Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

[3] When he had arranged affairs in the city in the best manner, he conceived a desire to perpetuate his memory with posterity by some illustrious enterprise. And upon turning his attention to the monuments both of ancient kings and statesmen by which they had gained reputation and glory, he did not envy either that Assyrian woman for having built the walls of Babylon, or the kings of Egypt for having raised the pyramids at Memphis, or any other prince for whatever monument he might have erected as a display of his riches and of the multitude of workmen at his command. On the contrary, he regarded all these things as trivial and ephemeral and unworthy of serious attention, mere beguilements for the eyes, but no real aids to the conduct of life or to the administration of public affairs, since they led to nothing more than a reputation for great felicity on the part of those who built them. But the things that he regarded as worthy of praise and emulation were the works of the mind, the advantages from which are enjoyed by the greatest number of people and for the greatest length of time. And of all the achievements of this nature he admired most the plan of Amphictyon, the son of Hellen, who, seeing the Greek nation weak and easy to be destroyed by the barbarians who surrounded them, brought them together in a general council and assemblage of the whole nation, named after him the Amphictyonic council; and then, apart from the particular laws by which each city was governed, established others common to all, which they call the Amphictyonic laws, in consequence of which they lived in mutual friendship, and fulfilling the obligations of kinship by their actions rather than by their professions, continued troublesome and formidable neighbours to the barbarians. [4] His example was followed by the Ionians who, leaving Europe, settled in the maritime parts of Caria, and also by the Dorians, who built their cities in the same region and erected temples at the common expense — the Ionians building the temple of Diana at Ephesus and the Dorians that of Apollo at Triopium — where they assembled with their wives and children at the appointed times, joined together in sacrificing and celebrating the festival, engaged in various contests, equestrian, gymnastic and musical, and made joint offerings to the gods. [5] After they had witnessed the spectacles, celebrated the festival, and received the other evidences of goodwill from one another, if any difference had arisen between one city and another, arbiters sat in judgment and decided the controversy; and they also consulted together concerning the means both of carrying on the war against the barbarians and of maintaining their mutual concord. [6] These and the like examples inspired Tullius also with a desire of bringing together and uniting all the cities belonging to the Latin race, so that they might not, as the result of engaging in strife at home and in wars with one another, be deprived of their liberty by the neighbouring barbarians.

  [26.1] After he had taken this resolution he called together the most important men of every city, stating that he was summoning them to take counsel with him about matters of great consequence and of mutual concern. When they had assembled, he caused the Roman senate and these men who came from the cities to meet together, and made a long speech exhorting them to concord, pointing out what a fine thing it is when a number of states agree together and what a disgraceful sight when kinsmen are at variance, and declaring that concord is a source of strength to weak states, while mutual slaughter reduces and weakens even the strongest. [2] After this he went on to show them that the Latins ought to have the command over their neighbours and, being Greeks, ought to give laws to barbarians, and that the Romans ought to have the leadership of all the Latins, not only because they excelled in the size of their city and the greatness of their achievements, but also because they, more than the others, had enjoyed the favour of divine providence and in consequence had attained to so great eminence. [3] Having said this, he advised them to build a temple of refuge at Rome at their joint expense, to which the cities should repair every year and offer up sacrifices both individually and in common, and also celebrate festivals at such times as they should appoint; and if any difference should arise between these cities, they should terminate it over the sacrifices, submitting their complaints to the rest of the cities for decision. [4] By enlarging upon these and the many other advantages they would reap from the appointment of a general council, he prevailed on all who were present at the session to give their consent. And later, with the money contributed by all the cities, he built the temple of Diana, which stands upon the Aventine, the largest of all the hills in Rome; and he drew up laws relating to the mutual rights of the cities and prescribed the manner in which everything else that concerned the festival and the general assembly should be performed. [5] And to the end that no lapse of time should obliterate these laws, he erected a bronze pillar upon which he engraved both the decrees of the council and the names of the cities which had taken part in it. This pillar still existed down to my time in the temple of Diana, with the inscription in the characters that were anciently used in Greece. This alone would serve as no slight proof that the founders of Rome were not barbarians; for if they had been, they would not have used Greek characters. [6] These are the most important and most conspicuous administrative measures that are recorded of this king, besides many others of less note and certainty. His military operations were directed against one nation only, that of the Tyrrhenians; of these I shall now give an account.

  [27.1] After the death of Tarquinius those cities which had yielded the sovereignty to him refused to observe the terms of their treaties any longer, disdaining to submit to Tullius, since he was a man of lowly birth, and anticipating great advantages for themselves from the discord that had arisen between the patricians and their ruler. [2] The people called the Veientes were the leaders of this revolt; and when Tullius sent ambassadors they replied that they had no treaty with him either concerning their yielding the sovereignty or concerning friendship and an alliance. These having set the example, the people of Caere and Tarquinii followed it, and at last all Tyrrhenia was in arms. [3] This war lasted for twenty years without intermission, during which time both sides made many irruptions into one another’s territories with great armies and fought one pitched battle after another. But Tullius, after being successful in all the battles in which he engaged, both against the several cities and against the whole nation, and after being honoured with three most splendid triumphs, at last forced those who refused to be ruled to accept the yoke against their will. [4] In the twentieth year, therefore, the twelve cities, having become exhausted by the war both in men and in money, again met together and decided to yield the sovereignty to the Romans upon the same terms as previously. And so the men chosen as envoys from each city arrived with the tokens of suppliants, and entrusting their cities to Tullius, begged of him not to adopt any extreme measures against them. [5] Tullius told them that because of their folly and their impiety towards the gods whom they had made sponsors of their treaties, only to violate their agreements afterwards, they deserved many severe punishments; but that, since you acknowledged their fault and were come with the fillets of suppliants and with entreaties to deprecate the resentment they had merited, they should fail of none of the clemency and moderation of the Romans at this time. [6] Having said this, he put an end to the war against them, and in the case of most of the cities, without imposing any conditions or harbouring any resentment for past injuries, he permitted them to retain the same government as before and also to enjoy their own possessions as long as they should abide by the treaties made with them by Tarquinius. But in the case of the three cities of Caere, Tarquinii and Veii, which had not only begun the revolt but had also induced the rest to make war upon the Romans, he punished them by seizing a part of their lands, which he portioned out among those who had lately been added to the body of Roman citizens.

  [7] Besides these achievements in both peace and war, he built two temples to Fortune, who seemed to have favoured him all his life, one in the market called the Cattle Market, the other on the banks of the Tiber to the Fortune which he named Fortuna Virilis, as she is called by the Romans even to this day. And being now adv
anced in years and not far from a natural death, he was treacherously slain by Tarquinius, his son-in-law, and by his own daughter. I shall also relate the manner in which this treacherous deed was carried out; but first I must go back and mention a few things that preceded it.

  [28.1] Tullius had two daughters by his wife Tarquinia, whom King Tarquinius had given to him in marriage. When these maidens were of marriageable age, he gave them to the nephews of their mother, who were also the grandsons of Tarquinius, joining the elder daughter to the elder nephew and the younger to the younger, since he thought they would thus live most harmoniously with their husbands. [2] But it happened that each of his sons-in-law was joined by an adverse fate in the matter of dissimilarity of character. For the wife of Lucius, the elder of the two brothers, who was of a bold, arrogant and tyrannical nature, was a good woman, modest and fond of her father; on the other hand, the wife of Arruns, the younger brother, a man of great mildness and prudence, was a wicked woman who hated her father and was capable of any rash action. [3] Thus it chanced that each of the husbands tried to follow his own bent, but was drawn in the opposite direction by his wife. For when the wicked husband desired to drive his father-in-law from the throne and was devising every means to accomplish this, his wife by her prayers and tears endeavoured to prevail on him to desist. And when the good husband thought himself obliged to abstain from all attempts against the life of his father-in-law and to wait till he should end his days by the course of nature, and tried to prevent his brother from doing what was wrong, his wicked wife, by her remonstrances and reproaches and by reviling him with a want of spirit, sought to draw him in the opposite direction. [4] But when nothing was accomplished by either the entreaties of the virtuous wife as she urged upon her unjust husband the best course, or by the exhortations of the wicked wife when she strove to incite to impious deeds the husband who was not by nature evil, but each husband followed his natural bent and thought his wife troublesome because her wishes differed from his own, nothing remained but for the first wife to lament and submit to her fate and for her audacious sister to rage and endeavour to rid herself of her husband. [5] At last this wicked woman, grown desperate and believing her sister’s husband to be most suitable to her own character, sent for him, as if she wanted to talk with him concerning a matter of urgent importance.

  [29.1] And when he came, after first ordering those who were in the room to withdraw, that she might talk with him in private, she said: “May I, Tarquinius, speak freely and without risk all my thoughts concerning our common interests? And will you keep to yourself what you shall hear? Or is it better for me to remain silent and not to communicate plans that require secrecy?” [2] And when Tarquinius bade her say what she wished, and gave her assurances, by such oaths as she herself proposed, that he would keep everything to himself, Tullia, laying aside all shame from that moment, said to him: “How long, Tarquinius, do you intend to permit yourself to be deprived of the kingship? Are you descended from mean and obscure ancestors, that you refuse to entertain high thoughts of yourself? But everyone knows that your early ancestors, who were Greeks and descended from Hercules, exercised the sovereign power in the flourishing city of Corinth for many generations, as I am informed, and that your grandfather, Tarquinius, after removing from Tyrrhenia, was able by his merits to become king of this state; and not only his possessions, but his kingdom as well, ought to descend to you who are the elder of his grandsons. [3] Or have you been given a body incapable of performing the duties of a king because of some weakness and deformity? But surely you are endowed both with strength equal to those most highly favoured by Nature and with a presence worthy of your royal birth. Or is it neither of these, but your youth, as yet weak and far from being capable of forming sound judgments, that holds you back and causes you to decline the government of the state — you who want not many years from being fifty? Yet at about this age a man’s judgment is naturally at its best. [4] Well, then, is it the high birth of the man who is now in control of affairs and his popularity with the best citizens — which makes him difficult to attack — that forces you to submit? But in both these respects too he happens to be unfortunate, as not even he himself is unaware. Moreover, boldness and willingness to undergo danger are inherent in your character, qualities most necessary to one who is going to reign. You have sufficient wealth also, numerous friends, and many other important qualifications for public life. [5] Why, then, do you still hesitate and wait for an occasion to be provided by chance, an occasion that will come bringing to you the kingship without your having made any effort to obtain it? And that, I presume, will be after the death of Tullius! As if Fate waited on men’s delays or Nature dispensed death to each man according to his age, and the outcome of all human affairs were not, on the contrary, obscure and difficult to be foreseen! [6] But I will declare frankly, even though you may call me bold for it, what seems to me to be the reason why you reach out for no coveted honour or glory. You have a wife whose disposition is in no respect like your own and who by her allurements and enchantments has softened you; and by her you will insensibly be transformed from a man into a nonentity. Just so have I a husband who is timorous and has nothing of a man in him, who makes me humble though I am worthy of great things, and though I am fair of body, yet because of him I have withered away. [7] But if it had been possible for you to take me as your wife and for me to get you as my husband, we had not lived so long in a private station. Why, therefore, do we not ourselves correct this error of fate by exchanging our marital ties, you removing your wife from life and I making this disposition of my husband? And when we have put them out of the way and are joined together, we will then consider in secure what remains to be done, having rid ourselves of what now causes our distress. For though one may hesitate to commit all the other crimes, yet for the sake of a throne one cannot be blamed for daring anything.”

  [30.1] Such were Tullia’s words, and Tarquinius, gladly agreeing to the course she proposed, immediately exchanged pledges with her, and then, after celebrating the rites preliminary to their unholy nuptials, he departed. Not long after this the elder daughter of Tullius and the year Tarquinius died the same kind of death.

  [2] Here again, I find myself obliged to make mention of Fabius and to show him guilty of negligence in his investigation of the chronology of events. For when he comes to the death of Arruns he commits not only one error, as I said before, in stating that he was the son of Tarquinius, but also another in saying that after his death he was buried by his mother Tanaquil, who could not possibly have been alive at that time. [3] For it was shown in the beginning that when Tarquinius died Tanaquil was seventy-five years of age; and if to the seventy-five years forty more are added (for we find in the annals that Arruns died in the fortieth year of the reign of Tullius), Tanaquil must have been one hundred and fifteen years old. So little evidence of a laborious inquiry after truth do we find in that author’s history.

  [4] After this deed of theirs Tarquinius married Tullia without any further delay, though the marriage had neither the sanction of her father nor the approval of her mother, but he took her of her own gift. [5] As soon as these impious and bloodthirsty natures were commingled they began plotting to drive Tullius from the throne if he would not willingly resign his power. They got together bands of their adherents, appealed to such of the patricians as were ill-disposed towards the king and his popular institutions, and bribed the poorest among the plebeians who had no regard for justice; and all this they did without any secrecy. [6] Tullius, seeing what was afoot, was not only disturbed because of his fears for his own safety, if he should be caught unprepared and come to some harm, but was especially grieved at the thought that he should be forced to take up arms against his own daughter and his son-in-law and to punish them as enemies. Accordingly, he repeatedly invited Tarquinius and his friends to confer with him, and sought, with by reproaches, now by admonitions, and again by arguments, to prevent him from doing him any wrong. When Tarquinius gave no heed
to what he said but declared he would plead his cause before the senate, Tullius called the senators together and said to them: [7] “Senators, it has become clear to me that Tarquinius is gathering bands of conspirators against me and is anxious to drive me from power. I desire to learn from him, therefore, in the presence of you all, what wrong he has personally received from me or what injury he has seen the commonwealth suffer at my hands, that he should be forming these plots against me. Answer me, then, Tarquinius, concealing nothing, and say what you have to accuse me of, since you have asked that these men should hear you.”

  [31.1] Tarquinius answered him: “My arriving, Tullius, is brief and founded on justice, and for that reason I have chosen to lay it before these men. Tarquinius, my grandfather, obtained the sovereignty of the Romans after fighting many hard battles in its defence. He being dead, I am his successor according to the laws common to all men, both Greeks and barbarians, and it is my right, just as it is of any others who succeed to the estates of their grandfathers, to inherit not only his property but his kingship as well. [2] You have, it is true, delivered up to me the property that he left, but you are depriving me of the kingship and have retained possession of it for so long a time now, though you obtained it wrongfully. For neither did any interreges appoint you king nor did the senate pass a vote in your favour, nor did you obtain this power by a legal election of the people, as my grandfather and all the kings before him obtained it; but by bribing and corrupting in every way possible the crowd of vagabonds and paupers, who had been disfranchised for convictions or for debts and had no concern for the public interests, and by not admitting even then that you were seeking the power for yourself, but by pretending that you were going to guard it for us who were orphans and infants, you came into control of affairs and kept promising in the hearing of all that when we came to manhood you would hand over the sovereignty to me as the elder brother. [3] You ought, therefore, if you desired to do right, when you handed over to me the estate of my grandfather, to have delivered up his kingship also together with his property, following the example of all the upright guardians who, having taken upon themselves the care of royal children bereft of their parents, have rightly and justly restored to them the kingdoms of their fathers and ancestors when they came to be men. [4] But if you thought I had not yet attained a proper degree of prudence and that by reason of my youth I was still unequal to the government of so great a state, yet when I attained to my full vigour of body and mind at the age of thirty, you ought, at the same time that you gave me your daughter in marriage, to have put also the affairs of the state into my hands; for it was at that very age that you yourselves first undertook both the guardianship of our family and the oversight of the kingship.