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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §8.57.1-8.57.4

Dismissal of Marcius's Army and Plot by Tullus Attius

Passage 635 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Marcius dismisses his army after distributing all the spoils, earning deep gratitude and goodwill from his fellow soldiers. Meanwhile, the disgruntled youth who remained in the cities and Tullus Attius, driven by envy, conspire to accuse Marcius of treason and plot his assassination.

§8.57.1μετὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν γυναικῶν ὁ Μάρκιος περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον ἀναστήσας τὴν στρατιὰν ἀπῆγεν ὡς διὰ φιλίας, καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐν τῇ Οὐολούσκων ἐγένετο, πάντα, ὅσα ἐκ τῶν λαφύρων ἔλαβε, δωρησάμενος τοῖς στρατιώταις, ἑαυτῷ δʼ οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ὑπολιπόμενος ἀπέλυσεν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα.
After the departure of the women from the camp, Marcius, having aroused his army around dawn, led them away as if through a friendly country, and when he came into the territory of the Volscians, having distributed to the soldiers all the things he had taken from the spoils, and leaving nothing at all for himself, he dismissed them to their homes.
ἡ μὲν οὖν κοινωνήσασα τῶν ἀγώνων αὐτῷ στρατιὰ πλούτῳ βαρεἶ ἀφικομένη τήν τʼ ἀνάπαυλαν οὐκ ἀηδῶς ἐδέξατο τοῦ πολέμου καὶ διʼ εὐνοίας εἶχε τὸν ἄνδρα, συγγνώμης τʼ ἄξιον ἡγεῖτο, εἰ μὴ τέλος ἐπέθηκε τῷ πολέμῳ §8.57.2μητρὸς οἴκτους καὶ λιτὰς ἐντραπείς.
Now the army that had shared the struggles with him, arriving heavy with wealth, received the respite from war not without pleasure, and held the man in goodwill, considering him worthy of pardon even if he had not put an end to the war, since he had paid regard to his mother's laments and entreaties.
ἡ δʼ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ὑπομείνασα νεότης φθονοῦσα μὲν τοῖς ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου γενομένοις τῶν πολλῶν ὠφελειῶν, διημαρτηκυῖα δʼ ὧν ἤλπισεν, εἰ καθαιρεθείη τὸ Ῥωμαίων φρόνημα τῆς πόλεως ἁλούσης, ἐτραχύνετο πρὸς τὸν ἡγεμόνα καὶ πικρὰ σφόδρα ἦν· καὶ τελευτῶσα, ἐπειδὴ τοῦ μίσους ἡγεμόνας ἔλαβε τοὺς πλεῖστον ἐν τῷ ἔθνει δυναμένους, ἐξηγριώθη τε καὶ ἔργον ἔδρασεν ἀνόσιον.
But the youth who had remained behind in the cities, envying those who had been in the camp for their great gains, and having failed in what they had hoped for—namely, if the pride of the Romans should be destroyed by the capture of the city—grew angry against the general and were extremely bitter; and finally, when they took as leaders of their hatred those who were most powerful in the nation, they were driven to fury and committed an unholy deed.
§8.57.3ἦν δὲ Τύλλος Ἄττιος ὁ τὰς ὀργὰς αὐτῶν παραθήξας ἔχων περὶ αὐτὸν ἑταιρίαν ἐξ ἁπάσης πόλεως οὐκ ὀλίγην.
Now Tullus Attius was the one who had sharpened their anger, having around him no small faction from every city.
τούτῳ δʼ ἄρα ἐδέδοκτο παλαίτερον ἔτι τὸν φθόνον οὐ δυναμένῳ κατέχειν, εἰ μὲν εὖ πράξας ὁ Μάρκιος καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων πόλιν διαφθείρας εἰς Οὐολούσκους ἔλθοι, κρύφα καὶ σὺν δόλῳ αὐτὸν ἀνελεῖν, εἰ δὲ διαμαρτὼν τῆς πείρας ἀτελὴς τοῦ ἔργου ἀναστρέψειεν, ὡς προδότην παραδόντα τῇ περὶ αὐτὸν ἑταιρίᾳ ἀποκτεῖναι·
Indeed, it had been resolved by this man long before, since he was not able to restrain his envy, that if Marcius, having succeeded and destroyed the city of the Romans, should come to the Volscians, he would put him to death secretly and with guile, but if, failing in the attempt, he should return with the work unfinished, he would kill him as a traitor, delivering him to the faction around himself.
§8.57.4ὅπερ ἐποίει τότε, καὶ συναγαγὼν χεῖρα οὐκ ὀλίγην κατηγόρει τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ψευδῆ τεκμαιρόμενος ἀληθέσι καὶ οὐ γενησόμενα εἰκάζων γεγενημένοις· ἐκέλευέ τʼ ἀποθέμενον αὐτὸν τὴν ἀρχὴν λόγον ὑπέχειν τῆς στρατηγίας.
This was what he was doing at that time; and having gathered no small force, he accused the man, inferring false things from true ones and conjecturing what would not happen from what had happened; and he ordered him to lay down his office and render an account of his generalship.
ἦν δὲ τῆς ὑπομενούσης στρατιᾶς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἡγεμών, ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἴρηταί μοι, κύριος τοῦ τε συναγαγεῖν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ τοῦ καλεῖν, ὃν βούλοιτο, ἐπὶ δίκην.
He was, as I have also said before, the commander of the army that remained behind in the cities, having authority both to assemble the assembly and to call whomsoever he wished to trial.

Notes

  1. 8.57.2μητρὸς οἴκτους καὶ λιτὰς ἐντραπείς — The participle ἐντραπείς (aorist passive participle of ἐντρέπομαι, masculine singular nominative) agrees with Marcius, the implied subject of the preceding conditional clause εἰ μὴ τέλος ἐπέθηκε τῷ πολέμῳ, rather than the subject of the main verb (ἡ στρατιά). It expresses the cause or reason ('having paid regard to'), supporting the idea that they considered him worthy of pardon because he was moved by his mother's pleas.
  2. 8.57.2φθονοῦσα μὲν τοῖς ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου γενομένοις τῶν πολλῶν ὠφελειῶν — The participle φθονοῦσα governs both a dative of the person envied (τοῖς ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου γενομένοις, 'those who had been in the camp') and a genitive of the cause or thing envied (τῶν πολλῶν ὠφελειῶν, 'their great gains').
  3. 8.57.3τούτῳ δʼ ἄρα ἐδέδοκτο ... ἀνελεῖν... ἀποκτεῖναι — With the impersonal pluperfect passive ἐδέδοκτο ('it had been resolved by him'), the two infinitives ἀνελεῖν and ἀποκτεῖναι, which correspond to the contrastive conditional clauses (εἰ μὲν... εἰ δὲ...), function as the real subjects of the sentence.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §8.57.1-8.57.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.57.1-8.57.4

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