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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §7.26.1-7.26.4

Attempted Arrest of Marcius and Clash with Patricians

Passage 528 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The tribunes attempt to arrest Marcius by force with the aid of the aediles after he refuses their summons, leading to a violent clash with the protecting patricians. The entire city splits into two armed factions, but the immediate conflict is postponed to the next day through the consuls' intervention.

§7.26.1ἠγριωμένης δὲ τῆς βουλῆς, ὡς ἔμαθον οἱ δήμαρχοι πλείους ὄντας τοὺς βουλομένους ἀφελέσθαι τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἐξουσίαν τῷ δήμῳ τῶν ἐμμένειν ταῖς ὁμολογίαις ἀξιούντων, ἐξέδραμον ἐκ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου κεκραγότες καὶ θεοὺς τοὺς ὁρκίους ἐπικαλούμενοι.
When the senate was exasperated, the tribunes, learning that those who wished to strip the people of the power that had been granted to them were more numerous than those who demanded adherence to the agreements, ran out of the senate house, shouting and invoking the gods of oaths.
καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο συναγαγόντες εἰς ἐκκλησίαν τὸν δῆμον ἐδήλωσαν αὐτῷ τοὺς ἐν τῇ βουλῇ ῥηθέντας λόγους ὑπὸ τοῦ Μαρκίου, καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα εἰς ἀπολογίαν ἐκάλουν.
And after this, having assembled the people in an assembly, they made known to them the words spoken in the senate by Marcius, and summoned the man to make his defense.
§7.26.2ὡς δʼ οὐ προσεῖχεν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὑπηρέτας, ὑφʼ ὧν ἐκαλεῖτο, προπηλακίζων τοῖς λόγοις ἀνεῖρξεν, ἀγανακτήσαντες ἔτι μᾶλλον οἱ δήμαρχοι παραλαβόντες τούς τʼ ἀγορανόμους καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν συχνοὺς ὥρμησαν ἐπʼ αὐτόν·
But as he paid no attention to them, and even repulsed with insulting words the officers by whom he was summoned, the tribunes, still more indignant, took with them the aediles and a large number of the other citizens and rushed toward him.
ὁ δʼ ἔτυχεν ἔτι διατρίβων πρὸ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου τῶν τε πατρικίων πολλοὺς ἐπαγόμενος καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἑταιρίαν περὶ αὑτὸν ἔχων.
He happened to be still lingering before the senate house, accompanied by many of the patricians and having his other associates around him.
§7.26.3ὡς δὲ συνεῖδον αὐτὸν οἱ δήμαρχοι, προσέταξαν τοῖς ἀγορανόμοις ἐπιλαβέσθαι τοῦ σώματος καί, εἰ μὴ ἑκὼν βούλεται ἀκολουθεῖν, βίᾳ ἄγειν·
When the tribunes saw him, they ordered the aediles to lay hold of his person and, if he would not follow voluntarily, to drag him away by force.
εἶχον δὲ τότε τὴν ἀγορανομικὴν ἐξουσίαν Τῖτος Ἰούνιος Βροῦτος καὶ Γάιος Οὐισέλλιος Ῥοῦγας.
At that time, Titus Junius Brutus and Gaius Visellius Rugas held the aedilician power.
οἱ μὲν δὴ προσῄεσαν ὡς ἐπιληψόμενοι τοῦ ἀνδρός, οἱ δὲ πατρίκιοι δεινὸν ἡγησάμενοι τοὖργον ὑπὸ τῶν δημάρχων πρὸ δίκης ἄγεσθαί τινα σφῶν βίᾳ προὔστησαν τοῦ Μαρκίου καὶ τύπτοντες τοὺς ὁμόσε χωροῦντας ἀπήλασαν.
They accordingly approached to seize the man, but the patricians, considering it a monstrous thing that any of their number should be dragged away by force by the tribunes before a trial, stood in front of Marcius and, beating back those who advanced against them, drove them off.
§7.26.4διαβοηθέντος δὲ τοῦ πάθους ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν ὅλην ἐξεπήδων ἅπαντες ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν· οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς ἀξιώμασιν ὄντες καὶ χρημάτων ἔχοντες εὖ τὸν Μάρκιον ὑπερασπιοῦντες ἅμα τοῖς πατρικίοις καὶ τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἀνακτησόμενοι πολιτείαν, οἱ δὲ ταπεινοὶ ταῖς τύχαις καὶ βίου σπανίζοντες ἀμύνειν παρεσκευασμένοι τοῖς δημάρχοις καὶ ποιεῖν, ὅ τι ἂν ἐκεῖνοι κελεύσωσιν· ἥ τʼ αἰδώς, ὑφʼ ἧς κρατούμενοι τέως οὐδὲν ἐτόλμων εἰς ἀλλήλους παρανομεῖν, τότʼ ἀνῄρητο ὑπʼ αὐτῶν.
When this incident was reported throughout the whole city, everyone rushed out of their houses: those who were of high rank and wealthy, intending to defend Marcius together with the patricians and to recover the ancient form of government, while those who were of low condition and lacking a livelihood prepared to assist the tribunes and to do whatever they should command; and the sense of shame, by which they had hitherto been restrained from committing illegal outrages against one another, was then cast aside by them.
οὐ μὴν ἔδρασάν γʼ οὐδὲν ἀνήκεστον τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἀνεβάλοντο, γνώμῃ τε καὶ παρακλήσει τῶν ὑπάτων εἴξαντες.
However, they did nothing irreparable that day, but postponed it to the next, yielding to the opinion and entreaty of the consuls.

Notes

  1. 7.26.1πλείους ὄντας — A participle phrase in indirect discourse acting as the complement of the verb `ἔμαθον` ("they learned that..."). The subject of the infinitive-like participle is `τοὺς βουλομένους` ("those who wished..."), and `πλείους` ("more numerous") is the predicate. The genitive of comparison `τῶν ... ἀξιούντων` ("than those who demanded...") complements `πλείους`.
  2. 7.26.2ἔτυχεν ἔτι διατρίβων — The verb `τυγχάνω` combined with the supplementary participle `διατρίβων`, expressing a coincidental action ("he happened to be still lingering").
  3. 7.26.4ἀμύνειν — Used intransitively with the dative `τοῖς δημάρχοις`, meaning "to assist" or "to defend [someone]." This must be distinguished from the transitive use with the accusative, which means "to ward off [something]" or "to repel [someone]."

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §7.26.1-7.26.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.26.1-7.26.4

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