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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.64.1-1.64.5

Aeneas's Reign, War with the Rutulians, and Disappearance

Passage 64 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Aeneas succeeded to the kingdom after the death of Latinus and fought a fierce war against the Rutulians and their allies, during which he disappeared. The Latins built a hero-shrine for him near the river Numicius, though some attribute it to Anchises.

§1.64.1Αἰνείας δὲ κατασκευάσας ἱεροῖς τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις κόσμοις ἀποχρώντως τὴν πόλιν, ὧν τὰ πλεῖστα ἔτι καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ ἦν, τῷ μὲν ἑξῆς ἐνιαυτῷ, τρίτῳ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξόδου, Τρώων ἐβασίλευσε μόνων· τῷ δὲ τετάρτῳ τελευτήσαντος Λατίνου καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου βασιλείαν παραλαμβάνει τῆς τε κηδείας οἰκειότητι τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπικλήρου τῆς Λαύνας γενομένης μετὰ τὸν Λατίνου θάνατον καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας πολέμου τῆς στρατηγίας ἕνεκα.
And Aeneas, having sufficiently adorned the city with temples and other ornaments, most of which remained even down to my time, in the following year, which was the third from the departure, ruled over the Trojans alone; but in the fourth year, after Latinus died, he also took over his kingdom, both because of the closeness of the marriage alliance with him, Lavinia, his sole heiress, having become his wife after Latinus' death, and on account of the command in the war against the neighbors.
§1.64.2ἀπέστησαν γὰρ αὖθις ἀπὸ τοῦ Λατίνου Ῥότολοι λαβόντες ἡγεμόνα τῶν αὐτομόλων τινὰ τῆς Λατίνου γυναικὸς Ἀμίτας ἀνεψιὸν ὄνομα Τυρρηνόν.
For the Rutulians had again revolted from Latinus, having taken as leader one of the deserters, a nephew of Latinus' wife Amita, named Tyrrhenus.
ὁ δὲ ἀνὴρ οὗτος ἐπὶ τῷ γάμῳ τῆς Λαύνας τὸν κηδεστὴν μεμφόμενος, ὅτι παρελθὼν τὸ συγγενὲς ὀθνείοις ἐκήδευσε, τῆς τε Ἀμίτας παροξυνούσης καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν συλλαμβανόντων ἄγων τὴν δύναμιν, ἧς αὐτὸς ἦρχε, προστίθεται τοῖς Ῥοτόλοις.
This man, blaming his father-in-law-to-be on account of the marriage of Lavinia, because he had passed over his relatives and allied himself with foreigners, and being incited by Amita while certain others assisted him, joined the Rutulians, leading the force which he himself commanded.
§1.64.3πολέμου δʼ ἐκ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων τούτων γενομένου καὶ μάχης ἰσχυρᾶς Λατῖνός τε ἀποθνήσκει καὶ Τυρρηνὸς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συχνοί, κρατοῦσι δʼ ὅμως οἱ σὺν Αἰνείᾳ.
A war having arisen from these accusations and a fierce battle having taken place, both Latinus and Tyrrhenus died, as did many of the others, but those with Aeneas nevertheless prevailed.
ἐκ δὲ τούτου τὴν ὑπὸ τῷ κηδεστῇ γενομένην ἀρχὴν Αἰνείας παραλαμβάνει.
Consequently, Aeneas took over the rule that had been under his father-in-law.
τρία δὲ βασιλεύσας ἔτη μετὰ τὴν Λατίνου τελευτὴν τῷ τετάρτῳ θνήσκει κατὰ πόλεμον.
Having reigned for three years after the death of Latinus, he died in battle in the fourth year.
§1.64.4Ῥότολοί τε γὰρ ἐκ τῶν πόλεων στρατεύουσιν ἅπαντες ἐπʼ αὐτὸν, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς βασιλεὺς Τυρρηνῶν Μεσέντιος δείσας περὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ χώρας, ἤδη γὰρ ἐπὶ μέγα χωροῦσαν τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν ὁρῶν δύναμιν ἤχθετο.
For all the Rutulians from their cities marched against him, and with them Mezentius, the king of the Tyrrhenians, fearing for his own land, for he was already vexed at seeing the Greek power growing to a great size.
μάχης δὲ γενομένης καρτερᾶς οὐ πρόσω τοῦ Λαουϊνίου καὶ πολλῶν ἑκατέρωθεν ἀπολομένων τὰ μὲν στρατεύματα νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης διελύθη, τὸ δὲ Αἰνείου σῶμα φανερὸν οὐδαμῇ γενόμενον οἱ μὲν εἰς θεοὺς μεταστῆναι εἴκαζον, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ, παρʼ ὃν ἡ μάχη ἐγένετο, διαφθαρῆναι.
A fierce battle having been fought not far from Lavinium and many having perished on both sides, the armies dispersed when night came; but as the body of Aeneas was nowhere to be seen, some conjectured that he had been translated to the gods, and others that he had perished in the river beside which the battle was fought.
§1.64.5καὶ αὐτῷ κατασκευάζουσιν οἱ Λατῖνοι ἡρῶον ἐπιγραφῇ τοιᾷδε κοσμούμενον· πατρὸς θεοῦ χθονίου, ὃς ποταμοῦ Νομικίου ῥεῦμα διέπει. εἰσὶ δʼ οἳ λέγουσιν ἐπʼ Ἀγχίσῃ κατασκευασθῆναι αὐτὸ ὑπʼ Αἰνείου, ἐνιαυτῷ πρότερον τοῦ πολέμου τούτου τελευτήσαντι.
And for him the Latins built a hero-shrine adorned with an inscription such as this: "Of the father god of the earth, who governs the stream of the river Numicius." But there are some who say that it was built by Aeneas for Anchises, who died a year before this war.
ἔστι δὲ χωμάτιον οὐ μέγα καὶ περὶ αὐτὸ δένδρα στοιχηδὸν πεφυκότα θέας ἄξια.
It is a mound of earth, not large, and around it are trees grown in rows, well worth seeing.

Notes

  1. §1.64.1ἐπικλήρου τῆς Λαύνας γενομένης — ἐπικλήρου τῆς Λαύνας γενομένης functions as a genitive absolute construction with ἐπικλήρου τῆς Λαύνας as its semantic subject, meaning "Lavinia having become the sole heiress (after the death of Latinus)." It syntactically expands upon or explains the cause of the relationship (οἰκειότητι).
  2. §1.64.4οἱ μὲν εἰς θεοὺς μεταστῆναι εἴκαζον, οἱ δʼ ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ... διαφθαρῆναι — The contrastive structure οἱ μὲν ... οἱ δʼ ("some ... others") coordinates two infinitive clauses dependent on the main verb εἴκαζον: the first is εἰς θεοὺς μεταστῆναι ("had been translated to the gods"), and the second is διαφθαρῆναι ("had perished [in the river]"), with the semantic subject of both being Aeneas (or his body, Αἰνείου σῶμα).
  3. §1.64.5πατρὸς θεοῦ χθονίου — The genitive at the beginning of the inscription is a genitive of possession or dedication, implying "[This is the monument/temple] of the father god of the earth." It refers to the deified Aeneas.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.64.1-1.64.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.64.1-1.64.5

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