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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §4.75.1-4.75.4

Procedures for Exiling the Kings and Electing Magistrates

Passage 319 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Brutus proposes the specific procedures for establishing the new regime, including the permanent banishment of the Tarquinii, the election of an interrex, and the selection of annual leaders by the centuriate assembly. He also emphasizes that these leaders must govern in cooperation with the senate and the people.

§4.75.1ὃν δὲ τρόπον ἔσται τούτων ἕκαστον, ἀκούσατέ μου·
And in what manner each of these things shall be done, hear from me.
συνάξω μὲν ἐγὼ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ὥσπερ ἔφην, ἐπειδὴ συγκεχώρηταί μοι κατὰ νόμον καὶ γνώμην εἰσηγήσομαι· φεύγειν Ταρκύνιον ἅμα τοῖς παισὶ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ πόλεώς τε καὶ χώρας τῆς Ῥωμαίων εἰργομένους τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον καὶ γένος τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν·
I will assemble the people, as I said, since it is permitted to me by law, and I will propose a motion: that Tarquinius, together with his children and his wife, be banished from the city and territory of the Romans forever, as well as the descendants from them.
ὅταν δʼ ἐπιψηφίσωσι τὴν γνώμην οἱ πολῖται, δηλώσας αὐτοῖς ἣν διανοούμεθα καταστήσασθαι πολιτείαν μεσοβασιλέα ἑλοῦμαι τὸν ἀποδείξοντα τοὺς παραληψομένους τὰ κοινά, καὶ αὐτὸς ἀποθήσομαι τὴν τῶν Κελερίων ἀρχήν.
And when the citizens have voted on the motion, after declaring to them what constitution we intend to establish, I will choose an interrex who will designate those who are to receive the public offices, and I myself will lay down the command of the Celeres.
§4.75.2ὁ δὲ κατασταθεὶς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ μεσοβασιλεὺς συναγαγὼν τὴν λοχῖτιν ἐκκλησίαν ὀνομασάτω τε τοὺς μέλλοντας ἕξειν τὴν ἐνιαύσιον ἡγεμονίαν καὶ ψῆφον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τοῖς πολίταις δότω·
And let the interrex appointed by me, having assembled the centuriate assembly, nominate those who are to have the annual command and give the vote concerning them to the citizens.
ἐὰν δὲ τοῖς πλείοσι δόξῃ λόχοις κυρίαν εἶναι τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν αἵρεσιν καὶ τὰ μαντεύματα γένηται περὶ αὐτῶν καλά, τοὺς πελέκεις οὗτοι παραλαβόντες καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς βασιλικῆς ἐξουσίας σύμβολα πραττέτωσαν, ὅπως ἐλευθέραν οἰκήσομεν τὴν πατρίδα καὶ μηκέτι κάθοδον ἕξουσιν εἰς αὐτὴν Ταρκύνιοι·
And if it seems good to the majority of the centuries that the choice of the men is valid, and the auspices concerning them turn out favorable, let these men, having received the axes and the other symbols of royal power, take care that we inhabit a free homeland and that the Tarquinii no longer have a return to it.
πειράσονται γάρ, εὖ ἴστε, καὶ πειθοῖ καὶ βίᾳ καὶ δόλῳ καὶ παντὶ ἄλλῳ τρόπῳ παρελθεῖν πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν δυναστείαν, ἐὰν μὴ φυλαττώμεθα αὐτούς.
For they will try, know well, by persuasion, force, deceit, and every other way to return again to power, if we do not guard against them.
§4.75.3ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν ἐστι τὰ μέγιστα καὶ κυριώτατα ὧν ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι λέγειν ἔχω καὶ παραινεῖν· τὰ δὲ κατὰ μέρος πολλὰ ὄντα καὶ οὐ ῥᾴδια νῦν διʼ ἀκριβείας ἐξετασθῆναι· συνήγμεθα γὰρ εἰς καιρὸν ὀξύν· ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς οἴομαι δεῖν ποιῆσαι τοῖς παραληψομένοις τὴν ἀρχήν.
These, then, are the greatest and most sovereign things which I can speak to you at present and advise; but the detailed points, being many and not easy to be examined with precision now—for we are gathered at a critical and sharp moment— I think we ought to leave to the very men who are to receive the office.
§4.75.4σκοπεῖσθαι μέντοι φημὶ χρῆναι τοὺς ἄνδρας ἅπαντα μετὰ τοῦ συνεδρίου τῆς βουλῆς, ὥσπερ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐποίουν, καὶ μηδὲν πράττειν δίχα ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ δόξαντα τῇ βουλῇ φέρειν εἰς τὸν δῆμον, ὡς τοῖς προγόνοις ἡμῶν ποιεῖν ἔθος ἦν, μηδενὸς ἀφαιρουμένους αὐτὸν ὧν ἐν τοῖς πρότερον καιροῖς κύριος ἦν.
I say, however, that the men ought to consider all things with the council of the senate, just as the kings used to do, and to do nothing without you, and to bring the matters approved by the senate to the people, as was the custom for our ancestors to do, depriving them of none of those things of which they were master in former times.
οὕτω γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀσφαλέστατα καὶ κάλλιστα ἕξει τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς.
For in this way, the affairs of their office will be safest and best for them.

Notes

  1. 4.75.1φεύγειν Ταρκύνιον ἅμα τοῖς παισὶ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ — The infinitive φεύγειν and the participle εἰργομένους form an accusative-with-infinitive clause in indirect discourse, explaining the content of the preceding phrase γνώμην εἰσηγήσομαι ('I shall propose a motion').
  2. 4.75.3ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς οἴομαι δεῖν ποιῆσαι τοῖς παραληψομένοις — The prepositional phrase ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ... τοῖς παραληψομένοις is used idiomatically with the verb ποιῆσαι to mean 'to leave to, to place in the hands of,' i.e., 'to leave it to those very persons who are to receive the office' to decide.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §4.75.1-4.75.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.75.1-4.75.4

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