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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §5.20.1

Revival of the Census and Garrisoning of Signurium

Passage 349 of 962 · Greek

Summary

In the following year, the re-elected Valerius and his colleague revived the property census that had been suspended since the Tarquin dynasty, and sent a Roman force to Signurium to guard against the Latins and Hernicians.

§5.20.1τῷ δʼ ἑξῆς αὐτός τε πάλιν ἀποδείκνυται Οὐαλέριος τὸ δεύτερον ὕπατος καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Λουκρήτιος, ἐφʼ ὧν ἄλλο μὲν οὐδὲν ἄξιον λόγου ἐπράχθη, τιμήσεις δʼ ἐγένοντο τῶν βίων καὶ τάξεις τῶν εἰς τοὺς πολέμους εἰσφορῶν, ὡς Τύλλιος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐνομοθέτησε, πάντα τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς Ταρκυνίου δυναστείας χρόνον ἀφειμέναι, τότε δὲ πρῶτον ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνανεωθεῖσαι·
In the following year, Valerius himself was again appointed consul for the second time, and with him Lucretius. Under them, nothing else worthy of mention was performed, but the assessment of estates and the arrangement of military contributions, as King Tullius had ordained by law—which had been suspended during the whole time of the dynasty of Tarquinius—were then for the first time revived by these men.
ἐξ ὧν εὑρέθη τῶν ἐν ἥβῃ Ῥωμαίων περὶ τρισκαίδεκα μυριάδας.
From this census, the number of Romans of military age was found to be about one hundred and thirty thousand.
καὶ εἰς χωρίον τι Σιγνούριον καλούμενον Ῥωμαίων ἀπεστάλη στρατιά, διὰ φυλακῆς ἕξουσα τὸ φρούριον ἐπὶ ταῖς Λατίνων τε καὶ Ἑρνίκων πόλεσι κείμενον, ὅθεν τὸν πόλεμον προσεδέχοντο.
A Roman force was also sent to a place called Signurium, in order to guard the fortress situated over against the cities of both the Latins and the Hernicians, from which quarter they expected the war.

Notes

  1. §5.20.1τῷ δʼ ἑξῆς — A dative expression meaning 'in the following year', with the noun ἐνιαυτῷ ('year') omitted.
  2. §5.20.1ἀφειμέναι / ἀνανεωθεῖσαι — Feminine plural nominative participles agreeing with the subjects τιμήσεις ('assessments') and τάξεις ('arrangements'). The former denotes a prior state of suspension, while the latter, in the aorist, denotes the act of revival.
  3. §5.20.1ἐξ ὧν — The relative pronoun ὧν refers back to the property assessments (τιμήσεις) and classifications (τάξεις) mentioned in the preceding clause.
  4. §5.20.1διὰ φυλακῆς ἕξουσα — The future participle ἕξουσα expresses purpose ('in order to guard') and agrees in gender and number with the subject of the main clause, στρατιά ('force'). The idiom διὰ φυλακῆς ἔχω means 'to guard' or 'to keep watch over'.
  5. §5.20.1ἐπὶ ταῖς ... πόλεσι κείμενον — The present participle κείμενον modifies τὸ φρούριον ('the fortress'). The preposition ἐπί with the dative indicates a commanding or facing position 'over against' or 'situated above' the target cities.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §5.20.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.20.1

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