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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §5.39.1-5.39.4

Defeat of the Sabines and Triumphs for the Consuls

Passage 368 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The other consul sends infantry and cavalry led by Larcius to rescue the struggling left wing, defeating the Sabines and capturing their camp. Rome recovers its spirit from the Etruscan defeat, voting triumphs for the consuls and granting Valerius a house with a unique privilege.

§5.39.1ἀγῶνος δὲ καρτεροῦ γενομένου καὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ τῶν Ῥωμαίων κέρατος, ἔνθα ἦν ὁ ὕπατος, ἐπιβαίνοντος τοῖς ἐναντίοις καὶ προσωτέρω χωροῦντος, τοῦ δʼ εὐωνύμου κάμνοντος ἤδη καὶ πρὸς τῶν πολεμίων ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐξωθουμένου, μαθὼν τὸ γινόμενον ὁ τὴν ἑτέραν τῶν Ῥωμαίων παρεμβολὴν κατέχων ὕπατος ἐξῆγε τὴν στρατιάν.
A fierce struggle having arisen, and the right wing of the Romans, where the consul was, pressing upon their opponents and advancing further, while the left wing was already exhausted and being pushed back toward the river by the enemy, the consul who held the other camp of the Romans, having learned what was happening, led out his army.
§5.39.2αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν τὴν φάλαγγα τῶν πεζῶν ἐπαγόμενος βάδην ἠκολούθει· τῶν δὲ πρεσβυτέρων Σπόριον Λάρκιον τὸν ὑπατεύσαντα τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ τοὺς ἱππεῖς ἄγοντα πέμπει κατὰ σπουδήν·
He himself followed on foot, leading the phalanx of infantry; and from among the elders, he sent in haste Spurius Larcius, who had been consul the previous year, leading the cavalry.
ὃς ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος τοὺς ἵππους ἐλαύνων τόν τε ποταμὸν διαπεραιοῦται κωλύοντος οὐδενὸς εὐπετῶς καὶ κατὰ τὸ δεξιὸν τῶν πολεμίων κέρας παριππεύσας, ἐνσείει πλαγίοις τοῖς ἱππεῦσι τῶν Σαβίνων· καὶ γίνεται μέγας αὐτόθι τῶν ἱππέων ἀμφοτέρων συστάδην μαχομένων ἐπὶ χρόνον πολὺν ἀγών.
He, riding his horses at full speed, crossed the river easily as no one hindered him, and having ridden past the right wing of the enemy, fell upon the cavalry of the Sabines from the flank; and a great struggle of both cavalry forces arose there, fighting hand-to-hand for a long time.
§5.39.3ἐν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ὁ Ποστόμιος τοὺς πεζοὺς ἄγων πλησίον αὐτῶν ἐγίνετο· καὶ συρράξας τοῖς πεζοῖς ἀποκτείνει τε πολλοὺς μαχομένους καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐξωθεῖ τῆς τάξεως.
In the meantime Postumius also arrived near them, leading the infantry; and having clashed with the infantry, he slew many as they fought and drove the rest out of their ranks.
εἰ δὲ μὴ νὺξ ἐπέλαβεν, ἅπαντες ἂν οἱ Σαβῖνοι κυκλωθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱπποκρατούντων ἤδη πανσυδὶ διεφθάρησαν.
And if night had not come on, all the Sabines, having been surrounded by the Romans who were already victorious with their cavalry, would have been utterly destroyed.
νῦν δὲ τὸ σκότος τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐκ τῆς μάχης ὄντας ἀνόπλους καὶ οὐ πολλοὺς ἐρρύσατο καὶ διέσωσεν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα.
But as it was, the darkness rescued and saved those who had escaped from the battle, being unarmed and not many, to their own homes.
τῆς δὲ παρεμβολῆς αὐτῶν οἱ ὕπατοι χωρὶς ἀγῶνος ἐκράτησαν ἐκλειφθείσης ὑπὸ τῶν ἔνδον ἅμα τῷ θεάσασθαι τὴν τροπὴν τῶν σφετέρων· ἐξ ἧς πολλὰς ὠφελείας λαβόντες, ἃς τοῖς στρατιώταις ἄγειν τε καὶ φέρειν ἐπέτρεψαν, §5.39.4ἀπῆγον ἐπʼ οἴκου τὰς δυνάμεις.
The consuls made themselves masters of their camp without a struggle, as it was abandoned by those within as soon as they saw the rout of their own men; from which having taken much booty, which they permitted the soldiers to plunder, they led their forces back home.
τότε πρῶτον ἡ πόλις ἀναλαβοῦσα ἑαυτὴν ἐκ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πταίσματος εἰς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀποκατέστη φρόνημα, καὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας τῶν περιοίκων ὡς πρότερον ἐθάρρησεν ἀντιποιεῖσθαι, καὶ ψηφίζεται κοινῇ μὲν ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς ὑπάτοις θριάμβου καταγωγήν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ θατέρῳ τῶν ἀνδρῶν Οὐαλερίῳ δωρεὰν τόπον εἰς οἴκησιν ἐν τῷ κρατίστῳ τοῦ Παλλαντίου δοθῆναι, καὶ τὰς εἰς τὴν κατασκευὴν δαπάνας ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου χορηγεῖσθαι.
Then for the first time, the city, recovering itself from the Etruscan defeat, returned to its original spirit, and ventured as before to claim the hegemony over its neighbors; and it voted in common for both consuls the celebration of a triumph, and individually for one of the men, Valerius, that a site for a house should be given as a gift in the best part of the Palatine, and that the expenses for its construction should be defrayed from the public treasury.
ταύτης τῆς οἰκίας, παρʼ ἣν ὁ χαλκοῦς ἕστηκε ταῦρος, αἱ κλισιάδες θύραι μόναι τῶν ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ δημοσίων τε καὶ ἰδιωτικῶν οἴκων εἰς τὸ ἔξω μέρος ἀνοίγονται.
Of this house, beside which stands the bronze bull, the double folding doors alone of all public and private houses in Rome open outward.

Notes

  1. 5.39.2ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος — An idiomatic expression meaning 'at full speed' or 'with loose reins'. It originally refers to letting go of the horse's reins to make it gallop, and by extension describes an extremely rapid advance or charge.
  2. 5.39.3εἰ δὲ μὴ νὺξ ἐπέλαβεν, ἅπαντες ἂν ... διεφθάρησαν — A past contrafactual conditional sentence (εἰ + indicative aorist ... ἄν + indicative aorist). It paradoxically emphasizes the fact that they actually escaped destruction because night fell. The subsequent νῦν δέ ('but as it was') forms a standard contrasting structure presenting the reality.
  3. 5.39.3ἄγειν τε καὶ φέρειν — A Greek idiomatic expression corresponding to the Latin ferre et agere. From 'driving away (ἄγειν)' mobile booty (such as slaves or cattle) and 'carrying off (φέρειν)' immobile booty (such as goods), it came to mean comprehensive 'plundering' on the battlefield or in enemy territory.
  4. 5.39.4ψηφίζεται ... δοθῆναι, καὶ ... χορηγεῖσθαι — The verb ψηφίζεται ('votes/decrees') takes a direct accusative object (καταγωγήν) in the first half, while governing accusative-with-infinitives (τόπον... δοθῆναι and δαπάνας... χορηγεῖσθαι) in the second half. Note the coordination of different syntactical structures under a single main verb.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §5.39.1-5.39.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.39.1-5.39.4

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