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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §2.22.1-2.22.3

Regulations on Ritual Assistants and Tribal Augurs

Passage 113 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Dionysius describes Romulus's regulations on the service of priests' wives and selected youth in rituals, pointing out their similarities to Greek and Etruscan rites, and the appointment of seers from each tribe.

§2.22.1ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ διὰ γυναικῶν ἔδει τινὰ ἱερὰ συντελεῖσθαι καὶ διὰ παίδων ἀμφιθαλῶν ἕτερα, ἵνα καὶ ταῦτα γένηται κατὰ τὸ κράτιστον, τάς τε γυναῖκας ἔταξε τῶν ἱερέων τοῖς ἑαυτῶν ἀνδράσι συνιερᾶσθαι, καὶ εἴ τι μὴ θέμις ἦν ὑπʼ ἀνδρῶν ὀργιάζεσθαι κατὰ νόμον τὸν ἐπιχώριον, ταύτας ἐπιτελεῖν καὶ παῖδας αὐτῶν τὰ καθήκοντα λειτουργεῖν· τοῖς δὲ ἄπαισιν ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων οἴκων τοὺς χαριεστάτους καταλεγέντας ἐξ ἑκάστης φράτρας, κόρον καὶ κόρην, τὸν μὲν ἕως ἥβης ὑπηρετεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἱεροῖς, τὴν δὲ κόρην ὅσον ἂν ᾖ χρόνον ἁγνὴ γάμων· ἐκ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν νόμων καὶ ταῦτα μετενεγκάμενος, ὡς ἐγὼ πείθομαι.
And since it was necessary for certain sacred rites to be performed by women and others by children both of whose parents were living, in order that these too might be done in the best manner, he ordained that the wives of the priests should share the priesthood with their own husbands, and that if any rite was not lawful to be celebrated by men according to the custom of the country, these women should perform it, and their children should perform the proper ministries; and for those priests who had no children, he ordered that the most promising boy and girl should be chosen from each phratry out of other families, and that the boy should serve at the sacred rites until the age of puberty, and the girl for as long a time as she remained unmarried and chaste; these practices too, I am convinced, he transferred from the Greek laws.
§2.22.2ὅσα μὲν γὰρ αἱ κανηφόροι καὶ ἀρρηφόροι λεγόμεναι λειτουργοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἱερῶν, ταῦτα παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις αἱ προσαγορευόμεναι τουτολᾶται συντελοῦσι στεφάναις κοσμούμεναι τὰς κεφαλάς, οἵαις κοσμεῖται τὰ τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος ἀφιδρύματα παρʼ Ἕλλησιν.
For all the ministries which those called the canephorae and arrephorae perform at the Greek sacred rites are performed among the Romans by the women called tutulatae, who adorn their heads with crowns of the kind with which the statues of the Ephesian Artemis are adorned among the Greeks.
ὅσα δὲ παρὰ Τυρρηνοῖς καὶ ἔτι πρότερον παρὰ Πελασγοῖς ἐτέλουν ἐπί τε Κουρήτων καὶ μεγάλων θεῶν ὀργιασμοῖς οἱ καλούμενοι πρὸς αὐτῶν κάδμιλοι, ταῦτα κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὑπηρέτουν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν οἱ §2.22.3λεγόμενοι νῦν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων κάμιλοι.
And all the ministries which those called by them kadmili performed among the Tyrrhenians, and even earlier among the Pelasgians, at the mystic rites of the Curetes and the Great Gods, were performed for the priests in the same manner by those who are now called by the Romans camilli.
ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ἔταξε μάντιν ἐξ ἑκάστης φυλῆς ἕνα παρεῖναι τοῖς ἱεροῖς, ὃν ἡμεῖς μὲν ἱεροσκόπον καλοῦμεν, Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ ὀλίγον τι τῆς ἀρχαίας φυλάττοντες ὀνομασίας ἀρούσπικα προσαγορεύουσιν.
In addition to these, he ordained that one seer from each tribe should be present at the sacred rites, whom we call hieroskopos, but the Romans, preserving a little of the ancient name, call haruspex.
ἅπαντας δὲ τοὺς ἱερεῖς τε καὶ λειτουργοὺς τῶν θεῶν ἐνομοθέτησεν ἀποδείκνυσθαι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν φρατρῶν, ἐπικυροῦσθαι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐξηγουμένων τὰ θεῖα διὰ μαντικῆς.
And he established by law that all the priests and ministers of the gods should be chosen by the phratries and confirmed by those who interpret divine matters through divination.

Notes

  1. 2.22.1τάς τε γυναῖκας ἔταξε — The main verb `ἔταξε` governs several accusative and infinitive constructions. First, `συνιερᾶσθαι` and `ἐπιτελεῖν` with `τάς... γυναῖκας` as subject; then `λειτουργεῖν` with `παῖδας` as subject. In the second half, starting with `τοῖς δὲ ἄπαισιν...`, the infinitive `ὑπηρετεῖν` depends on `ἔταξε` with the accusative `κόρον καὶ κόρην` (modified by `καταλεγέντας`) as its subject, which is further split into `τὸν μὲν... τὴν δὲ...`.
  2. 2.22.2ὅσα δὲ παρὰ Τυρρηνοῖς... — A long sentence extending from the second half of section 2 to the beginning of section 3. The relative clause `ὅσα δὲ... κάδμιλοι` (all the ministries that the kadmili performed) is placed first and serves as the object `ταῦτα` of the main clause. The main verb is `ὑπηρέτουν` (imperfect), and its subject, `οἱ λεγόμενοι νῦν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων κάμιλοι`, appears after the section boundary (§2.22.3).
  3. 2.22.3ὀλίγον τι τῆς ἀρχαίας φυλάττοντες ὀνομασίας — `ὀλίγον τι` functions either adverbially or as the direct object (accusative) of the participle `φυλάττοντες`, with the genitive `τῆς... ὀνομασίας` depending on it. It translates as "preserving a little of the ancient name" (referring to the etymological connection from Etruscan *haru* to *haruspex*).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §2.22.1-2.22.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.22.1-2.22.3

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