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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §12.25.1-12.25.3

End of the Decemvirs and Reconciliation of the Orders

Passage 119 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Although the ten lawmakers try to resort to force, a reconciliation is reached through the mediation of prominent citizens, establishing a new system that limits patrician supremacy, including the election of ten tribunes and the opening of the consulship to the plebeians.

§12.25.1ἅμα δʼ ἡμέρᾳ γνωσθείσης τῆς τῶν στρατιωτῶν μισοπονηρίας οἱ μὲν δέκα νομογράφοι βοηθοῦντες τῷ συνάρχοντι συνῆγον πολλοὺς τῶν νέων, ὡς διὰ τῶν ὅπλων κριθησόμενοι· μεγάλης δʼ ἐμπεσούσης φιλοτιμίας οἱ χαριέστατοι τῶν πολιτῶν, προορώμενοι τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ κινδύνου, διεπρεσβεύσαντο πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους περὶ συλλύσεως, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς σπουδῆς ἐδέοντο λῆξαι τῆς στάσεως καὶ μὴ περιβαλεῖν τὴν πατρίδα μεγάλαις συμφοραῖς.
ἅμα δʼ ἡμέρᾳ At daybreak, when the indignation of the soldiers became known, the ten lawmakers, coming to the aid of their colleague, gathered many of the young men, as if they were going to decide the issue by force of arms; but since a great rivalry had arisen, the most respectable of the citizens, anticipating the magnitude of the danger, sent envoys to both sides to treat for reconciliation, and with great earnestness begged them to cease from the discord and not to involve their fatherland in great disasters.
§12.25.2τέλος δὲ πεισθέντων ἁπάντων ὁμολογίας ἔθεντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὥστε δέκα αἱρεῖσθαι δημάρχους μεγίστας ἔχοντας ἐξουσίας τῶν κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἀρχόντων, καὶ τούτους ὑπάρχειν οἱονεὶ φύλακας τῆς τῶν πολιτῶν ἐλευθερίας· τῶν δὲ κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν γινομένων ὑπάτων τὸν μὲν ἕνα ἐκ τῶν πατρικίων αἱρεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸν ἕνα πάντως ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους καθίστασθαι, ἐξουσίας οὔσης τῷ δήμῳ καὶ ἀμφοτέρους τοὺς ὑπάτους ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους αἱρεῖσθαι.
τέλος δὲ Finally, when everyone was persuaded, they made a treaty with one another, to the effect that ten tribunes should be elected, holding the greatest authority among the magistrates in the city, and that these should exist as it were as guardians of the citizens' liberty; and that of the consuls elected annually, one should be chosen from the patricians, and one must in any case be appointed from the plebeians, since the people also had the power to elect both consuls from the plebeians.
§12.25.3τοῦτο δʼ ἔπραξαν ταπεινῶσαι σπεύδοντες τὴν τῶν πατρικίων ὑπεροχήν· οἱ γὰρ ἄνδρες οὗτοι διά τε τὴν εὐγένειαν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἐκ τῶν προγόνων αὐτοῖς παρακολουθούσης δόξης ὡσεί τινες κύριοι τῆς πόλεως ὑπῆρχον.
τοῦτο δʼ ἔπραξαν They did this in their haste to humble the supremacy of the patricians; for these men, because of their noble birth and the greatness of the glory that followed them from their ancestors, existed as it were as masters of the city.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς ὁμολογίαις προσέκειτο τοῖς ἄρξασι δημάρχοις τὸν ἐνιαυτόν, ἀντικαθιστάναι πάλιν δημάρχους τοὺς ἴσους ἢ τοῦτο μὴ πράξαντας ζῶντας κατακαυθῆναι· ἐὰν δὲ οἱ δήμαρχοι μὴ συμφωνῶσι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, κύριοι εἶναι τὸν ἀνὰ μέσον κείμενον μὴ κωλύεσθαι.
And in the treaty it was added that the tribunes who had held office for the year must appoint in turn an equal number of tribunes as their successors, or, failing to do this, be burned alive; and if the tribunes should disagree among themselves, the one who stood between them should not be hindered.
τὴν μὲν οὖν ἐν Ῥώμῃ στάσιν τοιαύτης συλλύσεως τυχεῖν συνέβη.
It happened, then, that the discord in Rome met with such a reconciliation.

Notes

  1. §12.25.1ὡς διὰ τῶν ὅπλων κριθησόμενοι — The future passive participle `κριθησόμενοι` accompanied by `ὡς` expresses subjective intention or purpose, 'as if they were going to have the matter decided by force of arms.' The subject of the participle is understood to include both the 'ten lawmakers' (the subject of the main clause) and the 'many of the young men' they gathered.
  2. §12.25.2ὥστε δέκα αἱρεῖσθαι... — The conjunction `ὥστε` here introduces the specific terms or conditions of the agreement (`ὁμολογίας`). The subsequent infinitives `αἱρεῖσθαι`, `ὑπάρχειν`, `αἱρεῖσθαι`, and `καθίστασθαι` are all governed by this `ὥστε`, enumerating the clauses of the treaty.
  3. §12.25.3τὸν ἀνὰ μέσον κείμενον μὴ κωλύεσθαι — Meaning 'the one who stood between them [i.e., the tribune who intervened by exercising the veto] should not be hindered.' This is a Greek explanation of the Roman tribunes' mutual right of veto (intercessio), construed as an accusative with infinitive clause dependent on `κύριοι εἶναι` ('to be valid/effective').

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §12.25.1-12.25.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:12.25.1-12.25.3

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