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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §3.46.1-3.46.5

Accession of Tarquinius and Background of Demaratus

Passage 217 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Following the death of Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius is elected king by the senate and the people, and his background is traced back to Demaratus of Corinth who emigrated to Italy and settled in Tarquinii.

§3.46.1μετὰ δὲ τὸν Ἄγκου Μαρκίου θάνατον ἡ βουλὴ πάλιν ἐπιτρέψαντος αὐτῇ τοῦ δήμου πολιτείαν ἣν ἐβούλετο καταστήσασθαι μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἔγνω καὶ ἀποδείκνυσι μεσοβασιλεῖς.
After the death of Ancus Marcius, the senate, when the people again permitted them to establish whatever form of government they wished, decided to remain under the same, and appointed interreges.
οἱ δὲ συναγαγόντες εἰς ἀρχαιρεσίας τὸ πλῆθος αἱροῦνται βασιλέα Λεύκιον Ταρκύνιον.
The latter, having assembled the multitude for the elections, chose Lucius Tarquinius as king.
βεβαιωσάντων δὲ καὶ τῶν παρὰ τοῦ δαιμονίου σημείων τὰ κριθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους παραλαμβάνει τὴν βασιλείαν ἐνιαυτῷ δευτέρῳ μάλιστα τῆς μιᾶς καὶ τετταρακοστῆς ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Κλεώνδας Θηβαῖος, ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Ἡνιοχίδου.
And when the signs from the deity had also confirmed the decisions made by the multitude, he took over the kingdom in about the second year of the forty-first Olympiad, in which Cleondas of Thebes won the stadion race, when Heniochides was archon at Athens.
§3.46.2γονέων δʼ ὁποίων τινῶν οὗτος ὁ Ταρκύνιος ἦν καὶ πατρίδος ἐξ ἧς ἔφυ καὶ διʼ ἅς2τινας αἰτίας εἰς Ῥώμην ἀφίκετο καὶ διʼ οἵων ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλείαν παρῆλθεν, ὡς ἐν ταῖς ἐπιχωρίοις συγγραφαῖς εὗρον ἐρῶ.
I will relate, as I found it in the local histories, of what parents this Tarquinius was born, from what country he sprang, and for what reasons he came to Rome, and by what pursuits he advanced to the kingdom.
§3.46.3Κορίνθιός τις ἀνὴρ ὄνομα Δημάρατος ἐκ τῆς Βακχιαδῶν συγγενείας ἐμπορεύεσθαι προελόμενος ἐπέπλευσεν εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν ὁλκάδα τε οἰκείαν ἀνάγων καὶ φόρτον ἴδιον.
A certain Corinthian, Demaratus by name, of the family of the Bacchiadae, having chosen to engage in trade, sailed to Italy, bringing a merchant ship of his own and a cargo of his own.
ἐξεμπολήσας δὲ τὸν φόρτον ἐν ταῖς Τυρρηνῶν πόλεσιν εὐδαιμονούσαις μάλιστα τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ τότε καὶ μεγάλα κέρδη περιβαλόμενος ἐκεῖθεν οὐκέτι εἰς ἄλλους ἐβούλετο κατάγεσθαι λιμένας, ἀλλὰ τὴν αὐτὴν εἰργάζετο συνεχῶς θάλατταν Ἑλληνικόν τε φόρτον εἰς Τυρρηνοὺς κομίζων καὶ Τυρρηνικὸν εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα φέρων καὶ γίνεται πάνυ πολλῶν χρημάτων κύριος.
Having sold his cargo in the cities of the Tyrrhenians, which were then the most prosperous of those in Italy, and having acquired great wealth from there, he no longer wished to put in at other ports, but continually worked the same sea, carrying Greek cargo to the Tyrrhenians and bringing Tyrrhenian cargo to Greece, and he became the master of very great wealth.
§3.46.4ἐπικαταλαβούσης δὲ στάσεως τὴν Κόρινθον καὶ τῆς Κυψέλου τυραννίδος ἐπανισταμένης τοῖς Βακχιάδαις οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς εἶναι δοκῶν ἐν τυραννίδι ζῆν πολλὰ κεκτημένος ἄλλως τε καὶ τῆς ὀλιγαρχικῆς οἰκίας ὑπάρχων, συνεσκευασμένος τὴν οὐσίαν ὅσην οἷός τʼ §3.46.5ἦν ᾤχετο πλέων ἐκ τῆς Κορίνθου.
But when sedition overtook Corinth, and the tyranny of Cypselus arose against the Bacchiadae, thinking it unsafe to live under a tyranny, especially since he possessed much property and belonged to the oligarchical house, having packed up all the property he was able to, he departed, sailing from Corinth.
ἔχων δὲ φίλους πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς Τυρρηνῶν διὰ τὰς συνεχεῖς ἐπιμιξίας, μάλιστα δʼ ἐν Ταρκυνίοις πόλει μεγάλῃ τε καὶ εὐδαίμονι τότε οὔσῃ, οἶκόν τε αὐτόθι κατασκευάζεται καὶ γυναῖκα ἐπιφανῆ κατὰ γένος ἄγεται.
And having many good friends among the Tyrrhenians because of his constant intercourse, and especially in Tarquinii, which was then a great and prosperous city, he established his home there and married a woman of distinguished birth.
γενομένων δʼ αὐτῷ δυεῖν παίδων Τυρρηνικὰ θέμενος αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα, τῷ μὲν Ἄρροντα, τῷ δὲ Λοκόμωνα καὶ παιδεύσας ἀμφοτέρους Ἑλληνικήν τε καὶ Τυρρηνικὴν παιδείαν, εἰς ἄνδρας ἐλθοῦσιν αὐτοῖς γυναῖκας ἐκ τῶν ἐπιφανεστάτων οἴκων λαμβάνει.
Two sons having been born to him, he gave them Tyrrhenian names, Arruns to the one, and Lucumo to the other; and having educated both in both Greek and Tyrrhenian disciplines, when they came to manhood, he took wives for them from the most distinguished families.

Notes

  1. §3.46.1ἐπιτρέψαντος αὐτῇ τοῦ δήμου — The phrase ἐπιτρέψαντος αὐτῇ τοῦ δήμου is a genitive absolute. αὐτῇ refers to the main subject ἡ βουλὴ (the senate, feminine singular). The infinitive καταστήσασθαι has αὐτῇ as its subject, meaning 'the people having permitted the senate to establish whatever form of government it wished.' The main verb ἔγνω takes the infinitive μένειν as its complement.
  2. §3.46.2γονέων δʼ ὁποίων τινῶν — The entire series of indirect questions starting with γονέων δʼ ὁποίων τινῶν and ending with παρῆλθεν acts as the object of the verb ἐρῶ ('I shall tell') placed at the end of the sentence, forming a hyperbaton. γονέων is a genitive of origin, with οὗτος ὁ Ταρκύνιος as the subject of the clause.
  3. §3.46.4ὅσην οἷός τʼ — The relative clause ὅσην οἷός τʼ ἦν ('as much as he was able') modifies the antecedent τὴν οὐσίαν ('property'). An infinitive corresponding to the participle συνεσκευασμένος (such as συσκευάσασθαι) is omitted after οἷός τε ἦν ('was able'). In the text layout, οἷός τʼ at the end of §3.46.4 is separated from ἦν at the beginning of §3.46.5.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §3.46.1-3.46.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.46.1-3.46.5

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