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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §15.1.1-15.1.4

Single Combat of Marcus Valerius and Origin of Corvinus

Passage 906 of 962 · Greek

Summary

During the Celtic invasion, Marcus Valerius engages in a single combat. A raven assists him, leading him to victory and earning him the surname Corvinus.

§15.1.1τῶν Κελτῶν ἐπιστρατευσάντων τῇ Ῥώμῃ καί τινος βασιλέως εἰς μονομαχίαν προκαλουμένου τῶν Ῥωμαίων, ὅστις εἴη ἀνήρ, Μάρκος Οὐαλέριος, εἷς τῶν χιλιάρχων, ἀπόγονος ὢν Οὐαλερίου Ποπλικόλα τοῦ συνελευθερώσαντος ἀπὸ τῶν βασιλέων τὴν πόλιν, §15.1.2ἐξῄει τῷ Κελτῷ διαγωνίσασθαι.
When the Celts marched against Rome, and one of their kings challenged the Romans to a single combat, asking if there was any man among them, Marcus Valerius, one of the military tribunes, who was a descendant of Valerius Publicola, who had helped liberate the city from the kings, went out to fight with the Celt.
ὡς δὲ συνῄεσαν ὁμόσε, κόραξ καθεζόμενος ἐπὶ τοῦ κράνους αὐτοῦ ἐκεκράγει τε δεινὸν εἰς τὸν βάρβαρον ὁρῶν καί, ὁπότε μέλλοι πληγὴν ἐκφέρειν, πηδῶν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν τοτὲ μὲν τοῖς ὄνυξιν ἤμυττε τὰς παρειάς, τοτὲ δὲ τῷ ῥύγχει τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔκοπτεν, ὥστε τὸν Κελτὸν ἔξω γενέσθαι τῶν φρενῶν, οὔθʼ ὅπως τὸν ἄνδρα ἀμύνοιτο δυνάμενον συμβαλεῖν, οὔθʼ ὅπως τὸν κόρακα φυλάττοιτο.
And when they came together in close combat, a raven, settling upon his helmet, screeched terribly, glaring at the barbarian, and, whenever the barbarian was about to deal a blow, flew at him, now scratching his cheeks with its talons, and now pecking at his eyes with its beak, so that the Celt lost his senses, being unable to comprehend how to defend himself against the man, or how to guard against the raven.
§15.1.3ὡς δὲ πολὺς ἐγεγόνει τῇ μάχῃ χρόνος, ὁ μὲν Κελτὸς φέρων ἐπὶ τὸν Οὐαλέριον τὴν μάχαιραν ὡς διὰ τῆς προβολῆς εἰς τὰ πλευρὰ βάψων, ἔπειτʼ ἐπιπτάντος αὐτῷ τοῦ κόρακος καὶ τὰς ὄψεις ὀρύττοντος ἀνέτεινε τὸν θυρεὸν ὡς ἀπελάσων τὸν ὄρνιν·
When a long time had passed in the fight, the Celt, raising his sword against Valerius in order to plunge it into his side by a thrust, then, as the raven flew at him and dug at his eyes, raised his shield to drive the bird away.
ὁ δὲ Ῥωμαῖος ἔτι μετεωρίζοντος τὸ ὅπλον ἀκολουθήσας κάτωθεν ὑποφέρει τὸ ξίφος καὶ ἀναιρεῖ τὸν Κελτόν.
And the Roman, while the other was still holding his weapon aloft, followed up, thrust his sword from beneath, and slew the Celt.
§15.1.4ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς Κάμιλλος χρυσέῳ τοῦτον στεφάνῳ ἐκόσμησεν ἐπωνυμίαν θέμενος αὐτῷ Κορβῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ συναγωνισαμένου κατὰ τὴν μονομαχίαν ζῴου· κόρβους γὰρ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσι τοὺς κόρακας·
The general Camillus decorated him with a golden crown, giving him the surname Corvinus after the animal that had fought with him in the single combat; for the Romans call ravens "corvi".
αὐτός τε διετέλεσεν ἐξ ἐκείνου συμβόλῳ κατὰ τοῦ κράνους κοσμούμενος κόρακι, καὶ ταῖς εἰκόσιν αὐτοῦ πάσαις οἱ πλάττοντες καὶ γράφοντες τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐφήρμοττον.
And he himself continued from that time on to be adorned with a raven as an emblem upon his helmet, and in all his portraits, sculptors and painters placed this animal upon his head.

Notes

  1. 15.1.1ὅστις εἴη ἀνήρ — The optative εἴη is due to indirect speech (or indirect question), reflecting the Celt king's challenge of 'whether there was any man' to fight him.
  2. 15.1.2ἔξω γενέσθαι τῶν φρενῶν — An idiomatic expression meaning 'to lose one's senses' or 'to go out of one's mind,' constructed with the genitive τῶν φρενῶν (mind, wits).
  3. 15.1.2συμβαλεῖν — Here συμβάλλω is used in the sense of 'to understand, comprehend, figure out,' functioning as the complement of the participle δυνάμενον.
  4. 15.1.3ἔτι μετεωρίζοντος τὸ ὅπλον — A genitive absolute construction with the subject (the Celt) omitted. The noun τὸ ὅπλον refers back to the shield (τὸν θυρεόν) mentioned just before.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §15.1.1-15.1.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:15.1.1-15.1.4

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