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

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [50.1] As they thought about these trials the consuls then in office were in no little fear, and they took good care to avoid suffering the same fate at the hands of the populace after the expiration of their consulship; hence they no longer concealed their purposes but openly directed all their measures in the interest of the populace. First, then, they got a law ratified by the centuriate assembly permitting all the magistrates to fine any persons who were guilty of disrespectful conduct or illegal attempts against their authority. For until then none but the consuls possessed this power.

  [2] τὸ μέντοι τίμημα οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς ζημιοῦσιν, ὁπόσον εἶναι δεῖ, κατέλιπον, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοὶ τὴν ἀξίαν ὥρισαν, μέγιστον ἀποδείξαντες ὅρον ζημίας δύο βοῦς καὶ τριάκοντα πρόβατα. καὶ οὗτος ὁ νόμος ἄχρι πολλοῦ διέμεινεν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων φυλαττόμενος.

  [2] They did not leave the amount of the fine, however, to the discretion of those who should impose it, but limited the sum themselves, making the maximum fine two oxen and thirty sheep. This law long continued in force among the Romans.

  [3] ἔπειτα περὶ τῶν νόμων, οὓς ἐσπούδαζον οἱ δήμαρχοι κοινοὺς ἐπὶ πᾶσι Ῥωμαίοις γράφειν καὶ εἰς ἅπαντα χρόνον φυλαχθησομένους, διάγνωσιν ἀπέδωκαν τῇ βουλῇ. ἐλέχθησαν μὲν οὖν πολλοί τε καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν κρατίστων ἀνδρῶν εἰς ἀμφότερα καὶ τὸ συγχωρεῖν καὶ τὸ κωλύειν φέροντες λόγοι, ἐνίκα δ᾽ ἡ τὰ δημοτικώτερα πρὸ τῶν ὀλιγαρχικῶν εἰσάγουσα Τίτου Ῥωμιλίου γνώμη, παρὰ τὴν ἁπάντων δόξαν τῶν τε [p. 92]

  [3] In the next place, they referred to the consideration of the senate the laws which the tribunes pressed to have drawn up, that should bind all the Romans alike and be observed forever. Many speeches were made on both sides by the best men, some tending to persuade the senate to grant the request and some to oppose it. But the opinion that prevailed was that of Titus Romilius, which supported the interest of the populace against that of the oligarchy, both patricians and plebeians.

  [4] πατρικίων καὶ τῶν δημοτικῶν γενομένη. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὑπελάμβανον πάντα τὰ ἐναντία τοῖς δημοτικοῖς φρονήσειν τε καὶ λέξειν τὸν ἄνδρα νεωστὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ δίκην ἑαλωκότα: ὁ δ᾽ ἀναστὰς ἐπειδὴ προσῆκεν αὐτῷ γνώμην ἐρωτηθέντι κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν ἀποκρίνασθαι — ἦν δὲ ἐν τοῖς διὰ μέσου κατά τε ἀξίωσιν καὶ ἡλικίαν — ἔλεξεν:

  [4] For they supposed that a man who had recently been condemned by the populace would both think and say everything that was opposed to the plebeians. But he, when it was the proper time for him to speak, that is, when he was called upon to deliver his opinion in his turn — he was of the middle rank in point of both dignity and age — rose up and said:

  [1] ἃ μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου πέπονθα, ὦ βουλή, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲν ἀδικῶν, ἀλλὰ τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς εὐνοίας ἕνεκα, φορτικὸς ἂν εἴην ἔγωγε ἐν εἰδόσιν ὑμῖν ἀκριβῶς λέγων: μνήμην δὲ αὐτῶν ποιοῦμαι τοῦ ἀναγκαίου ἕνεκεν, ἵν᾽ εἰδῆτε, ὅτι οὐ κολακείᾳ τοῦ δημοτικοῦ ἐπιτρέψας ἐχθροῦ μοι ὄντος, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου τὰ συμφέροντα ἐρῶ. θαυμάσῃ δὲ μηθείς, εἰ πρότερόν τε πολλάκις καὶ ἡνίκα ὕπατος ἦν τῆς ἑτέρας προαιρέσεως γενόμενος νῦν ἐξαίφνης μεταβέβλημαι: μηδὲ ὑπολάβητε δυεῖν θάτερον ἢ τότε βεβουλεῦσθαί με κακῶς ἢ νῦν ἀνατίθεσθαι τὰ δόξαντα οὐκ ὀρθῶς.

  [51.1] “I should be wearisome to you, senators, if I related what I have suffered at the hands of the populace and showed that it is not because of any wrongdoing on my part but because of my attachment to you, when you yourselves know the facts so well. I am forced, however, to mention these matters in order that you may know that in what I am going to say I am not condescending to flattery of the populace, which is hostile to me, but stating from the best of motives what is to the advantage of the commonwealth. Let no one wonder, if I, who was of a different opinion both earlier upon many occasions and when I was consul, have now suddenly changed; and do not imagine either that my sentiments were then ill grounded or that I am now altering them without good reason.

  [2] ἐγὼ γάρ, ὦ βουλή, ὅσον μὲν χρόνον τὰ ὑμέτερα ἰσχυρὰ ἡγούμην, ὥσπερ ἐχρῆν ἀριστοκρατίαν αὔξων περιεφρόνουν τὸ δημοτικόν, ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖς ἐμαυτοῦ σωφρονισθεὶς κακοῖς μετὰ μεγάλων μισθῶν ἔμαθον, ὅτι ἔλαττον ὑμῶν ἐστι τοῦ βουλομένου τὸ δυνάμενον, καὶ πολλοὺς ἤδη τὸν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἀγῶνα αἰρομένους περιείδετε ἀναρπασθέντας [p. 93] ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις εἴξαντες, οὐκέθ᾽

  [2] For as long as I thought your party strong, senators, I exalted the aristocracy, as was my duty, and despised the plebeians; but having been chastised by my own misfortunes and having learned at great cost that your power is less than your will and that, yielding to necessity, you have already permitted many who undertook the struggle in your behalf to be snatched away to destruction by the populace, I no longer entertain the same sentiments.

  [3] ὅμοια ἔγνωκα. ἐβουλόμην δ᾽ ἂν μάλιστα μήτ᾽ ἐμαυτῷ συμβῆναι μήτε τῷ συνάρχοντί μου ταῦτα, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἅπαντες ἡμῖν συμπαθεῖτε. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὰ μὲν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς τέλος ἔχει, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ἔξεστιν ἐπανορθώσασθαι καὶ τοῦ μὴ παθεῖν ταὐτὰ ἑτέρους προϊδέσθαι, καὶ κοινῇ καὶ καθ᾽ ἕνα ἕκαστον ἰδίᾳ τὰ παρόντα εὖ τίθεσθαι παρακαλῶ. κράτιστα γὰρ οἰκεῖται πόλις ἡ πρὸς τὰ πράγματα μεθαρμοττομένη, καὶ συμβούλων ἄριστος ὁ μὴ πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἔχθραν ἢ χάριν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον ἀποδεικνύμενος γνώμην: βουλεύονταί τ᾽ ἄριστα περὶ τῶν μελλόντων οἱ παραδείγματα ποιούμενοι τὰ γεγονότα τῶν ἐσομένων.

  [3] I could have wished that, if possible, those misfortunes for which you all show your sympathy with us had not happened either to myself or to my colleague; but since our misadventure is over and you have it in your power to correct what lies in the future and to see to it that others do not suffer the same misfortunes, I urge you, both all in common and each one by himself, to make good use of the present situation. For that state is best governed which adapts itself to circumstances, and that man is the best counsellor who expresses his opinion without regard to personal enmity or favour but with a view to the public advantage; and those persons deliberate best concerning the future who take past events as examples of those that are to come.

  [4] ὑμῖν δ᾽, ὦ βουλή, ὁσάκις ἐνέστη τις ἀμφισβήτησις καὶ φιλονεικία πρὸς τὸν δῆμον, ἀεί τι μειονεκτεῖν ἐξεγένετο τὸ μὲν ἀκούειν κακῶς, τὸ δ᾽ εἰς ἀνδρῶν ἐπιφανῶν θανάτου
ς τε καὶ ὕβρεις καὶ ἐκβολὰς ζημιωθῆναι. καίτοι τί γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἀτύχημα πόλει μεῖζον ἢ τοὺς κρατίστους τῶν ἀνδρῶν περικόπτεσθαι καὶ ταῦτα οὐ σὺν δίκῃ; ὧν ὑμῖν φείδεσθαι παραινῶ καὶ μήτε τοὺς νῦν ἄρχοντας προβαλόντας εἰς κίνδυνον πρόδηλον, ἔπειτα ἐγκαταλιπόντας ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς μετανοεῖν, μήτε τῶν ἄλλων τινά,

  [4] As for you, senators, it has happened that whenever a dispute or contention has arisen with the populace you have always come off at a disadvantage, sometimes having evil spoken of you and sometimes being punished by the death, the abuse and the banishment of illustrious men. And yet what greater misfortune could happen to a state than to have its best men lopped off, and that undeservedly? I advise you to spare these men and not to have to repent of first exposing to manifest danger and then deserting in the moment of peril either the present magistrates or anyone else who is of the slightest value to the commonwealth.

  [5] οὗ τι καὶ μικρὸν ὄφελος τῷ κοινῷ. κεφάλαιον δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὧν ὑμῖν παραινῶ, πρέσβεις ἑλέσθαι τοὺς μὲν [p. 94] εἰς τὰς Ἑλληνίδας πόλεις τὰς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ, τοὺς δ᾽ εἰς Ἀθήνας: οἵτινες αἰτησάμενοι παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοὺς κρατίστους νόμους καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἁρμόττοντας βίοις οἴσουσι δεῦρο. ἀφικομένων δ᾽ αὐτῶν τοὺς τότε ὑπάτους προθεῖναι τῇ βουλῇ σκοπεῖν, τίνας ἑλέσθαι δεήσει νομοθέτας καὶ ἥντινα ἕξοντας ἀρχὴν καὶ χρόνον ὅσον καὶ τἆλλα, ὅπως ἂν αὐτῇ φαίνηται συνοίσειν, στασιάζειν δὲ μηκέτι πρὸς τὸ δημοτικὸν μηδ᾽ ἄλλας ἐπ᾽ ἄλλαις ἀναιρεῖσθαι συμφορὰς ἄλλως τε καὶ περὶ νόμων φιλονεικοῦντας, οἳ κἂν εἰ μηθὲν ἄλλο τήν γέ τοι δόξαν τῆς ἀξιώσεως ἔχουσιν εὐπρεπῆ.

  [5] The substance of my advice is that you choose ambassadors and send some of them to the Greek cities in Italy and others to Athens, to ask the Greeks for their best laws and such as are most suited to our ways of life, and then to bring these laws here. And when they return, that the consuls then in office shall propose for the consideration of the senate what men to choose as lawgivers, what magistracy they shall hold and for how long a time, and to determine everything else in such a manner as they shall think expedient; and that you contend no longer with the plebeians nor add calamities to your calamities, particularly by quarrelling over laws which, if nothing else, have at least a respectable reputation for dignity.”

  [1] τοιαῦτα εἰπόντος τοῦ Ῥωμιλίου οἵ τε ὕπατοι συνελαμβάνοντο τῆς γνώμης ἀμφότεροι πολλὰ καὶ ἐκ παρασκευῆς συγκείμενα διεξιόντες, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων βουλευτῶν συχνοί, καὶ ἐγένοντο πλείους οἱ ταύτῃ

  [52.1] After Romilius had spoken to this effect, both consuls supported his opinion in long and carefully prepared speeches, and so did many other senators; and those who espoused this opinion were in the majority.

  [2] προστιθέμενοι τῇ γνώμῃ. μέλλοντος δὲ γράφεσθαι τοῦ προβουλεύματος ἀναστὰς ὁ δήμαρχος Σίκκιος ὁ τῷ Ῥωμιλίῳ προσθεὶς τὴν δίκην πολὺν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς διῆλθε λόγον ἐπαινῶν τὴν μεταβολὴν τῆς γνώμης καὶ τὸ μὴ τὰ ἴδια ἔχθη κρείττονα γίνεσθαι τῶν κοινῇ χρησίμων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ὀρθῆς γνώμης τὰ συμφέροντα ἀποδείξασθαι:

  [2] When the preliminary decree was about to be drawn up, the tribune Siccius, who had brought Romilius to trial, rising up, made a long speech in his behalf, praising him for changing his opinion and for not preferring his private grudges to the public good, but delivering with sincerity the advice that was advantageous.

  [3] ἀνθ᾽ ὧν, ἔφη, ταύτην αὐτῷ ἀποδίδωμι τιμὴν καὶ χάριν: ἀφίημι τῶν ἐκτισμάτων ἐπὶ τῇ δίκῃ καὶ εἰς τὸ λοιπὸν διαλλάττομαι: νικᾷ γὰρ ἡμᾶς χρηστὸς ὤν. τὸ δ᾽ αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι δήμαρχοι παριόντες ὡμολόγουν. οὐ μὴν ὅ γε Ῥωμίλιος ὑπέμεινε ταύτην [p. 95] λαβεῖν τὴν χάριν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπαινέσας τοὺς δημάρχους τῆς προθυμίας ἀποδώσειν ἔφη τὴν καταδίκην. ἱερὰν γὰρ ἤδη τῶν θεῶν εἶναι, καὶ οὔτε δίκαια οὔτε ὅσια ποιεῖν ἀποστερῶν τοὺς θεούς, ἃ δίδωσιν αὐτοῖς ὁ νόμος:

  [3] “In consideration of which,” he said, “I offer him this honour and this favour: I remit the fine imposed on him at the trial and reconcile myself with him for the future. For he has overcome us by his probity.” The rest of tribunes came forward and made the same agreement. Romilius, however, would not consent to accept this favour, but having thanked the tribunes for their goodwill, he said he would pay the fine, because it was already consecrated to the gods and he should be doing something unjust and unholy if he deprived the gods of what the law gives them. And he acted accordingly.

  [4] καὶ ἐποίησεν οὕτως. γραφέντος δὲ τοῦ προβουλεύματος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἐπικυρώσαντος τοῦ δήμου πρέσβεις ἀπεδείχθησαν οἱ τοὺς παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων νόμους ληψόμενοι, Σπόριος Ποστόμιος καὶ Σερούιος Σολπίκιος καὶ Αὖλος Μάλλιος: οἷς τριήρεις τε παρεσκευάσθησαν ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου καὶ ἄλλος κόσμος εἰς ἐπίδειξιν τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἀποχρῶν. καὶ τὸ ἔτος ἐτελεύτα.

  [4] The preliminary decree having been drawn up and afterwards confirmed by the populace, the ambassadors who were to get the laws from the Greeks were chosen, namely, Spurius Postumius, Servius Sulpicius and Aulus Manlius; and they were furnished with triremes at the public expense and with such other appointments as were sufficient to display the dignity of the Roman empire. And thus the year ended.

  [1] ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ὀγδοηκοστῆς καὶ δευτέρας ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Λύκος Θεσσαλὸς ἀπὸ Λαρίσης, ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησι Χαιρεφάνους, ἐτῶν τριακοσίων ἐκπεπληρωμένων ἀπὸ τοῦ Ῥώμης συνοικισμοῦ, Ποπλίου Ὁρατίου καὶ Σέξτου Κοιντιλίου διαδεδεγμένων τὴν ὕπατον ἀρχήν, λοιμικὴ νόσος εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην κατέσκηψε μεγίστη τῶν ἐκ τοῦ προτέρου χρόνου μνημονευομένων: ὑφ᾽ ἧς οἱ μὲν θεράποντες ὀλίγου ἐδέησαν πάντες ἀπολέσθαι, τῶν δ᾽ ἄλλων πολιτῶν ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἡμίσεις μάλιστα διεφθάρησαν, οὔτε τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀρκούντων ἔτι βοηθεῖν τοῖς καμάτοις,

  [53.1] In the eighty-second Olympiad (the one at which Lycus of Larissa in Thessaly won the foot-race), Chaerephanes being archon at Athens, when three hundred years were completed since the founding of Rome, and Publius Horatius and Sextus Quintilius had succeeded to the consulship, Rome was afflicted with a pestilence more severe than any of those recorded from past time. Almost all the slaves were carried off by it and about one h
alf of the citizens, as neither the physicians were able any longer to alleviate their sufferings nor did their servants and friends supply them with the necessaries.

  [2] οὔτε οἰκείων ἢ φίλων τἀναγκαῖα ὑπηρετούντων. οἱ [p. 96] γὰρ ἐπικουρεῖν ταῖς ἑτέρων βουλόμενοι συμφοραῖς ἁπτόμενοί τε καματηρῶν σωμάτων καὶ συνδιαιτώμενοι τὰς αὐτὰς ἐκείνοις νόσους μετελάμβανον, ὥστε πολλὰς οἰκίας ἐξερημωθῆναι δι᾽ ἀπορίαν τῶν ἐπιμελησομένων. ἦν τε οὐκ ἐλάχιστον τῶν κακῶν τῇ πόλει καὶ τοῦ μὴ ταχέως λωφῆσαι τὴν νόσον αἴτιον τὸ περὶ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τῶν νεκρῶν γινόμενον.

  [2] For those who were willing to relieve the calamities of others, by touching the bodies of the diseased and continuing with them, contracted the same diseases, with the result that many entire households perished for want of people to attend the sick. Not the least of the evils the city suffered, and the reason why the pestilence did not quickly abate, was the way in which they cast out the dead bodies.

  [3] κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς μὲν γὰρ ὑπό τε αἰσχύνης καὶ εὐπορίας τῶν πρὸς τὰς ταφὰς ἐπιτηδείων ἔκαιόν τε καὶ γῇ παρεδίδοσαν τοὺς νεκρούς, τελευτῶντες δὲ οἱ μὲν ἀπ᾽ ὀλιγωρίας τοῦ καλοῦ, οἱ δὲ τἀπιτήδεια οὐκ ἔχοντες πολλοὺς μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὑπονόμοις τῶν στενωπῶν φέροντες ἐρρίπτουν τῶν ἀπογενομένων, πολλῷ δ᾽ ἔτι πλείους εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐνέβαλλον: ἀφ᾽ ὧν τὰ μέγιστα ἐκακοῦντο πρὸς τὰς ἀκτὰς καὶ τὰς ἠϊόνας.