Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §14.4.1

Defense and Execution of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus

Passage 896 of 962 · Greek

Summary

When Manlius faced execution on suspicion of attempting a tyranny, he appealed to the people by pointing to the temple on the Capitol which he had once saved from the barbarians; though acquitted at first, he was eventually thrown from the cliff.

§14.4.1Μάλλιος ὁ ἀριστεύσας, ὅτε εἰς τὸ Καπιτώλιον Ῥωμαῖοι κατέφυγον, κινδυνεύων διὰ τυραννίδος ἐπίθεσιν ἀπολέσθαι, βλέψας εἰς τὸ Καπιτώλιον καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνας εἰς τὸν ἐν αὐτῷ νεὼν τοῦ Διὸς εἶπεν· οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνος ὁ τόπος ἱκανὸς ἔσται με σῶσαι, ὃν ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων κρατηθέντα διέσωσα ὑμῖν ἐγώ;

Manlius, who had distinguished himself when the Romans fled to the Capitol, being in danger of being put to death because of an attempt at tyranny, looked toward the Capitol and, stretching out his hands toward the temple of Zeus located in it, said, "Will not even that place be sufficient to save me, which I myself preserved for you when it was being seized by the barbarians?

ἀλλὰ καὶ τότε ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἀπέθνησκον καὶ νῦν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἀποθανοῦμαι. τότε μὲν οὖν συμπαθήσαντες ἀφῆκαν αὐτόν, ὕστερον δὲ κατὰ κρημνοῦ ἐρρίφη. αμβρ.

But indeed, even then I was facing death for your sake, and now I shall be put to death by you." At that time, therefore, having felt compassion, they released him, but later he was cast down from the cliff. αμβρ.

Notes

¦6¦κινδυνεύων ... ἀπολέσθαι — The verb κινδυνεύω followed by the second aorist middle infinitive ἀπολέσθαι (having an intransitive or passive sense, 'to perish' or 'to be destroyed') means 'being in danger of perishing' (i.e., being executed) on the charge of τυραννίδος ἐπίθεσις (an attempt at tyranny).
¦6¦ὃν ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων κρατηθέντα — The relative pronoun ὃν refers back to ἐκεῖνος ὁ τόπος (the Capitol). The aorist passive participle κρατηθέντα ('having been seized') here implies an attempted or imminent action in this context: 'when it was on the point of being seized by the barbarians' or 'while being overpowered by them.'
¦6¦ἀπέθνησκον — First-person singular imperfect of ἀποθνῄσκω ('to die'). It functions here as a conative or durative imperfect ('I was facing death' or 'I was on the verge of dying' in battle), contrasting with the subsequent future ἀποθανοῦμαι ('I shall die / be put to death').

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §14.4.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:14.4.1

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