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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §5.36.1-5.36.4

The Death of Arruns and the Etruscan Settlement in Rome

Passage 365 of 962 · Greek

Summary

During the fourth consulship, Porsena's son Arruns was defeated and killed at Aricia, and the Romans hospitably received his surviving soldiers, granting them a settlement in the city (Vicus Tuscus) and receiving back their lost territory in return.

§5.36.1οἱ δὲ τὸν τέταρτον ἐνιαυτὸν ἄρξαντες ὕπατοι Σπόριος Λάρκιος καὶ Τῖτος Ἑρμίνιος ἄνευ πολέμου τὴν ἀρχὴν διετέλεσαν.
The consuls who ruled for the fourth year, Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius, completed their term of office without war.
ἐπὶ τούτων Ἄρρος ὁ Πορσίνου τοῦ Τυρρηνῶν βασιλέως υἱὸς τὴν Ἀρικηνῶν πόλιν δεύτερον ἔτος ἤδη πολιορκῶν ἐτελεύτησεν.
During their administration, Arruns, the son of Porsena, the king of the Tyrrhenians, died while he was already in the second year of besieging the city of the Aricians.
§5.36.2εὐθὺς γὰρ ἅμα τῷ γενέσθαι τὰς Ῥωμαίων σπονδὰς τὴν ἡμίσειαν τῆς στρατιᾶς μοῖραν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς λαβὼν ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀρικηνοὺς ἰδίαν κατασκευαζόμενος ἀρχὴν καὶ μικροῦ δεήσας τὴν πόλιν ἑλεῖν, ἐλθούσης τοῖς Ἀρικηνοῖς ἐπικουρίας ἔκ τʼ Ἀντίου καὶ Τύσκλου καὶ τῆς Καμπανίδος Κύμης, παραταξάμενος ἐλάττονι δυνάμει πρὸς μείζονα τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἐτρέψατο καὶ μέχρι τῆς πόλεως ἤλασεν, ὑπὸ δὲ Κυμαίων, οὓς ἦγεν Ἀριστόδημος ὁ Μαλακὸς ἐπικαλούμενος, νικηθεὶς ἀποθνήσκει, καὶ ἡ στρατιὰ τῶν Τυρρηνῶν μετὰ
For immediately after the conclusion of the treaty with the Romans, having received half of the army from his father, he marched against the Aricians to establish an independent dominion for himself. He had all but taken the city when succor arrived for the Aricians from Antium, Tusculum, and Cumae in Campania; and drawing up a smaller force against a larger one, he routed the others and drove them as far as the city, but being defeated by the Cumaeans, whom Aristodemus, surnamed the Mild, commanded, he was slain.
§5.36.3τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν οὐκέτι ὑπομείνασα τρέπεται πρὸς φυγήν.
And the army of the Tyrrhenians, after his death, no longer holding their ground, turned to flight.
πολλοὶ μὲν δὴ αὐτῶν διωκόμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν Κυμαίων διεφθάρησαν, ἄλλοι δὲ πλείους σκεδασθέντες ἀνὰ τὴν χώραν εἰς τοὺς ἀγροὺς τῶν Ῥωμαίων οὐ πολὺ ἀπέχοντας κατέφυγον ὅπλα τʼ ἀπολωλεκότες καὶ ὑπὸ τραυμάτων ἀδύνατοι ὄντες προσωτέρω χωρεῖν.
Many of them indeed were destroyed while being pursued by the Cumaeans, but a greater number, being scattered through the country, fled to the fields of the Romans, which were not far distant, having lost their arms and being unable from their wounds to proceed further.
οὓς ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι κατακομίζοντες εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἁμάξαις τε καὶ ἀπήναις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑποζυγίοις ἡμιθνῆτας ἐνίους, καὶ φέροντες εἰς τὰς ἑαυτῶν οἰκίας τροφαῖς τε καὶ θεραπείαις καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις φιλανθρωπίαις πολὺ τὸ συμπαθὲς ἐχούσαις ἀνελάμβανον·
These the Romans, bringing them from the fields into the city in carts, wagons, and on other beasts of burden, some of them half-dead, and carrying them into their own houses, restored by means of food, nursing, and other acts of humanity full of great compassion.
ὥστε πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ταῖς χάρισι ταύταις ὑπαχθέντας μηκέτι τῆς οἴκαδε ἀφίξεως πόθον ἔχειν, §5.36.4ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῖς εὐεργέταις σφῶν βούλεσθαι καταμένειν·
As a result, many of them, being won over by these kindnesses, no longer had a desire to return home, but wished to remain with their benefactors.
οἷς ἔδωκεν ἡ βουλὴ χῶρον τῆς πόλεως, ἔνθα οἰκήσεις ἔμελλον κατασκευάσασθαι, τὸν μεταξὺ τοῦ τε Παλατίου καὶ τοῦ Καπιτωλίου τέτταρσι μάλιστα μηκυνόμενον σταδίοις αὐλῶνα, ὃς καὶ μέχρις ἐμοῦ Τυρρηνῶν οἴκησις ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καλεῖται κατὰ τὴν ἐπιχώριον διάλεκτον ἄνθʼ ὧν εὕροντο παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν δωρεὰν οὐ τὴν ἐλαχίστου ἀξίαν, ἀλλʼ ἐφʼ ᾗ μάλιστα ἥσθησαν, τὴν πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ χώραν, ἧς ἀπέστησαν ὅτε διελύοντο τὸν πόλεμον·
To these the senate granted a place in the city where they might build habitations, namely, the valley lying between the Palatine and the Capitoline, extending about four stades in length, which even down to my time is called by the Romans in their native tongue the "Street of the Tyrrhenians," in return for which they obtained from their king a gift of no small value, but one in which they took the greatest pleasure, namely, the land on the other side of the river, which they had surrendered when they terminated the war.
καὶ θυσίας ἀπέδοσαν τοῖς θεοῖς ἀπὸ χρημάτων πολλῶν, ἃς εὔξαντο γενόμενοι πάλιν τῶν Ἑπτὰ πάγων κύριοι συντελέσειν.
And they offered sacrifices to the gods at great expense, which they had vowed to perform when they should again become masters of the Seven Hills.

Notes

  1. 5.36.2μικροῦ δεήσας — Participle form of the impersonal construction `μικροῦ δεῖ` ("almost," "all but"). The genitive `μικροῦ` modifies the participle `δεήσας` accompanied by the infinitive `ἑλεῖν`, literally meaning "lacking but a little to take the city," hence "he all but captured the city."
  2. 5.36.4ἄνθʼ ὧν — Contraction of `ἀντὶ τούτων ἅ`, combining a preposition and a relative pronoun. The antecedent refers to the entirety of the preceding actions—namely, the Romans' compassionate care for the wounded Tyrrhenian soldiers. Thus, the phrase means "in return for these things," explaining the reason why the Romans received the gift of land from King Porsena.
  3. 5.36.4τῶν Ἑπτὰ πάγων — Supplementary genitive depending on `κύριοι`. It refers to the geographical locality known as the "Septem Pagi" (Seven Hills/Villages) on the right bank of the Tiber, which must be distinguished from the traditional Seven Hills of Rome (Septimontium).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §5.36.1-5.36.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.36.1-5.36.4

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