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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.26.1-1.26.2

Fate of Croton and the Origin of the Tyrrhenians

Passage 26 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The author describes the decline of the Pelasgians and the fate of their city Croton, and examines theories concerning the origins and name of the Tyrrhenians who occupied their former cities.

§1.26.1ὁ δὲ χρόνος ἐν ᾧ τὸ Πελασγικὸν κακοῦσθαι ἤρξατο, δευτέρα γενεὰ σχεδὸν πρὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν ἐγένετο· διέτεινε δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὰ Τρωικά, ἕως εἰς ἐλάχιστον συνεστάλη τὸ ἔθνος.
The time in which the Pelasgian nation began to meet with ill fortune was about two generations before the Trojan war; and it continued even after the Trojan war, until the nation was reduced to the smallest limits.
ἔξω γὰρ Κρότωνος τῆς ἐν Ὀμβρικοῖς πόλεως ἀξιολόγου, καὶ εἰ δή τι ἄλλο ἐν τῇ Ἀβοριγίνων οἰκισθὲν ἐτύγχανε, τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν Πελασγῶν διεφθάρη πολίσματα.
For except for Croton, a noteworthy city in the territory of the Umbrians, and if indeed any other town happened to have been founded in the land of the Aborigines, the remaining towns of the Pelasgians were destroyed.
ἡ δὲ Κρότων ἄχρι πολλοῦ διαφυλάξασα τὸ παλαιὸν σχῆμα χρόνος οὐ πολὺς ἐξ οὗ τήν τε ὀνομασίαν καὶ τοὺς οἰκήτορας ἤλλαξε· καὶ νῦν ἐστι Ῥωμαίων ἀποικία, καλεῖται δὲ §1.26.2Κορθωνία.
And Croton, having preserved its ancient form for a long time, changed both its name and its inhabitants not long ago; and now it is a colony of the Romans, and is called Corthonia.
οἱ δὲ τῶν ἐκλιπόντων τὴν χώραν Πελασγῶν κατασχόντες τὰς πόλεις ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ ἦσαν, ὡς ἕκαστοί τισιν ἔτυχον ὁμοτέρμονας τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχοντες, καὶ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα πλείστας τε καὶ ἀρίστας Τυρρηνοί.
And those who seized the cities of the Pelasgians when they abandoned the country were many others, as each happened to have their dwellings bordering on some of them, and among the first, taking both the most and the best cities, were the Tyrrhenians.
τοὺς δὲ Τυρρηνοὺς οἱ μὲν αὐτόχθονας Ἰταλίας ἀποφαίνουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐπήλυδας·
As for the Tyrrhenians, some declare them to be indigenous to Italy, and others to be immigrants.
καὶ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν αὐτοῖς ταύτην οἱ μὲν αὐθιγενὲς τὸ ἔθνος ποιοῦντες ἐπὶ τῶν ἐρυμάτων, ἃ πρῶτοι τῶν τῇδε οἰκούντων κατεσκευάσαντο, τεθῆναι λέγουσι· τύρσεις γὰρ καὶ παρὰ Τυρρηνοῖς αἱ ἐντείχιοι καὶ στεγαναὶ οἰκήσεις ὀνομάζονται ὥσπερ παρʼ Ἕλλησιν.
And as for this name, those who make the nation indigenous say that it was given to them because of the fortifications which they were the first of the inhabitants of these parts to construct; for among the Tyrrhenians also, walled and covered dwellings are called tyrseis, just as they are among the Greeks.
ἀπὸ δὴ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος αὐτοῖς ἀξιοῦσι τεθῆναι τοὔνομα, ὥς2περ καὶ τοῖς ἐν Ἀσίᾳ Μοσυνοίκοις· οἰκοῦσι μὲν γὰρ δὴ κἀκεῖνοι ἐπὶ ξυλίνοις ὡσπερὰν πύργοις ὑψηλοῖς σταυρώμασι, μόσυνας αὐτὰ καλοῦντες.
They therefore hold that the name was given to them from this circumstance, just as it was to the Mossynoeci in Asia; for those people also dwell in wooden structures, high like towers, calling them mossynes.

Notes

  1. §1.26.1χρόνος οὐ πολὺς ἐξ οὗ — An idiomatic expression meaning 'it is not long since...'. Structurally, the impersonal expression 'it is not a long time since...' (χρόνος οὐ πολὺς [ἐστιν] ἐξ οὗ) is blended and constructed together with the main subject (Croton) of the sentence.
  2. §1.26.2ὡς ἕκαστοί τισιν ἔτυχον ὁμοτέρμονας τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχοντες — The verb ἔτυχον combined with the participle ἔχοντες forms the construction meaning 'happened to have'. The dative τισιν depends on the adjective ὁμοτέρμονας ('bordering on'). Literally, 'as each happened to have their dwellings bordering on some [of the Pelasgians]'.
  3. §1.26.2οἱ μὲν αὐθιγενὲς τὸ ἔθνος ποιοῦντες — The participle ποιοῦντες here means 'representing as' or 'declaring to be'. The adjective αὐθιγενές is a predicative accusative qualifying τὸ ἔθνος, meaning 'those who represent the nation as indigenous'.
  4. §1.26.2ἀπὸ δὴ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος — The preposition ἀπό indicating origin or cause governs the substantivized neuter singular participle τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ('what has happened to them' or 'accidental circumstance'), meaning 'from this accidental circumstance'.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.26.1-1.26.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.26.1-1.26.2

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