[1] ἡ μὲν δὴ βασιλικὴ Ῥωμαίων πολιτεία διαμείνασα μετὰ τὸν οἰκισμὸν τῆς Ῥώμης ἐτῶν τεττάρων καὶ τετταράκοντα καὶ διακοσίων ἀριθμόν, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ τελευταίου βασιλέως τυραννὶς γενομένη διὰ ταύτας τὰς προφάσεις καὶ ὑπὸ τούτων κατελύθη τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ὀλυμπιάδος μὲν ὀγδόης καὶ ἑξηκοστῆς ἐνεστώσης, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Ἰσχόμαχος Κροτωνιάτης, Ἀθήνησι δὲ
[1.1] The Roman monarchy, therefore, after having continued for the space of two hundred and forty-four years from the founding of Rome and having under the last king become a tyranny, was overthrown for the reasons stated and by the men named, at the beginning of the sixty-eighth Olympiad (the one in which Ischomachus of Croton won the foot-race), Isagoras being the annual archon at Athens.
[2] τὴν ἐνιαύσιον ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος Ἰσαγόρου. ἀριστοκρατίας δὲ γενομένης οἱ πρῶτοι τὴν βασιλικὴν ἀρχὴν παραλαβόντες ὕπατοι τεττάρων μηνῶν εἰς τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐπιλειπομένων Λεύκιος Ἰούνιος Βροῦτος καὶ Λεύκιος Ταρκύνιος Κολλατῖνος, οὓς καλοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι κατὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν διάλεκτον ὥσπερ ἔφην προβούλους, [p. 139] ἑτέρους παραλαβόντες πολλοὺς ἐλθόντων εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῶν ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου μετὰ τὰς σπονδὰς τὰς γενομένας αὐτοῖς πρὸς Ἀρδεάτας, ὀλίγαις ὕστερον ἡμέραις τῆς ἐκβολῆς τοῦ τυράννου συγκαλέσαντες τὸν δῆμον εἰς ἐκκλησίαν καὶ πολλοὺς ὑπὲρ ὁμονοίας λόγους ποιησάμενοι ψήφισμά τε πάλιν ἐπεκύρωσαν ἕτερον, περὶ ὧν οἱ κατὰ πόλιν ὄντες πρότερον ἐπεψηφίσαντο φυγὴν Ταρκυνίοις ἐπιβαλόντες ἀίδιον:
[2] An aristocracy being now established, while there still remained about four months to complete that year, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus were the first consuls invested with the royal power; the Romans, as I have said, call them in their own language consules or “counsellors.” These men, associating with themselves many others, now that the soldiers from the camp had come to the city after the truce they had made with the Ardeates, called an assembly of the people a few days after the expulsion of the tyrant, and having spoken at length upon the advantages of harmony, again caused them to pass another vote confirming everything which those in the city had previously voted when condemning the Tarquinii to perpetual banishment.
[3] καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο καθαρμοὺς τῆς πόλεως ποιησάμενοι καὶ ὅρκια τεμόντες αὐτοί τε πρῶτοι στάντες ἐπὶ τῶν τομίων ὤμοσαν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πολίτας ἔπεισαν ὀμόσαι, μὴ κατάξειν ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς βασιλέα Ταρκύνιον μήτε τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ μήτε τοὺς ἐξ ἐκείνων γενησομένους, βασιλέα τε τῆς Ῥωμαίων πόλεως μηκέτι καταστήσειν μηθένα μηδὲ τοῖς καθιστάναι βουλομένοις ἐπιτρέψειν. ταῦτα μὲν περὶ ἑαυτῶν τε καὶ τῶν τέκνων καὶ τοῦ μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς γένους ὤμοσαν.
[3] After this they performed rites of purification for the city and entered into a solemn covenant; and they themselves, standing over the parts of the victims, first swore, and then prevailed upon the rest of the citizens likewise to swear, that they would never restore from exile King Tarquinius or his sons or their posterity, and that they would never again make anyone king of Rome or permit others who wished to do so; and this oath they took not only for themselves, but also for their children and their posterity.
[4] ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιοι γεγονέναι τοῖς κοινοῖς πράγμασιν ἔδοξαν οἱ βασιλεῖς, φυλάττειν τοὔνομα τῆς ἀρχῆς, ὅσον ἂν ἡ πόλις διαμένῃ χρόνον, βουλόμενοι τοὺς ἱεροφάντας τε καὶ οἰωνομάντεις ἐκέλευσαν ἀποδεῖξαι τὸν ἐπιτηδειότατον τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, ὃς οὐδενὸς ἤμελλεν ἕξειν ἑτέρου πλὴν τῶν περὶ τὰ θεῖα σεβασμῶν τὴν προστασίαν, ἁπάσης λειτουργίας πολεμικῆς καὶ πολιτικῆς ἀφειμένος, [p. 140] ἱερῶν καλούμενος βασιλεύς. καὶ καθίσταται πρῶτος ἱερῶν βασιλεὺς Μάνιος Παπίριος ἐκ τῶν πατρικίων ἀνὴρ ἡσυχίας φίλος.
[4] However, since it appeared that the kings had been the authors of many great advantages to the commonwealth, they desired to preserve the name of that office for as long a time as the city should endure, and accordingly they ordered the pontiffs and augurs to choose from among them the older men the most suitable one for the office, who should have the superintendence of religious observances and of naught else, being exempt from all military and civil duties, and should be called the king of sacred rites. The first person appointed to this office was Manius Papirius, one of the patricians, who was a lover of peace and quiet.
[1] ὡς δὲ κατεστήσαντο ταῦτα, δείσαντες, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, μὴ δόξα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐγγένηται περὶ τῆς καινῆς πολιτείας οὐκ ἀληθής, ὅτι δύο βασιλεῖς κύριοι γεγόνασι τῆς πόλεως ἀνθ᾽ ἑνὸς ἑκατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων τοὺς δώδεκα πελέκεις ἔχοντος, ὥσπερ εἶχον οἱ βασιλεῖς, ἔκριναν τό τε δέος ἀφελέσθαι τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας μειῶσαι τὸν φθόνον, τοῦ μὲν ἑτέρου τῶν ὑπάτων τοὺς δώδεκα κατατάξαντες προηγεῖσθαι πελέκεις, τοῦ δ᾽ ἑτέρου δώδεκα ὑπηρέτας ῥάβδους ἔχοντας μόνον, ὡς δέ τινες ἱστοροῦσι, καὶ κορύνας, γίνεσθαι δὲ τῶν πελέκεων τὴν παράληψιν ἐκ περιτροπῆς ἕνα 1 μῆνα κατέχοντος αὐτοὺς ἑκατέρου παραλλάξ.
[2.1] After the consuls had settled these matters, fearing, as I suspect, that the masses might gain a false impression of their new form of government and imagine that two kings had become masters of the state instead of one, since each of the consuls had the twelve axes, like the kings, they resolved to quiet the fears of the citizens and to lessen the hatred of their power by ordering that one of the consuls should be preceded by the twelve axes and the other by twelve lictors with rods only, or, as some relate, with clubs also, and that they should receive the axes in rotation, each consul possessing them in turn one month.
[2] τοῦτο δὴ τὸ πολίτευμα καταστησάμενοι καὶ ἄλλα τούτοις παραπλήσια οὐκ ὀλίγα πρόθυμον ἐποίησαν εἰς τὴν διαμονὴν τῶν πραγμάτων τὸν δημότην καὶ ταπεινὸν ὄχλον καὶ γὰρ τοὺς νόμους τοὺς περὶ τῶν συμβολαίων τοὺς ὑπὸ Τυλλίου γραφέντας φιλανθρώπους καὶ δημοτικοὺς εἶναι δοκοῦντας, οὓς ἅπαντας κατέλυσε Ταρκύνιος, ἀνενεώσαντο καὶ τὰς θυσίας τάς τε κατὰ πόλιν καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγρῶν, ἃς ἐποιοῦντο κοινῶς συνιόντες οἱ δημόται τε καὶ οἱ φυλέται, πάλιν προσέταξαν ἐπιτελεῖσθαι, [p. 141] ὡς ἐπὶ Τυλλίου συνετελοῦντο: ἐκκλησιάζειν τ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀπέδοσαν ὑπὲρ τῶν μεγίστων καὶ ψῆφον ἐπιφέρειν καὶ τἆλλα πράττειν, ὅσα κατὰ τοὺς προτέρους ἐθισμοὺς ἔπραττον.
[2] By this and not a few other measures of like nature they caused the plebeians and the lower class to be eager for a continuance of the existing order. For they restored the laws introduced by Tullius concerning contracts, which seemed to be humane and democratic, but had all been abrogated by Tarquinius; and they restored to the people the right of holding assemblies concerning affairs of the greatest moment, of giving their votes, and of doing all the other things they had been wont to do according to former custom.
[3] τοῖς μὲν οὖν πολλοῖς καθ᾽ ἡδονὴν τὰ γινόμενα ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἦν ἐκ πολυχρονίου δουλείας εἰς ἀνέλπιστον ἀφιγμένοις ἐλευθερίαν, εὑρέθησαν δέ τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν ὅμως, οἷς πόθος ἦν τῶν ἐν τυραννίδι κακῶν δι᾽ εὐήθειαν ἢ διὰ πλεονεξίαν, ἄνδρες οὐκ ἀφανεῖς, οἳ συνώμοσαν ἐπὶ προδοσίᾳ τῆς πόλεως Ταρκύνιόν τε καταδέξασθαι συνθέμενοι καὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους ἀποκτεῖναι. ἡγεμόνες δ᾽ αὐτῶν οἵτινες ἐγένοντο καὶ δι᾽ οἵας ἐξηλέγχθησαν ἀνελπίστου συντυχίας καίτοι πάντας ἀνθρώπους λεληθέναι δοκοῦντες, μικρὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν γενομένων ἀναλαβὼν λέξω.
[3] These acts of the consuls pleased the masses, who had come out of long slavery into unexpected liberty; nevertheless, there were found among them some, and these no obscure persons, who from either simplicity or greed longed for the evils existing under a tyranny, and these formed a conspiracy to betray the city, agreeing together, not only to restore Tarquinius, but also to kill the consuls. Who the heads of this conspiracy and by what unexpected good fortune they were detected, though they imagined they had escaped the notice of everybody, shall now be related, after I have first gone back and mentioned a few things that happened earlier.
[1] Ταρκύνιος ἐπειδὴ τῆς βασιλείας ἐξέπεσε, χρόνον μέν τινα οὐ πολὺν ἐν πόλει Γαβίοις διέτριβε τούς τε συνιόντας πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ὑποδεχόμενος, οἷς ἦν τυραννὶς ἀσπαστότερον χρῆμα ἐλευθερίας, καὶ ταῖς Λατίνων ἐλπίσιν ἐπέχων ὡς δι᾽ ἐκείνων καταχθησόμενος ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν. ὡς δ᾽ οὐ προσεῖχον αὐτῷ τὸν νοῦν αἱ πόλεις οὐδ᾽ ἐβούλοντο πόλεμον ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων πόλιν ἐκφέρειν, ἀπογνοὺς τὰς παρὰ τούτων ἐπικουρίας, εἰς Τυρρηνικὴν καταφεύγει πόλιν Ταρκυνίους, ἐξ ἧς τὸ πρὸς μητρὸς αὐτῷ γένος ἦν.
[3.1] Tarquinius, after being driven from the throne, remained a short time in the city of Gabii, both to receive such as came to him from Rome, to whom tyranny was a more desirable thing than liberty, and to await the event of the hopes he placed in the Latins of being restored to the sovereignty by their aid. But when their cities paid no heed to him and were unwilling to make war upon the Roman state on his account, he despaired of any assistance from them and took refuge in Tarquinii, a Tyrrhenian city, from whence his family on his mother’s side had originally come.
[2] πείσας δὲ τὰ τέλη τῶν Ταρκυνιητῶν [p. 142] δωρεαῖς καὶ δι᾽ ἐκείνων ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν παραχθεὶς τήν τε συγγένειαν ἀνενεώσατο τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰς εὐεργεσίας διεξῆλθεν, ἃς ὁ πάππος αὐτοῦ πάσαις ἐχαρίσατο ταῖς ἐν Τυρρηνίᾳ πόλεσι, καὶ τὰς συνθήκας ὑπεμίμνησκεν, ἃς ἦσαν πεποιημένοι πρὸς αὐτόν: ἐπὶ δὲ τούτοις ἅπασι τῆς κατειληφυίας αὐτὸν ὠδύρετο τύχας, ὡς ἐκ μεγάλης ἐκπεσὼν εὐδαιμονίας ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ πλάνης καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐνδεὴς σὺν υἱοῖς τρισὶν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ ποτε 2 γενομένους ἠναγκάσθη καταφυγεῖν.
[2] And having bribed the magistrates of the Tarquinienses with gifts and been brought by them before the assembly of the people, he renewed the ties of kinship which existed between him and their city, recounted the favours his grandfather had conferred on all the Tyrrhenian cities, and reminded them of the treaties they had made with him. After all this, he lamented the calamities which had overtaken him, showing how, after having fallen in one day from the height of felicity, he had been compelled, as a wanderer in want of the necessaries of life, to fly for refuge, together with his three sons, to those who had once been his subjects.
[3] διεξελθὼν δ᾽ ὧδε ταῦτα μετὰ πολλῶν οἴκτων τε καὶ δακρύων ἔπεισε τὸν δῆμον πρέσβεις ἀποστεῖλαι πρῶτον εἰς Ῥώμην συμβατηρίους φέροντας ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ λόγους, ὡς δὴ συμπραττόντων αὐτῷ τῶν δυνατῶν ἐκεῖθεν καὶ συλληψομένων τῆς καθόδου. ἀποδειχθέντων δὲ πρεσβευτῶν, οὓς αὐτὸς προείλετο, διδάξας τοὺς ἄνδρας ἃ χρὴ λέγειν τε καὶ πράττειν, καὶ παρὰ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ φυγάδων γράμματα δοὺς δεήσεις ἔχοντα πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους αὐτῶν καὶ φίλους, ἀπέστειλε φέροντάς τι καὶ χρυσίον.
[3] Having thus recounted his misfortunes with many lamentations and tears, he prevailed upon the people, first of all to send ambassadors to Rome to possess terms of accommodation on his behalf, assuring them that the men in power there were working in his interest and would aid in his restoration. Ambassadors, of his own selection, having then been appointed, he instructed them in everything they were to say and do; and giving them letters from the exiles who were with him, containing entreaties to their relations and friends, he gave them some gold also and sent them on their way.
[1] οὗτοι οἱ ἄνδρες εἰς Ῥώμην ἐλθόντες ἔλεγον ἐπὶ τῆς βουλῆς, Ὅτι Ταρκύνιος ἀξιοῖ λαβὼν ἄδειαν ἐλθεῖν σὺν ὀλίγοις πρῶτον μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ συνέδριον, ὥσπερ ἐστὶ δίκαιον: ἔπειτ᾽ ἂν λάβῃ παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς τὸ συγχώρημα τότε καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐλθεῖν λόγον ὑφέξων ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ὧν ἔπραξεν, ἀφ᾽ οὗ τὴν ἀρχὴν παρέλαβε, καὶ δικασταῖς χρησόμενος ἐάν τις αὐτοῦ [p. 143]
[4.1] When these men arrived in Rome, they said in the senate that Tarquinius desired leave to come there under a safe-conduct, together with a small retinue, and to address himself, first to the senate, as was right and proper, and after that, if he received permission from the senate, to the assembly of the people also, and there give an account of all his actions from the time of his accession to the sovereignty, and if anyone accused him, to submit himself to the judgment of all the Romans.
[2] κατηγορήσῃ πᾶσι Ῥωμαίοις. ἀπολογηθεὶς δὲ καὶ πείσας ἅπαντας, ὡς οὐδὲν ἄξιον εἴργασται φυγῆς, ἐὰν μὲν ἀποδῶσιν αὐτῷ τὴν βασιλείαν αὖθις, ἄρξειν ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἂν ὁρίσωσιν οἱ πολῖται δικαίοις, ἐὰν δὲ μηκέτι βασιλεύεσθαι προαιρῶνται καθάπερ ἔμπροσθεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἑτέραν τινὰ καταστήσασθαι πολιτείαν, μένων ἐν τῇ πόλει πατρίδι οὔσῃ καὶ τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον ἔχων πολιτεύσεσθαι μετὰ πάντων ἐξ ἴσου, φυγῆς δ᾽ ἀπηλλάχθαι καὶ πλάνης.
[2] And after he had made his defence and convinced them all that he had done nothing worthy of banishment, he would then, if they gave him the sovereignty again, reign upon such conditions as the citizens should determine; or, if they preferred no longer to live under a monarchy, as formerly, but to establish some other form of government, he would remain in Rome, which was his native city, and enjoying his private property, would live on an equality with all the others, and thus have done with exile and a life of wandering.
[3] ταῦτα διεξελθόντες ἐδέοντο τῆς βουλῆς, μάλιστα μὲν διὰ τὸ δίκαιον, ὃ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις καθέστηκε, μηθένα λόγου καὶ κρίσεως ἀποστερεῖν, συγχωρῆσαι τῷ ἀνδρὶ τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἧς αὐτοὶ γενήσονται δικασταί: εἰ δ᾽ ἐκείνῳ ταύτην οὐ βούλονται δοῦναι τὴν χάριν, τῆς δεομένης ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πόλεως ἕνεκα μετριάσαι, δωρεὰν αὐτῇ διδόντας, ἐξ ἧς οὐδὲν αὐτοὶ βλαπτόμενοι μεγάλην δόξουσι τιμὴν κατατίθεσθαι τῇ λαμβανούσῃ, ἀνθρώπους δ᾽ ὄντας μηδὲν ὑπὲρ τὴν φύσιν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φρονεῖν μηδ᾽ ἀθανάτους ἔχειν τὰς ὀργὰς ἐν θνητοῖς σώμασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ γνώμην τί πράττειν ἐπιεικὲς ὑπομεῖναι τῶν δεομένων χάριν, ἐνθυμηθέντας, ὅτι φρονίμων μὲν ἀνθρώπων ἔργον ἐστὶ ταῖς φιλίαις χαρίζεσθαι τὰς ἔχθρας, ἀνοήτων δὲ καὶ βαρβάρων τοῖς ἐχθροῖς συναναιρεῖν τοὺς φίλους.
[3] Having stated their case, the ambassadors begged of the senate that they would preferably, on the principle of the right, recognized by all men, that no one should be deprived of the opportunity of defending himself and of being tried, grant him leave to make his defence, of which the Romans themselves would be the judges; but if they were unwilling to grant this favour to him, then they asked them to act with moderation out of regard for the city that interceded on his behalf, by granting her a favour from which they would suffer no harm themselves and yet would be looked upon as conferring great honour upon the city that received it. And they asked them, as being men, not to think thoughts too lofty for human nature or to harbour undying resentment in mortal bodies, but to consent to perform an act of clemency even contrary to their inclination, for the sake of those who entreated them, bearing in mind that it is the part of wise men to waive their enmities in the interest of their friendships and the part of stupid men and barbarians to destroy their friends together with their enemies.
[1] τοιαῦτα λεξάντων αὐτῶν ἀναστὰς ὁ Βροῦτος ἔφη Περὶ μὲν εἰσόδου Ταρκυνίων εἰς τήνδε πόλιν παύσασθε, ἄνδρες Τυρρηνοί, τὰ πλείω λέγοντες. ἐπῆκται γὰρ ἤδη ψῆφος ἀίδιον κατ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁρίζουσα φυγήν, [p. 144] καὶ θεοὺς ὀμωμόκαμεν ἅπαντες μήτ᾽ αὐτοὶ κατάξειν τοὺς τυράννους μηδὲ τοῖς κατάγουσιν ἐπιτρέψειν: εἰ δέ τινος ἄλλου δεῖσθε τῶν μετρίων, ἃ μὴ νόμοις μηδ᾽ ὅρκοις κεκωλύμεθα δρᾶν, λέγετε. μετὰ τοῦτο παρελθόντες 3 οἱ πρέσβεις λέγουσι:
[5.1] After they had done speaking, Brutus rose up and said: “Concerning a return of the Tarquinii to this city, Tyrrhenians, say no more. For a vote has already been passed condemning them to perpetual banishment, and we have all sworn by the gods neither to restore the tyrants ourselves nor to permit others to restore them. But if you desire anything else of us that is reasonable which were not prevented from doing by the laws or by our oaths, declare it.” Thereupon the ambassadors came forward and said:
[2] παρὰ δόξαν μὲν ἡμῖν ἀπήντηται τὰ πρῶτα: πρεσβευσάμενοι γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἱκέτου λόγον ὑμῖν ὑποσχεῖν ἀξιοῦντος καὶ τὸ κοινὸν ἁπάντων δίκαιον εἰς ἰδίαν αἰτούμενοι χάριν οὐ δεδυνήμεθα τούτου τυχεῖν: ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οὕτως ὑμῖν δοκεῖ, περὶ μὲν εἰσόδου Ταρκυνίων οὐδὲν ἔτι λιπαροῦμεν, προκαλούμεθα δ᾽ ὑμᾶς εἰς ἕτερόν τι δίκαιον, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὰς ἐντολὰς ἡμῖν ἔδωκεν ἡ πατρίς, καὶ οὔτε νόμος ὁ κωλύσων αὐτὸ ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς ἐστιν οὔθ᾽ ὅρκος, ἀποδοῦναι τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν οὐσίαν, ἣν ὁ πάππος αὐτοῦ πρότερον ἐκέκτητο οὐθὲν τῶν ὑμετέρων οὔτε βίᾳ κατασχὼν οὔτε λάθρα, παρὰ δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς διαδεξάμενος καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς μετενέγκας. ἀπόχρη γὰρ αὐτῷ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ κομισαμένῳ ζῆν ἑτέρωθί που μακαρίως μηθὲν ἐνοχλοῦντι ὑμῖν.
[2] “Our first efforts have not turned out as we expected. For, though we have come as ambassadors on behalf of a suppliant who desires to give you an account of his actions, and though we ask as a private favour the right that is common to all men, we have not been able to obtain it. Since, then, this is your decision, we plead no longer for the return of the Tarquinii, but we do call upon you to perform an act of justice of another kind, concerning which our country has given us instructions — and there is neither law nor oath to hinder you from doing it — namely, to restore to the king the property formerly possessed by his grandfather, who however got anything of yours either by force or by fraud, but inherited his wealth from his father and brought it to you. For it is enough for him to recover what belongs to him and to live happily in some other place, without causing you any annoyance.”
[3] τοιαῦτα μὲν οἱ πρέσβεις διαλεχθέντες ἐξῆλθον: τῶν δ᾽ ὑπάτων Βροῦτος μὲν κατέχειν τὰ χρήματα συνεβούλευσε τιμωρίας τε χάριν ἀνθ᾽ ὧν οἱ τύραννοι τὸ κοινὸν ἠδίκησαν πολλῶν ὄντων καὶ μεγάλων, καὶ τοῦ συμφέροντος ἕνεκεν, ἵνα μὴ γένοιτ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀφορμὴ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, διδάσκων ὡς οὐκ ἀγαπήσουσι Ταρκύνιοι τὰς οὐσίας ἀπολαβόντες οὐδ᾽ ὑπομενοῦσιν ἰδιώτην βίον ζῆν, ἀλλὰ πόλεμον ἐπάξουσι Ῥωμαίοις ἀλλοεθνῆ καὶ πειράσονται βίᾳ κατελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν.
[3] After the ambassadors had said this, they withdrew. Of the two consuls, Brutus advised retaining the fortunes of the tyrants, both as a penalty for the injuries they had done to the commonwealth, which were many and great, and for the advantage that would result from depriving them of these resources for war; for he showed that the Tarquinii would not be contented with the recovery of their possessions nor submit to leading a private life, but would bring a foreign war upon the Romans and attempt by force to get back into power.
[4] Κολλατῖνος δὲ τἀναντία παρῄνει λέγων, ὡς οὐδὲν τὰ [p. 145] χρήματα τῶν τυράννων ἠδίκει τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ σώματα, φυλάττεσθαί τ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἀξιῶν ἀμφότερα, μὴ δόξης τε πονηρᾶς παρὰ πάντων τύχωσιν ὡς διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον ἐξεληλακότες ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς Ταρκυνίους, καὶ πρόφασιν πολέμου δικαίαν παράσχωσιν αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀποστερουμένοις τῶν ἰδίων: ἄδηλον μὲν εἶναι φάσκων, εἰ κομισάμενοι τὰ χρήματα πολεμεῖν ἐπιχειρήσουσιν ἔτι πρὸς αὐτοὺς περὶ τῆς καθόδου, πρόδηλον δὲ θάτερον ὡς οὐκ ἀξιώσουσιν εἰρήνην ἄγειν τὰς οὐσίας ἀφαιρεθέντες.
[4] But Collatinus advised the contrary, saying that it was not the possessions of the tyrants, but the tyrants themselves, that had injured the commonwealth, and he asked them to guard against two things: first, not to incur the bad opinion of the world as having driven the Tarquinii from power for the sake of their riches, and, secondly, not to give the tyrants themselves a just cause for war as having been deprived of their private property. For it was uncertain, he said, whether, if they got back their possessions, they would any longer attempt to make war upon them in order to secure their return from exile, but it was perfectly clear, on the other hand, that they would not consent to keep the peace if they were deprived of their property.
[1] ταῦτα δὲ τῶν ὑπάτων λεγόντων καὶ πολλῶν συναγορευόντων ἀμφοτέροις ἀποροῦσα, ὅ τι χρὴ πράττειν, ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἡμέρας συχνὰς σκοποῦσα, ἐπεὶ συμφορώτερα μὲν ὁ Βροῦτος ἐδόκει λέγειν, δικαιότερα δ᾽ ὁ Κολλατῖνος παρῄνει, τελευτῶσα διέγνω τὸν δῆμον ποιῆσαι τοῦ τε συμφέροντος καὶ τοῦ δικαίου κριτήν.
[6.1] As the consuls expressed these opinions and many spoke in favour of each, the senate was at a loss what to do and spent many days in considering the matter; for while the opinion of Brutus seemed more expedient, the course urged by Collatinus was more just. At last they determined to make the people the judges between expediency and justice.
[2] πολλῶν δὲ λεχθέντων ὑφ᾽ ἑκατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων ἀναλαβοῦσαι ψῆφον αἱ φρᾶτραι τριάκοντα οὖσαι τὸν ἀριθμὸν οὕτω μικρὰν ἐποιήσαντο τὴν ἐπὶ θάτερα ῥοπήν, ὥστε μιᾷ ψήφῳ πλείους γενέσθαι τῶν κατέχειν τὰ χρήματα βουλομένων τὰς ἀποδιδόναι κελευούσας. λαβόντες δὲ παρὰ τῶν ὑπάτων τὰς ἀποκρίσεις οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ καὶ πολλὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐπαινέσαντες, ὅτι τὰ δίκαια πρὸ τῶν συμφερόντων εἵλοντο, Ταρκυνίῳ μὲν ἐπέστειλαν τοὺς ἀποληψομένους τὰ χρήματα πέμπειν, αὐτοὶ δ᾽ ἐπέμειναν ἐν τῇ πόλει συναγωγήν τε τῶν ἐπίπλων καὶ διάθεσιν τῶν μὴ δυναμένων ἄγεσθαί τε καὶ φέρεσθαι σκηπτόμενοι: ὡς δὲ τἀληθὲς εἶχε ταράττοντες καὶ [p. 146] σκευωρούμενοι τὰ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, ὡς ὁ τύραννος αὐτοῖς ἐπέστειλε.
[2] After much had been said by each of the consuls, the curiae, which were thirty in number, upon being called to give their votes, inclined to one side by so small a margin that the curiae in favour of restoring the possessions outnumbered by only one those that were for retaining them. The Tyrrhenians, having received their answer from the consuls and given great praise to the commonwealth for having preferred justice to expediency, wrote to Tarquinius to send some persons to receive his possessions, while they themselves remained in the city, pretending to be employed in collecting his furniture and disposing of the effects that could not be driven or carried away, whereas in reality they were stirring up trouble in the city and carrying on intrigues, pursuant to the instructions the tyrant had sent them.
[3] τάς τε γὰρ ἐπιστολὰς τὰς παρὰ τῶν φυγάδων τοῖς ἐπιτηδείοις αὐτῶν ἀπεδίδοσαν καὶ παρ᾽ ἐκείνων ἑτέρας πρὸς τοὺς φυγάδας ἐλάμβανον: συνιόντες δὲ πολλοῖς εἰς ὁμιλίαν καὶ διάπειραν αὐτῶν τῆς προαιρέσεως λαμβάνοντες, οὓς εὑρίσκοιεν εὐαλώτους δἰ ἀσθένειαν γνώμης ἢ βίου σπάνιν ἢ πόθον τῶν ἐν τῇ τυραννίδι πλεονεξιῶν, ἐλπίδας τε χρηστὰς ὑποτείνοντες αὐτοῖς καὶ χρήματα διδόντες ἐπεχείρουν
[3] For they employed themselves in delivering letters from the exiles to their friends in the city and in receiving others from these for the exiles; and engaging in conversation with many of the citizens and sounding their sentiments, if they found any easy to be ensnared through the feebleness of conviction, lack of means, or a longing for the advantages they had enjoyed under the tyranny, they endeavoured to corrupt them by holding out fair hopes and giving them money.
[4] 4 διαφθείρειν. ἔμελλον δ᾽ ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἐν πόλει μεγάλῃ καὶ πολυοχλούσῃ φανήσεσθαί τινες οἱ τὴν χείρω πολιτείαν αἱρησόμενοι πρὸ τῆς κρείττονος οὐ τῶν ἀσήμων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν, ἐν οἷς ἦσαν Ἰούνιοί τε δύο Τίτος καὶ Τιβέριος Βρούτου παῖδες τοῦ ὑπατεύοντος ἀρτίως ἀρχόμενοι γενειᾶν καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς Οὐιτέλλιοί τε δύο Μάρκος καὶ Μάνιος, ἀδελφοὶ τῆς Βρούτου γυναικός, ἱκανοὶ τὰ κοινὰ πράττειν, καὶ Κολλατίνου θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων ἀδελφῆς υἱοὶ δύο Λεύκιος καὶ Μάρκος Ἀκύλλιοι τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντες τοῖς Βρούτου παισὶν ἡλικίαν, παρ᾽ οἷς αἱ σύνοδοι τὰ πολλὰ ἐγίνοντο πατρὸς οὐκέτι περιόντος αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς καθόδου τῶν τυράννων βουλεύματα συνετίθετο.
[4] And in a large and populous city there were sure to be found, as we may suppose, some who would prefer a worse to a better form of government, and that not only among the obscure, but even among the men of distinction. Of this number were the two Junii, Titus and Tiberius, the sons of Brutus the consul, then just coming to manhood, and with them the two Vitellii, Marcus and Manius, brothers of the wife of Brutus, men capable of administering public affairs, and also the Aquilii, Lucius and Marcus, sons of the sister of Collatinus, the other consul, of the same age with the sons of Brutus. It was at the house of the Aquilii, whose father was no longer living, that the conspirators generally held their meetings and laid their plans for bringing back the tyrants.
[1] ἐκ πολλῶν μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλων ἔδοξέ μοι τὰ Ῥωμαίων πράγματα προνοίᾳ θεῶν εἰς τοσαύτην προελθεῖν εὐδαιμονίαν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν τότε [p. 147] γενομένων. τοσαύτη γὰρ ἄνοια καὶ θεοβλάβεια τοὺς δυστήνους ἐκείνους κατέσχεν, ὥσθ᾽ ὑπέμειναν ἐπιστολὰς γράψαι πρὸς τὸν τύραννον αὐτογράφους δηλοῦντες αὐτῷ τὸ πλῆθός τε τῶν μετεχόντων τῆς συνωμοσίας καὶ χρόνον, ἐν ᾧ τὴν κατὰ τῶν ὑπάτων ἐπίθεσιν ἔμελλον ποιήσεσθαι, πεισθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν ἀφικομένων ὡς αὐτοὺς παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου γραμμάτων, ὅτι βούλεται προειδέναι, τίνας αὐτῷ προσήκει Ῥωμαίων εὖ
[7.1] Not only from many other circumstances has it seemed to me to be due to the providence of the gods that the affairs of the Romans have come to such a flourishing condition, but particularly by what happened upon this occasion. For so great a folly and infatuation possessed those unfortunate youths that they consented to write letters to the tyrant in their own hand, informing him not only of the number of their accomplices, but also of the time when they proposed to make the attack upon the consuls. They had been persuaded to do so by the letters that came to them from the tyrant, in which he desired to know beforehand the names of the Romans whom he ought to reward after he had regained the sovereignty.
[2] ποιεῖν κατασχόντι τὴν ἀρχήν. τούτων δ᾽ ἐγένοντο τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐγκρατεῖς οἱ ὕπατοι κατὰ τοιάνδε τινὰ συντυχίαν. παρ᾽ Ἀκυλλίοις τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Κολλατίνου γεγονόσιν ἀδελφῆς οἱ κορυφαιότατοι τῶν ἐν τῇ συνωμοσίᾳ κατήγοντο παρακληθέντες ὡς ἐφ᾽ ἱερὰ καὶ θυσίαν: μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἑστίασιν ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τοῦ συμποσίου κελεύσαντες τοὺς διακόνους καὶ πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν τοῦ ἀνδρῶνος ἀπελθεῖν διεφέροντό τε πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὑπὲρ τῆς καταγωγῆς τῶν τυράννων καὶ τὰ δόξαντα εἰς ἐπιστολὰς κατεχώριζον αὐτογράφους, ἃς ἔδει τοὺς Ἀκυλλίους λαβόντας ἀποδοῦναι τοῖς ἐκ Τυρρηνίας πρέσβεσιν,
[2] The consuls got possession of these letters by the following chance. The principal conspirators used to hold night sessions at the house of the Aquilii, the sons of the sister of Collatinus, being invited there ostensibly for some religious rites and a sacrifice. After the banquet they first ordered the servants to go out of the room and to withdraw from before the door of the men’s apartment, and then proceeded to discuss together the means of restoring the tyrants and to set down in the letters in their own handwriting the decisions arrived at; these letters the Aquilii were to deliver to the Tyrrhenian ambassadors, and they in turn to Tarquinius.
[3] ἐκείνους δὲ Ταρκυνίῳ. ἐν τούτῳ δὴ τῷ χρόνῳ τῶν θεραπόντων τις οἰνοχόος ἐκ πόλεως Καινίνης αἰχμάλωτος ὄνομα Οὐινδίκιος ὑποπτεύσας τοὺς ἄνδρας βουλεύειν πονηρὰ τῇ μεταστάσει τῶν διακόνων ἔμεινε μόνος ἔξω παρὰ ταῖς θύραις καὶ τούς τε λόγους παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἠκροάσατο καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς εἶδεν ὑπὸ πάντων [p. 148] γραφομένας, ἁρμῷ τινι τῆς θύρας διαφανεῖ τὴν ὄψιν προσβαλών.
[3] In the mean time one of the servants, who was their cup-bearer and a captive taken at Caenina, Vindicius by name, suspecting, from their ordering the servants to withdraw, that they were plotting some mischief, remained alone outs the door, and not only heard their conversation, but, by applying his eye to a crevice of the door that afforded a glimpse inside, saw the letters they were all writing.
[4] ἐξελθὼν δὲ πολλῆς ἔτι νυκτὸς οὔσης ὡς ἀπεσταλμένος ὑπὸ τῶν δεσποτῶν ἐπὶ χρείαν τινά, πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ὑπάτους ὤκνησεν ἐλθεῖν δεδιώς, μὴ συγκρύψαι τὸ πρᾶγμα βουλόμενοι διὰ τὴν εὔνοιαν τῶν συγγενῶν τὸν μηνύσαντα τὴν συνωμοσίαν ἀφανίσωσιν, ἀφικόμενος δ᾽ ὡς Πόπλιον Οὐαλέριον, ὃς ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις τέτταρσιν ἦν τῶν τὴν τυραννίδα καταλυσάντων, δεξιώσει καὶ δι᾽ ὅρκων τὸ πιστὸν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαβὼν ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας τῆς ἑαυτοῦ μηνυτὴς ὧν τ᾽ ἤκουσε καὶ
[4] And setting out from the house while it was still the dead of night, as if he had been sent by his masters upon some business, he hesitated to go to the consuls, lest, in their desire the keep the matter quiet out of goodwill for their kinsmen, they might do away with the one who gave information of the conspiracy, but went to Publius Valerius, one of the four who had taken the lead in overthrowing the tyranny; and when this man had given him assurance of his safety by offering his hand and swearing oaths, he informed him of all that he had both heard and seen.
[5] ὧν εἶδε γίνεται. ὁ δ᾽ ὡς ἔμαθεν οὐδεμίαν ἀναβολὴν ποιησάμενος ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τῶν Ἀκυλλίων σὺν χειρὶ πολλῇ πελατῶν τε καὶ φίλων παραγίνεται περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον καὶ παρελθὼν εἴσω τῶν θυρῶν ὡς ἐπ᾽ ἄλλην τινὰ χρείαν παρὼν ἀκωλύτως κατ᾽ οἶκον ἔτι τῶν μειρακίων ὄντων ἐγκρατὴς γίνεται τῶν ἐπιστολῶν καὶ τοὺς νεανίσκους συλλαβὼν καθίστησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους.
[5] Valerius, upon hearing this story, made no delay, but went to the house of the Aquilii about daybreak, attended by a large number of clients and friends; and getting inside the door without hindrance, as having come upon some other business, while the lads were still there, he got possession of the letters, and seizing the youths, took them before the consuls.
[1] τὰ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἔργα θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων Βρούτου μεγάλα καὶ θαυμαστὰ λέγειν ἔχων, ἐφ᾽ οἷς μέγιστα φρονοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι, δέδοικα μὴ σκληρὰ καὶ ἄπιστα τοῖς Ἕλλησι δόξω λέγειν, ἐπειδὴ πεφύκασιν ἅπαντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν τὰ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων λεγόμενα κρίνειν καὶ τὸ πιστὸν ἄπιστον ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς ποιεῖν: ἐρῶ δ᾽ οὖν ὅμως.
[8.1] I am afraid that the subsequent noble and astonishing behaviour of Brutus, one of the consuls, which I am now to relate and in which the Romans take the greatest pride, may appear cruel and incredible to the Greeks, since it is natural for all men to judge by their own experience whatever is said of others, and to determine what is credible and incredible with reference to themselves. Nevertheless, I shall relate it.
[2] ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡμέρα τάχιστα [p. 149] ἐγένετο, καθίσας ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς τῶν ἐν τῇ συνωμοσίᾳ διασκεπτόμενος, ὡς εὗρε τὰς ὑπὸ τῶν υἱῶν γραφείσας ταῖς σφραγῖσιν ἑκατέραν γνωρίσας καὶ μετὰ τὸ λῦσαι τὰ σημεῖα τοῖς χειρογράφοις, ἀναγνωσθῆναι πρῶτον ἐκέλευσεν ἀμφοτέρας ὑπὸ τοῦ γραμματέως εἰς τὴν ἁπάντων τῶν παρόντων ἀκοήν: ἔπειτα λέγειν ἐκέλευσε τοῖς παισίν, εἴ τι βούλονται.
[2] As soon, then, as it was day, Brutus seated himself upon the tribunal and examined the letters of the conspirators; and when he found those written by his sons, each of which he recognized by the seals, and, after he had broken the seals, by the handwriting, he first ordered both letters to be read by the secretary in the hearing of all who were present, and then commanded his sons to speak if they had anything to say.
[3] ὡς δ᾽ οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν αὐτῶν οὐδέτερος πρὸς ἄρνησιν ἀναιδῆ τραπέσθαι, ἀλλὰ κατεψηφικότες ἑαυτῶν ἔκλαιον ἀμφότεροι, ὀλίγον δ᾽ ἐπισχὼν χρόνον ἀνίσταται καὶ σιωπὴν προκηρύξας ἐκδεχομένων ἁπάντων, τί τέλος ἐξοίσει, θάνατον ἔφη καταδικάζειν τῶν τέκνων: ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἀνέκραγον οὐκ ἀξιοῦντες τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα ζημιωθῆναι τέκνων θανάτῳ καὶ χαρίζεσθαι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν μειρακίων ἐβούλοντο τῷ πατρί.
[3] But when neither of them dared resort to shameless denial, but both wept, having long since convicted themselves, Brutus, after a short pause, rose up and commanding silence, while everyone was waiting to learn what sentence he would pronounce, said he condemned his sons to death. Whereupon they all cried out, indignant that such a man should be punished by the death of his sons, and they wished to spare the lives of the youths as a favour to their father.
[4] ὁ δ᾽ οὔτε τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν οὔτε τὰς οἰμωγὰς ἀνασχόμενος ἐκέλευσε τοῖς ὑπηρέταις ἀπάγειν τοὺς νεανίσκους ὀλοφυρομένους καὶ ἀντιβολοῦντας καὶ ταῖς φιλτάταις αὐτὸν ἀνακαλουμένους προσηγορίαις. θαυμαστὸν μὲν καὶ τοῦτο πᾶσιν ἐφάνη τὸ μηδὲν ἐνδοῦναι τὸν ἄνδρα μήτε πρὸς τὰς δεήσεις τῶν πολιτῶν μήτε πρὸς τοὺς οἴκτους τῶν τέκτων, πολλῷ δ᾽ ἔτι τούτου θαυμασιώτερον τὸ περὶ τὰς τιμωρίας αὐτῶν ἀμείλικτον.
[4] But he, paying no heed to either their cries or their lamentations, ordered the lictors to lead the youths away, though they wept and begged and called upon him in the most tender terms. Even this seemed astonishing to everybody, that he did not yield at all to either the entreaties of the citizens or the laments of his sons; but much more astonishing still was his relentlessness with regard to their punishment.
[5] οὔτε γὰρ ἄλλοθί που συνεχώρησεν ἀπαχθέντας τοὺς υἱοὺς ἔξω τῆς ἁπάντων ὄψεως ἀποθανεῖν, οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὑπανεχώρησεν, [p. 150] ἕως ἐκεῖνοι κολασθῶσι, τὴν δεινὴν θέαν ἐκτρεπόμενος, οὔτ᾽ ἄνευ προπηλακισμοῦ ἀφῆκεν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐψηφισμένην ἐκπληρῶσαι μοῖραν: ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ περὶ τὰς τιμωρίας ἔθη καὶ νόμιμα φυλάττων, ὅσα τοῖς κακούργοις ἀπόκειται παθεῖν, ἐν ἀγορᾷ πάντων ὁρώντων αἰκισθέντας τὰ σώματα πληγαῖς, αὐτὸς ἅπασι τοῖς γιγνομένοις παρών, τότε συνεχώρησε τοὺς αὐχένας τοῖς πελέκεσιν ἀποκοπῆναι.
[5] For he neither permitted his sons to be led away to any other place and put to death out of sight of the public, nor did he himself, in order to avoid the dreadful spectacle, withdraw from the Forum till after they had been punished; nor did he allow them to undergo the doom pronounced against them without ignominy, but he caused every detail of the punishment established by the laws and customs against malefactors to be observed, and only after they had been scourged in the Forum in the sight of all the citizens, he himself being present when all this was done, did he then allow their heads to be cut off with the axes.
[6] ὑπὲρ ἅπαντα δὲ τὰ παράδοξα καὶ θαυμαστὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὸ ἀτενὲς τῆς ὄψεως καὶ ἄτεγκτον ἦν: ὅς γε τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ὅσοι τῷ πάθει παρεγένοντο κλαιόντων μόνος οὔτ᾽ ἀνακλαυσάμενος ὤφθη τὸν μόρον τῶν τέκνων οὔτ᾽ ἀποιμώξας ἑαυτὸν τῆς καθεξούσης τὸν οἶκον ἐρημίας οὔτ᾽ ἄλλο μαλακὸν οὐθὲν ἐνδούς, ἀλλ᾽ ἄδακρύς τε καὶ ἀστένακτος καὶ ἀτενὴς διαμένων εὐκαρδίως ἤνεγκε τὴν συμφοράν. οὕτως ἰσχυρὸς ἦν τὴν γνώμην καὶ βέβαιος τὰ κριθέντα διατηρεῖν καὶ τῶν ἐπιταραττόντων τοὺς λογισμοὺς παθῶν καρτερός.
[6] But the most extraordinary and the most astonishing part of his behaviour was that he did not once avert his gaze nor shed a tear, and while all the rest who were present at this sad spectacle wept, he was the only person who was observed not to lament the fate of his sons, nor to pity himself for the desolation that was coming upon his house, nor to betray any other signs of weakness, but without a tear, without a groan, without once shifting his gaze, he bore his calamity with a stout heart. So strong of will was he, so steadfast in carrying out the sentence, and so completely the master of all the passions that disturb the reason.
[1] ἀποκτείνας δὲ τοὺς υἱοὺς εὐθὺς ἐκάλει τοὺς ἀδελφιδοῦς τοῦ συνάρχοντος Ἀκυλλίους, παρ᾽ οἷς αἱ σύνοδοι τῶν κατὰ τῆς πόλεως συνομοσαμένων ἐγένοντο: καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς αὐτῶν ἀναγνῶναι τῷ γραμματεῖ κελεύσας, ὥστε πάντας ἀκούειν τοὺς παρόντας, ἀπολογίαν ἔφησεν αὐτοῖς διδόναι. ὡς δὲ προήχθησαν οἱ νεανίσκοι πρὸς τὸ βῆμα, εἴθ᾽ ὑποθεμένου τινὸς τῶν φίλων εἴτ᾽ αὐτοὶ συμφρονήσαντες τοῖς γόνασι [p. 151] τοῦ θείου προσπίπτουσιν ὡς δι᾽ ἐκείνου σωθησόμενοι.
[9.1] After he had caused his sons to be put to death, he at once summoned the nephews of his colleague, the Aquilii, at whose house the meetings of the conspirators against the state had been held; and ordering the secretary to read out their letters, that all present might hear them, he told them they might make their defence. When the youths were brought before the tribunal, either acting on the suggestion of one of their friends or having agreed upon it themselves, they threw themselves at the feet of their uncle in hopes of being saved by him.
[2] κελεύσαντος δὲ τοῦ Βρούτου τοῖς ῥαβδούχοις ἀποσπᾶν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀπάγειν ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον, εἰ μὴ βούλοιντο ἀπολογήσασθαι, μικρὸν ἐπισχεῖν τοῖς ὑπηρέταις ὁ Καλλατῖνος εἰπών, ἕως τῷ συνάρχοντι διαλεχθῇ, λαβὼν τὸν ἄνδρα καταμόνας πολλὰς ἐξέτεινεν ὑπὲρ τῶν μειρακίων δεήσεις: τὰ μὲν ἀπολογούμενος ὡς διὰ νεότητος ἄνοιαν καὶ πονηρὰς φίλων ὁμιλίας εἰς ταύτην ἐμπεσόντων τὴν φρενοβλάβειαν, τὰ δὲ παρακαλῶν ἑαυτῷ χαρίσασθαι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν συγγενῶν
[2] And when Brutus ordered the lictors to drag them away and lead them off to death, unless they wished to make a defence, Collatinus, ordering the lictors to forbear a little while till he had talked with his colleague, took him aside and earnestly entreated him to spare the lads, now excusing them on the ground that through the ignorance of their youth and evil associations with friends they had fallen into this madness, and again begging him to grant him as a favour the lives of his kinsmen, the only favour he asked of him and the only trouble he should ever give him, and still again showing him that there was danger that the whole city would be thrown into an uproar if they attempted to punish with death all who were believed to have been working with the exiles for their return, since there were many such and some of them were of no obscure families.
[3] μίαν αἰτουμένῳ ταύτην τὴν δωρεὰν καὶ περὶ οὐδενὸς ἔτι ἑτέρου ἐνοχλήσοντι, τὰ δὲ διδάσκων, ὅτι συνταραχθῆναι κίνδυνος ὅλην τὴν πόλιν, ἐὰν ἅπαντας ἐπιχειρῶσι θανάτῳ ζημιοῦν τοὺς δόξαντάς τι συμπράττειν τοῖς φυγάσιν ὑπὲρ τῆς καθόδου: πολλοὺς γὰρ εἶναι καὶ οὐκ ἀσήμων οἰκιῶν ἐνίους. ὡς δ᾽ οὐκ ἔπειθε, τελευτῶν ἠξίου μὴ θάνατον, ἀλλὰ μετρίαν κατ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁρίσαι κόλασιν, ἄτοπον εἶναι λέγων τοὺς μὲν τυράννους φυγαῖς ἐζημιῶσθαι, τοὺς δὲ τῶν τυράννων φίλους θανάτῳ. ἀντιλέγοντος δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐπιείκειαν τῆς κολάσεως τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ οὐδ᾽ εἰς ἑτέρους ἀναβαλέσθαι χρόνους τὰς κρίσεις τῶν ἐν ταῖς αἰτίαις βουλομένου: τελευταία γὰρ αὕτη τοῦ συνάρχοντος δέησις ἦν: ἀλλ᾽ αὐθημερὸν ἀποκτενεῖν ἅπαντας ἀπειλοῦντος καὶ διομνυμένου, ἀδημονῶν ὁ Κολλατῖνος ἐπὶ τῷ μηδενὸς ὦν ἠξίου τυγχάνειν, Τοιγαροῦν, ἔφησεν, ἐπεὶ σκαιὸς εἶ καὶ πικρὸς ἐγὼ τὰ μειράκια ἀφαιροῦμαι τῆς [p. 152] αὐτῆς ἐξουσίας ἧς σὺ κύριος ὤν. καὶ ὁ Βροῦτος ἐκπικρανθείς, οὐκ ἐμοῦ γ᾽, ἔφη, ζῶντος, ὦ Κολλατῖνε, τοὺς προδότας τῆς πατρίδος ἰσχύσεις ἐξελέσθαι: ἀλλὰ καὶ σὺ δώσεις δίκας ἃς προσῆκεν οὐκ εἰς μακράν.
[3] But being unable to persuade him, he at last asked him not to condemn them to death, but to impose a moderate punishment on them, declaring that it was absurd, after punishing the tyrants with banishment only, to punish the friends of the tyrants with death. And when Brutus opposed even the equitable punishment that he suggested and was unwilling even to put off the trials of the accused (for this was the last request his colleague made), but threatened and swore he would put them all to death that very day, Collatinus, distressed at obtaining naught that he was asking, exclaimed: “Well then, since you are boorish and harsh, I, who possess the same authority as you, set the lads free.” And Brutus, exasperated, replied: “Not while I am alive, Collatinus, shall you be able to free those who are traitors to their country. Nay, but you too shall pay the fitting penalty, and that right soon.”
[1] ταῦτ᾽ εἰπὼν καὶ φυλακὴν τοῖς μειρακίοις ἐπιστήσας ἐκάλει τὸν δῆμον εἰς ἐκκλησίαν. πληρωθείσης δὲ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὄχλου: περιβόητον γὰρ ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν ὅλην τὸ περὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ πάθος ἐγεγόνει: προελθών τε καὶ τοὺς ἐντιμοτάτους τῶν ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ
[10] Having said this and stationed a guard over the lads, he called an assembly of the people, and when the Forum was filled with a crowd (for the fate of his sons had been noised abroad through the whole city), he came forward and placing the most distinguished members of the senate near him, spoke as follows:
[2] 5 παραστησάμενος ἔλεξε τοιάδε: ἐβουλόμην μὲν ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες πολῖται, Κολλατῖνον τουτονὶ τὸν συνάρχοντα περὶ πάντων μοι ταὐτὰ φρονεῖν καὶ μὴ τῷ λόγῳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις μισεῖν τοὺς τυράννους καὶ πολεμεῖν: ἐπεὶ δὲ τἀναντία φρονῶν γέγονέ μοι καταφανὴς καὶ ἔστιν οὐ μόνον τῇ φύσει Ταρκυνίων συγγενής, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ προαιρέσει, διαλλαγάς τε πράττων πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀντὶ τῶν κοινῇ συμφερόντων τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκοπῶν λυσιτελές, αὐτός τε κωλύειν αὐτὸν παρεσκεύασμαι πράττειν ἃ κατὰ νοῦν ἔχει πονηρὰ ὄντα, καὶ ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τούτῳ παρεκάλεσα: φράσω δ᾽ ὑμῖν πρῶτον μὲν, ἐν οἷς ἐγένετο κινδύνοις τὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως, ἔπειτα πῶς αὐτοῖς ἑκάτερος ἡμῶν κέχρηται.
[2] “I could wish, citizens, that Collatinus, my colleague here, held the same sentiments as I do in everything and that he showed his hatred and enmity towards the tyrants, not by his words only, but by his actions as well. But since it had become clear to me that his sentiments are the opposite of my own and since he is related to the Tarquinii, not alone by blood, but also by inclination, both working for a reconciliation with them and considering his private advantage instead of the public good, I have not only made my own preparations to prevent him from carrying out the mischievous designs he has in mind, but I have also summoned you for this same purpose. I shall inform you, first, of the dangers to which the commonwealth has been exposed and then in what manner each of us has dealt with those dangers.
[3] τῶν πολιτῶν τινες συνελθόντες εἰς τὴν Ἀκυλλίων οἰκίαν τῶν ἐκ τῆς Κολλατίνου γεγονότων ἀδελφῆς, ἐν οἷς ἦσαν οἵ τ᾽ ἐμοὶ παῖδες ἀμφότεροι καὶ οἱ τῆς γυναικὸς [p. 153] ἀδελφοὶ τῆς ἐμῆς καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς ἅμα τούτοις οὐκ ἀφανεῖς, συνθήκας ἐποιήσαντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ συνώμοσαν ἀποκτείναντες ἐμὲ καταγαγεῖν Ταρκύνιον ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν: ἐπιστολάς τε περὶ τούτων γράψαντες αὐτογράφους καὶ ταῖς ἑαυτῶν σφραγῖσι κατασημηνάμενοι πέμπειν πρὸς τοὺς φυγάδας ἔμελλον.
[3] Some of the citizens, assembling at the house of the Aquilii, who are sons of the sister of Collatinus, among them my two sons and the brothers of my wife, and some others with them, no obscure men, entered into an agreement and conspiracy to kill me and restore Tarquinius to the sovereignty. And having written letters concerning these matters in their own handwriting and sealed them with their own seals, they were intending to send them to the exiles.
[4] ταῦθ᾽ ἡμῖν θεῶν τινος εὐνοίᾳ καταφανῆ γέγονεν ὑπὸ τοῦδε μηνυθέντα τοῦ ἀνδρός: ἔστι δ᾽ Ἀκυλλίων δοῦλος, παρ᾽ οἷς καταγόμενοι τῇ παρελθούσῃ νυκτὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς ἔγραψαν: καὶ τῶν γραμμάτων γεγόναμεν αὐτῶν ἐγκρατεῖς. Τῖτον μὲν οὖν ἐγὼ καὶ Τιβέριον τοὺς ἐμοὺς παῖδας τετιμώρημαι: καὶ οὐδὲν καταλέλυται διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ἐπιείκειαν οὔτε νόμος οὔθ᾽ ὅρκος: Ἀκυλλίους δὲ Κολλατῖνος ἀφαιρεῖταί μου καί φησιν οὐκ ἐάσειν ὅμοια τοῖς ἐμοῖς παισὶ βουλεύσαντας τῶν ὁμοίων ἐκείνοις τυχεῖν.
[4] These things, by the favour of some god, have become known to us through information given by this man — he is a slave belonging to the Aquilii, at whose house they held a session last night and wrote the letters — and the letters themselves have come into our possession. As for Titus and Tiberius, my own sons, I have punished them, and neither the law nor our oath has in any degree been violated through clemency on my part. But Collatinus is trying to take the Aquilii out of my hands and declares that, even though they have taken part in the same counsels as my sons, he will not allow them to meet with the same punishment.
[5] εἰ δ᾽ οὗτοι μηδεμίαν ὑφέξουσι δίκην, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τῆς ἐμῆς γυναικὸς οὐδὲ τοὺς ἄλλους προδότας τῆς πατρίδος ἐξέσται μοι κολάσαι. τί γὰρ δὴ δίκαιον πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἕξω λέγειν, ἂν τούτους ἀφῶ; τίνος οὖν ταῦτα μηνύματα τίθεσθε; πότερα τῆς πρὸς τὴν πόλιν εὐνοίας ἢ τῶν πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους διαλλαγῶν, καὶ πότερα τῆς ἐμπεδώσεως τῶν ὅρκων, οὓς ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀρξάμενοι πάντες ὠμόσατε, ἢ τῆς συγχύσεώς τε καὶ ἐπιορκίας;
[5] But if these are not to suffer any penalty, then it will be impossible for me to punish either the brothers of my wife or the other traitors to their country. For what just charge shall I be able to bring against them if I let these off? Of what, then, do you think these actions of his are indications? Of loyalty to the commonwealth, or of a reconciliation with the tyrants? Of a confirmation of the oaths which you, following us, all took, or of a violation of those oaths, yes, of perjury?
[6] καὶ εἰ μὲν ἔλαθεν ἡμᾶς, ταῖς ἀραῖς ἔνοχος ἦν ἂν καὶ θεοῖς ὑπέσχεν, οὓς ἐπιώρκει, δίκας: ἐπειδὴ δὲ καταφανὴς γέγονεν, ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν αὐτὸν προσήκει κολασθῆναι, [p. 154] ὅς γ᾽ ὀλίγαις μὲν ἡμέραις πρότερον τὰ χρήματα τοῖς τυράννοις ὑμᾶς ἔπεισεν ἀποδοῦναι, ἵνα μὴ κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡ πόλις αὐτοῖς ἔχῃ χρῆσθαι πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τῆς πόλεως οἱ ἐχθροί: νῦν δὲ τοὺς ἐπὶ καθόδῳ τῶν τυράννων συνομοσαμένους ἀφεῖσθαι τῆς τιμωρίας οἴεται δεῖν, ἐκείνοις αὐτοὺς δηλονότι χαριζόμενος, ἵν᾽, ἐὰν ἄρα κατέλθωσιν εἴτ᾽ ἐκ προδοσίας εἴτε πολέμῳ, ταύτας προφερόμενος τὰς χάριτας ἁπάντων ὡς φίλος ὅσων ἂν αἱρῆται παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τυγχάνῃ.
[6] And if he had escaped discovery by us, he would have been subject to the curses we then invoked and he would have paid the penalty to the gods by whom he had sworn falsely; but since he has been found out, it is fitting that he should be punished by us — this man who but a few days ago persuaded you to restore their possessions to the tyrants, to the end that the commonwealth might not make use of them in the war against our enemies, but that our enemies might use them against the commonwealth. And now he thinks that those who have conspired to restore the tyrants ought to be let off from punishment, with a view no doubt of sparing their lives as a favour to the tyrants, so that, if these should after all return as the result of either treachery or war, he may, by reminding them of these favours, obtain from them, as being a friend, everything that he chooses.
[7] 6 ἔπειτ᾽ ἐγὼ τῶν ἐμῶν οὐ φεισάμενος τέκνων σοῦ φείσομαι, Κολλατῖνε, ὃς τὸ μὲν σῶμα παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἔχεις, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν παρὰ τοῖς πολεμίοις, καὶ τοὺς μὲν προδότας τῆς πατρίδος σώζεις, ἐμὲ δὲ τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀγωνιζόμενον ἀποκτενεῖς; πόθεν; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ: ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μηδὲν ἔτι τοιοῦτον ἐξεργάσῃ, τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἀφαιροῦμαί σε καὶ πόλιν ἑτέραν κελεύω μεταλαβεῖν: ὑμῖν δ᾽, ὦ πολῖται, ψῆφον ἀναδώσω καλέσας αὐτίκα μάλα τοὺς λόχους, ἵνα διαγνῶσιν, εἰ χρὴ ταῦτ᾽ εἶναι κύρια: εὖ δ᾽ ἴστε ὅτι δυεῖν θάτερον ἢ Κολλατῖνον ἕξοντες ὕπατον ἢ Βροῦτον.
[7] After this, shall I, who have not spared my own sons, spare you, Collatinus, who are with us indeed in person, but with our enemies in spirit, and are trying to save those who have betrayed their country and to kill me who am fighting in its defence? Far from it! On the contrary, to prevent you from doing anything of the kind in future, I now deprive you of your magistracy and command you to retire to some other city. And as for you, citizens, I shall assemble you at once by your centuries and take your votes, in order that you may decide whether this action of mine should be ratified. Be assured, however, that you will have only one of us two for your consul, either Collatinus or Brutus.”
[1] τοιαῦτα δὲ λέγοντος αὐτοῦ βοῶν καὶ δεινοπαθῶν ὁ Κολλατῖνος ἐπίβουλόν τε καὶ προδότην τῶν φίλων αὐτὸν παρ᾽ ἕκαστα ἀποκαλῶν καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑπὲρ τῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ διαβολῶν ἀπολογούμενος, τὰ δ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφιδῶν δεόμενος ψῆφόν τε καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ [p. 155] τοῖς πολίταις οὐκ ἐῶν ἀναδοῦναι χαλεπώτερον ἐποίει τὸν δῆμον καὶ δεινοὺς ἤγειρεν ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς λεγομένοις θορύβους.
[11] While Brutus was thus speaking, Collatinus kept crying out and loudly protesting and at every word calling him a plotter and a betrayer of his friends, and now by endeavouring to clear himself of the accusations against him, and now by pleading for his nephews, and by refusing to allow the matter to be put to the vote of the citizens, he made the people still angrier and caused a terrible uproar at everything he said.
[2] ἠγριωμένων δὲ τῶν πολιτῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ οὔτ᾽ ἀπολογίαν ὑπομενόντων οὔτε δέησιν προσιεμένων, ἀλλὰ τὰς ψήφους ἀναδοθῆναι σφίσι κελευσάντων, δἰ εὐλαβείας τὸ πρᾶγμα ὁ κηδεστὴς αὐτοῦ λαβὼν Σπόριος Λουκρήτιος, ἀνὴρ τῷ δήμῳ τίμιος, μὴ μεθ᾽ ὕβρεως τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἐκπέσῃ, λόγον αἰτησάμενος παρ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὑπάτων καὶ τυχὼν τῆς ἐξουσίας ταύτης πρῶτος, ὥς φασιν οἱ Ῥωμαίων συγγραφεῖς, οὔπω τότε Ῥωμαίοις ὄντος ἐν ἔθει δημηγορεῖν ἰδιώτην ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ, κοινὴν ἐποιήσατο δέησιν ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὑπάτων, Κολλατίνῳ μὲν παραινῶν μὴ θυμομαχεῖν μηδ᾽ ἀκόντων κατέχειν τῶν πολιτῶν τὴν ἀρχήν, ἣν παρ᾽ ἑκόντων ἔλαβεν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δοκεῖ τοῖς δοῦσιν αὐτὴν ἀπολαβεῖν ἑκόντα καταθέσθαι καὶ μὴ τοῖς λόγοις ἀπολύεσθαι τὰς καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ διαβολάς, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πράγμασι, μεταθέσθαι τε τὴν οἴκησιν ἑτέρωσέ ποί ποτε πάντα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ λαβόντα, ἕως ἂν ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ γένηται τὰ κοινά, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο δοκεῖ τῷ δήμῳ συμφέρειν, ἐνθυμούμενον, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἀδικήμασι γενομένοις ὀργίζεσθαι πεφύκασιν ἅπαντες, προδοσίᾳ δὲ καὶ ὑποπτευομένῃ, σωφρονέστερον ἡγούμενοι καὶ διὰ κενῆς φοβηθέντες αὐτὴν φυλάξασθαι μᾶλλον ἢ [p. 156]
[2] The citizens being now exasperated against him and refusing either to hear his defence or to listen to his entreaties, but calling for their votes to be taken, Spurius Lucretius, his father-in-law, a man esteemed by the people, feeling concern about the situation, lest Collatinus should be ignominiously driven from office and from his country, asked and obtained from both consuls leave to speak. He was the first person who ever obtained this privilege, as the Roman historians relate, since it was not yet customary at that time for a private citizen to speak in an assembly of the people. And addressing his entreaties to both consuls jointly, he advised Collatinus not to persist so obstinately in his opposition nor to retain against the will of the citizens the magistracy which he had received by their consent, but if those who had given it thought fit to take back the magistracy, to lay it down voluntarily, and to attempt to clear himself of the accusations against him, not by his words, but by his actions, and to remove with all his goods to some other region till the commonwealth should be in a state of security, since the good of the people seemed to require this. For he should bear in mind that, whereas in the case of other crimes all men are wont to show their resentment after the deed has been committed, in the case of treason they do so even when it is only suspected, regarding it as more prudent, though their fears may be vain, to guard against the treason than, by giving way to contempt, to be undone.
[3] καταφρονήσει ἐπιτρέψαντες ἀνατραπῆναι: Βροῦτον δὲ πείθων μὴ μετ᾽ αἰσχύνης καὶ προπηλακισμοῦ τὸν συνάρχοντα τῆς πατρίδος ἐκβαλεῖν, μεθ᾽ οὗ τὰ κράτιστα ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἐβούλευσεν: ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν αὐτὸς ὑπομένῃ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀποθέσθαι καὶ παραχωρῇ τῆς πατρίδος ἑκών, τήν τ᾽ οὐσίαν αὐτῷ πᾶσαν ἐπιτρέψαι κατὰ σχολὴν ἀνασκευάσασθαι, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου προσθεῖναί τινα δωρεάν, ἵνα παραμύθιον ἔχῃ τῆς συμφορᾶς τὴν παρὰ τοῦ δήμου χάριν.
[3] As for Brutus, he endeavoured to persuade him not to expel from his country with shame and vituperation his colleague with whom he had concerted the best measures for the commonwealth, but if Collatinus himself was willing to resign the magistracy and leave the country voluntarily, not only to give him leave to get together all his substance at his leisure, but also to add some gift from the public treasury, to the end that this favour conferred upon him by the people might be a comfort to him in his affliction.
[1] ταῦτα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀμφοτέροις παραινοῦντος καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν ἐπαινεσάντων τὸν λόγον, ὁ μὲν Κολλατῖνος πολλὰ κατολοφυρόμενος ἑαυτόν, εἰ διὰ συγγενῶν ἔλεον ἐκλιπεῖν ἀναγκασθήσεται τὴν πατρίδα μηδὲν ἀδικῶν, ἀποτίθεται τὴν ἀρχήν.
[12.1] When Lucretius thus advised both consuls and the citizens had voiced their approval, Collatinus, uttering many lamentations over his misfortune in being obliged, because of the compassion he had shown to his kinsmen, to leave his country, though he was guilty of no crime, resigned his magistracy.
[2] ὁ δὲ Βροῦτος ἐπαινέσας αὐτὸν ὡς τὰ κράτιστα καὶ συμφορώτατα ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τῇ πόλει βεβουλευμένον παρεκάλει μήτ᾽ αὐτῷ μήτε τῇ πατρίδι μνησικακεῖν: ἑτέραν δὲ μεταλαβόντα οἴκησιν τὴν καταλειπομένην πατρίδα ἡγεῖσθαι, μηδενὸς μήτ᾽ ἔργου μήτε λόγου κοινωνοῦντα τοῖς ἐχθροῖς κατ᾽ αὐτῆς: τὸ δ᾽ ὅλον ἀποδημίαν ὑπολαβόντα τὴν μετανάστασιν, οὐκ ἐξορισμὸν οὐδὲ φυγήν, τὸ μὲν σῶμα παρὰ τοῖς ὑποδεξαμένοις ἔχειν, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν παρὰ τοῖς προπέμπουσι. ταῦτα δ᾽ ὑποθέμενος τῷ ἀνδρὶ πείθει τὸν δῆμον εἴκοσι ταλάντων δοῦναι αὐτῷ δωρεὰν [p. 157] καὶ αὐτὸς πέντε τάλαντα προστίθησιν ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων.
[2] Brutus, praising him for having taken the best and the most advantageous resolution for both himself and the commonwealth, exhorted him not to entertain any resentment either against him or against his country, but after he had taken up his residence elsewhere, to regard as his country the home he was now leaving, and never to join with her enemies in any action or speech directed against her; in fine, to consider his change of residence as a sojourn abroad, not as an expulsion or a banishment, and while living in body with those who had received him, to dwell in spirit with those who now sent him on his way. After this exhortation to Collatinus he prevailed upon the people to make him a present of twenty talents, and he himself added five more from his own means.
[3] Ταρκύνιος μὲν δὴ Κολλατῖνος τοιαύτῃ τύχῃ περιπεσὼν εἰς Λαουίνιον ᾤχετο τὴν μητρόπολιν τοῦ Λατίνων γένους, ἐν ᾗ γηραιὸς ἐτελεύτα: ὁ δὲ Βροῦτος οὐκ ἀξιῶν μόνος ἄρχειν οὐδ᾽ εἰς ὑπόνοιαν ἐλθεῖν τοῖς πολίταις, ὅτι μοναρχίας ὑπαχθεὶς πόθῳ τὸν συνύπατον ἐξήλασεν ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος, καλέσας τὸν δῆμον εἰς τὸ πεδίον, ἔνθα σύνηθες αὐτοῖς ἦν τούς τε βασιλεῖς καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρχὰς καθιστάναι, συνάρχοντα αἱρεῖται Πόπλιον Οὐαλέριον, ἀπόγονον, ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἶπον, τοῦ Σαβίνου Οὐαλερίου, ἄνδρα πολλῶν μὲν καὶ ἄλλων ἐπιτηδευμάτων χάριν ἐπαινεῖσθαί τε καὶ θαυμάζεσθαι ἄξιον, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς αὐταρκείας τοῦ βίου. φιλοσοφία γάρ τις αὐτοδίδακτος ἐγένετο περὶ αὐτόν, ἣν ἐν πολλοῖς ἀπεδείξατο πράγμασιν, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὀλίγον ὕστερον ἐρῶ.
[3] So Tarquinius Collatinus, having met with this fate, retired to Lavinium, the mother-city of the Latin nation, where he died at an advanced age. And Brutus, thinking that he ought not to continue alone in the magistracy or to give occasion to the citizens to suspect that it was because of a desire to rule alone that he had banished his colleague from the country, summoned the people to the field where it was their custom to elect their kings and other magistrates, and chose for his colleague Publius Valerius, a descendant, as I have stated earlier, of the Sabine Valerius, a man worthy of both praise and admiration for many other qualities, but particularly for his frugal manner of life. For there was a kind of self-taught philosophy about him, which he displayed upon many occasions, of which I shall speak a little later.
[1] μετὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἤδη μιᾷ γνώμῃ περὶ πάντων χρώμενοι τοὺς μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ καθόδῳ τῶν φυγάδων συνομοσαμένους ἅπαντας ἀπέκτειναν παραχρῆμα, καὶ τὸν μηνύσαντα τὴν συνωμοσίαν δοῦλον ἐλευθερίᾳ τε καὶ πολιτείας μεταδόσει καὶ χρήμασι πολλοῖς ἐτίμησαν. ἔπειτα τρία πολιτεύματα κάλλιστα καὶ συμφορώτατα τῷ κοινῷ καταστησάμενοι τούς τ᾽ ἐν τῇ πόλει πάντας ὁμονοεῖν παρεσκεύασαν καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἑταιρίας ἐμείωσαν.
[13.1] After this Brutus and his colleague, acting in everything with a single mind, immediately put to death all who had conspired to restore the exiles, and also honoured the slave who had given information of the conspiracy, not only with his freedom, but also by the bestowal of citizenship and a large sum of money. Then they introduced three measures, all most excellent and advantageous to the state, by which they brought about harmony among all the citizens and weakened the factions of their enemies.
[2] ἦν δὲ τὰ πολιτεύματα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοιάδε: πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τῶν δημοτικῶν τοὺς κρατίστους ἐπιλέξαντες [p. 158] πατρικίους ἐποίησαν καὶ συνεπλήρωσαν ἐξ αὐτῶν τὴν βουλὴν τοὺς τριακοσίους: ἔπειτα τὰς οὐσίας τῶν τυράννων εἰς τὸ κοινὸν ἅπασι τοῖς πολίταις φέροντες ἔθεσαν, συγχωρήσαντες ὅσον λάβοι τις ἐξ αὐτῶν ἔχειν: καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν γῆν ὅσην ἐκέκτηντο τοῖς μηδένα κλῆρον ἔχουσι διένειμαν, ἓν μόνον ἐξελόμενοι πεδίον, ὃ κεῖται μεταξὺ τῆς τε πόλεως καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ. τοῦτο δ᾽ Ἄρεος ὑπάρχειν ἱερὸν οἱ πρότερον ἐψηφίσαντο ἵπποις τε λειμῶνα καὶ νέοις ἀσκοῦσι τὰς ἐνοπλίους μελέτας γυμνάσιον ἐπιτηδειότατον: ὅτι δὲ καὶ πρότερον ἱερὸν ἦν τοῦδε τοῦ θεοῦ, Ταρκύνιος δὲ σφετερισάμενος ἔσπειρεν αὐτὸ μέγιστον ἡγοῦμαι τεκμήριον εἶναι τὸ πραχθὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων τότε περὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ καρπούς.
[2] Their measures were as follows: In the first place, choosing the best men from among the plebeians, they made them patricians, and thus rounded out the membership of the senate to three hundred. Next, they brought out and exposed in public the goods of the tyrants for the benefit of all the citizens, permitting everyone to have as large a portion of them as he could seize; and the lands the tyrants had possessed they divided among those who had no allotments, reserving only one field, which lies between the city and the river. This field their ancestors had by a public decree consecrated to Mars as a meadow for horses and the most suitable drill-field for the youth to perform their exercises in arms. The strongest proof, I think, that even before this the field had been consecrated to this god, but that Tarquinius had appropriated it to his own use and sown it, was the action then taken by the consuls in regard to the corn there.
[3] ἅπαντα γὰρ ἐπιτρέψαντες τῷ δήμῳ τὰ τῶν τυράννων ἄγειν τε καὶ φέρειν, τὸν ἐν τούτῳ γενόμενον τῷ πεδίῳ σῖτον τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ ταῖς καλάμαις, τὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῖς ἔτι ἅλωσιν κείμενον καὶ τὸν ἤδη κατειργασμένον οὐκ ἐπέτρεψαν οὐδενὶ φέρειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἐξάγιστόν τε καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἐπιτήδειον εἰς οἰκίας εἰσενεχθῆναι, εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν καταβαλεῖν ἐψηφίσαντο.
[3] For though they had given leave to the people to drive and carry away everything that belonged to the tyrants, they would not permit anyone to carry away the grain which had grown in this field and was still lying upon the threshing-floors whether in the straw or threshed, but looking upon it as accursed and quite unfit to be carried into their houses, they caused a vote to be passed that it should be thrown into the river.
[4] καὶ ἔστι νῦν μνημεῖον ἐμφανὲς τοῦ ποτε ἔργου νῆσος εὐμεγέθης Ἀσκληπιοῦ ἱερά, περίκλυστος ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, [p. 159] ἥν φασιν ἐκ τοῦ σωροῦ τῆς καλάμης σαπείσης καὶ ἔτι καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ προσλιπαίνοντος αὐτῇ ἰλὺν γενέσθαι. καὶ τοῖς μετὰ τοῦ τυράννου πεφευγόσι Ῥωμαίων κάθοδον εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐπ᾽ ἀδείᾳ τε καὶ ἀμνηστίᾳ παντὸς ἁμαρτήματος ἔδωκαν χρόνον ὁρίσαντες ἡμερῶν εἴκοσιν: εἰ δὲ μὴ κατέλθοιεν ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ προθεσμίᾳ, τιμωρίας αὐτοῖς ὥρισαν ἀιδίους φυγὰς καὶ
[4] And there is even now a conspicuous monument of what happened on that occasion, in the form of an island of goodly size consecrated to Aesculapius and washed on all sides by the river, an island which was formed, they say, out of the heap of rotten straw and was further enlarged by the silt which the river kept adding. The consuls also granted to all the Romans who had fled with the tyrant leave to return to the city with impunity and under a general amnesty, setting a time-limit of twenty days; and if they did not return within this fixed time, the penalties set in their case were perpetual banishment and the confiscation of their estates.
[5] κτημάτων ὧν ἐκέκτηντο δημεύσεις. ταῦτα τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὰ πολιτεύματα τοὺς μὲν ἀπολαύσαντας ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τῶν τυράννων ὅτου δή τινος ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἀφαιρεθῆναι πάλιν ἃς ἔσχον ὠφελείας ἅπαντα κίνδυνον ἐποίησεν ὑπομένειν: τοὺς δὲ κατὰ δέος ὧν παρηνόμησαν ἐπὶ τῆς τυραννίδος μὴ δίκην ἀναγκασθεῖεν ὑπέχειν φυγῆς ἑαυτοῖς τιμησαμένους, ἀπαλλαγέντας τοῦ φόβου μηκέτι τὰ τῶν τυράννων, ἀλλὰ τὰ τῆς πόλεως φρονεῖν.
[5] These measures of the consuls caused those who had enjoyed any part whatever of the possessions belonging to the tyrants to submit to any danger rather than be deprived again of the advantages they had obtained; and, on the other hand, by freeing from their fear those who, through dread of having to stand trial for the crimes they had committed under the tyranny, had condemned themselves to banishment, they caused them to favour the side of the commonwealth rather than that of the tyrants.
[1] διαπραξάμενοι δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον εὐτρεπισάμενοι τέως μὲν ὑπὸ τῇ πόλει τὰς δυνάμεις συνεῖχον ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις ὑπὸ σημείοις τε καὶ ἡγεμόσι τεταγμένας καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἀσκούσας πυνθανόμενοι τοὺς φυγάδας ἐξ ἁπασῶν τῶν ἐν Τυρρηνίᾳ πόλεων ἀγείρειν ἐπὶ σφᾶς στρατόν, καὶ δύο μὲν πόλεις ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ συλλαμβάνειν αὐτοῖς τῆς καθόδου, Ταρκυνιήτας τε καὶ Οὐιεντανούς, ἀξιοχρέοις δυνάμεσιν ἀμφοτέρας, ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθελοντάς τινας, οὓς μὲν ὑπὸ φίλων παρασκευασθέντας, οὓς δὲ μισθοφόρους: [p. 160] ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἔμαθον ἐξεληλυθότας ἤδη τοὺς πολεμίους, ἀπαντᾶν αὐτοῖς ἔγνωσαν, καὶ πρὶν ἐκείνους διαβῆναι τὸν ποταμὸν αὐτοὶ τὰς δυνάμεις διαβιβάσαντες ἐχώρουν πρόσω, καὶ κατεστρατοπέδευσαν πλησίον Τυρρηνῶν ἐν λειμῶνι καλουμένῳ Ναιβίῳ παρὰ δρυμὸν
[14.1] After they had instituted these measures and made the necessary preparations for the war, they for some time kept their forces assembled in the plains under the walls of the city, disposed under their various standards and leaders and performing their warlike exercises. For they had learned that the exiles were raising an army against them in all the cities of Tyrrhenia and that two of these cities, Tarquinii and Veii, were openly assisting them toward their restoration, both of them with considerable armies, and that from the other cities volunteers were coming to their aid, some of them being sent by their friends and some being mercenaries. When the Romans heard that their enemies had already taken the field, they resolved to go out and meet them, and before the others could cross the river they led their own forces across, and marching forward, encamped near the Tyrrhenians in the Naevian Meadow, as it was called, near a grove consecrated to the hero Horatius.
[2] ἱερὸν ἥρωος Ὁρατίου. ἐτύγχανον δὲ πλήθει τε ἀγχώμαλοι μάλισθ᾽ αἱ δυνάμεις αὐτῶν οὖσαι καὶ προθυμίᾳ ὁμοίᾳ χωροῦσαι πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀμφότεραι. πρώτη μὲν οὖν ἐγένετο τῶν ἱππέων μάχη βραχεῖά τις εὐθὺς ἅμα τῷ συνιδεῖν ἀλλήλους πρὶν ἢ τοὺς πεζοὺς καταστρατοπεδεύεσθαι, ἐν ᾗ διάπειραν ἀλλήλων λαβόντες καὶ οὔτε νικήσαντες οὔτε λειφθέντες πρὸς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἑκάτεροι χάρακας ἀπηλλάγησαν: ἔπειτα οἵ τε ὁπλῖται καὶ οἱ ἱππεῖς ἀφ᾽ ἑκατέρων συνῄεσαν ταξάμενοι τὸν αὐτὸν ἀλλήλοις τρόπον, μέσην μὲν τὴν φάλαγγα τῶν πεζῶν ποιήσαντες, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν κεράτων ἀμφοτέρων τὴν ἵππον στήσαντες.
[2] Both armies, as it chanced, were nearly equal in numbers and advanced to the conflict with the same eagerness. The first engagement was a brief cavalry skirmish, as soon as they came in sight of one another, before the foot were encamped, in which they tested each other’s strength and then, without either winning or losing, retired to their respective camps. Afterwards the heavy-armed troops and the horse of both armies engaged, both sides having drawn up their lines in the same manner, placing the solid ranks of foot in the centre and stationing the horse on both wings.
[3] ἡγεῖτο δὲ τοῦ μὲν δεξιοῦ Ῥωμαίων κέρατος Οὐαλέριος ὁ προσαιρεθεὶς ὕπατος ἐναντίαν στάσιν ἔχων Οὐιεντανοῖς, τοῦ δ᾽ εὐωνύμου Βροῦτος, καθ᾽ ὃ μέρος ἡ Ταρκυνιητῶν δύναμις ἦν: ἡγεμόνες δ᾽ αὐτὴν ἐκόσμουν οἱ Ταρκυνίου τοῦ βασιλέως παῖδες.
[3] The right wing of the Romans was commanded by Valerius, the newly-elected consul, who stood opposite to the Veientes, and the left by Brutus, in the sector where the forces of the Tarquinienses were, under the command of the sons of King Tarquinius.
[1] μελλόντων δ᾽ αὐτῶν εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι προελθὼν ἐκ τῆς τάξεως τῶν Τυρρηνῶν εἷς τῶν Ταρκυνίου παίδων, Ἄρρους ὄνομα, ῥωμήν τε κράτιστος καὶ [p. 161] ψυχὴν λαμπρότατος τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ἐγγὺς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐλάσας τὸν ἵππον, ὅθεν μορφήν τε καὶ φωνὴν ἅπαντες ἔμελλον αὐτοῦ συνήσειν, λόγους ὑβριστὰς εἰς τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν Ῥωμαίων Βροῦτον ἀπερρίπτει, θηρίον ἄγριον ἀποκαλῶν καὶ τέκνων αἵματι μιαρόν, ἀνανδρίαν τ᾽ ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ δειλίαν ὀνειδίζων, καὶ τελευτῶν εἰς τὸν ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων ἀγῶνα προὐκαλεῖτο μόνον αὑτῷ
[15.1] When the armies were ready to engage, one of the sons of Tarquinius, named Arruns, the most remarkable of the brothers both for the strength of his body and the brilliance of his mind, advanced before the ranks of the Tyrrhenians, and riding up so close to the Romans that all of them would recognize both his person and his voice, hurled abusive taunts at Brutus, their commander, calling him a wild beast, one stained with the blood of his sons, and reproaching him with cowardice and cravenness, and finally challenged him to decide the general quarrel by fighting with him in single combat.
[2] συνοισόμενον. κἀκεῖνος οὐκ ἀξιῶν τοὺς ὀνειδισμοὺς ὑπομένειν ἤλαυνε τὸν ἵππον ἐκ τῆς τάξεως, ὑπεριδὼν καὶ τῶν ἀποτρεπόντων φίλων ἐπὶ τὸν κατεψηφισμένον ὑπὸ τῆς μοίρας θάνατον ἐπειγόμενος. ὁμοίῳ δ᾽ ἀμφότεροι θυμῷ φερόμενοι καὶ λογισμὸν οὐχ ὧν πείσονται λαβόντες, ἀλλ᾽ ὧν ἐβούλοντο δρᾶσαι, συρράττουσι τοὺς ἵππους ἐξ ἐναντίας ἐλαύνοντες καὶ φέρουσι ταῖς σαρίσαις ἀφύκτους κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων πληγὰς ἀμφότεροι δι᾽ ἀσπίδων τε καὶ θωράκων, ὁ μὲν εἰς τὰ πλευρὰ βάψας τὴν αἰχμήν, ὁ δ᾽ εἰς τὰς λαγόνας: καὶ οἱ ἵπποι αὐτῶν ἐμπλέξαντες τὰ στήθη τῇ ῥύμῃ τῆς φορᾶς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀπισθίοις ἀνίστανται ποσὶ καὶ τοὺς ἐπιβάτας ἀναχαιτίσαντες ἀποσείονται.
[2] Then Brutus, unable to bear these reproaches and deaf also to the remonstrances of his friends, spurred forward from the ranks, rushing upon the death that was decreed for him by fate. For both men, urged on by a like fury and taking thought, not of what they might suffer, but only of what they desired to do, rode full tilt at each other, and clashing, delivered unerring blows against each other with their pikes, piercing through shield and corslet, so that the point was buried in the flank of one and in the loins of the other; and their horses, crashing together breast to breast, rose upon their hind legs through the violence of the charge, and throwing back their heads, shook off their riders.
[3] οὕτω μὲν δὴ πεσόντες ἔκειντο πολὺ διὰ τῶν τραυμάτων ἐκβάλλοντες αἷμα καὶ ψυχορραγοῦντες, αἱ δ᾽ ἄλλαι δυνάμεις ὡς τοὺς ἡγεμόνας εἶδον συμπεσόντας, ὠθοῦνται σὺν ἀλαλαγμῷ καὶ πατάγῳ, καὶ γίνεται μέγιστος ἁπάντων ἀγὼν πεζῶν τε [p. 162]
[3] These champions, accordingly, having fallen, lay there in their death agony, while streams of blood gushed from their wounds. But the two armies, when they saw that their leaders had fallen, pressed forward with shouts and the clash of arms, and the most violent of all battles ensued on the part of both foot and horse, the fortune of which was alike to both sides.
[4] καὶ ἱππέων καὶ τύχη περὶ ἀμφοτέρους ὁμοία. Ῥωμαίων τε γὰρ οἱ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας ἔχοντες, ἐφ᾽ οὗ τεταγμένος ἦν ὁ ἕτερος τῶν ὑπάτων Οὐαλέριος, ἐνίκων τοὺς Οὐιεντανοὺς καὶ μέχρι τοῦ στρατοπέδου διώξαντες ἐπλήρωσαν νεκρῶν τὸ πεδίον, Τυρρηνῶν τε οἱ τὴν τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρατος ἔχοντες στάσιν, ὧν ἡγοῦντο Τῖτος καὶ Σέξτος οἱ Ταρκυνίου τοῦ βασιλέως παῖδες, ἐτρέψαντο τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ λαιοῦ ὄντας Ῥωμαίων κέρατος, καὶ πλησίον τοῦ χάρακος αὐτῶν γενόμενοι πείρας μὲν οὐκ ἀπέστησαν, εἰ δύναιντο ἑλεῖν τὸ ἔρυμα ἐξ ἐφόδου, πολλὰς δὲ πληγὰς λαβόντες ὑποστάντων αὐτοὺς τῶν ἔνδον ἀπετράποντο. ἦσαν δ᾽ αὐτοῦ φύλακες οἱ τριάριοι λεγόμενοι, παλαιοί τε καὶ πολλῶν ἔμπειροι πολέμων, οἷς ἐσχάτοις, ὅταν ἀπογνωσθῇ πᾶσα ἐλπίς, εἰς τοὺς περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ἀγῶνας καταχρῶνται.
[4] For those of the Romans who were on the right wing, which was commanded by Valerius, the other consul, were victorious over the Veientes, and pursuing them to their camp, covered the plain with dead bodies; while those of the Tyrrhenians who were posted on the enemy’s right wing and commanded by Titus and Sextus, the sons of King Tarquinius, put the left wing of the Romans the son of flight, and advancing close to their camp, did not fail to attempt to take it by storm; but after receiving many wounds, since those inside stood their ground, they desisted. These guards were the triarii, as they are called; they are veteran troops, experienced in many wars, and are always the last employed in the most critical fighting, when every other hope is lost.
[1] ἤδη δὲ περὶ καταφορὰν ὄντος ἡλίου πρὸς τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἀνέστρεψαν ἑκάτεροι χάρακας, οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ χαίροντες, ὅσον ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἀπολωλότων ἀχθόμενοι καί, εἰ δεήσειεν αὐτοῖς ἑτέρας μάχης, οὐχ ἱκανοὺς ἡγούμενοι τὸν ἀγῶνα ἄρασθαι τοὺς περιλειπομένους σφῶν τραυματίας τοὺς πολλοὺς ὄντας.
[16.1] The sun being now near setting, both armies retired to their camps, not so much elated by their victory as grieved at the numbers they had lost, and believing that, if it should be necessary for them to have another battle, those of them now left would be insufficient to carry on the struggle, the major part of them being wounded.
[2] πλείων δ᾽ ἦν περὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἀθυμία καὶ ἀπόγνωσις τῶν πραγμάτων διὰ τὸν τοῦ ἡγεμόνος θάνατον: καὶ λογισμὸς εἰσῄει πολλοῖς, ὡς ἄμεινον εἴη σφίσιν ἐκλιπεῖν τὸν χάρακα πρὶν ἡμέραν γενέσθαι. τοιαῦτα δ᾽ αὐτῶν διανοουμένων καὶ διαλεγομένων πρὸς ἀλλήλους περὶ τὴν πρώτην που μάλιστα φυλακὴν [p. 163] ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ, παρ᾽ ὃν ἐστρατοπεδεύσαντο, φωνή τις ἠκούσθη ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἀμφοτέραις γεγονυῖα, ὥσθ᾽ ἅπαντας αὐτοὺς ἀκούειν εἴτε τοῦ κατέχοντος τὸ τέμενος ἥρωος εἴτε τοῦ καλουμένου Φαύνου.
[2] But there was greater dejection and despair of their cause on the side of the Romans because of the death of their leader; and the thought occurred to many of them that it would be better for them to quit their camp before break of day. While they were considering these things and discussing them among themselves, about the time of the first watch a voice was heard from the grove near which they were encamped, calling aloud to both armies in such a manner as to be heard by all of them; it may have been the voice of the hero to whom the precinct was consecrated, or it may have been that of Faunus, as he is called.
[3] τούτῳ γὰρ ἀνατιθέασι τῷ δαίμονι Ῥωμαῖοι τὰ πανικὰ καὶ ὅσα φάσματα μορφὰς ἄλλοτε ἀλλοίας ἴσχοντα εἰς ὄψιν ἀνθρώπων ἔρχεται δείματα φέροντα, ἢ φωναὶ δαιμόνιοι ταράττουσι τὰς ἀκοὰς τούτου φασὶν εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ τὸ ἔργον. ἡ δὲ τοῦ δαιμονίου φωνὴ θαρρεῖν παρεκελεύετο τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ὡς νενικηκόσιν, ἑνὶ πλείους εἶναι τοὺς τῶν πολεμίων ἀποφαίνουσα νεκρούς. ταύτῃ λέγουσι τῇ φωνῇ τὸν Οὐαλέριον ἐπαρθέντα νυκτὸς ἔτι πολλῆς ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα τῶν Τυρρηνῶν ὤσασθαι καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ἀποκτείναντα ἐξ αὐτῶν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἐκβαλόντα κρατῆσαι τοῦ στρατοπέδου.
[3] For the Romans attribute panics to this divinity; and whatever apparitions come to men’s sight, now in one shape and now in another, inspiring terror, or whatever supernatural voices come to their ears to disturb them are the work, they say, of this god. The voice of the divinity exhorted the Romans to be of good courage, as having gained the victory, and declared that the enemy’s dead exceeded theirs by one man. They say that Valerius, encouraged by this voice, pushed on to the Tyrrhenians’ entrenchments while it was still the dead of night, and having slain many of them and driven the rest out of the camp, made himself master of it.
[1] τοιοῦτο μὲν ἡ μάχη τέλος ἔλαβεν: τῇ δ᾽ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ σκυλεύσαντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τοὺς τῶν πολεμίων νεκροὺς καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν θάψαντες ἀπῄεσαν. τὸ δὲ Βρούτου σῶμα ἀράμενοι μετὰ πολλῶν ἐπαίνων τε καὶ δακρύων εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἀπεκόμιζον οἱ κράτιστοι τῶν ἱππέων στεφάνοις κεκοσμημένον ἀριστείοις.
[17.1] Such was the outcome of the battle. The next day the Romans, having stripped the enemy’s dead and buried their own, returned home. The bravest of the knight took up the body of Brutus and with many praises and tears bore it back to Rome, adorned with crowns in token of his superior valour.
[2] ὑπήντα δ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἥ τε βουλὴ θριάμβου καταγωγῇ ψηφισαμένη κοσμῆσαι τὸν ἡγεμόνα, καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἅπας κρατῆρσι καὶ τραπέζαις ὑποδεχόμενος τὴν στρατιάν. ὡς δ᾽ εἰς [p. 164] τὴν πόλιν ἀφίκοντο, πομπεύσας ὁ ὕπατος, ὡς τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἔθος ἦν, ὅτε τὰς τροπαιφόρους πομπάς τε καὶ θυσίας ἐπιτελοῖεν, καὶ τὰ σκῦλα τοῖς θεοῖς ἀναθείς, ἐκείνην μὲν τὴν ἡμέραν ἱερὰν ἀνῆκε καὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν πολιτῶν ἑστιάσει προθεὶς ὑπεδέχετο: τῇ δ᾽ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ φαιὰν ἐσθῆτα λαβὼν καὶ τὸ Βρούτου σῶμα προθεὶς ἐν ἀγορᾷ κεκοσμημένον ἐπὶ στρωμνῆς ἐκπρεποῦς συνεκάλει τὸν δῆμον εἰς ἐκκλησίαν καὶ προελθὼν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα τὸν ἐπιτάφιον ἔλεξεν ἐπ᾽
[2] They were met by the senate, which had decreed a triumph in honour of their leader, and also by all the people, who received the army with bowls of wine and tables spread with viands. When they came into the city, the consul triumphed according to the custom followed by the kings when they conducted the trophy-bearing processions and the sacrifices, and having consecrated the spoils to the gods, he observed that day as sacred and gave a banquet to the most distinguished of the citizens. But on the next day he arrayed himself in dark clothing, and placing the body of Brutus, suitably adorned, upon a magnificent bier in the Forum, he called the people together in assembly, and advancing to the tribunal, delivered the funeral oration in his honour.
[3] 7 αὐτῷ λόγον. εἰ μὲν οὖν Οὐαλέριος πρῶτος κατεστήσατο τὸν νόμον τόνδε Ῥωμαίοις ἢ κείμενον ὑπὸ τῶν βασιλέων παρέλαβεν, οὐκ ἔχω τὸ σαφὲς εἰπεῖν: ὅτι δὲ Ῥωμαίων ἐστὶν ἀρχαῖον εὕρεμα τὸ παρὰ τὰς ταφὰς τῶν ἐπισήμων ἀνδρῶν ἐπαίνους τῆς ἀρετῆς αὐτῶν λέγεσθαι καὶ οὐχ Ἕλληνες αὐτὸ κατεστήσαντο πρῶτοι, παρὰ τῆς κοινῆς ἱστορίας οἶδα μαθών, ἣν ποιητῶν τε οἱ παλαιότατοι καὶ συγγραφέων οἱ λογιώτατοι παραδεδώκασιν.
[3] Whether Valerius was the first who introduced this custom among the Romans or whether he found it already established by the kings and adopted it, I cannot say for certain; but I do know from my acquaintance with universal history, as handed down by the most ancient poets and the most celebrated historians, that it was an ancient custom instituted by the Romans to celebrate the virtues of illustrious men at their funerals and that the Greeks were not the authors of it.
[4] ἀγῶνας μὲν γὰρ ἐπιταφίους τιθεμένους ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐνδόξοις ἀνδράσι γυμνικούς τε καὶ ἱππικοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν προσηκόντων ἱστορήκασιν, ὡς ὑπό τ᾽ Ἀχιλλέως ἐπὶ Πατρόκλῳ καὶ ἔτι πρότερον ὑφ᾽ Ἡρακλέους ἐπὶ Πέλοπι: ἐπαίνους δὲ λεγομένους ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς οὐ γράφουσιν ἔξω τῶν Ἀθήνησι τραγῳδοποιῶν, οἳ κολακεύοντες τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ Θησέως θαπτομένοις καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐμύθευσαν. ὀψὲ γάρ ποτε Ἀθηναῖοι προσέθεσαν τὸν ἐπιτάφιον ἔπαινον τῷ νόμῳ, εἴτ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπ᾽ Ἀρτεμισίῳ καὶ περὶ Σαλαμῖνα καὶ ἐν Πλαταιαῖς [p. 165] ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἀποθανόντων ἀρξάμενοι, εἴτ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ Μαραθῶνα ἔργων. ὑστερεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ Μαραθώνια τῆς Βρούτου ταφῆς, εἰ δὴ ἀπὸ τούτων πρώτων ἤρξαντο οἱ ἔπαινοι λέγεσθαι τοῖς ἀπογενομένοις, ἑκκαίδεκα ἔτεσιν.
[4] For although these writers have given accounts of funeral games, both gymnastic and equestrian, held in honour of famous men by their friends, as by Achilles for Patroclus and, before that, by Heracles for Pelops, yet none of them makes any mention of eulogies spoken over the deceased except the tragic poets at Athens, who, out of flattery to their city, invented this legend also in the case of those who were buried by Theseus. For it was only at some late period that the Athenians added to their custom the funeral oration, having instituted it either in honour of those who died in defence of their country at Artemisium, Salamis and Plataea, or on account of the deeds performed at Marathon. But even the affair at Marathon — if, indeed, the eulogies delivered in honour of the deceased really began with that occasion — was later than the funeral of Brutus by sixteen years.
[5] εἰ δέ τις ἐάσας σκοπεῖν, οἵ τινες ἦσαν οἱ πρῶτοι τοὺς ἐπιταφίους ἐπαίνους καταστησάμενοι, τὸν νόμον αὐτὸν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ βουληθείη καταμαθεῖν, παρ᾽ ὁποτέροις ἄμεινον ἔχει, τοσούτῳ φρονιμώτερον εὑρήσει παρὰ τοῖσδε κείμενον αὐτὸν ἢ παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις, ὅσῳ γ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῶν πολέμων θαπτομένοις καταστήσασθαι τοὺς ἐπιταφίους ἀγορεύεσθαι λόγους δοκοῦσιν ἐκ μιᾶς τῆς περὶ τὸν θάνατον ἀρετῆς, κἂν τἆλλα φαῦλος γένηταί τις, ἐξετάζειν οἰόμενοι δεῖν τοὺς ἀγαθούς:
[5] However, if anyone, without stopping to investigate who were the first to introduce these funeral orations, desires to consider the custom in itself and to learn in which of the two nations it is seen at its best, he will find that it is observed more wisely among the Romans than among the Athenians. For, whereas the Athenians seem to have ordained that these orations should be pronounced at the funerals of those only who have died in war, believing that one should determine who are good men solely on the basis of the valour they show at their death, even though in other respects they are without merit,
[6] Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ πᾶσι τοῖς ἐνδόξοις ἀνδράσιν, ἐάν τε πολέμων ἡγεμονίας λαβόντες ἐάν τε πολιτικῶν ἔργων προστασίας συνετὰ βουλεύματα καὶ πράξεις ἀποδείξωνται καλάς, ταύτην ἔταξαν εἶναι τὴν τιμήν, οὐ μόνον τοῖς κατὰ πόλεμον ἀποθανοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ὁποιᾳδήποτε χρησαμένοις τοῦ βίου τελευτῇ, ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς περὶ τὸν βίον ἀρετῆς οἰόμενοι δεῖν ἐπαινεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀγαθούς, οὐκ ἐκ μιᾶς τῆς περὶ τὸν θάνατον εὐκλείας.
[6] the Romans, on the other hand, appointed this honour to be paid to all their illustrious men, whether as commanders in war or as leaders in the civil administration they have given wise counsels and performed noble deeds, and this not alone to those who have died in war, but also to those who have met their end in any manner whatsoever, believing that good men deserve praise for every virtue they have shown during their lives and not solely for the single glory of their death.
[1] Ἰούνιος μὲν δὴ Βροῦτος ὁ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐκβαλὼν καὶ πρῶτος ἀποδειχθεὶς ὕπατος, ὀψὲ μὲν εἰς ἐπιφάνειαν προελθών, ἀκαρῆ δὲ χρόνον ἀνθήσας ἐν αὐτῇ Ῥωμαίων ἁπάντων κράτιστος φανεὶς τοιαύτης [p. 166] τελευτῆς ἔτυχε, γενεὰν οὔτε ἄρρενα καταλιπὼν οὔτε θήλειαν, ὡς οἱ τὰ Ῥωμαίων σαφέστατα ἐξητακότες γράφουσι, τεκμήρια πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄλλα τούτου φέροντες, ὑπὲρ ἅπαντα δ᾽ ὃ δυσαντίλεκτόν ἐστιν, ὅτι τοῦ πατρικίων γένους ἐκεῖνος ἦν, οἱ δ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης αὑτοὺς λέγοντες εἶναι τῆς οἰκίας Ἰούνιοί τε καὶ Βροῦτοι πάντες ἦσαν πλήβειοι καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς μετῄεσαν, ἃς τοῖς δημοτικοῖς μετιέναι νόμος, ἀγορανομίας τε καὶ δημαρχίας, ὑπατείαν δ᾽ οὐδείς, ἧς τοῖς πατρικίοις 8 μετῆν.
[18.1] Such, then, was the death of Junius Brutus, who overthrew the monarchy and was appointed the first consul. Though he attained late to a place of distinction and flourished in it but a brief moment, yet he was looked upon as the greatest of all the Romans. He left no issue, either sons or daughters, according to the writers who have investigated the history of the Romans most accurately; of this they offer many proofs, and this one in particular, which is not easily refuted, that he was of a patrician family, whereas those who have claimed to be descended from that family, as the Junii and Bruti, were all plebeians and were candidates for those magistracies only which were open by law to the plebeians, namely, the aedileship and tribuneship, but none of them stood for the consulship, to which the patricians only were eligible.
[2] ὀψὲ δέ ποτε καὶ ταύτης ἔτυχον τῆς ἀρχῆς, ὅτε συνεχωρήθη καὶ τοῖς δημοτικοῖς αὐτὴν λαβεῖν. ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων οἷς μέλει τε καὶ διαφέρει τὸ σαφὲς εἰδέναι παρίημι σκοπεῖν.
[2] Yet at a late period they obtained this magistracy also, when the plebeians too were allowed to hold it. But I leave the consideration of these matters to those whose business and interest it is to discover the precise facts.
[1] μετὰ δὲ τὴν Βρούτου τελευτὴν ὁ συνύπατος αὐτοῦ Οὐαλέριος ὕποπτος γίνεται τοῖς δημοτικοῖς ὡς βασιλείαν κατασκευαζόμενος: πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι μόνος κατέσχε τὴν ἀρχὴν δέον εὐθὺς ἑλέσθαι τὸν συνύπατον, ὥσπερ ὁ Βροῦτος ἐποίησε Κολλατῖνον ἐκβαλών: ἔπειθ᾽ ὅτι τὴν οἰκίαν ἐν ἐπιφθόνῳ τόπῳ κατεσκευάσατο λόφον ὑπερκείμενον τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὑψηλὸν ἐπιεικῶς καὶ περίτομον, ὃν καλοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι Οὐελίαν,
[19.1] After the death of Brutus his colleague Valerius became suspected by the people of a design to make himself king. The first ground of their suspicion was his continuing alone in the magistracy, when he ought immediately to have chosen a colleague as Brutus had done after he had expelled Collatinus. Another reason was that he had built his house in an invidious place, having chosen for that purpose a fairly high and steep hill, called by the Romans Velia, which commands the Forum.
[2] ἐκλεξάμενος. πυθόμενος δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ὅτι ταῦτα λυπεῖ τὸν δῆμον, ἀρχαιρεσιῶν προθεὶς ἡμέραν [p. 167] ὕπατον αἱρεῖται Σπόριον Λουκρήτιον, ὃς οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας τὴν ἀρχὴν κατασχὼν ἀποθνήσκει. εἰς δὲ τὸν ἐκείνου τόπον καθίστησι Μάρκον Ὁράτιον, καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ λόφου μετατίθεται κάτω, ἵν᾽ ἐξείη Ῥωμαίοις, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐκκλησιάζων ἔφη, βάλλειν αὐτὸν ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ μετεώρου τοῖς λίθοις, ἐάν τι λάβωσιν ἀδικοῦντα.
[2] But the consul, being informed by his friends that these things displeased the people, appointed a day for the election and chose for his colleague Spurius Lucretius, who died after holding the office for only a few days. In his place he then chose Marcus Horatius, and removed his house from the top to the bottom of the hill, in order that the Romans, as he himself said in one of his speeches to the people, might stone him from the hill above if they found him guilty of any wrongdoing.
[3] βεβαίαν τε πίστιν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐλευθερίας τοὺς δημοτικοὺς λαβεῖν βουλόμενος ἀφεῖλεν ἀπὸ τῶν ῥάβδων τοὺς πελέκεις, καὶ κατεστήσατο τοῖς μεθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ὑπάτοις ἔθος, ὃ καὶ μέχρι τῆς ἐμῆς διέμεινεν ἡλικίας, ὅταν ἔξωθεν τῆς πόλεως γένωνται χρῆσθαι τοῖς πελέκεσιν, ἔνδον δὲ ταῖς ῥάβδοις κοσμεῖσθαι μόναις:
[3] And desiring to give the plebeians a definite pledge of their liberty, he took the axes from the rods and established it as a precedent for his successors in the consulship — a precedent which continued to be followed down to my day — that, when they were outside the city, they should use the axes, but inside the city they should be distinguished by the rods only.
[4] νόμους τε φιλανθρωποτάτους ἔθετο βοηθείας ἔχοντας τοῖς δημοτικοῖς: ἕνα μέν, ἐν ᾧ διαρρήδην ἀπεῖπεν ἄρχοντα μηδένα εἶναι Ῥωμαίων, ὃς ἂν μὴ παρὰ τοῦ δήμου λάβῃ τὴν ἀρχήν, θάνατον ἐπιθεὶς ζημίαν, ἐάν τις παρὰ ταῦτα ποιῇ, καὶ τὸν ἀποκτείναντα τούτων τινὰ ποιῶν ἀθῷον: ἕτερον δ᾽, ἐν ᾧ γέγραπται, Ἐάν τις ἄρχων Ῥωμαίων τινὰ ἀποκτείνειν ἢ μαστιγοῦν ἢ ζημιοῦν εἰς χρήματα θέλῃ, ἐξεῖναι τῷ ἰδιώτῃ προκαλεῖσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ δήμου κρίσιν, πάσχειν δ᾽ ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς, ἕως ἂν ὁ δῆμος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ψηφίσηται.
[4] He also introduced most beneficent laws which gave relief to the plebeians. By one of these he expressly forbade that anyone should be a magistrate over the Romans who did not receive the office from the people; and he fixed death as the penalty for transgressing the law, and granted impunity to the one who should kill any such transgressor. In a second law it is provided: “If a magistrate shall desire to have any Roman put to death, scourged, or fined a sum of money, the private citizen may summon the magistrate before the people for judgment, and in the mean time shall be liable to no punishment at the hands of the magistrate till the people have given their vote concerning him.”
[5] ἐκ τούτων γίνεται τῶν πολιτευμάτων τίμιος τοῖς δημοτικοῖς, καὶ τίθενται αὐτῷ ἐπωνύμιον Ποπλικόλαν: τοῦτο κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλήνων διάλεκτον βούλεται δηλοῦν δημοκηδῆ. καὶ τὰ μὲν [p. 168] ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ συντελεσθέντα ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων τοιάδε ἦν:
[5] These measures gained him the esteem of the plebeians, who gave him the nickname of Publicola, which means in the Greek language dêmokêdês or “the People’s Friend.” These were the achievements of the consuls that year.
[1] τῷ δ᾽ ἑξῆς αὐτός τε πάλιν ἀποδείκνυται Οὐαλέριος τὸ δεύτερον ὕπατος καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Λουκρήτιος, ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἄλλο μὲν οὐδὲν ἄξιον λόγου ἐπράχθη, τιμήσεις δ᾽ ἐγένοντο τῶν βίων καὶ τάξεις τῶν εἰς τοὺς πολέμους εἰσφορῶν, ὡς Τύλλιος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐνομοθέτησε, πάντα τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς Ταρκυνίου δυναστείας χρόνον ἀφειμέναι, τότε δὲ πρῶτον ὑπὸ τούτων ἀνανεωθεῖσαι: ἐξ ὧν εὑρέθη τῶν ἐν ἥβῃ Ῥωμαίων περὶ τρισκαίδεκα μυριάδας. καὶ εἰς χωρίον τι Σιγνούριον καλούμενον Ῥωμαίων ἀπεστάλη στρατιά, διὰ φυλακῆς ἕξουσα τὸ φρούριον ἐπὶ ταῖς Λατίνων τε καὶ Ἑρνίκων πόλεσι κείμενον, ὅθεν τὸν πόλεμον προσεδέχοντο.
[20.1] The next year Valerius was appointed consul for the second time, and with him Lucretius. In their consulship nothing worthy of note occurred except that a census was taken and war taxes were levied according to the plan introduced by King Tullius, which had been discontinued during all the reign of Tarquinius and was then renewed for the first time by these consuls. By this census it appeared that the number of Roman citizens who had reached manhood amounted to about 130,000. After this an army of Romans was sent to a place called Signurium in order to garrison that stronghold, which stood as an outpost against the cities both of the Latins and of the Hernicans, from whence they expected war.
[1] Ποπλίου δὲ Οὐαλερίου τοῦ προσαγορευθέντος Ποπλικόλα τὸ τρίτον ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἀποδειχθέντος ἀρχὴν καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Μάρκου Ὁρατίου Πολβίλλου τὸ δεύτερον βασιλεὺς Κλουσινῶν τῶν ἐν Τυρρηνίᾳ Λάρος ὄνομα, Πορσίνας ἐπίκλησιν, καταφυγόντων ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν Ταρκυνίων, ὑποσχόμενος αὐτοῖς δυεῖν θάτερον ἢ διαλλάξειν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας ἐπὶ καθόδῳ καὶ ἀναλήψει τῆς ἀρχῆς ἢ τὰς οὐσίας ἀνακομισάμενος, ἃς ἀφῃρέθησαν, ἀποδώσειν, ἐπειδὴ πρέσβεις ἀποστείλας εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ μεμιγμένας ἀπειλαῖς ἐπικλήσεις κομίζοντας οὔτε διαλλαγὰς εὕρετο [p. 169] τοῖς ἀνδράσι καὶ κάθοδον, αἰτιωμένης τῆς βουλῆς τὰς ἀρὰς καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους τοὺς γενομένους κατ᾽ αὐτῶν, οὔτε τὰς οὐσίας ἀνεπράξατο αὐτοῖς, τῶν διανειμαμένων καὶ κατακληρουχησάντων αὐτὰς οὐκ ἀξιούντων ἀποδιδόναι:
[21.1] After Publius Valerius, surnamed Publicola, had been appointed to the same magistracy for the third time, and with him Marcus Horatius Pulvillus for the second time, the king of the Clusians in Tyrrhenia, named Lars and surnamed Porsenna, declared war on the Romans. He had promised the Tarquinii, who had fled to him, that he would either effect a reconciliation between them and the Romans upon the terms that they should return home and receive back the sovereignty, or that he would recover and restore to them the possessions of which they had been deprived; but upon sending ambassadors the year before to Rome with appeals mingled with threats, he had not only failed to obtain a reconciliation and return for the exiles, the senate basing its refusal on the curses and oaths by which they had bound themselves not to receive them, but he had also failed to recover their possessions, the persons to whom they had been distributed and allotted refusing to restore them.
[2] ὑβρίζεσθαι φήσας ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ δεινὰ πάσχειν, ὅτι τῶν ἀξιουμένων οὐδετέρου παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἔτυχεν, ἀνὴρ αὐθάδης καὶ διεφθαρμένος τὴν γνώμην ὑπό τε πλούτου καὶ χρημάτων καὶ ἀρχῆς μεγέθους, ἀφορμὰς ὑπέλαβεν ἔχειν καλὰς καταλῦσαι τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν παλαίτερον ἔτι τοῦτο βουλόμενος καὶ προεῖπεν αὐτοῖς τὸν πόλεμον.
[2] And declaring that he was insulted by the Romans and treated outrageously in that he could obtain neither one of his demands, this arrogant man, whose mind was corrupted by both his wealth and possessions and the greatness of his power, thought he now had excellent grounds for overthrowing the power of the Romans, a thing which he had long since been desiring to do, and he accordingly declared war against them.
[3] συνῄρετο δ᾽ αὐτῷ τοῦ πολέμου πᾶσαν προθυμίαν ἀποδεῖξαι βουλόμενος ὁ Ταρκυνίου γαμβρὸς Ὀκταούιος Μαμίλιος, ἐκ πόλεως ὁρμώμενος Τύσκλου, Καμερίνους μὲν καὶ Ἀντεμνάτας, οἳ τοῦ Λατίνων μετεῖχον γένους, ἅπαντας ἐπαγόμενος ἀφεστηκότας ἤδη Ῥωμαίων ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ: παρὰ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὁμοεθνῶν, οἷς οὐκ ἦν βουλομένοις πολεμεῖν ἀναφανδὸν ἐνσπόνδῳ τε καὶ μεγάλην ἰσχὺν ἐχούσῃ πόλει διὰ προφάσεις οὐκ ἀναγκαίας, ἐθελοντὰς συχνοὺς ἰδίᾳ πεπεικὼς χάριτι.
[3] He was assisted in this war by Octavius Mamilius, the son-in-law of Tarquinius, who was eager to display all possible zeal and marched out of Tusculum at the head of all the Camerini and Antemnates, who were of the Latin nation and had already openly revolted from the Romans; and from among the other Latin peoples that were not willing to make open war upon an allied and powerful state, unless for compelling reasons, he attracted numerous volunteers by his personal influence.
[1] ταῦτα μαθόντες οἱ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὕπατοι πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν χρήματά τε καὶ βοσκήματα καὶ ἀνδράποδα μετάγειν τοῖς γεωργοῖς ἐκέλευσαν εἰς τὰ πλησίον ὄρη φρούρια κατασκευάσαντες ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐρυμνοῖς ἱκανὰ σώζειν τοὺς εἰς αὐτὰ καταφυγόντας: ἔπειτα τὸν καλούμενον Ἰανίκολον ὄχθον: ἔστι δὲ τοῦτ᾽ [p. 170] ὄρος ὑψηλὸν ἀγχοῦ τῆς Ῥώμης πέραν τοῦ Τεβέριος ποταμοῦ κείμενον: ὀχυρωτέραις ἐκρατύναντο κατασκευαῖς τε καὶ φυλακαῖς, περὶ παντὸς ποιούμενοι μὴ γενέσθαι τοῖς πολεμίοις τὸ ἐπίκαιρον χωρίον ἐπιτείχισμα κατὰ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τὰς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον παρασκευὰς ἐνταῦθ᾽ ἀπέθεντο: τά τ᾽ ἐντὸς τείχους ἐπὶ τὸ δημοτικώτερον καθίσταντο πολλὰ πολιτευόμενοι φιλάνθρωπα πρὸς τοὺς πένητας, ἵνα μὴ μεταβάλοιντο πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους ἐπὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις κέρδεσι πεισθέντες 9 προδοῦναι τὸ κοινόν:
[22.1] The Roman consuls, being informed of these things, in the first place ordered all the husbandmen to remove their effects, cattle, and slaves from the fields to the neighbouring mountains, in the fastnesses of which they constructed forts sufficiently strong to protect those who flee thither. After that they strengthened with more effectual fortifications and guards the hill called Janiculum, which is a high mount near Rome lying on the other side of the river Tiber, taking care above all things that such an advantageous position should not serve the enemy as an outpost against the city; and they stored their supplies for the war there. Affairs inside the city they conducted in a more democratic manner, introducing many beneficent measures in behalf of the poor, lest these, induced by private advantage to betray the public interest, should go over to the tyrants.
[2] καὶ γὰρ ἀτελεῖς αὐτοὺς ἁπάντων ἐψηφίσαντο εἶναι τῶν κοινῶν τελῶν, ὅσα βασιλευομένης τῆς πόλεως ἐτέλουν, καὶ ἀνεισφόρους τῶν εἰς τὰ στρατιωτικὰ καὶ τοὺς πολέμους ἀναλισκομένων ἐποίησαν, μέγα κέρδος ἡγούμενοι τοῖς κοινοῖς, εἰ τὰ σώματα μόνον αὐτῶν ἕξουσι προκινδυνεύοντα τῆς πατρίδος: τήν τε δύναμιν ἠσκημένην ἐκ πολλοῦ καὶ παρεσκευασμένην ἔχοντες ἐν τῷ προκειμένῳ τῆς πόλεως ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο πεδίῳ.
[2] Thus they had a vote passed that they should be exempt from all the public taxes which they had paid while the city was under the kings, and also from all contributions for military purposes and wars, looking upon it as a great advantage to the state merely to make use of their persons in defending the country. And with their army long since disciplined and ready for action, they were encamped in the field that lies before the city.
[3] βασιλεὺς δὲ Πορσίνας ἄγων τὴν στρατιὰν τὸ μὲν Ἰανίκολον ἐξ ἐφόδου καταλαμβάνεται καταπληξάμενος τοὺς φυλάττοντας αὐτὸ καὶ φρουρὰν Τυρρηνῶν ἐν αὐτῷ καθίστησιν: ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἐλαύνων ὡς καὶ ταύτην δίχα πόνου παραστησόμενος, ἐπειδὴ πλησίον τῆς γεφύρας ἐγένετο καὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἐθεάσατο προκαθημένους τοῦ ποταμοῦ, παρεσκευάζετό [p. 171] τε πρὸς μάχην ὡς ἀναρπασόμενος αὐτοὺς πλήθει καὶ ἐπῆγε σὺν πολλῇ καταφρονήσει τὴν δύναμιν.
[3] But King Porsena, advancing with his forces, took the Janiculum by storm, having terrified those who were guarding it, and placed there a garrison of Tyrrhenians. After this he proceeded against the city in expectation of reducing that also without any trouble; but when he came near the bridge and saw the Romans drawn up before the river, he prepared for battle, thinking to overwhelm them with his numbers, and led on his army with great contempt of the enemy.
[4] εἶχον δὲ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τοῦ μὲν ἀριστεροῦ κέρως οἱ Ταρκυνίου παῖδες, Σέξτος καὶ Τῖτος, Ῥωμαίων τ᾽ αὐτῶν τοὺς φυγάδας ἄγοντες καὶ ἐκ τῆς Γαβίων πόλεως τὸ ἀκμαιότατον ξένων τε καὶ μισθοφόρων χεῖρα οὐκ ὀλίγην: τοῦ δὲ δεξιοῦ Μαμίλιος ὁ Ταρκυνίου κηδεστής, ἐφ᾽ οὗ Λατίνων οἱ ἀποστάντες Ῥωμαίων ἐτάξαντο: βασιλεὺς δὲ Πορσίνας κατὰ μέσην τὴν φάλαγγα ἐτέτακτο.
[4] His left wing was commanded by the sons of Tarquinius, Sextus and Titus, who had with them the Roman exiles together with the choicest troops from the city of Gabii and no small force of foreigners and mercenaries; the right was led by Mamilius, the son-in-law of Tarquinius, and here were arrayed the Latins who had revolted from the Romans; King Porsena had taken his place in the centre of the battle-line.
[5] Ῥωμαίων δὲ τὸ μὲν δεξιὸν κέρας Σπόριος Λάρκιος καὶ Τῖτος Ἑρμίνιος κατεῖχον ἐναντίοι Ταρκυνίοις: τὸ δ᾽ ἀριστερὸν Μάρκος Οὐαλέριος ἀδελφὸς θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων Ποπλικόλα καὶ Τῖτος Λουκρήτιος ὁ τῷ πρόσθεν ὑπατεύσας ἔτει Μαμιλίῳ καὶ Λατίνοις συνοισόμενοι: τὰ δὲ μέσα τῶν κεράτων οἱ ὕπατοι κατεῖχον ἀμφότεροι.
[5] On the side of the Romans the right wing was commanded by Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, who stood opposite to the Tarquinii; the left by Marcus Valerius, brother to Publicola, one of the consuls, and Titus Lucretius, the consul of the previous year, who were to engage Mamilius and the Latins; the centre of the line between the wings was commanded by the two consuls.
[1] ὡς δὲ συνῆλθον εἰς χεῖρας, ἐμάχοντο γενναίως καὶ πολὺν ἀντεῖχον ἀμφότεροι χρόνον: ἐμπειρίᾳ μὲν καὶ καρτερίᾳ κρείττους ὄντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τῶν ἐναντίων, πλήθει δὲ κρατοῦντες τῶν Ῥωμαίων οἱ Τυρρηνοί τε καὶ Λατῖνοι μακρῷ. πολλῶν δὲ πεσόντων ἀφ᾽ ἑκατέρων δέος εἰσέρχεται Ῥωμαίους, πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς κατέχοντας τὸ ἀριστερὸν κέρας, ἐπειδὴ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ἐθεάσαντο Οὐαλέριόν τε καὶ Λουκρήτιον τραυματίας ἀποκομισθέντας ἐκ τῆς μάχης: ἔπειτα καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρατος τεταγμένους νικῶντας ἤδη τὴν σὺν Ταρκυνίοις δύναμιν τὸ αὐτὸ καταλαμβάνει πάθος,
[23.1] When the armies engaged, they both fought bravely and sustained the shock for a considerable time, the Romans having the advantage of their enemies in both experience and endurance, and the Tyrrhenians and Latins being much superior in numbers. But when many had fallen on both sides, fear fell upon the Romans, and first upon those who occupied the left wing, when they saw their two commanders, Valerius and Lucretius, carried off the field wounded; and then those also who were stationed on the right wing, though they were already victorious over the forces commanded by the Tarquinii, were seized by the same terror upon seeing the flight of the others.
[2] ὁρῶντας τὴν τροπὴν τῶν ἑτέρων. φευγόντων δ᾽ εἰς [p. 172] τὴν πόλιν ἁπάντων καὶ διὰ μιᾶς γεφύρας βιαζομένων ἀθρόων ὁρμὴ γίνεται τῶν πολεμίων ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς μεγάλη: ὀλίγου τε πάνυ ἡ πόλις ἐδέησεν ἁλῶναι κατὰ κράτος ἀτείχιστος οὖσα ἐκ τῶν παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν μερῶν, εἰ συνεισέπεσον εἰς αὐτὴν ἅμα τοῖς φεύγουσιν οἱ διώκοντες. οἱ δὲ τὴν ὁρτὴν τῶν πολεμίων ἐπισχόντες καὶ διασώσαντες ὅλην τὴν στρατιὰν τρεῖς ἄνδρες ἐγένοντο, Σπόριος μὲν Λάρκιος καὶ Τῖτος Ἑρμίνιος οἱ τὸ δεξιὸν ἔχοντες κέρας ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, Πόπλιος δ᾽ Ὁράτιος ὁ καλούμενος Κόκλης ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ὄψιν ἐλαττώματος ἐκκοπεὶς ἐν μάχῃ τὸν ἕτερον ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκ τῶν νεωτέρων, μορφήν τε κάλλιστος ἀνθρώπων καὶ
[2] While they were all fleeing to the city and endeavouring to force their way in a body over a single bridge, the enemy made a strong attack upon them; and the city came very near being taken by storm, and would surely have fallen if the pursuers had entered it at the same time with those who fled. Those who checked the enemy’s attack and saved the whole army were three in number, two of them older men, Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, who commanded the right wing, and one a younger man, Publius Horatius, who was called Cocles from an injury to his sight, and one of his eyes having been struck out in a battle, and was the fairest of men in philosophical appearance and the bravest in spirit.
[3] ψυχὴν ἄριστος. οὗτος ἀδελφιδοῦς μὲν ἦν Ὁρατίου Μάρκου θατέρου τῶν ὑπάτων, τὸ δὲ γένος κατῆγεν ἀφ᾽ ἑνὸς τῶν τριδύμων Ὁρατίου Μάρκου τοῦ νικήσαντος τοὺς Ἀλβανοὺς τριδύμους, ὅτε περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας αἱ πόλεις εἰς πόλεμον καταστᾶσαι συνέβησαν μὴ πάσαις ἀποκινδυνεῦσαι ταῖς δυνάμεσιν, ἀλλὰ τρισὶν ἀνδράσιν ἀφ᾽ ἑκατέρας, ὡς ἐν τοῖς προτέροις δεδήλωκα 10 λόγοις.
[3] This man was nephew to Marcus Horatius, one of the consuls, and traced his descent from Marcus Horatius, one of the triplets who conquered the Alban triplets when the two cities, having become involved in war over the leadership, agreed not to risk a decision with all their forces, but with three men on each side, as I have related in one of the earlier books.
[4] οὗτοι δὴ μόνοι κατὰ νώτου λαβόντες τὴν γέφυραν εἶργον τῆς διαβάσεως τοὺς πολεμίους μέχρι πολλοῦ καὶ διέμενον ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς στάσεως βαλλόμενοί θ᾽ ὑπὸ πολλῶν παντοδαποῖς βέλεσι καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς παιόμενοι τοῖς ξίφεσιν, ἕως ἅπασα ἡ στρατιὰ διῆλθε τὸν ποταμόν.
[4] These three men, then, all alone, with their backs to the bridge, barred the passage of the enemy for a considerable time and stood their ground, though pelted by many foes with all sorts of missiles and struck with swords in hand-to-hand conflict, till the whole army had crossed the river.
[1] ὡς δ᾽ ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ τοὺς σφετέρους ἔδοξαν [p. 173] γεγονέναι, δύο μὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν Ἑρμίνιός τε καὶ Λάρκιος διεφθαρμένων αὐτοῖς ἤδη τῶν σκεπαστηρίων διὰ τὰς συνεχεῖς πληγὰς ἀνεχώρουν ἐπὶ πόδα. Ὁράτιος δὲ μόνος ἀνακαλουμένων αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως τῶν θ᾽ ὑπάτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν καὶ περὶ παντὸς ποιουμένων σωθῆναι τοιοῦτον ἄνδρα τῇ πατρίδι καὶ τοῖς γειναμένοις οὐκ ἐπείσθη, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμενεν, ἔνθα τὸ πρῶτον ἔστη, κελεύσας τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἑρμίνιον λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ὑπάτους, ὡς αὐτοῦ φράσαντος, ἀποκόπτειν τὴν γέφυραν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐν τάχει: ἦν δὲ μία κατ᾽ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους ξυλόφρακτος ἄνευ σιδήρου δεδεμένη ταῖς σανίσιν αὐταῖς, ἣν καὶ μέχρις ἐμοῦ τοιαύτην φυλάττουσι Ῥωμαῖοι: ἐπιστεῖλαι δὲ τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, ὅταν τὰ πλείω τῆς γεφύρας λυθῇ καὶ βραχὺ τὸ λειπόμενον ᾖ μέρος, φράσαι πρὸς αὐτὸν σημείοις τισὶν ἢ φωνῇ γεγωνοτέρᾳ: τὰ λοιπὰ λέγων ἑαυτῷ μελήσειν.