Humanitext Reader

Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §19.11.1

Laevinus's Release of Pyrrhus's Spy

Passage 938 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The Roman consul Laevinus captures a spy of Pyrrhus, shows him the fully armed and marshaled Roman army, and releases him with a message inviting Pyrrhus to come openly and witness the Roman power himself.

§19.11.1Λαβίνιος ὁ Ῥωμαίων ὕπατος κατάσκοπον τοῦ Πύρρου συλλαβὼν καθοπλίσας τὴν στρατιὰν πᾶσαν καὶ εἰς τάξιν καταστήσας, ὡς ἐπέδειξε τῷ κατασκόπῳ, φράζειν ἐκέλευσε πρὸς τὸν ἀποστείλαντα πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καὶ πρὸς οἷς ἐθεάσατο λέγειν, ὅτι Λαβίνιος ὁ Ῥωμαίων ὕπατος αὐτὸν παρακαλεῖ μὴ λάθρα πέμπειν ἑτέρους ἔτι τοὺς κατασκεψομένους, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸν ἐλθόντα φανερῶς ἰδεῖν τε καὶ μαθεῖν τὴν Ῥωμαίων δύναμιν.
Laevinus, the consul of the Romans, having captured a spy of Pyrrhus, armed the whole army and drew them up in order, and after he had shown this to the spy, he ordered him to tell the one who had sent him the whole truth, and in addition to what he had witnessed, to say that Laevinus, the consul of the Romans, urged him not to send others in secret any longer to spy, but to come himself openly to see and learn the power of the Romans.

Notes

  1. 18.1ὡς ἐπέδειξε — The conjunction ὡς functions temporally ("when" or "after"). Following the actions of the preceding participles (καθοπλίσας, καταστήσας), it indicates that after showing the marshaled army to the spy, the consul issued the command expressed by the main verb ἐκέλευσε.
  2. 18.1πρὸς οἷς ἐθεάσατο — The preposition πρὸς with the dative means "in addition to." The relative pronoun οἷς has attracted its omitted demonstrative antecedent (τούτοις) into its own case. The phrase translates to "in addition to those things which he witnessed."
  3. 18.1τοὺς κατασκεψομένους — The future participle with the article (τοὺς κατασκεψομένους) expresses purpose ("those who will spy" / "in order to spy"). Together with the negative μὴ and the infinitive πέμπειν, it means "not to send any others to spy."

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §19.11.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:19.11.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.