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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.24.1-12.24.5

Outrage of the Decemvir and the Mutiny of the Soldiers

Passage 118 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Diodorus relates how one of the Roman decemvirs unjustly attempted to enslave a poor but noble maiden, prompting her father to kill her to save her honor, which in turn caused the soldiers to mutiny and occupy the Aventine Hill.

§12.24.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Λυσανίου Ῥωμαῖοι πάλιν δέκα ἄνδρας νομοθέτας εἵλοντο, Ἄππιον Κλώδιον, Μάρκον Κορνήλιον, Λεύκιον Μινύκιον, Γάιον Σέργιον, Κόιντον Πόπλιον, Μάνιον Ῥαβολήιον, Σπόριον Οὐετούριον.
When Lysanias was archon in Athens, the Romans again elected ten men as lawmakers: Appius Clodius, Marcus Cornelius, Lucius Minucius, Gaius Sergius, Quintus Publius, Manius Rabuleius, and Spurius Veturius.
§12.24.2οὗτοι δὲ τοὺς νόμους οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν συντελέσαι.
But these men were unable to complete the laws.
εἷς δʼ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐρασθεὶς εὐγενοῦς παρθένου πενιχρᾶς, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον χρήμασι διαφθεῖραι τὴν κόρην ἐπεβάλετο, ὡς δʼ οὐ προσεῖχεν αὐτῷ, ἐπαπέστειλε συκοφάντην ἐπʼ αὐτήν, προστάξας ἄγειν εἰς δουλείαν.
And one of them, having fallen in love with a well-born but poor maiden, at first attempted to corrupt the girl with money; but since she paid no attention to him, he sent an informer against her, ordering him to lead her away into slavery.
§12.24.3τοῦ δὲ συκοφάντου φήσαντος ἰδίαν αὑτοῦ εἶναι δούλην καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα καταστήσαντος δουλαγωγουμένην, προσαγαγὼν κατηγόρησεν ὡς δούλης.
When the informer claimed that she was his own slave and brought her, led as a slave, before the official, he brought her forward and accused her of being a slave.
τοῦ δὲ διακούσαντος τῆς κατηγορίας καὶ τὴν κόρην ἐγχειρίσαντος, ἐπιλαβόμενος ὁ συκοφάντης ἀπῆγεν ὡς ἰδίαν δούλην.
And when the official had heard the charge and handed the girl over, the informer seized her and was leading her away as his own slave.
§12.24.4ὁ δὲ πατὴρ τῆς παρθένου παρὼν καὶ δεινοπαθῶν, ὡς οὐδεὶς αὐτῷ προσεῖχε, παραπορευόμενος κατὰ τύχην παρὰ κρεοπώλιον, ἁρπάσας τὴν παρακειμένην ἐπὶ τῆς σανίδος κοπίδα, ταύτῃ πατάξας τὴν θυγατέρα ἀπέκτεινεν, ἵνα μὴ τῆς ὕβρεως λάβῃ πεῖραν, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐκπηδήσας ἀπῆλθε πρὸς τὸ στρατόπεδον τὸ ἐν τῷ Ἀλγίδῳ καλουμένῳ τότε ὑπάρχον.
The father of the maiden, who was present and deeply distressed, since no one paid attention to him, passing by chance near a butcher's shop, snatched a meat-cleaver that was lying on the table, and with this he struck and killed his daughter, so that she might not experience the outrage; and he himself, fleeing from the city, went to the army camp which was then located in the so-called Algidus.
§12.24.5καταφυγὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος καὶ μετὰ δακρύων τὴν καθʼ αὑτὸν συμφορὰν ἀπαγγείλας, ἅπαντας ἤγαγεν εἰς ἔλεον καὶ πολλὴν συμπάθειαν.
Fleeing to the multitude and reporting his misfortune with tears, he moved them all to pity and great sympathy.
πάντων δʼ ἐπιβοηθεῖν τοῖς ἠτυχηκόσιν ὁρμησάντων, μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων νυκτὸς εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην εἰσέπεσον.
And when everyone hastened to help those who had been wronged, they broke into Rome by night with their weapons.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν κατελάβοντο λόφον τὸν ὀνομαζόμενον Ἀουεντῖνον.
So these men occupied the hill called Aventine.

Notes

  1. 12.24.3τοῦ δὲ διακούσαντος — A genitive absolute construction where the genitive pronoun τοῦ refers back to "the official" (Appius Clodius) mentioned in the preceding sentence.
  2. 12.24.4ταύτῃ — The feminine dative singular of the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος, referring back to the preceding feminine noun κοπίδα (meat-cleaver) and functioning as a dative of instrument ("with this").
  3. 12.24.4τὸ ἐν τῷ Ἀλγίδῳ καλουμένῳ τότε ὑπάρχον — An attributive position where the definite article τὸ brackets the present participle ὑπάρχον (modifying the preceding neuter accusative noun τὸ στρατόπεδον) and its accompanying prepositional phrase.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.24.1-12.24.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.24.1-12.24.5

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