4. Dionysius of Halycarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 1.10-1.13, 1.27.1, 1.31, 1.89 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.10. 1. There are some who affirm that the Aborigines, from whom the Romans are originally descended, were natives of Italy, a stock which came into being spontaneously (I call Italy all that peninsula which is bounded by the Ionian Gulf and the Tyrrhenian Sea and, thirdly, by the Alps on the landward side); and these authors say that they were first called Aborigines because they were the founders of the families of their descendants, or, as we should call them, genearchai or prôtogonoi.,2. Others claim that certain vagabonds without house or home, coming together out of many places, met one another there by chance and took up their abode in the fastnesses, living by robbery and grazing their herds. And these writers change their name, also, to one more suitable to their condition, calling them Aberrigenes, to show that they were wanderers; indeed, according to these, the race of the Aborigines would seem to be no different from those the ancients called Leleges; for this is the name they generally gave to the homeless and mixed peoples who had no fixed abode which they could call their country.,3. Still others have a story to the effect that they were colonists sent out by those Ligurians who are neighbours of the Umbrians. For the Ligurians inhabit not only many parts of Italy but some parts of Gaul as well, but which of these lands is their native country is not known, since nothing certain is said of them further. 1.11. 1. But the most learned of the Roman historians, among whom is Porcius Cato, who compiled with the greatest care the "origins" of the Italian cities, Gaius Sempronius and a great many others, say that they were Greeks, part of those who once dwelt in Achaia, and that they migrated many generations before the Trojan war. But they do not go on to indicate either the Greek tribe to which they belonged or the city from which they removed, or the date or the leader of the colony, or as the result of what turns of fortune they left their mother country; and although they are following a Greek legend, they have cited no Greek historian as their authority. It is uncertain, therefore, what the truth of the matter is. But if what they say is true, the Aborigines can be a colony of no other people but of those who are now called Arcadians;,2. for these were the first of all the Greeks to cross the Ionian Gulf, under the leadership of Oenotrus, the son of Lycaon, and to settle in Italy. This Oenotrus was the fifth from Aezeius and Phoroneus, who were the first kings in the Peloponnesus. For Niobê was the daughter of Phoroneus, and Pelasgus was the son of Niobê and Zeus, it is said; Lycaon was the son of Aezeius and Deïanira was the daughter of Lycaon; Deïanira and Pelasgus were the parents of another Lycaon, whose son Oenotrus was born seventeen generations before the Trojan expedition. This, then, was the time when the Greeks sent the colony into Italy.,3. Oenotrus left Greece because he was dissatisfied with his portion of his father's land; for, as Lycaon had twenty-two sons, it was necessary to divide Arcadia into as many shares. For this reason Oenotrus left the Peloponnesus, prepared a fleet, and crossed the Ionian Gulf with Peucetius, one of his brothers. They were accompanied by many of their own people â for this nation is said to have been very populous in early times â and by as many other Greeks as had less land than was sufficient for them.,4. Peucetius landed his people above the Iapygian Promontory, which was the first part of Italy they made, and settled there; and from him the inhabitants of this region were called Peucetians. But Oenotrus with the greater part of the expedition came into the other sea that washes the western regions along the coast of Italy; it was then called the Ausonian Sea, from the Ausonians who dwelt beside it, but after the Tyrrhenians became masters at sea its name was changed to that which it now bears. 1.12. 1. And finding there much land suitable for pasturage and much for tillage, but for the most part unoccupied, and even that which was inhabited not thickly populated, he cleared some of it of the barbarians and built small towns contiguous to one another on the mountains, which was the customary manner of habitation in use among the ancients. And all the land he occupied, which was very extensive, was called Oenotria, and all the people under his command Oenotrians, which was the third name they had borne. For in the reign of Aezeius they were called Aezeians, when Lycaon succeeded to the rule, Lycaonians, and after Oenotrus led them into Italy they were for a while called Oenotrians.,2. What I say is supported by the testimony of Sophocles, the tragic poet, in his drama entitled Triptolemus; for he there represents Demeter as informing Triptolemus how large a tract of land he would have to travel over while sowing it with the seeds she had given him. For, after first referring to the eastern part of Italy, which reaches from the Iapygian Promontory to the Sicilian Strait, and then touching upon Sicily on the opposite side, she returns again to the western part of Italy and enumerates the most important nations that inhabit this coast, beginning with the settlement of the Oenotrians. But it is enough to quote merely the iambics in which he says: "And after this, â first, then, upon the right, Oenotria wide-outstretched and Tyrrhene Gulf, And next the Ligurian land shall welcome thee." ,3. And Antiochus of Syracuse, a very early historian, in his account of the settlement of Italy, when enumerating the most ancient inhabitants in the order in which each of them held possession of any part of it, says that the first who are reported to have inhabited that country are the Oenotrians. His words are these: "Antiochus, the son of Xenophanes, wrote this account of Italy, which comprises all that is most credible and certain out of the ancient tales; this country, which is now called Italy, was formerly possessed by the Oenotrians." Then he relates in what manner they were governed and says that in the course of time Italus came to be their king, after whom they were named Italians; that this man was succeeded by Morges, after whom they were called Morgetes, and that Sicelus, being received as a guest by Morges and setting up a kingdom for himself, divided the nation. After which he adds these words: "Thus those who had been Oenotrians became Sicels, Morgetes and Italians. 1.13. 1. Now let me also show the origin of the Oenotrian race, offering as my witness another of the early historians, Pherecydes of Athens, who was a genealogist inferior to none. He thus expresses himself concerning the kings of Arcadia: "of Pelasgus and Deïanira was born Lycaon; this man married Cyllenê, a Naiad nymph, after whom Mount Cyllenê is named." Then, having given an account of their children and of the places each of them inhabited, he mentions Oenotrus and Peucetius, in these words: "And Oenotrus, after whom are named the Oenotrians who live in Italy, and Peucetius, after whom are named the Peucetians who live on the Ionian Gulf.",2. Such, then, are the accounts given by the ancient poets and writers of legends concerning the places of abode and the origin of the Oenotrians; and on their authority I assume that if the Aborigines were in reality a Greek nation, according to the opinion of Cato, Sempronius and many others, they were descendants of these Oenotrians. For I find that the Pelasgians and Cretans and the other nations that lived in Italy came thither afterwards; nor can I discover that any other expedition more ancient than this came from Greece to the western parts of Europe.,3. I am of the opinion that the Oenotrians, besides making themselves masters of many other regions in Italy, some of which they found unoccupied and others but thinly inhabited, also seized a portion of the country of the Umbrians, and that they were called Aborigines from their dwelling on the mountains (for it is characteristic of the Arcadians to be fond of the mountains), in the same manner as at Athens some are called Hyperakriori, and others Paralioi.,4. But if any are naturally slow in giving credit to accounts of ancient matters without due examination, let them be slow also in believing the Aborigines to be Ligurians, Umbrians, or any other barbarians, and let them suspend their judgment till they have heard what remains to be told and then determine which opinion out of all is the most probable. 1.27.1. But those who relate a legendary tale about their having come from a foreign land say that Tyrrhenus, who was the leader of the colony, gave his name to the nation, and that he was a Lydian by birth, from the district formerly called Maeonia, and migrated in ancient times. They add that he was the fifth in descent from Zeus; for they say that the son of Zeus and Gê was Manes, the first king of that country, and his son by Callirrhoê, the daughter of Oceanus, was Cotys, who by Haliê, the daughter of earth-born Tyllus, had two sons, Asies and Atys 1.31. 1. Soon after, another Greek expedition landed in this part of Italy, having migrated from Pallantium, a town of Arcadia, about the sixtieth year before the Trojan war, as the Romans themselves say. This colony had for its leader Evander, who is said to have been the son of Hermes and a local nymph of the Arcadians. The Greeks call her Themis and say that she was inspired, but the writers of the early history of Rome call her, in the native language, Carmenta. The nymph's name would be in Greek Thespiôdos or "prophetic singer"; for the Romans call songs carmina, and they agree that this woman, possessed by divine inspiration, foretold to the people in song the things that would come to pass.,2. This expedition was not sent out by the common consent of the nation, but, a sedition having arisen among the people, the faction which was defeated left the country of their own accord. It chanced that the kingdom of the Aborigines had been inherited at that time by Faunus, a descendant of Mars, it is said, a man of prudence as well as energy, whom the Romans in their sacrifices and songs honour as one of the gods of their country. This man received the Arcadians, who were but few in number, with great friendship and gave them as much of his own land as they desired.,3. And the Arcadians, as Themis by inspiration kept advising them, chose a hill, not far from the Tiber, which is now near the middle of the city of Rome, and by this hill built a small village sufficient for the complement of the two ships in which they had come from Greece. Yet this village was ordained by fate to excel in the course of time all other cities, whether Greek or barbarian, not only in its size, but also in the majesty of its empire and in every other form of prosperity, and to be celebrated above them all as long as mortality shall endure.,4. They named the town Pallantium after their mother-city in Arcadia; now, however, the Romans call it Palatium, time having obscured the correct form, and this name has given occasion of the many to suggest absurd etymologies. But some writers, among them Polybius of Megalopolis, related that the town was named after Pallas, a lad who died there; they say that he was the son of Hercules and Lavinia, the daughter of Evander, and that his maternal grandfather raised a tomb to him on the hill and called the place Pallantium, after the lad. 1.89. 1. Such, then, are the facts concerning the origin of the Romans which I have been able to discover a reading very diligently many works written by both Greek and Roman authors. Hence, from now on let the reader forever renounce the views of those who make Rome a retreat of barbarians, fugitives and vagabonds, and let him confidently affirm it to be a Greek city, â which will be easy when he shows that it is at once the most hospitable and friendly of all cities, and when he bears in mind that the Aborigines were Oenotrians, and these in turn Arcadians,,2. and remembers those who joined with them in their settlement, the Pelasgians who were Argives by descent and came into Italy from Thessaly; and recalls, moreover, the arrival of Evander and the Arcadians, who settled round the Palatine hill, after the Aborigines had granted the place to them; and also the Peloponnesians, who, coming along with Hercules, settled upon the Saturnian hill; and, last of all, those who left the Troad and were intermixed with the earlier settlers. For one will find no nation that is more ancient or more Greek than these.,3. But the admixtures of the barbarians with the Romans, by which the city forgot many of its ancient institutions, happened at a later time. And it may well seem a cause of wonder to many who reflect on the natural course of events that Rome did not become entirely barbarized after receiving the Opicans, the Marsians, the Samnites, the Tyrrhenians, the Bruttians and many thousands of Umbrians, Ligurians, Iberians and Gauls, besides innumerable other nations, some of whom came from Italy itself and some from other regions and differed from one another both in their language and habits; for their very ways of life, diverse as they were and thrown into turmoil by such dissoce, might have been expected to cause many innovations in the ancient order of the city.,4. For many others by living among barbarians have in a short time forgotten all their Greek heritage, so that they neither speak the Greek language nor observe the customs of the Greeks nor acknowledge the same gods nor have the same equitable laws (by which most of all the spirit of the Greeks differs from that of the barbarians) nor agree with them in anything else whatever that relates to the ordinary intercourse of life. Those Achaeans who are settled near the Euxine sea are a sufficient proof of my contention; for, though originally Eleans, of a nation the most Greek of any, they are now the most savage of all barbarians. |
|
5. Strabo, Geography, 5.2.2 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 5.2.2. The Tyrrheni have now received from the Romans the surname of Etrusci and Tusci. The Greeks thus named them from Tyrrhenus the son of Atys, as they say, who sent hither a colony from Lydia. Atys, who was one of the descendants of Hercules and Omphale, and had two sons, in a time of famine and scarcity determined by lot that Lydus should remain in the country, but that Tyrrhenus, with the greater part of the people, should depart. Arriving here, he named the country after himself, Tyrrhenia, and founded twelve cities, having appointed as their governor Tarcon, from whom the city of Tarquinia [received its name], and who, on account of the sagacity which he had displayed from childhood, was feigned to have been born with hoary hair. Placed originally under one authority, they became flourishing; but it seems that in after-times, their confederation being broken up and each city separated, they yielded to the violence of the neighbouring tribes. Otherwise they would never have abandoned a fertile country for a life of piracy on the sea. roving from one ocean to another; since, when united they were able not only to repel those who assailed them, but to act on the offensive, and undertake long campaigns. After the foundation of Rome, Demaratus arrived here, bringing with him people from Corinth. He was received at Tarquinia, where he had a son, named Lucumo, by a woman of that country. Lucumo becoming the friend of Ancus Marcius, king of the Romans, succeeded him on the throne, and assumed the name of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. Both he and his father did much for the embellishment of Tyrrhenia, the one by means of the numerous artists who had followed him from their native country; the other having the resources of Rome. It is said that the triumphal costume of the consuls, as well as that of the other magistrates, was introduced from the Tarquinii, with the fasces, axes, trumpets, sacrifices, divination, and music employed by the Romans in their public ceremonies. His son, the second Tarquin, named Superbus, who was driven from his throne, was the last king [of Rome ]. Porsena, king of Clusium, a city of Tyrrhenia, endeavoured to replace him on the throne by force of arms, but not being able he made peace with the Romans, and departed in a friendly way, with honour and loaded with gifts. |
|
6. Vergil, Aeneis, 1.97-1.101, 1.227-1.233, 1.402-1.404, 3.94-3.96, 3.167-3.171, 7.205-7.211, 7.240-7.242, 8.5, 8.47-8.49, 8.51-8.54, 8.370-8.453, 8.470-8.504, 8.506-8.526, 8.529-8.533, 8.535-8.540 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.97. Hurl far and wide, and strew the waves with dead! 1.98. Twice seven nymphs are mine, of rarest mould; 1.99. of whom Deiopea, the most fair 1.100. I give thee in true wedlock for thine own 1.101. to mate thy noble worth; she at thy side 1.227. of unhewn stone, a place the wood-nymphs love. 1.228. In such a port, a weary ship rides free 1.230. Hither Aeneas of his scattered fleet 1.231. aving but seven, into harbor sailed; 1.232. with passionate longing for the touch of land 1.233. forth leap the Trojans to the welcome shore 1.402. the heaven-offending Fury, throned on swords 1.403. and fettered by a hundred brazen chains 3.94. in cypress dark and purple pall of woe. 3.95. Our Ilian women wailed with loosened hair; 3.96. new milk was sprinkled from a foaming cup 3.167. the brazen Corybantic cymbals clang 3.168. or sacred silence guards her mystery 3.169. and lions yoked her royal chariot draw. 3.170. Up, then, and follow the behests divine! 3.171. Pour offering to the winds, and point your keels 7.205. course with swift steeds, or steer through dusty cloud 7.206. the whirling chariot, or stretch stout bows 7.207. or hurl the seasoned javelin, or strive 7.208. in boxing-bout and foot-race: one of these 7.209. made haste on horseback to the aged King 7.210. with tidings of a stranger company 7.211. in foreign garb approaching. The good King 7.240. girt in scant shift, and bearing on his left 7.241. the sacred oval shield, appeared enthroned 7.242. Picus, breaker of horses, whom his bride 8.5. then woke each warrior soul; all Latium stirred 8.48. “Seed of the gods! who bringest to my shore 8.49. thy Trojan city wrested from her foe 8.51. and fair Laurentum long have looked for thee. 8.52. Here truly is thy home. Turn not away. 8.53. Here the true guardians of thy hearth shall be. 8.54. Fear not the gathering war. The wrath of Heaven 8.370. acred to Hercules, wove him a wreath 8.371. to shade his silvered brow. The sacred cup 8.372. he raised in his right hand, while all the rest 8.374. Soon from the travelling heavens the western star 8.375. glowed nearer, and Potitius led forth 8.376. the priest-procession, girt in ancient guise 8.377. with skins of beasts and carrying burning brands. 8.378. new feasts are spread, and altars heaped anew 8.379. with gifts and laden chargers. Then with song 8.380. the Salian choir surrounds the blazing shrine 8.381. their foreheads wreathed with poplar. Here the youth 8.382. the elders yonder, in proud anthem sing 8.383. the glory and the deeds of Hercules: 8.384. how first he strangled with strong infant hand 8.385. two serpents, Juno's plague; what cities proud 8.386. Troy and Oechalia, his famous war 8.387. in pieces broke; what labors numberless 8.388. as King Eurystheus' bondman he endured 8.389. by cruel Juno's will. “Thou, unsubdued 8.390. didst strike the twy-formed, cloud-bred centaurs down 8.391. Pholus and tall Hylaeus. Thou hast slain 8.392. the Cretan horror, and the lion huge 8.393. beneath the Nemean crag. At sight of thee 8.394. the Stygian region quailed, and Cerberus 8.395. crouching o'er half-picked bones in gory cave. 8.396. Nothing could bid thee fear. Typhoeus towered 8.397. in his colossal Titan-panoply 8.398. o'er thee in vain; nor did thy cunning fail 8.399. when Lema's wonder-serpent round thee drew 8.400. its multudinous head. Hail, Jove's true son! 8.401. New glory to the gods above, come down 8.402. and these thine altars and thy people bless!” 8.403. Such hymns they chanted, telling oft the tale 8.404. of Cacus' cave and blasting breath of fire: 8.406. Such worship o'er, all take the homeward way 8.407. back to the town. The hospitable King 8.408. though bowed with weight of years, kept at his side 8.409. Aeneas and his son, and as they fared 8.410. with various discourse beguiled the way. 8.411. Aeneas scanned with quick-admiring eyes 8.412. the region wide, and lingered with delight 8.413. now here, now there, inquiring eagerly 8.414. of each proud monument of heroes gone. 8.415. Then King Evander, he who builded first 8.416. On Palatine, spoke thus: “These groves erewhile 8.417. their native nymphs and fauns enjoyed, with men 8.418. from trees engendered and stout heart of oak. 8.419. Nor laws nor arts they knew; nor how to tame 8.420. burls to the yoke, nor fill great barns with store 8.421. and hoard the gathered grain; but rudely fared 8.422. on wild fruits and such food as hunters find. 8.423. Then Saturn from Olympian realms came down 8.424. in flight from Jove's dread arms, his sceptre lost 8.425. and he an exiled King. That savage race 8.426. he gathered from the mountain slopes; and gave 8.427. wise laws and statutes; so that latent land 8.428. was Latium, ‘hid land’, where he hid so long. 8.429. The golden centuries by legends told 8.430. were under that good King, whose equal sway 8.431. untroubled peace to all his peoples gave. 8.432. But after slow decline arrived an age 8.433. degenerate and of a darker hue 8.434. prone to insensate war and greed of gain. 8.435. Then came Sicanian and Ausonian tribes 8.436. and oft the land of Saturn lost its name. 8.437. New chieftains rose, and Thybris, giant King 8.438. and violent, from whom th' Italians named 8.439. the flooding Tiber, which was called no more 8.440. the Albula, its true and ancient style. 8.441. Myself, in exile from my fatherland 8.442. ailing uncharted seas, was guided here 8.443. by all-disposing Chance and iron laws 8.444. of Destiny. With prophecy severe 8.445. Carmentis, my nymph-mother, thrust me on 8.446. warned by Apollo's word.” He scarce had said 8.447. when near their path he showed an altar fair 8.448. and the Carmental gate, where Romans see 8.449. memorial of Carmentis, nymph divine 8.450. the prophetess of fate, who first foretold 8.451. what honors on Aeneas' sons should fall 8.452. and lordly Pallanteum, where they dwell. 8.453. Next the vast grove was seen, where Romulus 8.470. jove's dread right hand here visibly appears 8.471. to shake his aegis in the darkening storm 8.472. the clouds compelling. Yonder rise in view 8.473. two strongholds with dismantled walls, which now 8.474. are but a memory of great heroes gone: 8.475. one father Janus built, and Saturn one; 8.476. their names, Saturnia and Janiculum.” 8.477. 'Mid such good parley to the house they came 8.478. of King Evander, unadorned and plain 8.479. whence herds of browsing cattle could be seen 8.480. ranging the Forum, and loud-bellowing 8.481. in proud Carinae. As they entered there 8.482. “Behold,” said he, “the threshold that received 8.483. Alcides in his triumph! This abode 8.484. he made his own. Dare, O illustrious guest 8.485. to scorn the pomp of power. Shape thy soul 8.486. to be a god's fit follower. Enter here 8.487. and free from pride our frugal welcome share.” 8.488. So saying, 'neath his roof-tree scant and low 8.489. he led the great Aeneas, offering him 8.490. a couch of leaves with Libyan bear-skin spread. 8.491. Now night drew near, enfolding the wide world 8.492. in shadowy wings. But Venus, sore disturbed 8.493. vexed not unwisely her maternal breast 8.494. fearing Laurentum's menace and wild stir 8.495. of obstinate revolt, and made her plea 8.496. to Vulcan in their nuptial bower of gold 8.497. outbreathing in the music of her words 8.498. celestial love: “When warring Argive kings 8.499. brought ruin on Troy 's sacred citadel 8.500. and ramparts soon to sink in hostile flames 8.501. I asked not thee to help that hopeless woe 8.502. nor craved thy craft and power. For, dearest lord 8.503. I would not tax in vain shine arduous toil 8.504. though much to Priam's children I was bound 8.506. I could but weep. But now by will of Jove 8.507. he has found foothold in Rutulian lands. 8.508. Therefore I come at last with lowly suit 8.509. before a godhead I adore, and pray 8.510. for gift of arms,—a mother for her son. 8.511. Thou wert not unrelenting to the tears 8.512. of Nereus' daughter or Tithonus' bride. 8.513. Behold what tribes conspire, what cities strong 8.514. behind barred gates now make the falchion keen 8.515. to ruin and blot out both me and mine!” 8.516. So spake the goddess, as her arms of snow 8.517. around her hesitating spouse she threw 8.518. in tender, close embrace. He suddenly 8.519. knew the familiar fire, and o'er his frame 8.520. its wonted ardor unresisted ran 8.521. wift as the glittering shaft of thunder cleaves 8.522. the darkened air and on from cloud to cloud 8.523. the rift of lightning runs. She, joyful wife; 8.524. felt what her beauty and her guile could do; 8.525. as, thralled by love unquenchable, her spouse 8.526. thus answered fair: “Why wilt thou labor so 8.529. I could have armed the Teucrians. Neither Jove 8.530. nor Destiny had grudged ten added years 8.531. of life to Troy and Priam. If to-day 8.532. thou hast a war in hand, and if thy heart 8.533. determine so, I willingly engage 8.535. molten alloy or welded iron can 8.536. whate'er my roaring forge and flames achieve 8.537. I offer thee. No more in anxious prayer 8.538. distrust thy beauty's power.” So saying, he gave 8.539. embrace of mutual desire, and found |
|
