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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §8.7.1-8.7.3

Marcius's Pledge of Loyalty and Call for Unity

Passage 585 of 962 · Greek

Summary

Coriolanus declares his resolve to be loyal to the Volscians, who welcomed him after his exile, and to treat them as his new countrymen. He urges them to unite against Rome's divisive strategies, promising they can easily overthrow Roman power.

§8.7.1φέρε δή, τίς ἂν εἴην ἀνήρ, εἰ δόξης καὶ τιμῶν, ὧν προσῆκέ μοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐμαυτοῦ πολίταις τυγχάνειν, παρὰ τῶν εὖ παθόντων ἀποστερηθείς, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις πατρίδος τε καὶ οἴκου καὶ φίλων καὶ θεῶν πατρῴων καὶ τάφων προγονικῶν καὶ παντὸς ἄλλου ἀπελασθεὶς ἀγαθοῦ, παρʼ ὑμῖν δʼ ἅπαντα ταῦθʼ εὑρών, οἷς ἐκείνων χάριν ἐπολέμουν, εἰ μὴ γενοίμην χαλεπὸς μὲν οἷς ἀντὶ πολιτῶν ἐχθροῖς κέχρημαι, χρηστὸς δʼ οἷς ἀντὶ πολεμίων φίλοις;
Come now, what kind of man should I be, if, after being deprived of the reputation and honors which I deserved to obtain among my own citizens by those who had received benefits from me, and besides these, being driven away from my country, home, friends, ancestral gods, ancestral tombs, and every other good thing, and finding all these among you, against whom I used to make war for the sake of those people, if I should not become harsh to those whom I treat as enemies instead of citizens, and kind to those whom I treat as friends instead of enemies?
ἀλλʼ ἔγωγʼ οὐδʼ ἐν ἀνδρὸς μοίρᾳ θείην ἄν, ὅστις μήτε τὸ πολεμοῦν διʼ ὀργῆς ἔχει μήτε τὸ σῶζον ἑαυτὸν διʼ εὐνοίας.
Indeed, I would not even count in the number of a man anyone who does not hold what is hostile in anger nor what preserves him in goodwill.
πατρίδα θʼ ἡγοῦμαι οὐ τὴν ἀπαρνησαμένην με πόλιν, ἀλλʼ ἧς ἀλλότριος §8.7.2ὢν πολίτης γέγονα, γῆν τʼ οὐκ ἐν ᾗ ἠδίκημαι φίλην, ἀλλʼ ἐν ᾗ τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ἔχω.
And I consider as my country not the city that rejected me, but the one of which, though a stranger, I have become a citizen; and as a friendly land, not that in which I have been wronged, but that in which I have safety.
καὶ ἂν θεός τε συλλαμβάνῃ καὶ τὰ ὑμέτερα ὡς εἰκὸς πρόθυμα ᾖ, μεγάλην καὶ ταχεῖαν ἐλπίζω γενήσεσθαι τὴν μεταβολήν.
And if God assists us and your eagerness is as zealous as is fitting, I expect that a great and swift change will take place.
εὖ γὰρ ἴστε, ὅτι πολλῶν ἤδη πολεμίων πειραθέντες Ῥωμαῖοι οὐθένας μᾶλλον ἔδεισαν ὑμῶν, οὐδʼ ἐστίν, ἐφʼ ᾧ μᾶλλον σπουδάζοντες διατελοῦσιν ἢ ὅπως τὸ ὑμέτερον ἔθνος ἀσθενὲς ἀποδείξουσι.
For you know well that, though the Romans have already made trial of many enemies, they have feared none more than you, nor is there anything which they continue to study with greater zeal than how they may show your nation to be weak.
§8.7.3καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὰς μὲν πολέμῳ λαβόντες ὑμῶν ἔχουσι πόλεις, τὰς δὲ φιλίας ἐλπίδι παρακρουσάμενοι, ἵνα μὴ καθʼ ἓν ἅπαντες γενόμενοι κοινὸν ἐξενέγκητε κατʼ αὐτῶν πόλεμον.
And for this reason, they hold some of your cities after taking them in war, and others they deceive with the hope of friendship, lest you should all become united as one and wage a common war against them.
ἐὰν οὖν τἀναντία ὑμεῖς ἀντιφιλοτιμούμενοι διατελῆτε καὶ μίαν ἅπαντες ἔχητε περὶ τοῦ πολέμου γνώμην, ὃ ποιεῖτε νυνί, ῥᾳδίως αὐτῶν τὸ κράτος παύσετε.
If, therefore, you, on the contrary, continue to rival one another in eagerness and all hold one opinion concerning the war—just as you are doing now—you will easily put an end to their power.

Notes

  1. 8.7.1οἷς ἐκείνων χάριν ἐπολέμουν — The relative pronoun `οἷς` (dative plural) refers to the antecedent `ὑμῖν` (the Volscians) and is governed by the verb `ἐπολέμουν` (to make war against someone). `ἐκείνων` (the Romans) is a genitive governed by the prepositional accusative `χάριν` (for the sake of).
  2. 8.7.1ἀνδρὸς μοίρᾳ θείην ἄν — The idiom `τίθημι ἐν` + dative + genitive means "to place in the class of, count as." `θείην ἄν` (first-person singular aorist active optative with particle `ἄν`) expresses a potential optative, indicating a subjective judgment or cautious assertion.
  3. 8.7.1ἧς ἀλλότριος ὢν πολίτης γέγονα — The genitive relative pronoun `ἧς` refers to the antecedent `πόλιν` and is a possessive genitive modifying `πολίτης` ("of which I have become a citizen"). `ἀλλότριος ὢν` is an adverbial participle of concession, meaning "although being a stranger."
  4. 8.7.2ἐφʼ ᾧ μᾶλλον σπουδάζοντες διατελοῦσιν ἢ ὅπως... — The verb `διατελέω` with the participle `σπουδάζοντες` forms a periphrastic construction expressing continuous action ("they continuously study/strive"). `ἐφ' ᾧ` (preposition `ἐπί` + dative neuter relative pronoun) refers to the object of their zeal, and the comparative `μᾶλλον` introduces the comparison with `ἢ ὅπως` ("than how they may...").

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §8.7.1-8.7.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.7.1-8.7.3

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