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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.49.1-1.49.4

Travels of Aeneas and the Founding of Aeneia

Passage 49 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Dionysius presents various accounts of Aeneas's travels after his departure from Troy, including his journeys to Thrace, Arcadia, and Italy, citing Roman and Greek evidence. He also details the Trojans' landing in Pallene, Thrace, and the foundation of the city of Aeneia, which was later incorporated into Thessalonica.

§1.49.1τὰ δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἔξοδον ἔτι πλείω παρέχει τοῖς πολλοῖς τὴν ἀπορίαν.
But the events after the departure present still greater difficulty to most writers.
οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἕως Θρᾴκης ἀγαγόντες αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ λέγουσι τελευτῆσαι τὸν βίον, ὧν ἐστι Κεφάλων τε ὁ Γεργίθιος καὶ Ἡγήσιππος ὁ περὶ Παλλήνης γράψας, ἄνδρες ἀρχαῖοι καὶ λόγου ἄξιοι.
For some, having conducted him as far as Thrace, say that he ended his life there, among whom are Cephalon of Gergis and Hegesippus who wrote on Pallene, ancient and noteworthy men.
ἕτεροι δὲ ἐκ Θρᾴκης ἀναστήσαντες αὐτὸν ἕως Ἀρκαδίας παρακομίζουσιν, οἰκῆσαι δὲ λέγουσιν ἐν Ὀρχομενῷ τε τῷ Ἀρκαδικῷ, καὶ Νήσῳ δὲ λεγομένῃ, καίπερ οὔσῃ μεσόχθονι, ἀπὸ τελμάτων καὶ ποταμοῦ· τάς τε καλουμένας Καπύας Αἰνείου τε καὶ Τρώων ἀπόκτισιν εἶναι, Καπύας ὀνομασθείσας ἀπὸ τοῦ Τρωικοῦ Κάπυος.
But others, having removed him from Thrace, convey him as far as Arcadia, and say that he settled both in Arcadian Orchomenus and in the place called Nesos, although it is inland, because of marshes and a river; and they say that the town called Capyae was a settlement of Aeneas and the Trojans, being named Capyae after the Trojan Capys.
λέγεται δὲ ταῦτα ἄλλοις τε καὶ Ἀριαίθῳ §1.49.2τῷ γράψαντι τὰ Ἀρκαδικά.
These things are said by various others and especially by Ariaethus, who wrote the Arcadian History.
εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἳ δεῦρο μὲν ἀφικέσθαι τὸν Αἰνείαν μυθολογοῦσιν, οὐ μέντοι τήν γε τελευτὴν αὐτῷ τοῦ βίου συμπεσεῖν ἐν τοῖς2δε τοῖς χωρίοις, ἀλλʼ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, ὡς ἄλλοί τε πολλοὶ δηλοῦσι καὶ Ἀγάθυλλος Ἀρκὰς ὁ ποιητὴς ἐν ἐλεγείῳ λέγων ὧδε· "ἵκετο δʼ Ἀρκαδίην, Νήσῳ δʼ ἐγκάτθετο παῖδας δοιάς, Κωδώνης λέκτρα καὶ Ἀνθεμόνης.
And there are some who mythologize that Aeneas indeed arrived here, but that the end of his life did not occur to him in these places, but in Italy, as many others make clear and also Agathyllus the Arcadian, the poet, saying thus in an elegy: 'And he came to Arcadia, and in Nesos he deposited his two daughters, the offspring of the bed of Codone and Antemone.
αὐτὸς δʼ Ἑσπερίην ἔσυτο χθόνα, γείνατο δʼ υἷα Ῥωμύλον. " §1.49.3τῆς δʼ εἰς Ἰταλίαν Αἰνείου καὶ Τρώων ἀφίξεως Ῥωμαῖοί τε πάντες βεβαιωταὶ καὶ τὰ δρώμενα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἔν τε θυσίαις καὶ ἑορταῖς μηνύματα, Σιβύλλης τε λόγια καὶ χρησμοὶ Πυθικοὶ καὶ ἄλλα πολλά, ὧν οὐκ ἄν τις ὡς εὐπρεπείας ἕνεκα συγκειμένων ὑπερίδοι.
But he himself rushed to the Hesperian land, and begot his son Romulus.' And of the arrival of Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy, all the Romans are confirmers, and the things performed by them in sacrifices and festivals are tokens, as well as the oracles of the Sibyl and Pythian responses, and many other things, which no one would overlook as being composed for the sake of plausibility.
πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρʼ Ἕλλησι γνωρίσματα καὶ φανερὰ εἰς τόδε χρόνου περιλείπεται, ἔνθα ὡρμίσαντο καὶ παρʼ οἷς διατριβὴν ἀπλοίας ἕνεκεν ἐποιήσαντο· ὧν ἐγὼ μνήμην ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ πολλῶν ὄντων βραχυτάτην ποιήσομαι.
And many clear memorials also remain among the Greeks to this day, where they anchored and with whom they made their stay on account of the impossibility of sailing; of which I shall make a very brief mention, though they are many, as far as I am able.
§1.49.4πρῶτον μὲν εἰς Θρᾴκην ἀφικόμενοι κατὰ τὴν χερρόνησον, ἣ καλεῖται Παλλήνη, ωρμίσαντο.
First, having arrived in Thrace, they anchored near the peninsula which is called Pallene.
εἶχον δὲ αὐτὴν ὥσπερ ἔφην βάρβαροι Κρουσαῖοι καλούμενοι καὶ παρέσχον αὐτοῖς τὰς καταγωγὰς ἀσφαλεῖς.
It was held, as I said, by barbarians called Cruseans, and they provided them with safe lodgings.
μείναντες δὲ τὴν χειμερινὴν ὥραν αὐτόθι νεὼν Ἀφροδίτης ἱδρύσαντο ἐπὶ τῶν ἀκρωτηρίων ἑνὸς καὶ πόλιν Αἴνειαν ἔκτισαν, ἐν ᾗ τούς τε ὑπὸ καμάτων ἀδυνάτους πλεῖν καὶ ὅσοις αὐτοῦ μένειν βουλομένοις ἦν, ὡς ἐν οἰκείᾳ γῇ τὸ λοιπὸν ἐσομένους, ὑπελίποντο.
Remaining there during the winter season, they established a temple of Aphrodite on one of the promontories, and founded the city of Aeneia, in which they left behind those who were unable to sail because of fatigue, and as many as wished to remain there, as they would be from then on in their own land.
αὕτη διέμεινεν ἕως τῆς Μακεδόνων δυναστείας τῆς κατὰ τοὺς διαδόχους τοὺς Ἀλεξάνδρου γενομένης· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Κασάνδρου βασιλείας καθῃρέθη, ὅτε Θεσσαλονίκη πόλις ἐκτίζετο, καὶ οἱ Αἰνεᾶται σὺν ἄλλοις πολλοῖς εἰς τὴν νεόκτιστον μετῴκησαν.
This city continued until the Macedonian dynasty which occurred in the time of the successors of Alexander; but in the reign of Cassander it was destroyed, when the city of Thessalonica was being founded, and the Aeneians with many others migrated to the newly-founded city.

Notes

  1. 123ἀπὸ τελμάτων καὶ ποταμοῦ — The preposition ἀπό expresses cause or origin, explaining why a place, although located inland, is named 'Nesos' (Island) due to the marshes and river surrounding it.
  2. 1.49.2ὡς ἄλλοί τε πολλοὶ δηλοῦσι — The conjunction ὡς expresses comparison or manner ('as'). For the subsequent subject Ἀγάθυλλος, either a singular verb (δηλοῖ) implied from δηλοῦσι or the participle λέγων functioning predicatively is understood.
  3. 124ὧν οὐκ ἄν τις ὡς εὐπρεπείας ἕνεκα συγκειμένων ὑπερίδοι — ὧν is a genitive relative pronoun governed by the verb ὑπερίδοι (potential optative of ὑπεροράω 'to overlook'). The participle συγκειμένων (from συγκείμαι 'to be composed/fabricated') is accompanied by ὡς to express subjective reason or estimation ('as if composed for the sake of plausibility').
  4. 1.49.4ὅσοις αὐτοῦ μένειν βουλομένοις ἦν — An idiomatic Greek construction 'dative of person + βουλομένῳ ἐστί' meaning 'it is the wish of someone'. The participle βουλομένοις agrees with the dative relative pronoun ὅσοις, meaning 'as many as wished to remain there'.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.49.1-1.49.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.49.1-1.49.4

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