§2.8.1ἑτέρα δὲ αὐτῶν πάλιν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἡ τὰ φιλάνθρωπα καὶ τὰς τιμὰς διανέμουσα κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν, ἣν μέλλω διηγεῖσθαι.
And there was another division of these same men which distributed benefits and honors according to merit, which I am about to relate.
τοὺς ἐπιφανεῖς κατὰ γένος καὶ διʼ ἀρετὴν ἐπαινουμένους καὶ χρήμασιν ὡς ἐν τοῖς τότε καιροῖς εὐπόρους, οἷς ἤδη παῖδες ἦσαν, διώριζεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀσήμων καὶ ταπεινῶν καὶ ἀπόρων.
Romulus distinguished those who were illustrious by birth and praised for their virtue and, for those times, wealthy, and who already had children, from the obscure, the humble, and the needy.
ἐκάλει δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἐν τῇ καταδεεστέρᾳ τύχῃ πληβείους, ὡς δʼ ἂν Ἕλληνες εἴποιεν δημοτικούς· τοὺς δʼ ἐν τῇ κρείττονι πατέρας εἴτε διὰ τὸ πρεσβεύειν ἡλικίᾳ τῶν ἄλλων, εἴθʼ ὅτι παῖδες αὐτοῖς ἦσαν, εἴτε διὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ γένους, εἴτε διὰ πάντα ταῦτα· ἐκ τῆς Ἀθηναίων πολιτείας, ὡς ἄν τις εἰκάσειε, τῆς κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ἔτι διαμενούσης τὸ παράδειγμα λαβών.
He called those in the inferior condition plebeians, or as the Greeks would say, "demotikoi" (men of the people), and those in the better condition "fathers", whether because they surpassed the others in age, or because they had children, or because of the illustriousness of their birth, or for all of these reasons; taking his model, as one might guess, from the Athenian constitution which was still remaining at that time.
§2.8.2ἐκεῖνοι μὲν γὰρ εἰς δύο μέρη νείμαντες τὸ πλῆθος εὐπατρίδας μὲν ἐκάλουν τοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν οἴκων καὶ χρήμασι δυνατούς, οἷς ἡ τῆς πόλεως ἀνέκειτο προστασία, ἀγροίκους δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους πολίτας, οἳ τῶν κοινῶν οὐδενὸς ἦσαν κύριοι· σὺν χρόνῳ §2.8.3δὲ καὶ οὗτοι προσελήφθησαν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρχάς.
For those people, having divided the multitude into two parts, called "eupatridai" (well-born) those who were of illustrious families and powerful in wealth, to whom the protection of the city was committed, and "agroikoi" (countrymen) the other citizens, who had no authority in any public affairs; but in course of time these also were admitted to offices.
οἱ μὲν δὴ τὰ πιθανώτατα περὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πολιτείας ἱστοροῦντες διὰ ταύτας τὰς αἰτίας κληθῆναί φασι τοὺς ἄνδρας ἐκείνους πατέρας καὶ τοὺς ἐκγόνους αὐτῶν πατρικίους, οἱ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον φθόνον ἀναφέροντες τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ διαβάλλοντες εἰς δυσγένειαν τὴν πόλιν οὐ διὰ ταῦτα πατρικίους ἐκείνους κληθῆναί φασιν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι πατέρας εἶχον ἀποδεῖξαι μόνοι, ὡς τῶν γε ἄλλων δραπετῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐκ ἐχόντων ὀνομάσαι πατέρας ἐλευθέρους.
Now those who write the most credible accounts of the Roman constitution say that for these reasons those men were called "fathers" and their descendants "patricians"; but those who attribute the matter to their own envy and slander the city for its low birth say that they were not called patricians for these reasons, but because they alone were able to point out their fathers, since the others were fugitives and unable to name free fathers.
§2.8.4τεκμήριον δὲ τούτου παρέχουσιν, ὅτι τοὺς μὲν πατρικίους, ὁπότε δόξειε τοῖς βασιλεῦσι συγκαλεῖν, οἱ κήρυκες ἐξ ὀνόματός τε καὶ πατρόθεν ἀνηγόρευον, τοὺς δὲ δημοτικοὺς ὑπηρέται τινὲς ἀθρόους κέρασι βοείοις ἐμβυκανῶντες ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας συνῆγον.
As a proof of this, they advance the fact that, whenever the kings resolved to call the patricians together, the heralds summoned them both by their own names and by those of their fathers, whereas some assistants summoned the common people to the assemblies in a body by blowing into ox-horns.
ἔστι δὲ οὔτε ἡ τῶν κηρύκων ἀνάκλησις τῆς εὐγενείας τῶν πατρικίων τεκμήριον, οὔτε ἡ τῆς βυκάνης φωνὴ τῆς ἀγνωσίας τῶν δημοτικῶν σύμβολον, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνη μὲν τιμῆς, αὕτη δὲ τάχους. οὐ γὰρ οἷόντε ἦν ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ τὴν πληθὺν καλεῖν ἐξ ὀνόματος.
But the summoning by the heralds is not a proof of the nobility of the patricians, nor is the sound of the horn a symbol of the obscurity of the common people, but the former was a mark of honor, and the latter of speed; for it was not possible in a short time to call the multitude by name.