Humanitext Reader

Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §4.30.1-4.30.7

The Spouses' Deaths and Tarquinius' Marriage to Tullia

Passage 274 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Through the conspiracy of Tullia and Tarquinius, their respective spouses die and the two marry. They plot to expel King Tullius, who then summons the senate to question Tarquinius.

§4.30.1τοιαῦτα τῆς Τυλλίας λεγούσης ἄσμενος δέχεται τὰς αἱρέσεις ὁ Ταρκύνιος, καὶ αὐτίκα δοὺς αὐτῇ πίστεις καὶ λαβὼν τὰ προτέλεια τῶν ἀνοσίων γάμων διαπραξάμενος ἀπέρχεται.
Tullia saying such things, Tarquinius gladly accepts her proposals, and immediately giving her assurances and receiving them, and having performed the preliminary rites of their unholy marriage, departs.
διελθόντος δʼ οὐ πολλοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνου τοῖς αὐτοῖς πάθεσιν ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἥ τε πρεσβυτέρα τῶν Τυλλίου θυγατέρων καὶ ὁ νεώτερος τῶν Ταρκυνίων.
And when not much time had passed after this, both the elder of the daughters of Tullius and the younger of the Tarquinii die of the same illness.
§4.30.2ἐνταῦθα πάλιν ἀναγκάζομαι μεμνῆσθαι Φαβίου καὶ τὸ ῥᾴθυμον αὐτοῦ περὶ τὴν ἐξέτασιν τῶν χρόνων ἐλέγχειν.
Here again I am forced to mention Fabius and to expose his carelessness concerning the investigation of chronology.
ἐπὶ γὰρ τῆς Ἀρροῦντος τελευτῆς γενόμενος οὐ καθʼ ἓν ἁμαρτάνει μόνον, ὃ καὶ πρότερον ἔφην, ὅτι γέγραφεν υἱὸν εἶναι Ταρκυνίου τὸν Ἀρροῦντα· ἀλλὰ καὶ καθʼ ἕτερον, ὅτι φησὶν ἀποθανόντα ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς Τανακυλλίδος τεθάφθαι, ἣν ἀμήχανον ἦν ἔτι καὶ κατʼ ἐκείνους περιεῖναι τοὺς χρόνους.
For coming to the death of Arruns, he errs not in one point only—which indeed I mentioned before, that he wrote Arruns to be the son of Tarquinius—but also in another, because he says that when he died he was buried by his mother Tanaquil, whom it was impossible to be still alive in those times.
§4.30.3ἐδείχθη γὰρ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἔχουσα καὶ πέμπτον ἔτος ἡ Τανακυλλίς, ὅτε βασιλεὺς Ταρκύνιος ἐτελεύτα· προστεθέντων δὴ τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ πέντε ἔτεσιν ἑτέρων τετταράκοντα ἐτῶν· ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἐνιαυσίοις ἀναγραφαῖς κατὰ τὸν τετταρακοστὸν ἐνιαυτὸν τῆς Τυλλίου ἀρχῆς τὸν Ἀρροῦντα τετελευτηκότα παρειλήφαμεν· ἐτῶν ἡ Τανακυλλὶς ἔσται πεντεκαίδεκα πρὸς τοῖς ἑκατόν.
For it was shown in the beginning that Tanaquil was seventy-five years old when king Tarquinius died; and when forty more years are added to those seventy-five years—for in the annual records we have received that Arruns died in the fortieth year of the reign of Tullius—Tanaquil would be one hundred and fifteen years old.
οὕτως ὀλίγον ἐστὶν ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις αὐτοῦ τὸ περὶ τὴν ἐξέτασιν τῆς ἀληθείας ταλαίπωρον.
So little is the painstaking effort for the investigation of truth in his histories.
§4.30.4μετὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον οὐδὲν ἔτι διαμελλήσας ὁ Ταρκύνιος ἐπάγεται γυναῖκα τὴν Τυλλίαν οὔτε τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς βεβαιοῦντος τὸν γάμον οὔτε τῆς μητρὸς συνευδοκούσης, ἀλλʼ αὐτὴν παρʼ ἑαυτῆς λαβών.
After this deed Tarquinius, delaying no longer, takes Tullia as his wife, neither her father confirming the marriage nor her mother consenting, but taking her from her own hands.
§4.30.5ὡς δὲ συνεκεράσθησαν αἱ ἀνόσιοι καὶ ἀνδροφόνοι φύσεις, ἐκβαλεῖν ἐκ τῆς βασιλείας τὸν Τύλλιον, εἰ μὴ βούλοιτο ἑκὼν παραδοῦναι τὴν ἀρχήν, ἐμηχανῶντο ἑταιρίας τε συνάγοντες καὶ τῶν πατρικίων τοὺς ἀλλοτρίως ἔχοντας πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὰ δημοτικὰ πολιτεύματα παρακαλοῦντες ἔκ τε τοῦ δημοτικοῦ πλήθους τοὺς ἀπορωτάτους, οἷς οὐδενὸς τῶν δικαίων φροντὶς ἦν, χρήμασιν ἐξωνούμενοι καὶ οὐδὲ ἀφανῶς ἕκαστα τούτων πράττοντες.
And when their unholy and murderous natures were combined, they plotted to expel Tullius from the kingdom, unless he wished to surrender his power voluntarily, both by gathering factions and by summoning those of the patricians who were hostile to the king and to his popular measures, and by buying with money the most destitute of the common people, who had no regard for any justice, and doing none of these things secretly.
§4.30.6ταῦτα δʼ ὁρῶν ὁ Τύλλιος ἤχθετο μὲν καὶ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ δεδιώς, εἴ τι πείσεται προκαταληφθείς· ἠγανάκτει δʼ οὐχ ἥκιστα, εἰ θυγατρὶ καὶ γαμβρῷ πολεμεῖν ἀναγκασθήσεται καὶ τιμωρίας ὡς παρʼ ἐχθρῶν λαμβάνειν, πολλάκις μετὰ τῶν φίλων προκαλούμενος εἰς λόγους τὸν Ταρκύνιον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐγκαλῶν, τὰ δὲ νουθετῶν, τὰ δὲ πείθων μηδὲν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐξαμαρτάνειν·
Tullius, seeing these things, was grieved and feared for himself lest he should suffer something by being anticipated; and he was not least indignant that he should be forced to make war on his daughter and son-in-law and to receive vengeance from them as from enemies, often with his friends calling Tarquinius to a conference, sometimes accusing him, sometimes admonishing him, and sometimes persuading him to commit no wrong against him.
ὡς δʼ οὐ προσεῖχεν αὐτῷ τὴν διάνοιαν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῆς βουλῆς ἔφη τὰ δίκαια πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐρεῖν, συγκαλέσας τὸ συνέδριον· §4.30.7ἄνδρες, ἔφη, βουλευταί, Ταρκύνιος ἑταιρίας ἐπʼ ἐμὲ συνάγων καὶ προθυμούμενος ἐκβαλεῖν με τῆς ἀρχῆς καταφανὴς γέγονέ μοι.
But when Tarquinius paid no attention to him, but said he would state his rights against him before the senate, Tullius, having convoked the council, said: "Gentlemen of the senate," he said, "Tarquinius, by gathering a faction against me and being eager to expel me from power, has become clearly known to me.
βούλομαι δὲ πάντων ὑμῶν παρόντων μαθεῖν παρʼ αὐτοῦ, τί πεπονθὼς ἰδίᾳ κακὸν ἢ τί τὴν πόλιν ὁρῶν ἀδικουμένην ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ταῦτʼ ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ μηχανᾶται.
And I wish, in the presence of you all, to learn from him what private injury he has suffered, or what injustice he sees the city suffering from me, that he contrives these things against me.
ἀπόκριναι δή, Ταρκύνιε, μηδὲν ἀποκρυψάμενος, τί μου κατηγορεῖν ἔχεις, ἐπειδὴ τούτους ἠξίους ἀκοῦσαι.
Answer then, Tarquinius, concealing nothing, what accusation you have to bring against me, since you deemed it worthy that these men should hear you."

Notes

  1. 717τὰ προτέλεια τῶν ἀνοσίων γάμων διαπραξάμενος — The noun προτέλεια originally refers to "preliminary rites" or "sacrifices" before a wedding or other sacred events. Here, it is used with strong irony to describe the illicit union or conspiracy between the two before their formal marriage, framing it as a preparatory rite for their unholy matrimony.
  2. p.v.2p.56ἐπὶ γὰρ τῆς Ἀρροῦντος τελευτῆς γενόμενος — The participle γενόμενος from γίγνομαι, used with the preposition ἐπί and a genitive, means "having arrived at" or "reaching" a specific subject in historical narratives. It indicates that Fabius, in his historical writing, has reached the point of treating the death of Arruns.
  3. 718προστεθέντων δὴ τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ πέντε ἔτεσιν ἑτέρων τετταράκοντα ἐτῶν — A genitive absolute construction. The logical subject of the participle (forty more years) is distinct from the subject of the main clause (Tanaquil). It serves as a conditional premise for the author's mathematical refutation: "when forty more years are added to those seventy-five years."
  4. p.v.2p.57ἐμηχανῶντο ἑταιρίας τε συνάγοντες ... παρακαλοῦντες ... ἐξωνούμενοι — Three present participles (συνάγοντες, παρακαλοῦντες, and ἐξωνούμενοι) are coordinated in parallel, modifying the main verb ἐμηχανῶντο ("they contrived"). These participles express means or manner, detailing the exact methods (gathering factions, summoning dissidents, and bribing the poor) used to execute their plot.
  5. 720τί πεπονθὼς ἰδίᾳ κακὸν ἢ τί τὴν πόλιν ὁρῶν ἀδικουμένην — A balanced and contrasting parallel structure using the interrogative pronoun τί with two participle phrases (πεπονθὼς... and ὁρῶν...). It rhetorically questions the justification of Tarquinius's treason, contrasting personal grievance ("having suffered what private injury") with civic concern ("seeing the city suffer what injustice").

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §4.30.1-4.30.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.30.1-4.30.7

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.