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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.69.1-1.69.4

Origin of the Palladium and Its Transfer by Aeneas

Passage 69 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The author describes how the Trojan sacred objects, originating from Dardanus, were transferred to Italy by Aeneas during the fall of Troy, and mentions Arctinus' alternative account involving a duplicate Palladium.

§1.69.1Δάρδανον μὲν ἐν τῇ κτισθείσῃ τε ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ὀνομασίας ὁμοίας τυχούσῃ πόλει τὰ ἕδη καταλιπεῖν, Ἰλίου δʼ ἐν ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ συνοικισθέντος ἐκεῖσε μετενεχθῆναι πρὸς τῶν ἐγγόνων αὐτοῦ τὰ ἱερά.
Dardanus indeed left the images in the city founded by himself and obtaining a similar name, but when Ilium was founded in a later time, the sacred objects were transferred there by his descendants.
ποιήσασθαι δὲ τοὺς Ἰλιεῖς νεών τε καὶ ἄδυτον αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς ἄκρας καὶ φυλάττειν διʼ ἐπιμελείας ὅσης ἐδύναντο πλείστης θεόπεμπτά τε ἡγουμένους εἶναι καὶ σωτηρίας κύρια τῇ πόλει.
And the Ilians built for them a temple and an adytum on the citadel, and guarded them with the greatest care they could, believing them to be sent from heaven and crucial for the safety of the city.
§1.69.2ἁλισκομένης δὲ τῆς κάτω πόλεως τὸν Αἰνείαν καρτερὸν τῆς ἄκρας γενόμενον, ἄραντα ἐκ τῶν ἀδύτων τά τε ἱερὰ τῶν μεγάλων θεῶν καὶ ὅπερ ἔτι περιῆν Παλλάδιον ʽθάτερον γὰρ Ὀδυσσέα καὶ Διομήδην νυκτός φασιν εἰς Ἴλιον ἀφικομένους κλοπῇ λαβεῖνʼ οἴχεσθαί τε κομίσαντα ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐλθεῖν ἄγοντα εἰς Ἰταλίαν.
And while the lower city was being taken, Aeneas, having made himself master of the citadel, taking from the adytum both the sacred objects of the great gods and the Palladium which still remained (for they say that Odysseus and Diomedes, coming to Ilium by night, took the other by theft), departed, carrying them out of the city, and came, bringing them into Italy.
§1.69.3Ἀρκτῖνος δέ φησιν ὑπὸ Διὸς δοθῆναι Δαρδάνῳ Παλλάδιον ἓν καὶ εἶναι τοῦτο ἐν Ἰλίῳ τέως ἡ πόλις ἡλίσκετο κεκρυμμένον ἐν ἀβάτῳ· εἰκόνα δʼ ἐκείνου κατεσκευασμένην ὡς μηδὲν τῆς ἀρχετύπου διαφέρειν ἀπάτης τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων ἕνεκεν ἐν φανερῷ τεθῆναι καὶ αὐτὴν Ἀχαιοὺς ἐπιβουλεύσαντας λαβεῖν.
But Arctinus says that one Palladium was given by Zeus to Dardanus, and that this was hidden in an inaccessible place in Ilium as long as the city was being taken; and that an image of it, constructed so as to differ in no way from the archetype, was placed in public view for the purpose of deceiving those who plotted against it, and that the Achaeans, having plotted, took this very image.
§1.69.4τὰ μὲν οὖν εἰς Ἰταλίαν ὑπʼ Αἰνείου κομισθέντα ἱερὰ τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἀνδράσι πειθόμενος γράφω τῶν τε μεγάλων θεῶν εἰκόνας εἶναι, οὓς Σαμοθρᾷκες Ἑλλήνων μάλιστα ὀργιάζουσι, καὶ τὸ μυθευόμενον Παλλάδιον, ὅ φασι τὰς ἱερὰς φυλάττειν παρθένους ἐν ναῷ κείμενον Ἑστίας, ἔνθα καὶ τὸ ἀθάνατον διασώζεται πῦρ· ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐν ὑστέρῳ λεχθήσεται λόγῳ.
Therefore, believing the aforementioned men, I write that the sacred objects carried to Italy by Aeneas are both the images of the great gods, whom the Samothracians of all the Greeks celebrate with the greatest devotion, and the legendary Palladium, which they say the sacred virgins guard as it lies in the temple of Vesta, where also the immortal fire is preserved; concerning which things it will be spoken in a later book.
εἴη δʼ ἂν καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα τοῖς βεβήλοις ἡμῖν ἄδηλα ἕτερα.
And there might also be other things besides these, unknown to us who are uninitiated.
καὶ περὶ μὲν τῶν Τρωικῶν ἱερῶν τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω.
And concerning the Trojan sacred objects, let so much have been said.

Notes

  1. §1.69.1Δάρδανον μὲν ... τὰ ἕδη καταλιπεῖν — This is a continuation of the indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive) introduced by λέγουσι γοῦν ὧδε in the previous chapter (§1.68.3), which governs this entire section and extends to οἴχεσθαι and ἐλθεῖν in §1.69.2. The subject is the accusative Δάρδανον, and the main verb is the infinitive καταλιπεῖν.
  2. §1.69.2καρτερὸν τῆς ἄκρας γενόμενον — The adjective καρτερός governs the genitive (τῆς ἄκρας) and means 'becoming master of' or 'holding firmly'. The participle γενόμενον modifies τὸν Αἰνείαν, which is the subject accusative of the infinitive οἴχεσθαι.
  3. 175τέως ἡ πόλις ἡλίσκετο — The conjunction τέως is used here with the imperfect ἡλίσκετο to mean 'as long as the city was being taken' or 'until the city was taken'.
  4. 175καὶ αὐτὴν Ἀχαιοὺς ἐπιβουλεύσαντας λαβεῖν — αὐτήν is an intensive pronoun referring to the copy (εἰκόνα) mentioned in the preceding clause, emphasizing the contrast that the Achaeans took 'that very image' (rather than the real one).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.69.1-1.69.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.69.1-1.69.4

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