Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §3.60.1-3.60.3

Tarquinius Offers Generous Peace Terms to Etruscans

Passage 231 of 962 · Greek

Summary

King Tarquinius meets with the Tyrrhenian envoys and, after they accept unconditional surrender, grants them highly generous terms while demanding Roman supremacy over their cities, agreeing to a temporary truce.

§3.60.1ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀκούσας αὐτῶν πολλὰ διαλεχθέντων ἐπαγωγὰ πρὸς ἐπιείκειαν καὶ μετριότητα καὶ τῆς συγγενείας, ἧς εἶχε πρὸς τὸ ἔθνος, ὑπομιμνησκόντων ἓν τοῦτο μόνον ἔφη παρʼ αὐτῶν βούλεσθαι μαθεῖν, πότερον ἔτι διαφέρονται περὶ τῶν ἴσων καὶ ἐπὶ ῥητοῖς τισι τὰς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ὁμολογίας πάρεισι ποιησόμενοι, ἢ συγγινώσκουσιν ἑαυτοῖς κεκρατημένοις καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐπιτρέπουσιν αὐτῷ.

But the king, having heard them say many things enticing to clemency and moderation, and remind him of the kinship he had with their nation, said that he wished to learn from them this one thing only: whether they were still disputing on equal terms and had come to make the treaty of peace on certain specified conditions, or whether they acknowledged themselves to have been conquered and were surrendering their cities to him.

ἀποκριναμένων δʼ αὐτῶν ὅτι καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐπιτρέπουσιν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην στέρξουσιν ἐφʼ οἷς ἄν ποτε δικαίοις αὐτῆς τύχωσι, περιχαρὴς ἐπὶ τούτοις γενόμενος, §3.60.2ἀκούσατε νῦν, ἔφησεν, ἐφʼ οἷς καταλύσομαι τὸν πόλεμον δικαίοις καὶ τίνας ὑμῖν δίδωμι χάριτας·

When they replied that they were surrendering their cities to him and would be content with peace on whatever terms they might obtain it, he, being exceedingly pleased at this, said: "Hear now on what terms I will put an end to the war and what favors I grant you.

ἐγὼ Τυρρηνῶν οὔτε ἀποκτεῖναί τινα πρόθυμός εἰμι οὔτε φυγάδα ποιῆσαι τῆς πατρίδος οὔτε ἀφαιρέσει τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ζημιῶσαι τάς τε πόλεις ὑμῖν ἀφίημι πάσας ἀφρουρήτους καὶ ἀφορολογήτους καὶ αὐτονόμους πολιτείας τε κόσμον ἑκάστῃ φυλάττειν συγχωρῶ τὸν ἀρχαῖον.

I am neither desirous of putting any of the Tyrrhenians to death, nor of making them exiles from their country, nor of punishing them by the confiscation of their property; and I leave all your cities to you free from garrisons, free from tribute, and self-governing, and I permit each of them to preserve its ancient form of government.

§3.60.3διδοὺς δὲ ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν ἓν οἴομαι δεῖν ἀνθʼ ὧν δίδωμι πάντων ὑπάρξαι μοι παρʼ ὑμῶν, τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῶν πόλεων, ἧς κύριος μὲν ἔσομαι καὶ μὴ βουλομένων ὑμῶν ἕως ἂν κρατῶ τοῖς ὅπλοις, παρʼ ἑκόντων δὲ μᾶλλον ἢ παρʼ ἀκόντων τυχεῖν αὐτῆς βούλομαι.

But while I grant you these things, I think that one thing ought to be yielded to me by you in return for all that I give, namely, the supremacy over your cities; of which, indeed, I shall be master even if you do not wish it, as long as I am superior in arms, but I wish to receive it from willing rather than from unwilling hands.

ταῦτʼ ἀπαγγέλλετε ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῖν ἐκεχειρίαν ἕως ἂν ἀφίκησθε παρέξειν ὑπισχνοῦμαι.

Report these things to your cities; and I promise to grant you a truce until you return."

Notes

567ἀκούσας αὐτῶν πολλὰ διαλεχθέντων — This is a genitive participle construction with a verb of hearing (ἀκούσας), where the genitive pronoun αὐτῶν and the participles διαλεχθέντων and ὑπομιμνησκόντων act as the direct object of perception ('having heard them saying...'). While it could be analyzed as a genitive absolute, treating it as the direct object of ἀκούω yields a tighter syntactic connection with the main clause.
p.v.1p.382ἐφʼ οἷς ἄν ποτε δικαίοις αὐτῆς τύχωσι — This clause features the incorporation of the antecedent into the relative clause. The regular structure would be ἐπὶ τοῖς δικαίοις, ὧν ἄν ποτε αὐτῆς τύχωσι ('on those conditions which they might obtain...'), but the antecedent δίκαια is drawn into the relative clause and inflected in agreement with the relative pronoun οἷς. αὐτῆς is a genitive pronoun referring to εἰρήνης, governed by the verb τυγχάνω.
568ἀνθʼ ὧν δίδωμι πάντων — The antecedent πάντων, governed by the preposition ἀντί ('in return for'), is attracted into the relative clause and placed immediately after the relative pronoun ὧν, keeping the genitive case. The underlying structure is ἀντὶ πάντων ἃ δίδωμι ('in return for all the things that I give'), but the antecedent's incorporation results in an inverted word order.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §3.60.1-3.60.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.60.1-3.60.3

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