§2.49.1Ζηνόδοτος δʼ ὁ Τροιζήνιος συγγραφεὺς Ὀμβρικοὺς ἔθνος αὐθιγενὲς ἱστορεῖ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οἰκῆσαι περὶ τὴν καλουμένην Ῥεατίνην· ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ὑπὸ Πελασγῶν ἐξελασθέντας εἰς ταύτην ἀφικέσθαι τὴν γῆν ἔνθα νῦν οἰκοῦσι καὶ μεταβαλόντας ἅμα τῷ τόπῳ τοὔνομα Σαβίνους ἐξ Ὀμβρικῶν προσαγορευθῆναι.
Zenodotus of Troezen, the historian, records that the Umbrians, an indigenous race, first dwelt around the so-called Reatine territory; and that, being driven out from there by the Pelasgians, they came to this land where they now dwell, and, changing their name along with their location, were called Sabines instead of Umbrians.
§2.49.2Κάτων δὲ Πόρκιος τὸ μὲν ὄνομα τῷ Σαβίνων ἔθνει τεθῆναί φησιν ἐπὶ Σάβου τοῦ Σάγκου δαίμονος ἐπιχωρίου, τοῦτον δὲ τὸν Σάγκον ὑπό τινων πίστιον καλεῖσθαι Δία.
Porcius Cato says that the name of the Sabine race was given after Sabus, the son of Sancus, a local divinity, and that this Sancus is called Jupiter Fidius by some.
πρώτην δʼ αὐτῶν οἴκησιν ἀποφαίνει γενέσθαι κώμην τινὰ καλουμένην Τεστροῦναν ἀγχοῦ πόλεως Ἀμιτέρνης κειμένην, ἐξ ἧς ὁρμηθέντας τότε Σαβίνους εἰς τὴν Ῥεατίνην ἐμβαλεῖν Ἀβοριγίνων ἅμα Πελασγοῖς κατοικούντων καὶ πόλιν αὐτῶν τὴν ἐπιφανεστάτην Κοτυλίας πολέμῳ χειρωσαμένους κατασχεῖν.
He declares that their first settlement was a certain village called Testruna, situated near the city of Amiternum, from which the Sabines, setting out at that time, invaded the Reatine territory, which the Aborigines were then inhabiting together with the Pelasgians, and subdued in war and occupied Cotylia, the most famous of their cities.
§2.49.3ἐκ δὲ τῆς Ῥεατίνης ἀποικίας ἀποστείλαντας ἄλλας τε πόλεις κτίσαι πολλάς, ἐν αἷς οἰκεῖν ἀτειχίστοις, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰς προσαγορευομένας Κύρεις· χώραν δὲ κατασχεῖν τῆς μὲν Ἀδριανῆς θαλάττης ἀπέχουσαν ἀμφὶ τοὺς ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ διακοσίους σταδίους, τῆς δὲ Τυρρηνικῆς τετταράκοντα πρὸς διακοσίοις· μῆκος δὲ αὐτῆς εἶναί φησιν ὀλίγῳ §2.49.4μεῖον σταδίων χιλίων.
And sending out colonies from the Reatine territory, they founded many other cities, in which they lived without walls, and among them, in particular, the city called Cures; and they occupied a territory distant from the Adriatic Sea about two hundred and eighty stadia, and from the Tyrrhenian Sea two hundred and forty; and he says its length is a little less than a thousand stadia.
ἔστι δέ τις καὶ ἄλλος ὑπὲρ τῶν Σαβίνων ἐν ἱστορίαις ἐπιχωρίοις λεγόμενος λόγος, ὡς Λακεδαιμονίων ἐποικησάντων αὐτοῖς καθʼ ὃν χρόνον ἐπιτροπεύων Εὔνομον τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν Λυκοῦργος ἔθετο τῇ Σπάρτῃ τοὺς νόμους.
There is also another story told about the Sabines in the local histories, to the effect that Lacedaemonians migrated to them at the time when Lycurgus, acting as guardian to his nephew Eunomus, gave laws to Sparta.
ἀχθομένους γάρ τινας τῇ σκληρότητι τῆς νομοθεσίας καὶ διαστάντας ἀπὸ τῶν ἑτέρων οἴχεσθαι τὸ παράπαν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως· ἔπειτα διὰ πελάγους πολλοῦ φερομένους εὔξασθαι τοῖς θεοῖς ʽπόθον γάρ τινα ὑπελθεῖν αὐτοὺς ὁποιασδήποτε γῆσʼ εἰς ἣν ἂν ἔλθωσι πρώτην, ἐν ταύτῃ §2.49.5κατοικήσειν.
For some, being vexed at the severity of his legislation, separated from the rest and left the city altogether; then, being carried over a wide sea, they made a vow to the gods—for a certain longing for any land whatsoever had come upon them—that in whatever land they should first arrive, in that they would settle.
καταχθέντας δὲ τῆς Ἰταλίας περὶ τὰ καλούμενα Πωμεντῖνα πεδία τό τε χωρίον, ἐν ᾧ πρῶτον ὡρμίσαντο, Φορωνίαν ἀπὸ τῆς πελαγίου φορήσεως ὀνομάσαι καὶ θεᾶς ἱερὸν ἱδρύσασθαι Φορωνίας, ᾗ τὰς εὐχὰς ἔθεντο· ἣν νῦν ἑνὸς ἀλλαγῇ γράμματος Φερωνίαν καλοῦσιν.
Having landed in Italy near the so-called Pomentine plains, they named the place where they first anchored Phoronia, after their carriage over the sea, and founded a temple to the goddess Phoronia, to whom they had made their vows; whom now, by the change of one letter, they call Feronia.
ἐκεῖθεν δʼ ὁρμηθέντας αὐτῶν τινας συνοίκους τοῖς Σαβίνοις γενέσθαι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλὰ τῶν νομίμων εἶναι Σαβίνων Λακωνικά, μάλιστα δὲ τὸ φιλοπόλεμόν τε καὶ τὸ λιτοδίαιτον καὶ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ βίου σκληρόν.
Setting out from there, some of them became co-inhabitants with the Sabines; and for this reason many of the customs of the Sabines are Laconian, especially their love of war, their simplicity of life, and their severity in all the actions of life.
ὑπὲρ μὲν δὴ τοῦ Σαβίνων γένους ταῦθʼ ἱκανά.
Concerning the Sabine race, this is enough.