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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §4.1.1-4.1.3

Accession of Servius Tullius and His Origins

Passage 245 of 962 · Greek

Summary

After the death of King Tarquinius, Tullius becomes the successor, and the author begins to relate his origins and deeds. The background of the birth of Servius, named after his slave status, to the noble captive woman Ocrisia is described.

§4.1.1βασιλεὺς μὲν δὴ Ταρκύνιος οὐ μικρῶν οὐδʼ ὀλίγων Ῥωμαίοις ἀγαθῶν αἴτιος γενόμενος, ὀκτὼ καὶ τριάκοντα ἔτη τὴν ἀρχὴν κατασχὼν οὕτω τελευτᾷ υἱωνούς τε δύο καταλιπὼν νηπίσυς καὶ δύο θυγατέρας ἀνδράσιν ἤδη συνοικούσας.
King Tarquinius, having been the author of not a few or small benefits to the Romans, after holding the power for thirty-eight years, thus died, leaving two young grandsons and two daughters who were already living with husbands.
διάδοχος δὲ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ὁ γαμβρὸς αὐτοῦ γίνεται Τύλλιος ἐνιαυτῷ τετάρτῳ τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Ἐπιτελίδης Λάκων ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Ἀρχεστρατίδου· περὶ οὗ καιρὸς ἤδη λέγειν, ἃ κατʼ ἀρχὰς παρελίπομεν, ἐξ ὧν τε γονέων ἔφυ καὶ τίνας ἀπεδείξατο πράξεις ἰδιώτης ὢν ἔτι καὶ πρὶν ἐπὶ τὴν δυναστείαν παρελθεῖν.
His successor to the leadership was his son-in-law Tullius, in the fourth year of the fiftieth Olympiad, in which Epitelides the Laconian won the stade-race, while Archestratides was archon in Athens; concerning whom it is now time to tell what we passed over in the beginning—from what parents he was born and what deeds he displayed while he was still a private citizen and before he came to power.
§4.1.2τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ λεγόμενα, οἷς μάλιστʼ ἔγωγε συγκατατίθεμαι, τοιαῦτʼ ἐστίν.
Now, what is said about his family, with which I myself most agree, is as follows.
ἐν Κορνικόλῳ πόλει τοῦ Λατίνων ἔθνους ἀνήρ τις ἐκ τοῦ βασιλείου γένους Τύλλιος ὄνομα γυναικὶ συνῆν Ὀκρισίᾳ καλλίστῃ τε καὶ σωφρονεστάτῃ τῶν ἐν Κορνικόλῳ γυναικῶν.
In the city of Corniculum of the Latin nation, a certain man of the royal lineage, Tullius by name, was living with a woman, Ocrisia, the most beautiful and virtuous of the women in Corniculum.
αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν ὁ Τύλλιος, ὅθʼ ἡ πόλις ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων κατελαμβάνετο, μαχόμενος ἀποθνήσκει, τὴν δʼ Ὀκρισίαν ἐγκύμονα οὖσαν ἐξαίρετον ἐκ τῶν λαφύρων λαμβάνει Ταρκύνιος ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ δίδωσι δωρεὰν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ γυναικί.
Tullius himself, when the city was being captured by the Romans, died fighting, but Tarquinius the king took Ocrisia, who was pregnant, as a special portion from the spoils and gave her as a gift to his own wife.
μαθοῦσα δʼ ἐκείνη πάντα τὰ περὶ τὴν ἄνθρωπον οὐ πολλοῖς χρόνοις ὕστερον ἐλευθέραν αὐτὴν ἀφίησι καὶ πασῶν μάλιστα γυναικῶν ἀσπαζομένη τε καὶ τιμῶσα διετέλεσεν.
Having learned all about the woman, she, not much later, set her free, and continued to cherish and honor her most of all women.
§4.1.3ἐκ ταύτης γίνεται τῆς Ὀκρισίας ἔτι δουλευούσης παιδίον, ᾧ τίθεται τραφέντι ἡ μήτηρ τὸ μὲν ἴδιόν τε καὶ συγγενικὸν ὄνομα Τύλλιον ἐπὶ τοῦ πατρός, τὸ δὲ κοινὸν καὶ προσηγορικὸν Σερούιον ἐπὶ τῆς ἰδίας τύχης, ὅτι δουλεύουσα ἔτεκεν αὐτόν.
From this Ocrisia, while she was still a slave, was born a child, to whom, when he was brought up, his mother gave the proper and family name Tullius, after his father, and the common and appellative name Servius, after her own fortune, because she had given birth to him while serving as a slave.
εἴη δʼ ἂν ὁ Σερούιος εἰς τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν διάλεκτον μεταβιβαζόμενος Δούλιος.
And "Servius" would be, if translated into the Greek tongue, "Doulios".

Notes

  1. p.v.2p.2περὶ οὗ καιρὸς ἤδη λέγειν, ἃ κατʼ ἀρχὰς παρελίπομεν, ἐξ ὧν τε γονέων ἔφυ — An impersonal noun construction of `καιρός` + infinitive (`λέγειν`). The prepositional phrase `περὶ οὗ` (concerning whom) depends on `λέγειν`, which in turn takes both the relative clause `ἃ κατʼ ἀρχὰς παρελίπομεν` (what we passed over in the beginning) and the indirect question `ἐξ ὧν... ἔφυ` (from what parents he was born) as parallel objects.
  2. 4.1.2ἀσπαζομένη τε καὶ τιμῶσα διετέλεσεν — An idiomatic construction of the verb `διατελέω` with present participles (`ἀσπαζομένη`, `τιμῶσα`), expressing the continuation of an action (she continued to cherish and honor).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §4.1.1-4.1.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.1.1-4.1.3

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