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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.60.1-1.60.3

Union into the Latins and the Ancestors of the Romans

Passage 60 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Following the completion of Lavinium, the Aborigines and Trojans unite as the "Latins" through the marriage alliance between Latinus and Aeneas. The various migrant peoples who became the ancestors of the Romans are listed.

§1.60.1ἐπειδὴ δὲ κατεσκευάσθη τοῖς Τρωσὶν ἡ πόλις, ἐπιθυμία πάντας ἴσχεν ἰσχυρὰ τοῦ παρʼ ἀλλήλων ἀπολαῦσαι χρησίμου, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς αὐτῶν πρῶτοι ἄρχουσι μίξαντες τοῦ τε ἐπιχωρίου καὶ τοῦ ἐπήλυδος γένους τὴν ἀξίωσιν ἐπὶ συναλλαγαῖς γάμου, δόντος Λατίνου τὴν θυγατέρα Λαῦναν Αἰνείᾳ γυναῖκα.
When the city was built for the Trojans, a strong desire seized everyone to enjoy the mutual advantages of one another, and their kings were the first to begin, mixing the dignity of the native and the incoming race upon the agreement of marriage, Latinus giving his daughter Launa as wife to Aeneas.
§1.60.2ἔπειτα καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι τὴν αὐτὴν τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἐπιθυμίαν λαβόντες καὶ διʼ ὀλίγου πάνυ χρόνου συνενεγκάμενοι ἔθη καὶ νόμους καὶ θεῶν ἱερά, κηδείας τε συνάψαντες ἀλλήλοις καὶ κοινωνίαις πολέμων ἀνακεράσθέντες, οἱ σύμπαντες κοινῇ ὀνομασίᾳ προσαγορεύοντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων Λατίνους, οὕτω βεβαίως ἔμειναν ἐπὶ τοῖς συγκειμένοις, ὥστʼ οὐδεὶς αὐτοὺς ἔτι χρόνος ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων διέστησε.
Thereupon, the others also, conceiving the same desire as the kings, and in a very short time sharing customs, laws, and the sacred rites of the gods, joining in affinity with one another and being blended together by partnerships in war, all calling themselves by a common name, Latins, after the king of the Aborigines, remained so firmly attached to their agreements that no length of time afterwards separated them from one another.
§1.60.3τὰ μὲν δὴ συνελθόντα ἔθνη καὶ κοινωσάμενα τοὺς βίους, ἐξ ὧν τὸ Ῥωμαίων γένος ὥρμηται, πρὶν ἣν νῦν ἔχουσιν οἰκισθῆναι πόλιν, ταῦτά ἐστιν· Ἀβοριγῖνες μὲν πρῶτον, οἳ Σικελοὺς ἐξανέστησαν ἐκ τούτων τῶν χωρίων, Ἕλληνες ὄντες τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἐκ Πελοποννήσου τῶν σὺν Οἰνώτρῳ μετενεγκαμένων τὴν οἴκησιν ἐκ τῆς καλουμένης νῦν Ἀρκαδίας, ὡς ἐγὼ πείθομαι· ἔπειθʼ οἱ μεταναστάντες ἐκ τῆς τότε μὲν Αἱμονίας, νῦν δὲ Θετταλίας καλουμένης, Πελασγοί· τρίτοι δὲ οἱ σὺν Εὐάνδρῳ παραγενηθέντες εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐκ Παλλαντίου πόλεως· μετὰ δὲ τούτους τῶν σὺν Ἡρακλεῖ στρατευομένων Πελοποννησίων Ἐπειοί τε καὶ Φενεᾶται, οἷς καὶ Τρωικόν τι ἐμμέμικται· τελευταῖοι δὲ οἱ διασωθέντες σὺν Αἰνείᾳ Τρῶες ἐξ Ἰλίου τε καὶ Δαρδάνου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Τρωικῶν πόλεων.
Indeed, the nations that came together and shared their lives, from whom the Roman race is sprung, before the city which they now inhabit was founded, are these: first, the Aborigines, who drove out the Sicels from these regions, being anciently Greeks from the Peloponnesus, of those who removed their habitation with Oenotrus from the place now called Arcadia, as I am persuaded; second, the Pelasgians, who migrated from the land then called Haemonia, but now Thessaly; third, those who came into Italy with Evander from the city of Pallantium; and after these, of the Peloponnesians who campaigned with Heracles, the Epeans and the Pheneatae, with whom some Trojan element also was mixed; and last, the Trojans who survived with Aeneas and escaped from Ilium, Dardanus, and the other Trojan cities.

Notes

  1. §1.60.1δόντος Λατίνου — Genitive absolute construction, acting as a means or background to the main verb `ἄρχουσι` and the participle `μίξαντες`, showing Latinus' action of giving his daughter Launa as wife.
  2. §1.60.3τῶν σὺν Οἰνώτρῳ μετενεγκαμένων τὴν οἴκησιν — A genitive noun phrase modifying the preceding `ἐκ Πελοποννήσου` (from Peloponnesus), functioning as a partitive genitive or in apposition to specify the origin of those who migrated with Oenotrus.
  3. §1.60.3πρὶν ἣν νῦν ἔχουσιν οἰκισθῆναι πόλιν — An accusative with infinitive construction introduced by `πρὶν` (subject: `πόλιν`, infinitive: `οἰκισθῆναι`), into which the relative clause `ἣν νῦν ἔχουσιν` is inserted, resulting in a hyperbaton where the antecedent `πόλιν` is placed at the end.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.60.1-1.60.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.60.1-1.60.3

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