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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §7.69.1-7.69.2

Identification of the Unsuitable Dancer as a Punished Slave

Passage 572 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The senators are at first unable to understand who the "unsuitable leader of the dance" was, but one of them remembers a slave who, bound to a wooden yoke (patibulum) for execution, was scourged and dragged through the forum just ahead of the sacred procession.

§7.69.1ἡ δὲ βουλὴ δέους ἀνάπλεως ἐγένετο, καὶ ἀχανὴς ἦν ἕκαστος οὐκ ἔχων συμβαλεῖν, ὅ τι τὸ δηλούμενον ἦν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ τίς ποτε ὁ τῆς πομπῆς ὀρχηστὴς προηγούμενος οὐ καλὸς αὐτῷ ἐφάνη.
The senate was filled with fear, and each man was speechless, being unable to conjecture what was meant by the god, and who indeed that leader of the dance in the procession was who had appeared unsuitable to him.
ἔπειτα λέγει τις ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀναμνησθεὶς τὸ γενόμενον, καὶ πάντες ἐμαρτύρησαν.
Then one of them, remembering what had happened, spoke of it, and all bore witness to it.
ἦν δὲ τοιόνδε· ἀνὴρ Ῥωμαῖος οὐκ ἀφανὴς θεράποντα ἴδιον ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ θανάτου παραδοὺς τοῖς ὁμοδούλοις ἄγειν, ἵνα δὴ περιφανὴς ἡ τιμωρία τοῦ ἀνθρώπου γένηται, διʼ ἀγορᾶς αὐτὸν ἐκέλευσε μαστιγούμενον ἕλκειν καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος ἦν τῆς πόλεως τόπος ἐπιφανὴς ἡγούμενον τῆς πομπῆς, ἣν ἔστελλε τῷ θεῷ κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ἡ πόλις.
It was as follows: a Roman of no obscure station, having delivered up his own slave to his fellow-slaves to be led away for capital punishment, in order that the punishment of the man might be manifest, ordered them to drag him while being scourged through the forum and if there was any other conspicuous place in the city, leading the procession which the city was sending to the god at that time.
§7.69.2οἱ δʼ ἄγοντες τὸν θεράποντα ἐπὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν τὰς χεῖρας ἀποτείναντες ἀμφοτέρας καὶ ξύλῳ προσδήσαντες παρὰ τὰ στέρνα τε καὶ τοὺς ὤμους καὶ μέχρι τῶν καρπῶν διήκοντι παρηκολούθουν ξαίνοντες μάστιξι γυμνὸν ὄντα.
And those who were leading the slave to his punishment, having stretched out both his hands and bound them to a piece of wood passing along his breast and shoulders and extending to his wrists, followed behind, scourging him while he was naked.
ὁ δʼ ἐν τοιᾷδε ἀνάγκῃ κρατούμενος ἐβόα τε φωνὰς δυσφήμους, ἃς ἡ ἀλγηδὼν ἐβούλετο, καὶ κινήσεις διὰ τὴν αἰκίαν ἀσχήμονας ἐκινεῖτο.
And he, being held in such constraint, both uttered ill-omened cries, such as pain forced from him, and made unseemly movements because of the torture.
τοῦτον δὴ πάντες ἐνόμισαν εἶναι τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μηνυόμενον ὀρχηστὴν οὐ καλόν.
This was the man whom indeed all believed to be the unsuitable dancer indicated by the god.

Notes

  1. 1479οὐκ ἔχων συμβαλεῖν — The present participle οὐκ ἔχων (agreeing with ἕκαστος) is followed by the infinitive συμβαλεῖν. The construction ἔχω + infinitive here expresses ability/possibility ("unable to conjecture/understand"). The two indirect questions beginning with ὅ τι and τίς serve as the objects of συμβαλεῖν.
  2. 1479ἡγούμενον — A present participle in the accusative masculine singular, agreeing with θεράποντα (the slave, which is the object of ἐκέλευσε). It denotes that the slave was forced to act as the leader ("leading the procession").
  3. 1480κινήσεις ... ἐκινεῖτο — A cognate accusative construction, where the plural accusative noun κινήσεις is used as the object of the verb ἐκινεῖτο (which has the same root), meaning "he made unseemly movements (writhed)."

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §7.69.1-7.69.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.69.1-7.69.2

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