Humanitext Reader

Appian · Italy §I-IV

Exile of Coriolanus and His Defection to the Volscians

Passage 1 of 3 · Greek

Summary

While the Volscians continue their war against Rome, Marcius (Coriolanus), rejected in the consular election and condemned to exile, turns to the enemy Volscians out of anger and plots revenge.

§I"Οὐολοῦσκοι δὲ τοῖς πταίσμασι τῶν γειτόνων οὐ καταπλαγέντες ἐστράτευον ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους, καὶ ἐπολιόρκουν τοὺς αὐτῶν κληρούχους. " §II"ὁ δὲ δῆμος τὸν Μάρκιον μετιόντα τὴν ὑπατείαν οὐκ ἐχειροτόνησεν, οὐ τὸν ἄνδρα ἀπαξιῶν, ἀλλὰ τὸ φρόνημα δεδιὼς αὐτοὺ. " §III"ο Μάρκιος πιμπράμενος ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίοις, φυγὴν καταδικασθείς, καὶ μικρὸν ἐς αὐτοὺς οὐδὲν ἐπινοῶν ἐς Οὐολούσκους ἐτράπετο. " §IV"ὅτι πατρίδα καὶ γένος ἀλλαξάμενος ἥκοι, τὸ μηδὲν ἡγησάμενος, καὶ τὰ τῶν Οὐολούσκων ἀντὶ τῆς πατρίδος αἱρήσεσθαι βουληθείς. "
"The Volscians, not being dismayed by the defeats of their neighbors, made an expedition against the Romans and besieged their colonists." "But the people did not elect Marcius when he was seeking the consulship, not because they deemed the man unworthy, but because they feared his pride." "Marcius, incensed against the Romans and condemned to exile, turned to the Volscians, planning nothing small against them." "on the ground that he had come after changing his country and his kin, considering them as nothing, and wishing to choose the interests of the Volscians instead of his homeland."

Notes

  1. §IIμετιόντα τὴν ὑπατείαν — The verb μετέρχομαι (participle μετιών) is used here in the political sense of "canvassing for" or "seeking" an office, taking the accusative τὴν ὑπατείαν (the consulship) as its direct object.
  2. §IIIφυγὴν καταδικασθείς — The verb καταδικάζω, which in the active takes a genitive of the person and an accusative of the penalty, is here used in the passive. The condemned person (Marcius) becomes the subject in the nominative, while the accusative of penalty φυγὴν (exile) is retained.
  3. §IIIμικρὸν ἐς αὐτοὺς οὐδὲν ἐπινοῶν — A rhetorical figure of litotes ("planning nothing small against them"), which strongly implies that he was plotting something of great magnitude and gravity against the Romans.
  4. §IVὅτι... ἥκοι — In the subordinate clause introduced by ὅτι, the optative of indirect discourse ἥκοι (representing the indicative ἥκω) is used because the main governing context (implied or lost in the fragment) is in a past tense, representing either Marcius's own claim or the Volscians' reason for receiving him.

Cite this passage

Appian, Italy §I-IV. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0551.tlg003.humanitext-grc2:I-IV

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