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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §3.43.1-3.43.2

Fortification of the Aventine Hill and Resettlement

Passage 214 of 962 · Greek

Summary

King Ancus Marcius enclosed the Aventine Hill with a wall, adding it to the city of Rome, and settled there the inhabitants of conquered cities, thereby expanding the city and strengthening its defenses.

§3.43.1πρῶτον μὲν τῇ πόλει μοῖραν οὐ μικρὰν προσέθηκεν τειχίσας τὸν λεγόμενον Ἀουεντῖνον· ἔστι δὲ λόφος ὑψηλὸς ἐπιεικῶς ὀκτωκαίδεκά που σταδίων τὴν περίμετρον, ὃς τότε μὲν ὕλης παντοδαπῆς μεστὸς ἦν, πλείστης δὲ καὶ καλλίστης δάφνης, ἐφʼ ἧς Λαυρῆτον ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καλεῖται τόπος τις ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ·
First, he added no small part to the city by enclosing with a wall the so-called Aventine; this is a moderately high hill, about eighteen stadia in circumference, which at that time was full of all kinds of wood, and especially of many very beautiful laurels, on account of which a certain place on it is called Lauretum by the Romans.
νῦν δὲ οἰκιῶν ἐστι πλήρης ἅπας, ἔνθα σὺν πολλοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν ἵδρυται, εἴργεται δὲ ἀφʼ ἑτέρου τῶν συμπεριεχομένων τῇ Ῥώμῃ λόφων τοῦ καλουμένου Παλλαντίου, περὶ ὃν ἡ πρώτη κατασκευασθεῖσα πόλις ἱδρύθη, βαθείᾳ καὶ στενῇ φάραγγι.
But now it is all full of houses, where, among many others, the temple of Artemis is established, and it is separated from the other of the hills enclosed within Rome, the so-called Palantium, around which the first-built city was established, by a deep and narrow ravine.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις ἐχώσθη πᾶς ὁ μεταξὺ τῶν λόφων αὐλών.
In later times, the whole valley between the hills was filled up.
§3.43.2τοῦτον δὴ τὸν λόφον ἐπιτείχισμα κατὰ τῆς πόλεως ὁρῶν ἐσόμενον, εἴ τις αὐτῇ ἐπίοι στρατὸς τείχει καὶ τάφρῳ περιέλαβε καὶ τοὺς μεταχθέντας ἐκ Τελλήνης τε καὶ Πολιτωρίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πόλεων ὅσων ἐκράτησεν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χωρίῳ καθίδρυσεν.
Seeing that this hill would be a hostile stronghold against the city if any army should attack it, he enclosed it with a wall and a ditch, and settled in this place those who had been removed from Tellenae, Politorium, and all the other cities he had conquered.
ἓν μὲν δὴ τοῦτο τὸ πολίτευμα τοῦ βασιλέως παραδίδοται καλὸν ἅμα καὶ πραγματικόν, ἐξ οὗ μείζονά τε συνέβη γενέσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἑτέρας προσθέσει πόλεως καὶ πολλῇ χειρὶ πολεμίων ἐπιστρατευσάντων ἧττον εὔληπτον·
This one political act of the king is handed down as both noble and practical, as a result of which it happened that the city became larger by the addition of another city, and less easy to be captured even if the enemy should march against it with a large force.

Notes

  1. 532τὴν περίμετρον — Accusative of respect (or specification) of the noun περίμετρος ("circumference"), meaning "in circumference," qualifying the numeral "eighteen stadia."
  2. 532ἐφʼ ἧς — The antecedent of the relative pronoun ἧς is the preceding feminine noun δάφνης ("laurel"). Together with the preposition ἐπί (governing the genitive), it expresses cause or ground ("on account of which," "named after which"), explaining the origin of the place name Lauretum.
  3. p.v.1p.358εἴ ... ἐπίοι — A conditional clause within the indirect thought introduced by the participle ὁρῶν ("seeing"). It represents a potential condition (future less vivid), with the optative ἐπίοι used instead of a subjunctive or indicative because it is dependent on a historical main verb (περιέλαβε), expressing the king's foresight of what might happen if an army should attack.
  4. p.v.1p.358πολλῇ χειρὶ πολεμίων ἐπιστρατευσάντων — Genitive absolute. In this context, it expresses concession ("even if the enemy should march against it with a large force") or condition, qualifying the adjective phrase ἧττον εὔληπτον ("less easy to be captured") in the main clause.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §3.43.1-3.43.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.43.1-3.43.2

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