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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §2.7.1-2.7.4

Division into Tribes and Curiae and Land Distribution

Passage 98 of 962 · Greek

Summary

After presenting Romulus as an exceptionally wise political and military leader, the author details his constitutional reform dividing the Roman population into three tribes and thirty curiae, as well as the equal distribution of land.

§2.7.1ὁ δὲ Ῥωμύλος ἀποδειχθεὶς τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ὑπό τε ἀνθρώπων καὶ θεῶν βασιλεὺς τά τε πολέμια δεινὸς καὶ φιλοκίνδυνος ὡμολόγηται γενέσθαι καὶ πολιτείαν ἐξηγήσασθαι τὴν κρατίστην φρονιμώτατος.
Romulus, having been declared king in this manner by both men and gods, is acknowledged to have been formidable in war and a lover of danger, and to have been most wise in establishing the best form of government.
διέξειμι δʼ αὐτοῦ τὰς πράξεις τάς τε πολιτικας καὶ τὰς κατὰ πολέμους, ὧν καὶ λόγον ἄν τις ἐν ἱστορίας ἀφηγήσει ποιήσαιτο.
I shall relate his deeds, both political and military, which one might well make mention of in a historical narrative.
§2.7.2ἐρῶ δὲ πρῶτον ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου τῆς πολιτείας, ὃν ἐγὼ πάντων ἡγοῦμαι πολιτικῶν κόσμων αὐταρκέστατον ἐν εἰρήνῃ τε καὶ κατὰ πολέμους.
I shall speak first of the arrangement of his constitution, which I consider to be the most self-sufficient of all political systems, both in peace and in war.
ἦν δὲ τοιός2δε· τριχῇ νείμας τὴν πληθὺν ἅπασαν ἑκάστῃ τῶν μοιρῶν τὸν ἐπιφανέστατον ἐπέστησεν ἡγεμόνα.
It was as follows: having divided the whole multitude into three parts, he appointed the most illustrious man as leader over each of the portions.
ἔπειτα τῶν τριῶν πάλιν μοιρῶν ἑκάστην εἰς δέκα μοίρας διελών, ἴσους ἡγεμόνας καὶ τούτων ἀπέδειξε τοὺς ἀνδρειοτάτους· ἐκάλει δὲ τὰς μὲν μείζους μοίρας τρίβους, τὰς δʼ ἐλάττους κουρίας, ὡς καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἡμέτερον βίον ἔτι προσαγορεύονται.
Then, dividing each of the three portions again into ten parts, he appointed the bravest men as equal leaders also of these; and he called the larger divisions tribus and the smaller curiae, as they are still called in our time.
§2.7.3εἴη δʼ ἂν Ἑλλάδι γλώττῃ τὰ ὀνόματα ταῦτα μεθερμηνευόμενα φυλὴ μὲν καὶ τριττὺς ἡ τρίβους, φράτρα δὲ καὶ λόχος ἡ κουρία, καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν οἱ μὲν τὰς τῶν τρίβων ἡγεμονίας ἔχοντες φύλαρχοί τε καὶ τριττύαρχοι, οὓς καλοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι τριβούνους· οἱ δὲ ταῖς κουρίαις ἐφεστηκότες καὶ φρατρίαρχοι καὶ λοχαγοί, οὓς ἐκεῖνοι κουρίωνας ὀνομάζουσι.
These names, if translated into the Greek language, would be: phyle and trittys for the tribus, and phratry and lochos for the curia; and of the men, those who held the leadership of the tribus were tribe-leaders and trittys-leaders, whom the Romans call tribunes; while those who were set over the curiae were phratry-leaders and captains, whom they name curiones.
§2.7.4διῄρηντο δὲ καὶ εἰς δεκάδας αἱ φρᾶτραι πρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἡγεμὼν ἑκάστην ἐκόσμει δεκάδα, δεκουρίων κατὰ τὴν ἐπιχώριον γλῶτταν προσαγορευόμενος.
The curiae were also divided by him into decades, and a leader governed each decade, being called decurion in the native tongue.
ὡς δὲ διεκρίθησαν ἅπαντες καὶ συνετάχθησαν εἰς φυλὰς καὶ φράτρας, διελὼν τὴν γῆν εἰς τριάκοντα κλήρους ἴσους ἑκάστῃ φράτρᾳ κλῆρον ἀπέδωκεν ἕνα, ἐξελὼν τὴν ἀρκοῦσαν εἰς ἱερὰ καὶ τεμένη καί τινα καὶ τῷ κοινῷ γῆν καταλιπών.
When all had been distinguished and organized into tribes and curiae, he divided the land into thirty equal lots and assigned one lot to each curia, after having set aside what was sufficient for religious rites and sacred precincts, and leaving some land also for the common use.
μία μὲν αὕτη διαίρεσις ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου τῶν τε ἀνδρῶν καὶ τῆς χώρας ἡ περιέχουσα τὴν κοινὴν καὶ μεγίστην ἰσότητα, τοιάδε τις ἦν.
This first division by Romulus of both the men and the territory, which contained a common and greatest equality, was of such a kind.

Notes

  1. §2.7.1ὡμολόγηται — The perfect passive third-person singular verb ὡμολόγηται takes a nominative with infinitive construction. The subject ὁ δὲ Ῥωμύλος is accompanied by the nominative adjectives δεινὸς καὶ φιλοκίνδυνος as the predicate of γενέσθαι, and φρονιμώτατος as the predicate of ἐξηγήσασθαι.
  2. §2.7.3εἴη δʼ ἂν — The optative εἴη with the particle ἂν forms a potential optative, expressing a tentative assertion or probability ("would be" / "could be translated"). The subsequent participle μεθερμηνευόμενα is a neuter plural nominative agreeing with the subject ὀνόματα, carrying a conditional force ("if translated").
  3. §2.7.4ἐξελὼν... καταλιπών — Both are aorist active participles expressing action prior to the main verb ἀπέδωκεν ("assigned"). They establish the chronological order, indicating that the allocation of the thirty equal lots occurred after the land for religious rites and public spaces had already been set aside.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §2.7.1-2.7.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.7.1-2.7.4

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