Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.90.1-1.90.2

Language and Customs of Romans and Plan for Book Two

Passage 91 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The author characterizes the Roman language as a mixture of Greek and barbarian elements while asserting the persistent Greek nature of their customs, concluding the book with a promise to discuss their constitution in a future work.

§1.90.1Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ φωνὴν μὲν οὔτʼ ἄκρως βάρβαρον οὔτʼ ἀπηρτισμένως Ἑλλάδα φθέγγονται, μικτὴν δέ τινα ἐξ ἀμφοῖν, ἧς ἐστιν ἡ πλείων Αἰολίς, τοῦτο μόνον ἀπολαύσαντες ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν ἐπιμιξιῶν, τὸ μὴ πᾶσι τοῖς φθόγγοις ὀρθοεπεῖν, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα, ὁπόσα γένους Ἑλληνικοῦ μηνύματʼ ἐστὶν ὡς οὐχ ἕτεροί τινες τῶν ἀποικησάντων διασώζοντες, οὐ νῦν πρῶτον ἀρξάμενοι πρὸς φιλίαν ζῆν, ἡνίκα τὴν τύχην πολλὴν καὶ ἀγαθὴν ῥέουσαν διδάσκαλον ἔχουσι τῶν καλῶν οὐδʼ ἀφʼ οὗ πρῶτον ὠρέχθησαν τῆς διαποντίου τὴν Καρχηδονίων καὶ Μακεδόνων ἀρχὴν καταλύσαντες, ἀλλʼ ἐκ παντὸς οὗ συνῳκίσθησαν χρόνου βίον Ἕλληνα ζῶντες καὶ οὐδὲν ἐκπρεπέστερον ἐπιτηδεύοντες πρὸς ἀρετὴν νῦν ἢ πρότερον. §1.90.2μυρία δʼ εἰς τοῦτο λέγειν ἔχων καὶ πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις χρῆσθαι δυνάμενος ἀνδρῶν τε μαρτυρίας φέρειν οὐκ ἀξίων ἀπιστεῖσθαι, πάντα ἀναβάλλομαι ταῦτα εἰς τὸν περὶ τῆς πολιτείας αὐτῶν συγγραφησόμενον λόγον.

The Romans, on their part, speak a language which is neither utterly barbarian nor completely Greek, but a mixture of both, of which the greater part is Aeolic; the only disadvantage they have derived from their many admixtures being that they do not pronounce all their sounds correctly. In other respects, they preserve all the tokens of their Greek origin as well as any other of those who founded colonies, not having begun to live in friendship just now, when they have a great and prosperous fortune flowing in as a teacher of noble things, nor from the time when they first aspired to transmarine dominion after destroying the empire of the Carthaginians and the Macedonians, but from the whole time since they first settled together, living a Greek life and practicing nothing more eminent for virtue now than before. Though I have ten thousand things to say on this subject, and am able to use many proofs, and to bring the testimonies of men who do not deserve to be disbelieved, I defer all these things to the discourse which will be written concerning their constitution.

νυνὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑξῆς δἱήγησιν τρέψομαι τὴν ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν τῶν ἐν ταύτῃ δεδηλωμένων τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς ἐχομένης γραφῆς ποιησάμενος ἀρχήν.

But now I shall turn to the subsequent narrative, having made the summary of the things declared in this book the beginning of the next writing.

Notes

1.90.1ἀπολαύσαντες — While ἀπολαύω usually means 'to enjoy' or 'to benefit from', it is used ironically here to mean 'to derive as a disadvantage' or 'to suffer (from negative influence)'.
1.90.1τὰ δὲ ἄλλα — Accusative of respect ('in other respects'), functioning adverbially in contrast with the preceding τοῦτο μόνον ('only this').
1.90.2ἀπιστεῖσθαι — An infinitive dependent on οὐκ ἀξίων ('not worthy to be'), which by double negation signifies 'men who do not deserve to be disbelieved', i.e., 'highly trustworthy people'.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.90.1-1.90.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.90.1-1.90.2

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