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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §19.101.1-19.101.3

The Samnite War and Dictator Quintus Fabius's Campaigns

Passage 178 of 301 · Greek

Summary

This section describes the ongoing war between the Romans and the Samnites in Italy, highlighting the military successes of the dictator Quintus Fabius at Fregellae, Calatia, and Nola, and the subsequent Roman colonization of Pontia.

§19.101.1ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις κατὰ μὲν τὴν Ἰταλίαν Ῥωμαίων διαπολεμούντων τὸν πρὸς Σαμνίτας πόλεμον συνεχεῖς ἐγίνοντο προνομαὶ τῆς χώρας καὶ πολιορκίαι πόλεων καὶ δυνάμεων ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ στρατοπεδεῖαι· τὰ γὰρ μαχιμώτατα τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐθνῶν περὶ ἡγεμονίας φιλοτιμούμενα παντοίους συνίσταντο κινδύνους.
While these things were being done, in Italy, since the Romans were fighting through the war against the Samnites, there were continuous raids on the territory, sieges of cities, and encampments of forces in the open air; for the most warlike of the nations in Italy, contending for supremacy, faced all kinds of dangers.
§19.101.2οἱ μὲν οὖν τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὕπατοι μέρος τῆς δυνάμεως ἀναλαβόντες ἀντεστρατοπέδευσαν ταῖς τῶν πολεμίων παρεμβολαῖς καὶ πρὸς μὲν μάχην καιρὸν ἐπετήρουν οἰκεῖον, ταῖς δὲ συμμαχίσι πόλεσι παρείχοντο τὴν ἀσφάλειαν.
The consuls of the Romans, then, taking a part of the force, encamped opposite the positions of the enemy, and while they were watching for a suitable opportunity for battle, they were providing safety for the allied cities.
§19.101.3τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν στρατόπεδον ἀναλαβὼν Κόιντος Φάβιος, ὃς ἦν αὐτοκράτωρ ᾑρημένος, τήν τε Φρεγελλανῶν πόλιν εἷλε καὶ τῶν ἀλλοτρίως διακειμένων πρὸς τὴν Ῥώμην τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους ἐζώγρησεν.
But Quintus Fabius, who had been chosen dictator, taking the rest of the army, captured the city of the Fregellans and took alive the most prominent of those who were hostilely disposed toward Rome.
τούτους δὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντας πλείους τῶν διακοσίων ἀπήγαγεν εἰς Ῥώμην καὶ προαγαγὼν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ῥαβδίσας ἐπελέκησε κατὰ τὸ πάτριον ἔθος.
These men, being more than two hundred in number, he led away to Rome, and having brought them forward into the forum, he scourged them and beheaded them with an axe according to the ancestral custom.
μετʼ ὀλίγον δὲ ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν τῶν πολεμίων χώραν Καλατίαν καὶ τὴν Νωλάνων ἀκρόπολιν ἐξεπολιόρκησεν καὶ λαφύρων μὲν πλῆθος ἀπέδοτο, τοῖς δὲ στρατιώταις πολλὴν τῆς χώρας κατεκληρούχησεν.
Shortly after, invading the territory of the enemy, he took Calatia and the citadel of the Nolans by siege, and while he sold a great quantity of booty, he distributed much of the land to the soldiers by lot.
ὁ δὲ δῆμος, κατὰ νοῦν τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῷ προχωρούντων, ἀποικίαν ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὴν νῆσον τὴν Ποντίαν καλουμένην.
And the people, since things were proceeding for him according to his desire, sent a colony to the island called Pontia.

Notes

  1. 19.101.1Ῥωμαίων διαπολεμούντων — Genitive absolute construction. It introduces a subject (Ῥωμαίων) distinct from that of the main clause (προνομαὶ...), indicating the ongoing temporal background ('while the Romans were fighting through the war').
  2. 19.101.3αὐτοκράτωρ — Meaning 'possessing absolute power' in Greek, used here as the Greek equivalent for the Roman extraordinary office of 'dictator'.
  3. 19.101.3τὸν ἀριθμὸν — Accusative of respect (or specification), modifying the subsequent phrase πλείους τῶν διακοσίων ('more than two hundred'), meaning 'in number'.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §19.101.1-19.101.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.101.1-19.101.3

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