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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §5.21.1-5.21.3

Porsena and Mamilius Declare War on Rome

Passage 350 of 962 · Greek

Summary

King Porsena declares war on Rome on behalf of the Tarquins after his negotiations fail, and Tarquin's son-in-law Mamilius joins him by rallying Latin volunteers.

§5.21.1Ποπλίου δὲ Οὐαλερίου τοῦ προσαγορευθέντος Ποπλικόλα τὸ τρίτον ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἀποδειχθέντος ἀρχὴν καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Μάρκου Ὁρατίου Πολβίλλου τὸ δεύτερον βασιλεὺς Κλουσινῶν τῶν ἐν Τυρρηνίᾳ Λάρος ὄνομα, Πορσίνας ἐπίκλησιν, καταφυγόντων ἐπʼ αὐτὸν Ταρκυνίων, ὑποσχόμενος αὐτοῖς δυεῖν θάτερον ἢ διαλλάξειν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας ἐπὶ καθόδῳ καὶ ἀναλήψει τῆς ἀρχῆς ἢ τὰς οὐσίας ἀνακομισάμενος, ἃς ἀφῃρέθησαν, ἀποδώσειν, ἐπειδὴ πρέσβεις ἀποστείλας εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ μεμιγμένας ἀπειλαῖς ἐπικλήσεις κομίζοντας οὔτε διαλλαγὰς εὕρετο τοῖς ἀνδράσι καὶ κάθοδον, αἰτιωμένης τῆς βουλῆς τὰς ἀρὰς καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους τοὺς γενομένους κατʼ αὐτῶν, οὔτε τὰς οὐσίας ἀνεπράξατο αὐτοῖς, τῶν διανειμαμένων καὶ κατακληρουχησάντων αὐτὰς οὐκ ἀξιούντων ἀποδιδόναι· §5.21.2ὑβρίζεσθαι φήσας ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ δεινὰ πάσχειν, ὅτι τῶν ἀξιουμένων οὐδετέρου παρʼ αὐτῶν ἔτυχεν, ἀνὴρ αὐθάδης καὶ διεφθαρμένος τὴν γνώμην ὑπό τε πλούτου καὶ χρημάτων καὶ ἀρχῆς μεγέθους, ἀφορμὰς ὑπέλαβεν ἔχειν καλὰς καταλῦσαι τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν παλαίτερον ἔτι τοῦτο βουλόμενος καὶ προεῖπεν αὐτοῖς τὸν πόλεμον.
When Publius Valerius, surnamed Poplicola, had been appointed to the same office for the third time, and with him Marcus Horatius Pulvillus for the second time, Lars by name, Porsena by surname, king of the Clusians in Tyrrhenia, after the Tarquins had fled to him for refuge, promised them one of two things: either to reconcile them to the citizens on condition of their return and recovery of power, or, having recovered their property which they had been deprived of, to restore it to them. But since, having sent ambassadors to Rome in the preceding year carrying entreaties mixed with threats, he had neither obtained reconciliation and return for the men— as the senate alleged the curses and oaths that had been made against them—nor recovered their property for them, since those who had divided and distributed it by lot did not think it right to return it; declaring that he was being insulted by the Romans and was suffering grevious treatment, because he had obtained from them neither of the things requested, being a headstrong man and corrupted in his judgment both by wealth and riches and the greatness of his power, he conceived that he had a fair pretext to destroy the Roman power, having desired this even from an earlier time, and declared war against them.
§5.21.3συνῄρετο δʼ αὐτῷ τοῦ πολέμου πᾶσαν προθυμίαν ἀποδεῖξαι βουλόμενος ὁ Ταρκυνίου γαμβρὸς Ὀκταούιος Μαμίλιος, ἐκ πόλεως ὁρμώμενος Τύσκλου, Καμερίνους μὲν καὶ Ἀντεμνάτας, οἳ τοῦ Λατίνων μετεῖχον γένους, ἅπαντας ἐπαγόμενος ἀφεστηκότας ἤδη Ῥωμαίων ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ·
Octavius Mamilius, the son-in-law of Tarquinius, coming from the city of Tusculum, joined him in the war, wishing to display all zeal; he brought over all the Camerini and Antemnates, who belonged to the Latin race and had already openly revolted from the Romans.
παρὰ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὁμοεθνῶν, οἷς οὐκ ἦν βουλομένοις πολεμεῖν ἀναφανδὸν ἐνσπόνδῳ τε καὶ μεγάλην ἰσχὺν ἐχούσῃ πόλει διὰ προφάσεις οὐκ ἀναγκαίας, ἐθελοντὰς συχνοὺς ἰδίᾳ πεπεικὼς χάριτι.
As for the rest of his countrymen, who were not willing to make war openly, for no necessary reasons, on a city with which they had a treaty and which possessed great power, he had persuaded many volunteers by private favor.

Notes

  1. 5.21.1δυεῖν θάτερον — An accusative expression meaning 'one of two things'. It governs the following infinitive clauses `ἢ διαλλάξειν... ἢ... ἀποδώσειν` (either to reconcile... or to restore...) as appositional complements.
  2. 5.21.3οἷς οὐκ ἦν βουλομένοις — A dative construction with the participle `βουλομένοις` agreeing with the relative pronoun `οἷς`. It represents the idiomatic expression indicating something is to one's liking or will (βουλομένῳ τινὶ εἶναι), here meaning 'those who were not willing' to wage war openly.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §5.21.1-5.21.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.21.1-5.21.3

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