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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §6.75.1-6.75.3

Denunciation of Patrician Wars and Plebeian Bloodshed

Passage 481 of 962 · Greek

Summary

After recalling the plebeians' contributions to freeing Rome from the tyrants, the speaker condemns the patricians for exploiting plebeian lives in endless wars of expansion, asking who truly conquered Etruria, the Sabines, and the Latins.

§6.75.1ἃ μὲν δὴ εἰς τὸ συνελευθερῶσαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν τυράννων παρεσχόμεθα ὑπὲρ δύναμιν διὰ τὸ ἑαυτῶν πρόθυμον, οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου μᾶλλον εἰς αὐτὸ καταστάντες ἢ ὑπʼ ἀρετῆς, ταῦτʼ ἐστιν.
These, then, are the things which we, through our own zeal, and prompted by virtue rather than forced by necessity, provided beyond our power to help free you together from the tyrants.
ἃ δʼ εἰς τὸ τιμᾶσθαί τε καὶ ἄρχειν ἑτέρων δυναστείαν τε περιβαλέσθαι μείζω ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς δόκησιν ἀκούσατε, καὶ ὅπως, ἐάν τι παρατρέψω τὸν λόγον ἔξω τοῦ ἀληθοῦς, ὥσπερ καὶ ἀρχόμενος εἶπον, ἐναντιώσεσθέ §6.75.2μοι.
On the other hand, hear what [we provided] for your being honored, ruling over others, and acquiring a hegemony greater than was expected at the beginning; and see to it that, if I distort the account at all from the truth, as I also said at the beginning, you oppose me.
ὑμῖν γὰρ ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἀσφαλὲς τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἔδοξεν εἶναι βέβαιον, οὐκ ἀπέχρησεν ἐπὶ τούτου μένειν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ τολμᾶν καὶ νεωτεροποιεῖν ὁρμήσαντες, ἐχθρὸν δʼ ἴσως ἅπαν ἡγούμενοι τὸ περιεχόμενον ἐλευθερίας, καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους πόλεμον ἀναδείξαντες, εἰς ἅπαντα τὰ κινδυνεύματα καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς πλεονεξίας ταύτης ἀγῶνας τοῖς ἡμετέροις ᾤεσθε δεῖν καταχρῆσθαι σώμασιν.
For when the security of your liberty seemed assured to you, it did not suffice for you to remain in this state, but, rushing into daring deeds and innovations, and considering perhaps everything that surrounded your liberty as an enemy, and declaring war against almost all mankind, you thought you ought to abuse our bodies for all these dangers and the contests for the sake of this greed.
§6.75.3ὅσας μὲν οὖν πόλεις κατὰ μίαν καὶ δύο πολεμούσας ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας, τὰς μὲν ἐκ παρατάξεως χειρωσάμενοι, τὰς δὲ τειχομαχίαις ἑλόντες ὑπηκόους ἐποιήσαμεν, ἐῶ.
Therefore, as for all the cities, fighting against you one or two at a time for their liberty, some of which we subdued in pitched battle and others we took by storm and made subject to you, I pass them over.
τί γὰρ δεῖ κατὰ μικρὸν λέγειν τὰς πράξεις τοσαύτην ἔχοντας λόγων ἀφθονίαν;
For what need is there to speak of these deeds in detail when we have such an abundance of material?
ἀλλὰ Τυρρηνίαν ἅπασαν εἰς δώδεκα νενεμημένην ἡγεμονίας καὶ πολλῇ μὲν τῇ κατὰ γῆν, πολλῇ δὲ τῇ κατὰ θάλατταν δυναστείᾳ περιουσιάζουσαν, τίνες ἦσαν οἱ συγκατακτησάμενοι καὶ ποιήσαντες αὐτὴν ὑμῖν ὑπήκοον;
Nay, who were they who helped conquer all Etruria, which was divided into twelve principalities and possessed a vast power both by land and by sea, and made it subject to you?
Σαβίνους δὲ τουτουσὶ ἔθνος τηλικοῦτον, οἷς διὰ παντὸς ὁ περὶ τῶν πρωτείων πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἦν ἀγών, ποία παρέσχεν ὑμῖν βοήθεια μηκέτι διαμιλλᾶσθαι περὶ τῶν ἴσων; τί δέ;
And as for these Sabines here, so great a nation, with whom you had a constant struggle for supremacy, what help was provided for you so that you no longer had to contend on equal terms?
τὰς τῶν Λατίνων τριάκοντα πόλεις, οὐ μόνον δυνάμεως μεγέθει ἐπαιρομένας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ δικαιότερα ἀξιοῦν μεγάλα φρονούσας, τίνες ἦσαν οἱ καταδουλωσάμενοι καὶ παρασχόντες ὑπὲρ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ καὶ κατασκαφῆς τῶν πόλεων δεομένας καταφυγεῖν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς;
And what of the thirty cities of the Latins, who were elated not only by the greatness of their power but also proud because they demanded more just terms—who were they who enslaved them and forced them to flee to you for refuge, begging to be spared from the enslavement of their people and the demolition of their cities?

Notes

  1. 6.75.1ὅπως ... ἐναντιώσεσθέ — The combination of the conjunction ὅπως and the future indicative (ἐναντιώσεσθέ) is a classical idiomatic construction used to express a strong command, exhortation, or warning.
  2. 1212τὸ περιεχόμενον ἐλευθερίας — Literally 'that which is surrounded by (or surrounds) liberty'. Here it refers to everything lying outside the boundary of Rome's own secured liberty—namely, the liberty and domains of neighboring nations, which were viewed as potential threats.
  3. 1212μικροῦ δεῖν — An adverbial idiomatic phrase using the infinitive of the impersonal verb δεῖ, meaning 'almost' or 'practically'. Here it modifies πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους ('against almost all mankind').
  4. 1213Σαβίνους δὲ τουτουσὶ — An accusative noun phrase placed at the beginning of the clause. It has no direct grammatical agreement with the main verb of the following clause (whose subject is βοήθεια), serving as an accusative of respect or pendens to introduce the topic.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §6.75.1-6.75.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.75.1-6.75.3

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