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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §16.3.1-16.3.4

Fragments on Appius Claudius and the Roman Calendar

Passage 919 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Various fragmentary accounts concerning the blinding of Appius Claudius, the Roman calendar terms, a clash at the center of the phalanx, the decline of the city due to domestic war, and the folly of blaming Fortune unjustly.

§16.3.1διʼ ἡμέρας μὲν ὅλης ἀγωνιζόμενοι τῶν πόνων ἠνείχοντο, ἀφελομένου δὲ τοῦ σκότους τὴν γνῶσιν τῶν τε οἰκείων καὶ τῶν πολεμίων πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους χάρακας ἀπηλλάγησαν.
Fighting through the whole day, they endured the hardships, but when the darkness took away the recognition of both their own men and the enemies, they retreated to their own ramparts.
Ἄππιος Κλαύδιος περὶ τὰς θυσίας παρανομήσας τι ἀπετυφλώθη καὶ Καῖκος προσηγορεύθη· οὕτω γὰρ τοὺς τυφλοὺς Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσιν.
Appius Claudius, having committed some unlawful act concerning the sacrifices, was blinded and was addressed as Caecus; for so the Romans call the blind.
§16.3.2αἱ ἐντοίχιοι γραφαὶ ταῖς τε γραμμαῖς πάνυ ἀκριβεῖς ἦσαν καὶ τοῖς μίγμασιν ἡδεῖαι, παντὸς ἀπηλλαγμένον ἔχουσαι τοῦ καλουμένου ῥώπου τὸ ἀνθηρόν.
The wall paintings were very precise in their lines and pleasing in their mixtures, possessing a brightness entirely free from the so-called cheap pigment.
τὰς νουμηνίας οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καλάνδας καλοῦσι, τὰς δὲ διχοτόμους νόννας, τὰς δὲ πανσελήνους εἰδούς.
The Romans call the new moons Kalends, the half-moons Nones, and the full moons Ides.
§16.3.3τοῖς δὲ κατὰ μέσην ἀγωνιζομένοις τὴν φάλαγγα ἀσπάθητον οὖσαν καὶ λαγαρὰν οἱ τῇδε τεταγμένοι συμπεσόντες ἐξέωσαν τῆς στάσεως.
But those stationed there, having fallen upon those fighting in the middle of the phalanx, which was unshielded and loose, drove them out of their position.
ὁ κατοικίδιός τε καὶ διοπετὴς πόλεμος ἐμάραινε τὴν ἀκμὴν τῆς πόλεως.
The domestic and heaven-sent war was wasting away the prime of the city.
ἄνδρας ἱεραγωγοὺς καὶ ἱεραφορίᾳ τετιμημένους.
Men who guide sacred rites and are honored with the carrying of sacred objects.
φορᾶς ἀβούλου μεστὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ μανικὸν ἔχων τὸ τολμηρόν, ἰδιογνωμονήσας καὶ ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ ποιήσας πάντα τὰ τοῦ πολέμου.
A man full of unthinking impulse and possessing a mad daring, having acted on his own judgment and having brought all the matters of the war under his own control.
§16.3.4ἔπειτα σὺ τολμᾷς κατηγορεῖν τῆς τύχης ὡς κακῶς τοῖς πράγμασι χρησαμένης ἐπὶ περιτραπέντος αὐτὴν καθίσας σκάφους;
And then, do you dare to accuse Fortune of having managed affairs badly, after having seated her upon a capsized boat?
οὕτω σκαιὸς ἦν.
So awkward was he.
μέλη τὰ μὲν θεραπείας ἔτι δεόμενα, τὰ δὲ τὰς οὐλὰς ἐφέλκοντα νεωστί.
Limbs, some still needing treatment, others newly drawing scars over themselves.

Notes

  1. 6ἀφελομένου δὲ τοῦ σκότους — Genitive absolute construction with the aorist middle participle `ἀφελομένου` (from `ἀφαιρέω`), taking `τὴν γνῶσιν` ("recognition") as its direct object, indicating that darkness took away the ability to distinguish friend from foe.
  2. 16.3.2ἀπηλλαγμένον ... τὸ ἀνθηρόν — The perfect passive participle `ἀπηλλαγμένον` ("freed from") modifies the substantivized neuter singular adjective `τὸ ἀνθηρόν` ("brightness/brilliance"). Since `ἀπαλλάττω` governs the genitive of separation, `παντὸς ... τοῦ καλουμένου ῥώπου` ("all the so-called cheap pigment") is in the genitive case.
  3. 7τοῖς δὲ κατὰ μέσην ἀγωνιζομένοις — The dative participial phrase `τοῖς ... ἀγωνιζομένοις` functions either as the indirect object of the subsequent verb `ἐξέωσαν` ("drove out") or as the complement governed by the preceding participle `συμπεσόντες` ("falling upon"). The phrase `τὴν φάλαγγα ἀσπάθητον οὖσαν καὶ λαγαρὰν` ("the phalanx which was unshielded and loose") serves as the object of the preposition `κατά`.
  4. 16.3.4αὐτὴν καθίσας — `καθίσας` is the aorist active participle of the transitive verb `καθίζω` ("to seat"), taking the accusative pronoun `αὐτήν` as its direct object. In this context, `αὐτήν` is the feminine singular personal pronoun referring to `τῆς τύχης` ("Fortune"), meaning "having seated her (Fortune) upon a capsized boat."

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §16.3.1-16.3.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:16.3.1-16.3.4

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