§3.69.1ἐνεχείρησε δὲ καὶ τὸν νεὼν κατασκευάζειν τοῦ τε Διὸς καὶ τῆς Ἥρας καὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ὁ βασιλεὺς οὗτος εὐχὴν ἀποδιδούς, ἣν ἐποιήσατο τοῖς θεοῖς ἐν τῇ τελευταίᾳ πρὸς Σαβίνους μάχῃ.
This king also undertook to construct the temple of Zeus, Hera, and Athena, in fulfillment of a vow which he had made to the gods in the last battle against the Sabines.
τὸν μὲν οὖν λόφον, ἐφʼ οὗ τὸ ἱερὸν ἔμελλεν ἱδρύεσθαι, πολλῆς δεόμενον πραγματείας ʽοὔτε γὰρ εὐπρόσοδος ἦν οὔτε ὁμαλός, ἀλλʼ ἀπότομος καὶ εἰς κορυφὴν συναγόμενος ὀξεῖανʼ ἀναλήμμασιν ὑψηλοῖς πολλαχόθεν περιλαβὼν καὶ πολὺν χοῦν εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ τῶν τε ἀναλημμάτων καὶ τῆς κορυφῆς ἐμφορήσας, ὁμαλὸν γενέσθαι παρεσκεύασε καὶ πρὸς ἱερῶν ὑποδοχὴν ἐπιτηδειότατον.
Now the hill upon which the sanctuary was destined to be established required much labor, for it was neither easy of access nor level, but precipitous and tapering to a sharp summit; yet, by enclosing it on many sides with high retaining walls and carrying a vast amount of earth into the space between the retaining walls and the summit, he made it level and most fit for the reception of temples.
§3.69.2τοὺς δὲ θεμελίους οὐκ ἔφθασε θεῖναι τοῦ νεὼ χρόνον ἐπιβιώσας μετὰ τὴν κατάλυσιν τοῦ πολέμου τετραετῆ.
However, he did not live to lay the foundations of the temple, surviving the end of the war by only four years.
πολλοῖς δʼ ὕστερον ἔτεσιν ὁ τρίτος βασιλεύσας ἀπʼ ἐκείνου Ταρκύνιος, ὁ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκπεσών, τούς τε θεμελίους κατεβάλετο καὶ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τὰ πολλὰ εἰργάσατο.
Many years later, Tarquinius, who was the third to reign after him and was expelled from power, laid the foundations and executed most of the construction.
οὐ μὴν ἐτελείωσε τὸ ἔργον οὐδʼ οὗτος, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐνιαυσίων ἀρχόντων τῶν κατὰ τὸν τρίτον ἐνιαυτὸν ὑπατευσάντων τὴν συντέλειαν ἔλαβεν ὁ νεώς.
Yet even he did not complete the work; rather, the temple reached its completion under the annual magistrates who held the consulship in the third year.
§3.69.3ἄξιον δὲ καὶ τὰ πρὸ τῆς κατασκευῆς αὐτοῦ γενόμενα διελθεῖν, ἃ παραδεδώκασιν ἅπαντες οἱ τὰς ἐπιχωρίους συναγαγόντες ἱστορίας.
It is also worth relating the events that occurred prior to its construction, which have been handed down by all those who compiled the local histories.
ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλε κατασκευάζειν ὁ Ταρκύνιος τὸν γαόν, συγκαλέσας τοὺς οἰωνομάντεις ἐκέλευσε τοῖς ἀνδράσι περὶ αὐτοῦ πρῶτον διαμαντεύσασθαι τοῦ τόπου, τίς ἐπιτηδειότατός ἐστι τῆς πόλεως χῶρος ἱερὸς ἀνεῖσθαι καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς αὐτοῖς μάλιστα κεχαρισμένος.
For when Tarquinius was about to construct the temple, he called together the augurs and ordered them to consult the omens first concerning the site itself, as to which place in the city was most suitable to be set aside as sacred and most pleasing to the gods themselves.
§3.69.4ἀποδειξάντων δʼ αὐτῶν τὸν ὑπερκείμενον τῆς ἀγορᾶς λόφον, ὃς τότε μὲν ἐκαλεῖτο Ταρπήιος, νῦν δὲ Καπιτωλῖνος, αὖθις ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς διαμαντευσαμένους εἰπεῖν ἐν ὁποίῳ τοῦ λόφου χωρίῳ θέσθαι δεήσει τοὺς θεμελίους.
When they pointed out the hill rising above the forum, which was then called the Tarpeian hill but is now called the Capitoline, he again ordered them to consult the omens and declare in what part of the hill the foundations should be laid.
τοῦτο δὲ οὐ πάνυ ῥᾴδιον ἦν· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἦσαν ἐν αὐτῷ βωμοὶ θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων ὀλίγον ἀπέχοντες ἀλλήλων, οὓς ἔδει μετάγειν ἑτέρωσέ ποι, καὶ πᾶν ἀποδοῦναι τῷ μέλλοντι τοῖς θεοῖς τεμένει γενήσεσθαι τὸ δάπεδον.
But this was by no means easy; for there were upon it many altars of gods and lesser divinities, situated at short distances from one another, which had to be relocated elsewhere, and the entire ground had to be cleared and surrendered to what was destined to become the sacred precinct of the gods.
§3.69.5ἔδοξε δὴ τοῖς οἰωνοπόλοις ὑπὲρ ἑκάστου βωμοῦ τῶν καθιδρυμένων διαμαντευσαμένοις, ἐὰν παραχωρῶσιν οἱ θεοὶ τότε κινεῖν αὐτούς.
Therefore, the augurs decided to consult the omens concerning each of the established altars, to see if the gods would permit them to move them.
οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι θεοί τε καὶ δαίμονες ἐπέτρεψαν αὐτοῖς εἰς ἕτερα χωρία τοὺς βωμοὺς σφῶν μεταφέρειν, οἱ δὲ τοῦ Τέρμονος καὶ τῆς Νεότητος πολλὰ παραιτουμένοις τοῖς μάντεσι καὶ λιπαροῦσιν οὐκ ἐπείσθησαν οὐδʼ ἠνέσχοντο παραχωρῆσαι τῶν τόπων.
Now the other gods and lesser divinities permitted them to transfer their altars to other places, but those of Terminus and Juventas, despite the many entreaties and earnest prayers of the augurs, would not be persuaded and refused to yield their places.
τοιγάρτοι συμπεριελήφθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ βωμοὶ τῇ κατασκευῇ τῶν ἱερῶν, καὶ νῦν ὁ μὲν ἕτερός ἐστιν ἐν τῷ προνάῳ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, ὁ δʼ ἕτερος ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σηκῷ πλησίον τοῦ ἕδους.
Consequently, their altars were enclosed within the structure of the sanctuaries, and today one of them is in the vestibule of Athena's temple, and the other in the inner shrine itself, near the cult statue.
§3.69.6ἐκ δὲ τούτου συνέβαλον οἱ μάντεις, ὅτι τῆς Ῥωμαίων πόλεως οὔτε τοὺς ὅρους μετακινήσει καιρὸς οὐθεὶς οὔτε τὴν ἀκμὴν μεταβαλεῖ· καὶ μέχρι τῶν κατʼ ἐμὲ χρόνων ἀληθὲς αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἑκάτερον εἰκοστὴν ἤδη καὶ τετάρτην γενεάν.
From this circumstance the augurs inferred that no occasion would ever shift the boundaries of the Roman state, nor alter its prime; and down to my own time both of these predictions remain true, now into the twenty-fourth generation.