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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §10.18.1-10.18.4

Cincinnatus Restraining the Tribunes with Threats of War

Passage 758 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Having assumed the consulship, Cincinnatus forces the tribunes to submit by threatening a campaign and leveraging their military oath, and promises a respite from war on the condition that they cease political disturbances during his term.

§10.18.1ὁ δὲ Κοίντιος παραλαβὼν τὴν ὑπατείαν πρῶτον μὲν ἔπαυσε τοὺς δημάρχους τῶν καινῶν πολιτευμάτων καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ νόμῳ σπουδῆς προειπών, ὡς εἰ μὴ παύσονται ταράττοντες τὴν πόλιν ἀπάξει Ῥωμαίους ἅπαντας ἐκ τῆς πόλεως στρατείαν κατὰ §10.18.2Οὐολούσκων παραγγείλας.
But Quinctius, having assumed the consulship, first of all stopped the tribunes from their novel political measures and their eagerness for the law by warning them beforehand that, if they did not cease disturbing the city, he would lead all the Romans out of the city, having proclaimed a campaign against the Volscians.
ἐπεὶ δὲ κωλύσειν αὐτὸν ἔλεγον οἱ δήμαρχοι στρατοῦ ποιεῖσθαι καταγραφήν, συναγαγὼν τὸ πλῆθος εἰς ἐκκλησίαν εἶπεν, ὅτι πάντες ὀμωμόκασι τὸν στρατιωτικὸν ὅρκον, ἀκολουθήσειν τοῖς ὑπάτοις ἐφʼ οὓς ἂν καλῶνται πολέμους, καὶ μήτε ἀπολείψειν τὰ σημεῖα μήτε ἄλλο πράξειν μηθὲν ἐναντίον τῷ νόμῳ· παραλαβὼν δὲ τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτὸς ἔχειν ἔφη κρατουμένους ἅπαντας τοῖς ὅρκοις.
And when the tribunes said that they would prevent him from making a levy of the army, having assembled the multitude into an assembly, he said that they all had sworn the military oath, to follow the consuls to whatever wars they might be called, and neither to desert the standards nor to do any other thing contrary to the law; and having assumed the consular power, he said that he himself held them all bound by their oaths.
§10.18.3εἰπὼν δὲ ταῦτα καὶ διομοσάμενος χρήσεσθαι τῷ νόμῳ κατὰ τῶν ἀπειθούντων ἐκέλευσεν ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν τὰ σημεῖα καταφέρειν· καὶ ἵνα, ἔφη, πᾶσαν ἀπογνῶτε δημαγωγίαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπατείας, οὐ πρότερον ἀναστήσω τὸν στρατὸν ἐκ τῆς πολεμίας, πρὶν ἢ πᾶς ὁ τῆς ἀρχῆς μοι διέλθῃ χρόνος.
And having said this and solemnly sworn that he would enforce the law against those who disobeyed, he ordered them to bring down the standards from the temples; "and in order," he said, "that you may abandon all demagoguery during my consulship, I will not withdraw the army from the enemy's country until my entire term of office has expired.
ὡς οὖν ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ χειμάσοντες παρασκευάσασθε τὰ εἰς ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ἐπιτήδεια. §10.18.4τούτοις καταπληξάμενος αὐτοὺς τοῖς λόγοις ἐπειδὴ κοσμιωτέρους εἶδε γεγονότας καὶ δεομένους ἀφεθῆναι τῆς στρατείας, ἐπὶ τούτοις ἔφη χαριεῖσθαι τὰς ἀναπαύλας τῶν πολέμων, ἐφʼ ᾧ τε μηθὲν ἔτι παρακινεῖν αὐτούς, ἀλλʼ ἐᾶν αὐτὸν ὡς βούλεται τὴν ἀρχὴν τελεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ τὰ δίκαια διδόναι τε καὶ λαμβάνειν παρʼ ἀλλήλων.
Therefore, prepare the supplies for that season as men who will winter in the open air." Having terrified them with these words, when he saw that they had become more orderly and were begging to be released from the campaign, he said that he would grant them respites from the wars on these conditions: that they should no longer make any disturbances, but allow him to discharge his office as he wished, and that they should give and receive justice from one another.

Notes

  1. §10.18.1ἔπαυσε τοὺς δημάρχους τῶν καινῶν πολιτευμάτων — The verb `παύω` takes an accusative of the person and a genitive of the thing, meaning 'to stop someone from something.' Here, `τοὺς δημάρχους` is the accusative object, and `τῶν καινῶν πολιτευμάτων καὶ τῆς ... σπουδῆς` serves as the genitive of separation.
  2. §10.18.2ἔχειν ἔφη κρατουμένους — A periphrastic construction where `ἔχω` is combined with the passive participle `κρατουμένους`, emphasizing the maintenance of a completed state. It conveys the nuance that he holds them all in a state of being bound by their oaths.
  3. §10.18.3ὡς οὖν ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ χειμάσοντες — The conjunction `ὡς` combined with the future participle `χειμάσοντες` (from `χειμάζω`, 'to pass the winter') expresses subjective intention, purpose, or expected necessity ('as men who are going to winter in the open air'). It modifies the imperative `παρασκευάσασθε`.
  4. §10.18.4ἐφʼ ᾧ τε ... καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ — Two conditional constructions are coordinated here. The former, `ἐφʼ ᾧ τε` (equivalent to `ἐφʼ ᾧτε`), is followed by infinitives (`παρακινεῖν`, `ἐᾶν`) meaning 'on condition that,' while the latter, `ἐπὶ τῷ`, also introduces a similar condition with articular infinitives (`διδόναι τε καὶ λαμβάνειν`).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §10.18.1-10.18.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.18.1-10.18.4

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