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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §8.11.1-8.11.3

Volscian Declaration of War and Marcius's Raid Proposal

Passage 589 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Upon receiving the Roman response, the Volscians vote for war and elect Tullus and Marcius as generals. Marcius proposes to lead a raiding party into Roman territory while the main army is being prepared.

§8.11.1ταύτας οἱ πρέσβεις τὰς ἀποκρίσεις λαβόντες ἀπήγγειλαν τῷ πλήθει τῶν Οὐολούσκων.
The envoys, having received these answers, reported them to the multitude of the Volscians.
συναχθείσης οὖν αὖθις ἐκκλησίας μετὰ τοῦτο κυροῦται δόγμα κοινὸν τοῦ ἔθνους προειπεῖν Ῥωμαίοις τὸν πόλεμον.
Therefore, when the assembly was gathered again after this, a common decree of the nation was ratified to declare war on the Romans.
ἔπειθʼ αἱροῦνται στρατηγοὺς αὐτοκράτορας τοῦ πολέμου Τύλλον τε καὶ Μάρκιον δυνάμεις τε ψηφίζονται καταγράφειν καὶ χρήματʼ εἰσφέρειν καὶ τἆλλα παρασκευάσασθαι, §8.11.2ὅσων ὑπελάμβανον δεήσειν τῷ πολέμῳ.
Then they chose Tullus and Marcius as generals with absolute power for the war, and voted to levy forces, contribute money, and prepare all other things, of all such things as they supposed would be necessary for the war.
μελλούσης δὲ διαλύεσθαι τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀναστὰς ὁ Μάρκιος ἔφησεν· α μὲν ἐψήφισται τὸ κοινὸν ὑμῶν, ἔχει καλῶς καὶ γινέσθω κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον ἕκαστα καιρόν·
And when the assembly was about to dismiss, Marcius stood up and said: "What has been voted by your common assembly is well, and let each be done at its proper time.
ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ τὰ στρατεύματα μέλλετε καταγράφειν καὶ τἆλλα εὐτρεπίζειν ἕξοντά τινας ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἀσχολίας καὶ διατριβάς, ἐγὼ καὶ Τύλλος ἔργου ἐχώμεθα.
But while you are going to levy the armies and prepare other things, which will naturally involve some occupations and delays, let Tullus and me apply ourselves to action.
ὅσοις οὖν ὑμῶν βουλομένοις ἐστὶ προνομεῦσαι τὴν τῶν πολεμίων καὶ πολλὴν ἀποτεμέσθαι λείαν, ἴτε σὺν ἡμῖν.
Whoever of you, therefore, are willing to plunder the territory of the enemy and carry off abundant booty, come with us.
ὑποδέχομαι δʼ ὑμῖν, ἐὰν θεὸς συλλάβῃ, πολλὰς καὶ καλὰς δώσειν ὡφελείας.
And I promise you, if God assists us, to give you many great advantages.
§8.11.3ἔτι γὰρ ἀπαράσκευοί εἰσι Ῥωμαῖοι δύναμιν οὔπω συνεστηκυῖαν ὁρῶντες ὑμετέραν, ὥστʼ ἀδεῶς ἡμῖν ὑπάρξει πᾶσαν ὅσην ἂν βουλώμεθα τῆς ἐκείνων χώρας καταδραμεῖν.
For the Romans are still unprepared, seeing that your army is not yet assembled, so that we shall be able without fear to overrun as much of their country as we please."

Notes

  1. §8.11.1ὅσων ὑπελάμβανον δεήσειν — The relative pronoun ὅσων (neuter plural genitive) is attracted either to the genitive required by the impersonal verb δεῖ (here in the future infinitive δεήσειν, "there will be need of") inside the relative clause, or to the genitive governed by the main verb παρασκευάσασθαι.
  2. §8.11.2α μὲν ἐψήφισται — The word "α" in the text is likely a typographical error for "ἅ", the neuter plural relative pronoun. In this context, it is best interpreted as "the things which have been voted by your assembly" (with τὸ κοινὸν ὑμῶν as the subject).
  3. §8.11.2ὅσοις οὖν ὑμῶν βουλομένοις ἐστὶ — This is the plural form of the idiomatic construction βουλομένῳ τινί ἐστι ("it is the wish of someone" or "someone desires to"). It is put in the dative plural following the relative pronoun ὅσοις, meaning "all of you who wish to (plunder)".
  4. §8.11.3δύναμιν οὔπω συνεστηκυῖαν ὁρῶντες ὑμετέραν — The subject of the participle ὁρῶντες is Ῥωμαῖοι (the Romans) from the main clause. It translates as "seeing that your (ὑμετέραν) army (δύναμιν) is not yet assembled (οὔπω συνεστηκυῖαν)," showing a hyperbaton with the separation of the noun and its possessive adjective.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §8.11.1-8.11.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.11.1-8.11.3

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