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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §4.85.1-4.85.4

Exclusion of King Tarquinius and His Flight to Gabii

Passage 329 of 962 · Greek

Summary

King Tarquinius hastens to Rome upon hearing of the rebellion, but finding himself shut out, he retreats to his camp. However, the army there has already decided to support the new regime, forcing the king to flee to Gabii, while the commanders establish a truce and return home.

§4.85.1βασιλεὺς δὲ Ταρκύνιος ὡς ἤκουσε παρὰ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀγγέλων, οἷς ἐξεγένετο πρώτοις πρὶν ἢ κλεισθῆναι τὰς πύλας διαδρᾶναι, τοσοῦτο μόνον ἀπαγγελλόντων, ὅτι κατέχει τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Βροῦτος δημαγωγῶν καὶ τοὺς πολίτας ἐπὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν παρακαλῶν, οὐδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων φράσας ἠπείγετο τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀναλαβὼν καὶ τῶν ἑταίρων τοὺς πιστοτάτους, ἐλαύνων τοὺς ἵππους ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος, ὡς φθάσων τὴν ἀπόστασιν.
When King Tarquinius heard from the messengers from the city—who had been the first to escape before the gates were closed—reporting only this much, that Brutus was holding the assembly, leading the people, and exhorting the citizens to freedom, he told no one else but hastened away, taking his sons and the most faithful of his companions, driving his horses at full speed in order to forestall the rebellion.
εὑρὼν δὲ κεκλεισμένας τὰς πύλας καὶ μεστὰς ὅπλων τὰς ἐπάλξεις ᾤχετο πάλιν ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ὡς εἶχε τάχους οἰμώζων καὶ δεινοπαθῶν.
But finding the gates closed and the battlements full of weapons, he went back to the camp as fast as he could, lamenting and grieving bitterly.
§4.85.2ἔτυχε δὲ καὶ τἀκεῖ πράγματα ἤδη διεφθαρμένα.
But it happened that affairs there too were already ruined.
οἱ γὰρ ὕπατοι ταχεῖαν αὐτοῦ τὴν παρουσίαν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν προορώμενοι πέμπουσι γράμματα καθʼ ἑτέρας ὁδοὺς πρὸς τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατοπέδου παρακαλοῦντες αὐτοὺς ἀποστῆναι τοῦ τυράννου καὶ τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς ἐν ἄστει ποιοῦντες φανερά.
For the consuls, anticipating his swift arrival at the city, sent letters by other roads to those at the camp, exhorting them to revolt from the tyrant and making clear what had been resolved by those in the city.
§4.85.3ταῦτα τὰ γράμματα λαβόντες οἱ καταλειφθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ὕπαρχοι Τῖτος Ἑρμίνιος καὶ Μάρκος Ὁράτιος ἀνέγνωσαν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ· καὶ γνώμας διερωτήσαντες κατὰ λόχους, ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν, ἐπειδὴ πᾶσιν ἐφάνη κύρια ἡγεῖσθαι τὰ κριθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως, οὐκέτι προσδέχονται παραγενηθέντα τὸν Ταρκύνιον.
Having received these letters, the commanders left behind by the king, Titus Herminius and Marcus Horatius, read them in an assembly; and having asked their opinions by centuries as to what ought to be done, when it seemed good to all to regard the decisions made by the city as valid, they no longer received Tarquinius when he arrived.
§4.85.4ἀπωσθεὶς δὴ καὶ ταύτης ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς ἐλπίδος φεύγει σὺν ὀλίγοις εἰς Γαβίων πόλιν, ἧς βασιλέα τὸν πρεσβύτερον ἀπέδειξε τῶν υἱῶν Σέξτον, ὡς καὶ πρότερον ἔφην· ἡλικίαν μὲν ἤδη πολιὸς ὤν, ἔτη δὲ πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι τὴν βασιλείαν κατασχών.
Being repulsed from this hope as well, the king fled with a few men to the city of Gabii, where, as I have also said before, he had appointed the eldest of his sons, Sextus, as king; he was already white-haired in age, having held the kingship for twenty-five years.
οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἑρμίνιόν τε καὶ τὸν Ὁράτιον ἀνοχὰς τοῦ πολέμου καταστησάμενοι πρὸς τοὺς Ἀρδεάτας πεντεκαιδεκαετεῖς ἀπήγαγον ἐπʼ οἴκου τὰς δυνάμεις.
Meanwhile, Herminius and Horatius and their associates, having established a fifteen-year truce with the Ardeates, led their forces back home.

Notes

  1. 4.85.1τοσοῦτο μόνον ἀπαγγελλόντων — The genitive participle ἀπαγγελλόντων agrees with the preceding ἀγγέλων, or functions as the genitive object governed by ἤκουσε ('heard them reporting...').
  2. 4.85.1οἷς ἐξεγένετο πρώτοις ... διαδρᾶναι — The impersonal verb ἐξεγένετο ('it was possible') is construed with the dative οἷς ... πρώτοις and the infinitive διαδρᾶναι, meaning 'who were the first to have the opportunity to escape.'
  3. 4.85.1ὡς εἶχε τάχους — An idiomatic expression consisting of ὡς + ἔχω (here in the imperfect εἶχε) + partitive genitive (τάχους), meaning 'as fast as he could' or 'with all possible speed.'
  4. 4.85.2ἔτυχε δὲ καὶ τἀκεῖ πράγματα ἤδη διεφθαρμένα — The verb τυγχάνω (here in the imperfect ἔτυχε) is construed with the nominative participle διεφθαρμένα (neuter plural, agreeing with the subject τἀκεῖ πράγματα), meaning 'it happened that the affairs there too were already ruined.'

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §4.85.1-4.85.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.85.1-4.85.4

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