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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §2.29.1-2.29.2

Swift Justice and Public Punishments under Romulus

Passage 120 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Describes how Romulus established swift and strict justice for disputes among citizens, employing guards and lictors with rods and axes to deter crime through fear, and concludes the account of Romulus's constitution.

§2.29.1τῶν δʼ εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀδικημάτων οὐ χρονίους ἀλλὰ ταχείας ἐποιεῖτο τὰς κρίσεις τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς διαιτῶν, τὰ δʼ ἄλλοις ἐπιτρέπων, καὶ τὰς τιμωρίας αὐτῶν πρὸς τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐποιεῖτο.
As for mutual wrongdoings, he made the judgments not lingering but swift, deciding some cases himself and committing others to others, and he made their punishments proportional to the greatness of the offenses.
ἀποτρέπειν τε ἀνθρώπους ἀπὸ παντὸς ἔργου πονηροῦ τὸν φόβον μάλιστα δυνάμενον ὁρῶν πολλὰ εἰς τοῦτο παρεσκευάσατο χωρίον τε, ἐν ᾧ καθεζόμενος ἐδίκαζεν, ἐν τῷ φανερωτάτῳ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ στρατιωτῶν, οἳ παρηκολούθουν αὐτῷ τριακόσιοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντες, καταπληκτικώτατοι τὴν πρόσοψιν, ῥάβδους τε καὶ πελέκεις ὑπʼ ἀνδρῶν δώδεκα φερομένους, οἷς τοὺς μὲν ἄξια μαστίγων δεδρακότας ἔξαινον ἐν ἀγορᾷ, τῶν δὲ τὰ μέγιστα ἠδικηκότων τοὺς τραχήλους ἀπέκοπτον ἐν τῷ φανερῷ.
And seeing that fear was most capable of deterring men from every evil deed, he prepared many things for this purpose: both a place, in which he sat and judged, located in the most conspicuous part of the forum, and a guard of soldiers, who accompanied him, being three hundred in number, most terrifying in appearance, and also rods and axes carried by twelve men, with which they beat in the forum those who had committed deeds worthy of whipping, and cut off the necks of those who had done the greatest wrongs in public.
§2.29.2τοιοῦτος μὲν δή τις ὁ κόσμος ἦν τῆς κατασκευασθείσης ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου πολιτείας· ἀπόχρη γὰρ ἐκ τούτων καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἰκάσαι.
Such, indeed, was the character of the constitution established by Romulus; for from these things it is sufficient to conjecture about the other matters as well.

Notes

  1. 2.29.1τῶν δʼ εἰς ἀλλήλους ἀδικημάτων — A genitive phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence, functioning as a genitive of respect or connection, modifying the subsequent τὰς κρίσεις ('the judgments'). It sets the topic: 'As for mutual wrongdoings.'
  2. 2.29.1στρατιωτῶν — Although it pairs with the preceding accusative χωρίον as an object of παρεσκευάσατο, it is in the genitive. This can be understood as a partitive genitive depending on πολλά ('many things'), or as implying a collective noun such as 'a band of' soldiers.
  3. 2.29.1οἷς — Relative pronoun in the dative neuter plural. The antecedent is ῥάβδους τε καὶ πελέκεις ('rods and axes'), and the dative functions as a dative of instrument ('with which'). While the antecedents are mixed in gender (feminine and masculine), the neuter plural is used to refer to inanimate objects.
  4. 2.29.1ἔξαινον — The verb is in the third-person plural imperfect indicative. Although the subject is not explicitly stated, the context implies that the 'twelve men' (ἀνδρῶν δώδεκα, i.e., the lictors) mentioned just before are the agents executing the whipping and punishment.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §2.29.1-2.29.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.29.1-2.29.2

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