§2.61.1οἱ δὲ τὰ μυθώδη πάντα περιαιροῦντες ἐκ τῆς ἱστορίας πεπλάσθαι φασὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Νόμα τὸν περὶ τῆς Ἠγερίας λόγον, ἵνα ῥᾷον αὐτῷ προσέχωσιν οἱ τὰ θεῖα δεδιότες καὶ προθύμως δέχωνται τοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τιθεμένους νόμους, ὡς παρὰ θεῶν κομιζομένους.
But those who eliminate all mythical elements from history say that the story about Egeria was fabricated by Numa, so that those who fear the divine might more easily pay attention to him and eagerly accept the laws established by him, as being brought from the gods.
§2.61.2λαβεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν τὴν τούτων μίμησιν ἀποφαίνουσιν ἐκ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν παραδειγμάτων ζηλωτὴν γενόμενον τῆς τε Μίνω τοῦ Κρητὸς καὶ τῆς Λυκούργου τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου σοφίας· ὧν ὁ μὲν ὁμιλητὴς ἔφη γενέσθαι τοῦ Διὸς καὶ φοιτῶν εἰς τὸ Δικταῖον ὄρος, ἐν ᾧ τραφῆναι τὸν Δία μυθολογοῦσιν οἱ Κρῆτες ὑπὸ τῶν Κουρήτων νεογνὸν ὄντα, κατέβαινεν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἄντρον καὶ τοὺς νόμους ἐκεῖ συντιθεὶς ἐκόμιζεν, οὓς ἀπέφαινε παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς λαμβάνειν· ὁ δὲ Λυκοῦργος εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀφικνούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ §2.61.3Ἀπόλλωνος ἔφη διδάσκεσθαι τὴν νομοθεσίαν.
And they show that he took his imitation of these from the Greek examples, having become an emulator of the wisdom of both Minos the Cretan and Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian; of whom the former said that he had become a companion of Zeus and, resorting to Mount Dicte—where the Cretans mythologize that Zeus was brought up by the Curetes when he was a newborn babe—he used to go down into the sacred cave, and there compiling the laws, he brought them away, showing that he received them from Zeus; while Lycurgus, going to Delphi, said that he was instructed in his lawmaking by Apollo.
τὸ μὲν οὖν ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι περὶ τῶν μυθικῶν ἱστορημάτων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν εἰς θεοὺς ἀναφερομένων μακρῶν λόγων δεόμενον ὁρῶν ἐάσω, ἃ δέ μοι δοκοῦσιν ἀγαθὰ Ῥωμαῖοι λαβεῖν ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνου τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρχῆς, ὡς ἐκ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἔμαθον ἱστοριῶν ἀφηγήσομαι, προειπὼν ἐν οἵαις ἐτύγχανε ταραχαῖς τὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως ὄντα, πρὶν ἐκεῖνον ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν παρελθεῖν.
Now, seeing that to examine minutely mythical stories, and especially those referred to the gods, requires a long discussion, I shall let them pass, and I shall relate what benefits the Romans seem to me to have received from the rule of that man, as I have learned from the local histories, having first declared in what troubles the affairs of the city happened to be before he came to the kingship.