκ ἐπιτρέψουσιν αὐτοῖς νόμους εἰσηγεῖσθαι καὶ τούτους ἀπροβουλεύτους. συνθήκας γὰρ εἶναι κοινὰς πόλεων τοὺς νόμους, οὐχὶ μέρους τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν οἰκούντων. τοῦ τε πονηροτάτου ὀλέθρου καὶ ἀνηκέστου καὶ οὐδ᾽ εὐσχήμονος ἀρχὴν ἀπέφαινον εἶναι πόλεσί τε καὶ οἴκοις, ὅταν τὸ
[4.1] After this the consuls and the most influential of the patricians, going to the tribunes, upbraided them more harshly than before, saying that they would not permit them to propose laws, and especially laws not recommended by a preliminary decree of the senate. For laws were compacts of states affecting all alike, and not of a single portion of the residents of states. They further pointed out that it is the first step in the most wicked, irremediable and indecent ruination for both states and households when the worst element prescribes laws for the best.
[2] κάκιστον τῷ κρατίστῳ νομοθετῇ. ποίαν δὲ ὑμεῖς, [p. 7] ἔφασαν, ὦ δήμαρχοι, νόμων εἰσφορᾶς ἢ ἀναιρέσεως ἐξουσίαν ἔχετε; οὐκ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς μὲν δικαίοις ταύτην τὴν ἀρχὴν παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς ἐλάβετε, τοῖς δ᾽ ἀδικουμένοις ἢ κατισχυομένοις τῶν πενήτων βοηθεῖν ᾐτήσασθε τοὺς δημάρχους, ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν πολυπραγμονεῖν; εἰ δ᾽ οὖν καὶ πρότερον ἦν τις ὑμῖν δύναμις, ἣν οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου βιασάμενοι ἡμᾶς ἐλάβετε, ὑποκατακλινομένης ἑκάστῳ πλεονεκτήματι τῆς βουλῆς, οὐχὶ καὶ ταύτην νῦν ἀπολωλέκατε τῇ μεταβολῇ τῶν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν;
[2] “And what authority,” they asked, “have you, tribunes, to introduce or to abrogate laws? Did you not receive this magistracy from the senate upon explicit terms? Did you not ask that the tribunes might come to the assistance of those of the poor who were injured and oppressed, but should meddle with nothing else? But, be that as it may, even if you previously possessed some power which you had wrongfully extorted from us, because the senate weakly gave in to each encroachment of yours, have you not lost even this power now through the changed character of your elections?
[3] οὔτε γὰρ βουλῆς δόγμα ὑμᾶς οὐκέτι ἀποδείκνυσιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν, οὔτε αἱ φρᾶτραι τὴν ψῆφον ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐπιφέρουσιν, οὔτε ἱερὰ προθύεται τοῖς θεοῖς πρὸ τῶν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν, ἃ κατὰ νόμους ἐχρῆν ἐπιτελεῖσθαι, οὔτε ἄλλο τῶν πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς εὐσεβῶν ἢ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ὁσίων οὐθὲν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς ὑμετέρας γίνεται. τίνος οὖν ὑμῖν ἔτι μέτεστι τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ σεβασμοῦ δεομένων, ὧν ἕν τι καὶ ὁ νόμος ἦν, ἐξαρνησαμένοις ἅπαντα τὰ νόμιμα;
[3] For neither a decree of the senate appoints you any longer to the magistracy, nor do the curiae give their votes concerning you, nor are there offered up to the gods before your election the sacrifices appointed by the laws, nor is anything else done in connexion with your magistracy that is holy in the eyes of the gods or right in the sight of men. What share have you, then, any longer in any of the things that are holy and call for reverence — of which the law was one — now that you have renounced everything lawful?”
[4] ταῦτά τε δὴ τοῖς δημάρχοις ἔλεγον οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ νέοι αὐτῶν καθ᾽ ἑταιρίας διεξιόντες ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐπιεικεστέρους τῶν δημοτῶν ὁμιλίαις ἀνελάμβανον κεχαρισμέναις, τοὺς δ᾽ ἀπειθεῖς καὶ ταραχώδεις ἀπειλαῖς κατεπλήττοντο κινδύνων, εἰ μὴ συμφρονήσειαν: ἤδη δέ τινας τῶν πάνυ ἀπόρων κ
αὶ ἀπερριμμένων, οἷς οὐθενὸς τῶν κοινῶν παρὰ τὰ ἴδια κέρδη φροντὶς ἦν, παίοντες ὥσπερ ἀνδράποδα ἀνεῖργον ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς. [p. 8]
[4] These were the arguments that the older and the young patricians, going about the city in organized groups, used with the tribunes. The more fair-minded of the plebeians they sought to win over by friendly intercourse, and the refractory and turbulent they attempted to terrify with threats of dangers which they would incur unless they came to their senses. Indeed, in the case of some who were very poor and abject and cared naught for the public interests in comparison with their own advantage, they drove them out of the Forum with blows as if they had been slaves.
[1] ὁ δὲ πλείστους τε περὶ αὑτὸν ἔχων ἑταίρους καὶ μέγιστον τῶν τότε νέων δυνάμενος Καίσων Κοίντιος ἦν, υἱὸς Λευκίου Κοιντίου τοῦ καλουμένου Κικιννάτου, ᾧ γένος τ᾽ ἦν ἐπιφανὲς καὶ βίος οὐθενὸς δεύτερος, ἀνὴρ ὀφθῆναί τε κάλλιστος νέων καὶ τὰ πολέμια πάντων λαμπρότατος φύσει τε περὶ λόγους κεχρημένος ἀγαθῇ: ὃς ἐν τῷ τότε χρόνῳ πολὺς ἔρρει κατὰ τῶν δημοτικῶν οὔτε λόγων φειδόμενος, ὧν βαρὺ τοῖς ἐλευθέροις ἀκούειν, οὔτ᾽ ἔργων ἀκολούθων τοῖς λόγοις ἀπεχόμενος. οἱ μὲν οὖν πατρίκιοι τίμιον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τούτοις εἶχον καὶ μένειν παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ ἠξίουν αὐτοὶ παρασχεῖν τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ὑπισχνούμενοι: οἱ δ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ δήμου πάντων δὴ μάλιστα αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπων ἐμίσουν.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 660