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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §4.8.1-4.8.3

Patrician Opposition and Tullius' Appeal to the Plebs

Passage 252 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Tullius performs the funeral rites for Tarquinius and acts as guardian to the royal children, but the patricians plot to overthrow his unlawful rule. To counter this, Tullius courts the favor of the common people and the poor, and brings the children to the assembly to deliver a speech.

§4.8.1ἐπειδὴ δὲ παραλαβὼν τὴν ἐπιτροπὴν τῆς βασιλείας ὁ Τύλλιος καὶ τὴν ἑταιρίαν τῶν Μαρκίων ἐξελάσας βεβαίως ἤδη τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐνόμιζε κρατεῖν, τόν τε βασιλέα Ταρκύνιον, ὡς ἐκ τῶν τραυμάτων τετελευτηκότα ἔναγχος, ἐκκομιδῇ τε πολυτελεῖ καὶ μνήματος ἐπισήμου κατασκευῇ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις τιμαῖς ἐκόσμει, καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου χρόνον ὡς ἐπίτροπος ὢν τῶν ἐκ τοῦ βασιλείου γένους παίδων τόν τʼ ἴδιον αὐτῶν βίον καὶ τὰ κοινὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως διὰ φυλακῆς τε καὶ φροντίδος ἐποιεῖτο.
When Tullius, having taken over the guardianship of the kingdom and having expelled the faction of the Marcii, believed that he now securely held the rule, he honored King Tarquinius, as having recently died of his wounds, with a sumptuous funeral, the construction of a distinguished monument, and other honors, and for the time after that, being the guardian of the children of the royal house, he placed both their private life and the public affairs of the city under his protection and care.
§4.8.2τοῖς δὲ πατρικίοις οὐκ ἦν τὰ γινόμενα καθʼ ἡδονάς, ἀλλʼ ἠγανάκτουν καὶ χαλεπῶς ἔφερον οὐκ ἀξιοῦντες αὐτὸν ἑαυτῷ τινα μηχανήσασθαι βασιλικὴν ἐξουσίαν, μήτε βουλῆς ψηφισαμένης μήτε τῶν ἄλλων τῶν κατὰ νόμον ἐπιτελεσθέντων.
But these things were not to the liking of the patricians; rather, they were indignant and took it ill, deeming it unacceptable that he had contrived for himself a sort of kingly power without any decree of the senate or any of the other things prescribed by law being performed.
συνιόντες τε πολλάκις οἱ πλεῖστον ἐξ αὐτῶν δυνάμενοι διελέγοντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους περὶ τῆς καταλύσεως τῆς παρανόμου ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἐδόκει αὐτοῖς, ἐπειδὰν πρῶτον εἰς τὸ συνέδριον ὑπὸ τοῦ Τυλλίου ἀναχθῶσιν, ἀναγκάσαι τὸν ἄνδρα τὰς ῥάβδους ἀποθέσθαι καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς σύμβολα· ὅταν δὲ τοῦτο γένηται, τοὺς καλουμένους μεσοβασιλεῖς ἀποδεῖξαι καὶ διʼ ἐκείνων ἑλέσθαι τὸν ἄρξοντα τῆς §4.8.3πόλεως κατὰ νόμους.
And the most powerful among them, meeting frequently, discussed with one another the overthrow of his unlawful rule, and it seemed best to them that, as soon as they were first summoned into the senate-house by Tullius, they should compel the man to lay down his rods and the other insignia of office; and when this was done, to appoint the so-called interreges, and through them to choose according to the laws the one who should rule the city.
ταῦτα διανοουμένων αὐτῶν ἐπιγνοὺς ὁ Τύλλιος ἐπὶ τὸ δημαγωγεῖν καὶ θεραπεύειν τοὺς ἀπόρους τῶν πολιτῶν ἐτρέπετο, διʼ ἐκείνων ἐλπίσας τὴν ἀρχὴν καθέξειν, καὶ συγκαλέσας τὸ πλῆθος εἰς ἐκκλησίαν τά τε παιδία προήγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα καὶ λόγον διεξῆλθε τοιόνδε.
Tullius, having perceived that they had these intentions, turned to courting the favor of the people and courting the needy among the citizens, hoping to maintain his rule through them; and having called the multitude to an assembly, he brought the children forward to the tribunal and delivered a speech to this effect.

Notes

  1. 654ἐπειδὴ δὲ παραλαβὼν — The temporal/causal clause introduced by the conjunction ἐπειδή extends up to ἐνόμιζε κρατεῖν, enclosing several participial phrases. The main verbs of the sentence are ἐκόσμει and ἐποιεῖτο.
  2. §4.8.2μήτε βουλῆς ψηφισαμένης μήτε τῶν ἄλλων τῶν κατὰ νόμον ἐπιτελεσθέντων — Two genitive absolute constructions are coordinate here, connected by the negative correlative conjunctions μήτε... μήτε... both expressing a negative attendant circumstance.
  3. p.v.2p.16ἐδόκει αὐτοῖς — Used impersonally in the sense of 'it seemed good to them' or 'they decided'. The following infinitive phrases (ἀναγκάσαι... and ἀποδεῖξαι... ἑλέσθαι...) function as the subject of the verb.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §4.8.1-4.8.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.8.1-4.8.3

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