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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §7.59.5-7.59.10

Voting in the Centuriate Assembly and the Trial Debate

Passage 562 of 962 · Greek

Summary

This chunk details the military and voting structures of the lower classes under the Servian system, explaining how the assembly by centuries favored the wealthy, and describes the conflict over Marcius's trial where patricians demanded this assembly while tribunes sought a more democratic assembly by tribes.

§7.59.5αὐτῶν ἔφερον.
(armor not equal to those before) them they carried.
οἱ δὲ μετὰ τούτους καλούμενοι τίμημά τʼ οὐσίας ἔλαττον εἶχον καὶ τάξιν ἐν πολέμῳ τὴν ἀσφαλεστέραν ἐλάμβανον καὶ ὁπλισμὸν εὐσταλέστερον εἶχον· διῄρηντο δʼ εἰς εἴκοσι καὶ οὗτοι λόχους· συνετάττοντο δὲ καὶ τούτοις δύο λόχοι βυκανιστῶν καὶ σαλπιστῶν.
And those called after them had a smaller valuation of property, held the safer post in war, and had lighter armor; and these also were divided into twenty centuries; and with them were also drawn up two centuries of hornblowers and trumpeters.
πέμπτη δʼ ἐκαλεῖτο συμμορία τῶν ὀλίγου πάνυ τετιμημένων ἀργυρίου, ὅπλα δʼ ἦν αὐτῶν σαυνία καὶ σφενδόναι· οὗτοι τάξιν οὐκ εἶχον ἐν φάλαγγι, ἀλλὰ ψιλοὶ καὶ κοῦφοι συνεστρατεύοντο τοῖς ὁπλίταις εἰς τριάκοντα λόχους διῃρημένοι.
And the fifth class was called that of those who had a very small valuation of money, and their arms were javelins and slings; these held no post in the phalanx, but as light-armed and agile troops campaigned together with the hoplites, divided into thirty centuries.
§7.59.6οἱ δʼ ἀπορώτατοι τῶν πολιτῶν οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ὄντες ἔσχατοι τὴν ψῆφον ἀνελάμβανον, ἕνα μόνον ἔχοντες λόχον· οὗτοι στρατειῶν τʼ ἦσαν ἐλεύθεροι τῶν ἐκ καταλόγου καὶ εἰσφορῶν τῶν κατὰ τιμήματα γινομένων ἀτελεῖς καὶ διʼ §7.59.7ἄμφω ταῦτʼ ἐν ταῖς ψηφοφορίαις ἀτιμότατοι.
And the poorest of the citizens, being not fewer than all the rest combined, received their votes last, having only one century; these were exempt from military service on the roll and free from the taxes levied according to valuations, and because of both these reasons they had the least honor in voting.
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τῶν πρώτων λόχων, οὓς οἵ θʼ ἱππεῖς ἐξεπλήρουν καὶ τῶν πεζῶν οἱ τὴν πρώτην τάξιν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις λαμβάνοντες, ταὐτὸ φρονήσαιεν ἑπτὰ καὶ ἐνενήκοντα λόχοι, τέλος εἶχεν ἡ ψηφοφορία, καὶ οὐκέτι τοῖς λοιποῖς ἓξ καὶ ἐνενήκοντα λόχοις ἀνεδίδοτο ἡ ψῆφος· εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο γένοιτο, ἡ δευτέρα συμμορία τῶν δύο καὶ εἴκοσι λόχων ἐκαλεῖτο, καὶ ἡ τρίτη· καὶ τοῦτο συνέβαινεν, ἕως οὗ ταὐτὸ φρονήσωσιν ἑπτὰ καὶ ἐνενήκοντα λόχοι.
If, therefore, in the case of the first centuries, which the cavalry filled and those of the infantry who took the first post in wars, ninety-seven centuries were of the same mind, the voting was at an end, and the vote was no longer given to the remaining ninety-six centuries; but if this did not happen, the second class of twenty-two centuries was called, and then the third; and this continued until ninety-seven centuries were of the same mind.
§7.59.8καὶ τὰ μὲν πολλὰ τῶν ἀγωνισμάτων ἐπὶ τῶν πρώτων κλήσεων τέλος ἐλάμβανεν, ὥστε μηδὲν ἔτι δεῖν τῶν ἐσχάτων.
And most of the disputes came to an end at the first calls, so that there was no longer any need of the last.
σπανίως δέ που πρᾶγμα οὕτως ἐνδοιαζόμενον ἐνέπιπτεν, ὥστε μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης ψήφου τῆς τῶν ἀπορωτάτων προελθεῖν· καὶ ἦν ὥσπερ τέρας τοῦτο σχισθέντων δίχα τῶν προτέρων δύο καὶ ἐνενήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν λόχων τὴν τελευταίαν ψῆφον ἐπενεχθεῖσαν ἐκείναις αἰτίαν γενέσθαι τῆς ἐπὶ θάτερα ῥοπῆς.
But rarely, I suppose, did a matter fall out so doubtful as to proceed as far as the last vote, that of the poorest; and it was like a portent if, the previous one hundred and ninety-two centuries being split in half, the last vote cast became the cause of the turn to the other side.
§7.59.9οἱ μὲν οὖν συναγωνιζόμενοι Μαρκίῳ ταύτην ἠξίουν καλεῖν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τιμημάτων ἐκκλησίαν ὑπολαμβάνοντες τάχα μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώτης κλήσεως ὑπὸ τῶν ὀκτὼ καὶ ἐνενήκοντα λόχων ἀπολυθήσεσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα, εἰ δὲ μή γʼ ὑπὸ τῆς δευτέρας ἢ τρίτης.
Those, therefore, who were fighting on the side of Marcius demanded to call this assembly based on valuations, supposing that the man would perhaps be acquitted at the first call by the ninety-eight centuries, or if not, at least by the second or third.
οἱ δὲ δήμαρχοι ταῦθʼ ὑφορώμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν φυλετικὴν ἐκκλησίαν ᾤοντο δεῖν συνάγειν καὶ τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐκείνην ποιῆσαι κυρίαν, ἵνα μήθʼ οἱ πένητες τῶν πλουσίων μειονεκτῶσι μήθʼ οἱ ψιλοὶ τῶν ὁπλιτῶν ἀτιμοτέραν χώραν ἔχωσι, μήτʼ ἀπερριμμένον εἰς τὰς ἐσχάτας κλήσεις τὸ δημοτικὸν πλῆθος ἀποκλείηται τῶν ἴσων, ἰσόψηφοι δὲ καὶ ὁμότιμοι πάντες ἀλλήλοις γενόμενοι μιᾷ κλήσει τὴν ψῆφον ἐπενέγκωσι κατὰ φυλάς.
But the tribunes, suspecting this, also thought that they ought to convene the assembly by tribes and make that sovereign of the trial, in order that neither the poor might be at a disadvantage compared to the rich, nor the light-armed hold a less honorable place than the hoplites, nor the plebeian multitude, cast off into the last calls, be excluded from equal rights, but that all, being equal in vote and equal in honor to one another, should cast their vote at a single call by tribes.
§7.59.10καὶ ἐδόκουν δικαιότερα οὗτοι τῶν ἑτέρων ἀξιοῦν δημοτικὸν οἰόμενοι δεῖν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ὀλιγαρχικὸν εἶναι τὸ τοῦ δήμου δικαστήριον, καὶ τὴν περὶ τῶν ἀδικούντων τὸ κοινὸν διάγνωσιν ἁπάντων εἶναι κοινήν.
And these seemed to make more just demands than the others, thinking that the tribunal of the people ought to be democratic and not oligarchic, and that the judgment concerning those who wrong the public should be common to all.

Notes

  1. 7.59.5οἱ δὲ μετὰ τούτους καλούμενοι — The nominative participle καλούμενοι is used substantively ('those called'), and the prepositional phrase μετὰ τούτους ('after these') refers to the class following the third class, namely the fourth class.
  2. 7.59.7ἄμφω ταῦτʼ — The demonstrative pronoun ἄμφω ταῦτα ('both of these') refers back to the two privileges just mentioned: exemption from military service (στρατειῶν τʼ ἦσαν ἐλεύθεροι) and freedom from taxes (εἰσφορῶν... ἀτελεῖς). Although the section marker §7.59.7 is placed between the preposition διʼ and its object, they form a single syntactical unit.
  3. 7.59.8σχισθέντων δίχα τῶν προτέρων δύο καὶ ἐνενήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν λόχων τὴν τελευταίαν ψῆφον ἐπενεχθεῖσαν ἐκείναις αἰτίαν γενέσθαι τῆς ἐπὶ θάτερα ῥοπῆς — The first part σχισθέντων δίχα... is a genitive absolute, expressing the condition or circumstance 'when the previous 192 centuries were split in half'. The infinitive γενέσθαι ('to become') heads an accusative-and-infinitive clause explaining the demonstrative τοῦτο, and its subject is the accusative τὴν τελευταίαν ψῆφον ('the last vote', accompanied by the participle ἐπενεχθεῖσαν).
  4. 7.59.9ταύτην ἠξίουν καλεῖν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τιμημάτων ἐκκλησίαν — The verb ἠξίουν ('demanded') takes the complementary infinitive καλεῖν ('to convoke'). Its direct object is the phrase split by hyperbaton: ταύτην... τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τιμημάτων ἐκκλησίαν ('this assembly based on valuations', i.e., the centuriate assembly).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §7.59.5-7.59.10. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.59.5-7.59.10

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