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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §8.91.1-8.91.4

Declaration of War on Veii and the Consular Campaigns

Passage 669 of 962 · Greek

Summary

The Aequi and Veientes plunder Roman and Latin territories, leading the Roman senate to declare war on the Veientes. Despite some internal opposition among the plebeians, the consuls lead the armies, ravage the enemy land, and return home.

§8.91.1ἐπὶ τῆς τούτων ἀρχῆς Αἰκανοὶ μὲν εἰς τὴν Λατίνων χώραν ἐμβαλόντες ἀπήλασαν ἀνδράποδα καὶ βοσκήματα πολλὰ λῃστρικῇ ἐφόδῳ χρησάμενοι· Τυρρηνῶν δʼ οἱ καλούμενοι Οὐιεντανοὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς πολλὴν ἠδίκησαν προνομαῖς.
During their term of office, the Aequi invaded the territory of the Latins and carried off many slaves and cattle by means of a predatory raid; and those of the Etrurians called Veientes damaged much of the Roman territory by plundering.
τῆς δὲ βουλῆς τὸν μὲν πρὸς Αἰκανοὺς πόλεμον εἰς ἕτερον ἀναβαλομένης χρόνον, παρὰ δὲ Οὐιεντανῶν δίκας αἰτεῖν ψηφισαμένης, Αἰκανοὶ μὲν ἐπειδὴ τὰ πρῶτα αὐτοῖς κατὰ νοῦν ἐχώρησε, καὶ οὐθεὶς ὁ κωλύσων τὰ λοιπὰ ἐφαίνετο, θράσει ἐπαρθέντες ἀλογίστῳ λῃστρικὴν μὲν οὐκέτι στρατείαν ἔγνωσαν ποιεῖσθαι, δυνάμει δὲ βαρείᾳ ἐλάσαντες ἐπὶ πόλιν Ὀρτῶνα κατὰ κράτος αἱροῦσι· καὶ διαρπάσαντες τά τʼ ἐκ τῆς χώρας καὶ τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἀπῄεσαν εὐπορίαν πολλὴν ἀγόμενοι.
Although the senate postponed the war against the Aequi to another time and voted to demand satisfaction from the Veientes, the Aequi, since their first attempt had turned out according to their mind and there appeared no one to prevent the rest, were elated by a reckless daring and decided no longer to make a mere predatory expedition, but marching with a heavy force against the city of Ortona, they took it by storm; and having plundered the property both from the countryside and from the city, they departed, carrying away great wealth.
§8.91.2Οὐιεντανοὶ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥώμης ἥκοντας ἀποκρινάμενοι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἴησαν οἱ προνομεύοντες τὴν χώραν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων Τυρρηνῶν, ἀπέλυσαν τοὺς ἄνδρας οὐθὲν τῶν δικαίων ποιήσαντες· καὶ οἱ πρέσβεις ἐπιτυγχάνουσι τοῖς Οὐιεντανοῖς λείαν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῶν χώρας ἄγουσι.
But the Veientes, replying to those who had come from Rome that it was not their own people who were plundering the territory but the other Etrurians, dismissed the men without doing any justice; moreover, the ambassadors fell in with the Veientes themselves carrying booty from the Roman territory.
ταῦτα παρʼ αὐτῶν ἡ βουλὴ μαθοῦσα πολεμεῖν τʼ ἐψηφίσατο Οὐιεντανοῖς καὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους ἀμφοτέρους ἐξάγειν τὴν στρατιάν.
Learning this from them, the senate voted to make war on the Veientes and ordered both consuls to lead out the army.
§8.91.3ἐγένετο μὲν οὖν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ἀμφιλογία, καὶ πολλοὶ ἦσαν οἱ τὸν πόλεμον οὐκ ἐῶντες ἐκφέρειν τῆς τε κληρουχίας ὑπομιμνήσκοντες τοὺς δημοτικούς, ἧς γε πέμπτον ἔτος ἐψηφισμένης ὑπὸ τοῦ συνεδρίου κενῇ πιστεύσαντες ἐλπίδι ἐξηπάτηντο, καὶ κοινὸν ἀποφαίνοντες πόλεμον, εἰ κοινῇ χρήσεται γνώμῃ πᾶσα Τυρρηνία τοῖς ὁμοεθνέσι §8.91.4βοηθοῦσα.
There arose, therefore, a dispute concerning this decree, and there were many who would not allow the war to be declared, reminding the plebeians of the land distribution, in which, though it had been voted by the senate five years before, they had been deceived by trusting in an empty hope, and pointing out that it would be a general war if all Etruria should act with a common purpose to assist their kinsmen.
οὐ μὴν ἴσχυσάν γʼ οἱ τῶν στασιαστῶν λόγοι, ἀλλʼ ἐκύρωσε καὶ ὁ δῆμος τὸ τῆς βουλῆς δόγμα τῇ Σπορίου Λαρκίου γνώμῃ τε καὶ παρακλήσει χρησάμενος.
However, the words of the seditious did not prevail, but the people also ratified the decree of the senate, following the advice and exhortation of Spurius Lartius.
καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐξῆγον τὰς δυνάμεις οἱ ὕπατοι· στρατοπεδευσάμενοι δὲ χωρὶς ἀλλήλων οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως καὶ μείναντες ἡμέρας συχνάς, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἀντεξῆγον οἱ πολέμιοι τὰς δυνάμεις, προνομεύσαντες αὐτῶν τῆς γῆς ὅσην ἐδύναντο πλείστην ἀπῆγον ἐπʼ οἴκου τὴν στρατιάν.
And after this, the consuls led out their forces; having encamped apart from one another not far from the city and remained for many days, since the enemy did not lead out their forces against them, they plundered as much of their land as they could and led the army back home.
ἄλλο δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς τούτων ὑπατείας λόγου ἄξιον οὐδὲν ἐπράχθη.
Nothing else worthy of mention was done during their consulship.

Notes

  1. 1736τῆς δὲ βουλῆς... ψηφισαμένης — A genitive absolute construction where the two decisions of the senate—postponing the war against the Aequi and demanding satisfaction from the Veientes—are contrasted by μὲν... δέ, providing the background for the following clause.
  2. p.v.3p.270οὐθὲν τῶν δικαίων ποιήσαντες — The participle ποιήσαντες (aorist active) represents an attendant circumstance of the main verb ἀπέλυσαν, meaning "without doing any justice." τῶν δικαίων is a partitive genitive in the neuter plural.
  3. 1737ἧς γε πέμπτον ἔτος ἐψηφισμένης — The relative pronoun ἧς refers back to τῆς κληρουχίας (land distribution) and forms a genitive absolute with the participle ἐψηφισμένης. The phrase πέμπτον ἔτος is an accusative of duration of time (adverbial accusative) indicating "into its fifth year."

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §8.91.1-8.91.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.91.1-8.91.4

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