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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §10.56.1-10.56.2

Election of Appius and Decemvirs and Abolition of Magistracies

Passage 796 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The tribunes reported the senatorial decree to the people, and the consuls-elect formally resigned their offices. In the subsequent election by the centuriate assembly, the decemvirs (lawmakers) including Appius Claudius were appointed, and all existing magistracies were abolished.

§10.56.1τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα λαβόντες οἱ δήμαρχοι προῆλθον εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ ἀναγνόντες ἐν τῷ δήμῳ πολλοὺς ἐπαίνους τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τοῦ προθέντος τὴν γνώμην Ἀππίου διεξῆλθον.
The tribunes, having received this decree, came forward into the assembly and, having read it before the people, delivered many praises of the senate and of Appius, who had proposed the opinion.
ἐπεὶ δὲ κατέλαβεν ὁ τῶν ἀρχαιρεσίων καιρός, ἐκκλησίαν συναγαγόντες οἱ δήμαρχοι τούς τʼ ἀποδειχθέντας ὑπάτους ἥκειν ἠξίουν ἐμπεδώσοντας τῷ δήμῳ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις, κἀκεῖνοι παρελθόντες ἐξωμόσαντο τὰς ὑπατείας.
And when the time for the elections arrived, the tribunes, having gathered the assembly, demanded that the designated consuls come in order to confirm their promises to the people; and they, coming forward, formally renounced the consulship.
§10.56.2τούτους ὁ δῆμος ἐπαινῶν τε καὶ θαυμάζων διετέλει, καὶ ἐπειδὴ τοὺς νομοθέτας ψηφοφορεῖν ἔδει πρώτους εἵλετο τῶν ἄλλων·
The people continued praising and admiring them, and when it was necessary to vote for the lawmakers, they elected them first of all.
καὶ ἀπεδείχθησαν ἐν ἀρχαιρεσίαις ὑπὸ τῆς λοχίτιδος ἐκκλησίας Ἄππιος μὲν Κλαύδιος καὶ Τίτος Γενύκιος, οὓς ἔδει εἰς τοὐπιὸν ἄρχειν ἔτος, Πόπλιος δὲ Σήστιος ὁ τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκεῖνον ὑπατεύων, τρεῖς δὲ οἱ κομίσαντες παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοὺς νόμους, Σπόριος Ποστόμιος καὶ Σερούιος Σολπίκιος καὶ Αὖλος Μάλλιος, εἷς δὲ τῶν ὑπατευσάντων τὸν παρελθόντα ἐνιαυτὸν Τίτος Ῥωμίλιος, ὁ τὴν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ δίκην Σικκίου κατηγορήσαντος ἁλούς, ἐπειδὴ γνώμης ἐδόκει ἄρξαι δημοτικῆς· ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων βουλευτῶν Γάιος Ἰούλιος καὶ Τίτος Οὐετούριος καὶ Πόπλιος Ὁράτιος, ἅπαντες ὑπατικοί· αἱ δὲ τῶν δημάρχων τε καὶ ἀγορανόμων καὶ ταμιῶν καὶ εἴ τινες ἦσαν ἄλλαι πάτριοι Ῥωμαίοις ἀρχαὶ κατελύθησαν.
And there were appointed in the elections by the centuriate assembly Appius Claudius and Titus Genucius, who were to rule in the coming year; Publius Sestius, who was consul for that year; three, those who had brought the laws from the Greeks, Spurius Postumius, Servius Sulpicius, and Aulus Manlius; one of those who had been consuls in the past year, Titus Romilius, who had been convicted in the trial before the people with Siccius as accuser, since he seemed to initiate a popular policy; and from the other senators, Gaius Julius, Titus Veturius, and Publius Horatius, all of consular rank; and the offices of the tribunes, aediles, quaestors, and whatever other ancestral magistracies the Romans had, were abolished.

Notes

  1. 10.56.1ἐξωμόσαντο τὰς ὑπατείας — The verb ἐξόμνυμι means "to decline on oath" or "formally renounce." Here it refers to Appius and Genucius formally swearing off the consulships to which they had already been designated for the coming year.
  2. 10.56.2ὁ τὴν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ δίκην Σικκίου κατηγορήσαντος ἁλούς — The aorist participle ἁλούς (from ἁλίσκομαι, with passive meaning "having been convicted") agrees with Titus Romilius. Σικκίου κατηγορήσαντος is a genitive absolute construction expressing the accuser ("with Siccius acting as accuser"). Together they form a complex modifier: "who had been convicted in the trial before the people, with Siccius as accuser."
  3. 10.56.2γνώμης ἐδόκει ἄρξαι δημοτικῆς — The verb ἄρχω (here the active aorist infinitive ἄρξαι) takes a genitive and means "to begin" or "to initiate." Thus, γνώμης δημοτικῆς (a popular opinion/policy) is the object of ἄρξαι. This explains why Romilius was elected despite his prior conviction, as he seemed to have been the first to propose a pro-plebeian policy.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §10.56.1-10.56.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.56.1-10.56.2

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