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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §3.51.1-3.51.4

Surrender of Latin Cities and Their Alliances

Passage 222 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Tarquinius marches against the Latin cities, prompting some to surrender. Alarmed by this, the remaining Latins organize a joint defense and seek alliances with the Sabines and certain Etruscan cities.

§3.51.1μετὰ δὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον ἔχων συντεταγμένην τὴν Ῥωμαίων δύναμιν ὁ Ταρκύνιος ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν ἐχώρει λόγους προφέρων περὶ φιλίας.
After this battle, Tarquinius, keeping the Roman force in good order, marched against their cities, offering proposals of friendship.
οἱ δʼ οὔτʼ ἐν τῷ κοινῷ συνεστῶσαν ἔχοντες δύναμιν οὔτε ταῖς ἰδίαις παρασκευαῖς πεποιθότες ἐδέχοντο τὰς προκλήσεις, καὶ παρεδίδοσαν αὐτῶν τινες τὰς πόλεις ὁρῶντες, ὅτι ταῖς μὲν ἁλούσαις κατὰ κράτος ἀνδραποδισμοί τε ἠκολούθουν καὶ κατασκαφαί, ταῖς δὲ προσχωρούσαις καθʼ ὁμολογίας τὸ πειθαρχεῖν τοῖς κεκρατηκόσι μόνον, ἄλλο δὲ ἀνήκεστον οὐδέν.
But they, having neither an army assembled in common nor trusting in their own private preparations, accepted the invitations; and some of them surrendered their cities, seeing that, while those captured by force were followed by enslavement and demolition, those that went over by agreement had only to obey the conquerors, and suffered no other irreparable harm.
§3.51.2πρῶτον μὲν οὖν Φικόλνεοι προσέθεντο αὐτῷ πόλις ἀξιόλογος ἐπὶ συγκειμένοις τισὶ δικαίοις, ἔπειτα Καμαρῖνοι, αἷς ἠκολούθησαν ἄλλαι τινὲς πολίχναι μικραὶ καὶ §3.51.3φρούρια ἐχυρά.
First, then, the Ficulneans, a noteworthy city, joined him upon certain agreed terms, and then the Camerines; they were followed by some other small towns and strong fortresses.
ἐφʼ οἷς ταραχθέντες οἱ λοιποὶ Λατῖνοι καὶ δείσαντες μὴ πᾶν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ ποιήσηται τὸ ἔθνος εἰς τὴν ἐν Φερεντίνῳ συνελθόντες ἀγορὰν ἐψηφίσαντο τήν τε οἰκείαν δύναμιν ἐξ ἁπάσης πόλεως ἐξάγειν καὶ τῶν πλησιοχώρων ἐθνῶν τὰ κράτιστα παρακαλεῖν, καὶ διεπρεσβεύοντο πρὸς Τυρρηνούς τε καὶ §3.51.4Σαβίνους αἰτούμενοι συμμαχίαν.
The rest of the Latins, being alarmed by these things and fearing lest he should bring the whole nation under his own power, assembled at the meeting place in Ferentinum and voted to lead out their domestic forces from every city and to call upon the strongest of the neighboring nations; and they sent embassies to both the Tyrrhenians and the Sabines, asking for an alliance.
Σαβῖνοι μὲν οὖν ὑπέσχοντο αὐτοῖς, ἐπειδὰν ἐκείνους ἐμβεβληκότας εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων γῆν ἀκούσωσιν, ἀναλαβόντες καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰ ὅπλα τὴν πλησίον αὐτῶν χώραν λεηλατήσειν· Τυρρηνοὶ δὲ συμμαχίαν ἀποστελεῖν ὡμολόγησαν, ἧς ἂν αὐτοὶ δεηθῶσιν, οὐχ ἅπαντες ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς γενόμενοι γνώμης, ἀλλὰ πέντε πόλεις μόναι Κλουσῖνοί τε καὶ Ἀρρητῖνοι καὶ Οὐολατερρανοὶ Ῥουσιλανοί τε καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις Οὐετυλωνιᾶται.
Now the Sabines promised them that, as soon as they should hear that the Latins had invaded the territory of the Romans, they too would take up arms and plunder the land adjacent to them; while the Tyrrhenians agreed to send such an alliance as they themselves should need, though not all of them were of the same opinion, but only five cities: Clusium, Arretium, Volaterrae, Rusellae, and in addition to these, Vetulonia.

Notes

  1. §3.51.1ἔχων συντεταγμένην τὴν Ῥωμαίων δύναμιν — The participle ἔχων is combined with the perfect passive participle συντεταγμένην, expressing a continuous state of keeping the Roman force drawn up or organized.
  2. §3.51.1ταῖς μὲν ἁλούσαις ... ταῖς δὲ προσχωρούσαις — The dative feminine plural participles modify the unexpressed 'cities' (πόλεσιν). In both clauses, a verb (such as ἦν or ἠκολούθει) is omitted, and in the latter, the articular infinitive τὸ πειθαρχεῖν acts as the subject.
  3. §3.51.3δείσαντες μὴ πᾶν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ ποιήσηται τὸ ἔθνος — A μή clause introduced by the participle of fearing δείσαντες, using the aorist subjunctive middle ποιήσηται. Combined with ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ, the middle voice emphasizes the subject bringing the nation under his own control for his own benefit.
  4. §3.51.4ἐπειδὰν ἐκείνους ἐμβεβληκότας ... ἀκούσωσιν — An accusative-with-participle construction where the accusative ἐκείνους (referring to the Latins) and the participle ἐμβεβληκότας (having invaded) serve as the complement to the verb of hearing ἀκούσωσιν.
  5. §3.51.4ἧς ἂν αὐτοὶ δεηθῶσιν — The relative pronoun ἧς refers back to the antecedent συμμαχίαν but is attracted into the genitive case from the accusative due to the genitive-governing verb δεηθῶσιν (from δέομαι, meaning to need).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §3.51.1-3.51.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.51.1-3.51.4

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