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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §8.76.1-8.76.2

Decree on Public Land and the End of Civil Unrest

Passage 654 of 962 · Greek

Summary

All those present in the senate praise the speech, and a decree is drawn up appointing a commission of ten senior consulars to bound and distribute the public land, with the implementation left to the incoming consuls. This decree, brought before the assembly, puts an end to Cassius' demagoguery and the public unrest.

§8.76.1παυσαμένου δʼ αὐτοῦ πολὺς ἔπαινος ἐκ τῶν παρόντων ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐθεὶς τῶν μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἐρωτηθέντων ἑτέραν γνώμην ἀποφαίνεται·
When he had finished speaking, great praise arose from those present, and no one of those who were asked their opinion after him expressed a different view.
γράφεται δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα τὸ τῆς βουλῆς δόγμα τοιόνδε· ἄνδρας ἐκ τῶν ὑπατικῶν αἱρεθῆναι δέκα τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους, οἵτινες ὁρίσαντες τὴν δημοσίαν χώραν ἀποδείξουσιν, ὅσην τε δεῖ μισθοῦσθαι καὶ ὅσην τῷ δήμῳ διαιρεθῆναι· §8.76.2τοῖς δʼ ἰσοπολίταις τε καὶ συμμάχοις, ἐάν τινα ὕστερον ἐπικτήσωνται κοινῇ στρατευσάμενοι, τὸ ἐπιβάλλον ἑκάστοις κατὰ τὰς ὁμολογίας ὑπάρχειν μέρος· τὴν δʼ αἵρεσιν τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὴν διανομὴν τῶν κλήρων καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα δεῖ γενέσθαι τοὺς εἰσιόντας ἐπιτελέσαι ὑπάτους.
After this, a decree of the senate of the following sort was drawn up: that ten of the eldest men from among the consulars be chosen, who, having bounded the public land, should designate how much of it ought to be leased and how much to be distributed to the plebeians; and that for those who possessed equal citizenship and the allies, if they should later acquire any land in common by campaigning together, the portion falling to each according to their agreements should be secured; and that the incoming consuls should carry out the election of the ten men, the distribution of the allotments, and all other things that must be done.
τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα εἰς τὸν δῆμον εἰσενεχθὲν τόν τε Κάσσιον ἔπαυσε τῆς δημαγωγίας, καὶ τὴν ἀναρριπιζομένην ἐκ τῶν πενήτων στάσιν οὐκ εἴασε περαιτέρω προελθεῖν.
This decree, when brought before the people, put an end to the demagoguery of Cassius, and did not allow the sedition that was being fanned among the poor to proceed any further.

Notes

  1. ¦1694¦οἵτινες ... ἀποδείξουσιν — The relative pronoun οἵτινες followed by the future indicative ἀποδείξουσιν expresses the purpose or designated duty of the ten men to be chosen.
  2. ¦1694¦αἱρεθῆναι — Infinitive expressing the content of the noun δόγμα (decree) as an indirect command. A series of infinitives is used to lay down the specific provisions of the decree (similarly with ὑπάρχειν and ἐπιτελέσαι in §8.76.2).

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §8.76.1-8.76.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.76.1-8.76.2

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