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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §12.9.1-12.9.3

Lectisternium to Avert the Plague and the Peaceful Festival

Passage 873 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Describes the Romans celebrating the stromnai (lectisternium) by order of the oracle to avert a plague, and Piso the Censor's record of the extraordinary peace and lack of crime during this festival.

§12.9.1ἑορτὰς ἦγον οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τὰς καλουμένας τῇ ἐπιχωρίῳ γλώττῃ στρωμνὰς ὑπὸ τῶν Σιβυλλείων κελευσθέντες χρησμῶν.
The Romans celebrated the festivals called in their native tongue stromnai, having been commanded by the Sibylline oracles.
νόσος γάρ τις λοιμώδης γενομένη θεόπεμπτός τε καὶ ὑπὸ τέχνης ἀνθρωπίνης ἀνίατος εἰς ζήτησιν αὐτοὺς ἤγαγε τῶν χρησμῶν.
For a certain pestilential disease having arisen, sent by the gods and incurable by human art, led them to search the oracles.
§12.9.2ἐκόσμησάν τε στρωμνὰς τρεῖς, ὡς ἐκέλευον οἱ χρησμοί, μίαν μὲν Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ Λητοῖ, ἑτέραν δὲ Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδι, τρίτην δὲ Ἑρμῇ καὶ Ποσειδῶνι·
And they prepared three couches, as the oracles commanded: one for Apollo and Leto, another for Hercules and Artemis, and a third for Hermes and Poseidon.
καὶ διετέλουν ἐφʼ ἡμέρας ἑπτὰ δημοσίᾳ τε καταθύοντες καὶ ἰδίᾳ κατʼ οἰκείαν δύναμιν ἅπαντες τοῖς θεοῖς ἀπαρχόμενοι, ἑστιάσεις τε λαμπροτάτας ἐπιτελοῦντες καὶ §12.9.3ξένων τοὺς παρεπιδημοῦντας ὑποδεχόμενοι.
And they continued for seven days sacrificing publicly, and all offering first-fruits to the gods privately according to their own means, holding most splendid banquets, and welcoming those of the strangers who were residing among them.
Πείσων δὲ ὁ τιμητικὸς ἐν ταῖς ἐνιαυσίοις ἀναγραφαῖς καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔτι προστίθησιν· ὅτι λελυμένων μὲν τῶν θεραπόντων ὅσους πρότερον ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς εἶχον οἱ δεσπόται, πληθυούσης ὄχλου ξενικοῦ τῆς πόλεως, ἀναπεπταμένων τῶν οἰκιῶν διὰ ἡμέρας τε καὶ νυκτός, καὶ δίχα κωλύσεως εἰσιόντων εἰς αὐτὰς τῶν βουλομένων, οὔτε χρῆμα οὐδὲν ἀπολωλεκέναι τις ᾐτιάσατο οὔτε ἠδικῆσθαί τινα ὑπʼ οὐδενός, καίτοι πολλὰ φέρειν εἰωθότων πλημμελῆ καὶ παράνομα τῶν ἑορταίων καιρῶν διὰ τὰς μέθας.
And Piso the Censor, in his annals, adds this also: that although the slaves, as many as their masters previously kept in bonds, had been released, and the city was crowded with a foreign multitude, and the houses stood wide open day and night, and anyone who wished entered them without hindrance, neither did anyone complain of having lost any property, nor of being wronged by anyone, even though festival times are accustomed to bring many offenses and illegal acts because of drunkenness.

Notes

  1. 12.9.1στρωμνὰς — Accusative plural of στρωμνή ('couch, bedding'). Used here to translate the Latin term lectisternium, a religious ritual in which couches are prepared for the deities to recline upon during a feast.
  2. 12.9.3λελυμένων μὲν τῶν θεραπόντων... πληθυούσης... ἀναπεπταμένων... εἰσιόντων — A sequence of four genitive absolute constructions in parathesis, all functioning as a concessive clause ('although...', 'despite...') modifying the main clause (οὔτε χρῆμα... ᾐτιάσατο).
  3. 12.9.3καίτοι πολλὰ φέρειν εἰωθότων τῶν ἑορταίων καιρῶν — A genitive absolute introduced by the particle καίτοι, expressing concession. εἰωθότων is the perfect participle (with present meaning) of ἔωθα, and τῶν ἑορταίων καιρῶν is its subject. πολλά is the object of the infinitive φέρειν.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §12.9.1-12.9.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.9.1-12.9.3

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