Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §12.3.1

Cincinnatus Justifies the Killing of Maelius

Passage 867 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The dictator Cincinnatus argues for the justice of Maelius's death and guilt, pointing out that Maelius refused to defend himself legally and violently resisted the horsemen sent to arrest him.

§12.3.1. . . . . . ἔχων περὶ ἑαυτὸν ἀνθρώπους ἐξ ἁπάσης συνειλεγμένους κακίας, οὓς ἐσίτιζεν ὥσπερ θηρία κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος.

...having about himself men gathered from every kind of wickedness, whom he fed like wild beasts against their fatherland.

εἰ μὲν οὖν ὑπήκουσέ μοι καὶ παρέσχεν ἑαυτὸν ἐν τοῖς νόμοις μένοντα, μεγίστην ἂν τοῦτʼ αὐτῷ παρέσχε ῥοπὴν εἰς τὴν ἀπολογίαν, καὶ τεκμήριον οὐκ ἐλάχιστον ἦν τοῦ μηδὲν βεβουλεῦσθαι κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος·

If, therefore, he had obeyed me and surrendered himself, remaining within the laws, this would have given him the greatest weight in his defense, and would have been no small proof of his having plotted nothing against his fatherland.

νῦν δʼ ὑπὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως ἐλαυνόμενος, ὃ πάσχουσιν ἅπαντες οἱ τὰς ἀνοσίους βουλὰς κατὰ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων σφίσι ποιησάμενοι, τοῦτο ἔπαθε· φυγεῖν τὸν ἔλεγχον ἔγνω, καὶ τοὺς ἥκοντας ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἱππεῖς μαγειρικῇ κοπίδι παίων ἀπήλαυνεν. . . Ambr

But as it is, driven by his conscience, he suffered the very thing which all experience who have formed impious designs against those who are nearest and dearest to them; he resolved to flee from scrutiny, and began to drive away the horsemen who came for him, striking them with a butcher's cleaver...

Notes

12.3.1τεκμήριον οὐκ ἐλάχιστον ἦν — In the apodosis of this contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, the first clause contains the modal particle ἄν (with παρέσχε), whereas the second clause has ἦν without ἄν. This can be understood either as the particle ἄν being shared from the preceding clause, or as ἦν expressing potentiality or certainty in a contrary-to-fact past context without the need for ἄν. All languages consistently translate this as a contrary-to-fact statement.
12.3.1τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων σφίσι — The adjective ἀναγκαῖος, accompanied by the indirect reflexive pronoun σφίσι (themselves), here means those who are closest or most indispensable, referring to blood relatives, compatriots, or in this context, the fatherland/state. It emphasizes that their impious plots were directed against the very entities to which they owed the highest duty of affection and loyalty.
12.3.1ἀπήλαυνεν — The imperfect indicative of ἀπελαύνω. Since Maelius was ultimately unsuccessful in escaping and was killed, this imperfect function is conative, expressing an attempted or begun action ('tried to drive away' or 'began to drive away'). This nuance is consistently preserved across all translation languages.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §12.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.3.1

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