μετὰ δὲ τὴν Καινινητῶν ἅλωσιν ἔτι τῶν ἄλλων Σαβίνων ἐν παρασκευαῖς ὄντων, συνέστησαν οἱ Φιδήνην καὶ Κρουστουμέριον καὶ Ἀντέμναν οἰκοῦντες ἐπὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίους, καὶ μάχης γενομένης ἡττηθέντες ὁμοίως, τάς τε πόλεις Ῥωμύλῳ παρῆκαν ἑλεῖν καὶ τὴν χώραν δάσασθαι καὶ μετοικίσαι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς εἰς Ῥώμην. ὁ δὲ Ῥωμύλος τὴν μὲν ἄλλην κατένειμε χώραν τοῖς πολίταις, ὅσην δʼ εἶχον οἱ τῶν ἡρπασμένων παρθένων πατέρες, αὐτοὺς ἔχειν ἐκείνους εἴασεν.
After the capture of the Caeninensians, while the rest of the Sabines were still busy with their preparations, the people of Fidenae, Crustumerium, and Antemnae banded together against the Romans, and in a battle which ensued, they were likewise defeated, and surrendered to Romulus their cities to be seized, their territory to be divided, and themselves to be transported to Rome. Romulus distributed among the citizens all the territory thus acquired, excepting that which belonged to the parents of the ravished maidens; this he suffered its owners to keep for themselves.
ἐπὶ τούτοις βαρέως φέροντες οἱ λοιποὶ Σαβῖνοι Τάτιον ἀποδείξαντες στρατηγὸν ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἐστράτευσαν. ἦν δὲ δυσπρόσοδος ἡ πόλις, ἔχουσα πρόβλημα τὸ νῦν Καπιτώλιον, ἐν ᾧ φρουρὰ καθειστήκει καὶ Ταρπήιος ἡγεμὼν αὐτῆς, οὐχὶ Ταρπηία παρθένος, ὡς ἔνιοι λέγουσιν, εὐήθη τὸν Ῥωμύλον ἀποδεικνύοντες· ἀλλὰ θυγάτηρ ἡ Ταρπηία τοῦ ἄρχοντος οὖσα προὔδωκε τοῖς Σαβίνοις, ἐπιθυμήσασα τῶν χρυσῶν βραχιονιστήρων οὓς εἶδε περικειμένους, καὶ ᾔτησε μισθὸν τῆς προδοσίας ἃ φοροῖεν ἐν ταῖς ἀριστεραῖς χερσί.
At this the rest of the Sabines were enraged, and after appointing Tatius their general, marched upon Rome. The city was difficult of access, having as its fortress the present Capitol, on which a guard had been stationed, with Tarpeius as its captain,— not Tarpeia, a maiden, as some say, thereby making Romulus a simpleton. But Tarpeia, a daughter of the commander, betrayed the citadel to the Sabines, having set her heart on the golden armlets which she saw them wearing, and she asked as payment for her treachery that which they wore on their left arms.
συνθεμένου δὲ τοῦ Τατίου, νύκτωρ ἀνοίξασα πύλην μίαν, ἐδέξατο τοὺς Σαβίνους. οὐ μόνος οὖν ὡς ἔοικεν Ἀντίγονος ἔφη προδιδόντας μὲν φιλεῖν, προδεδωκότας δὲ μισεῖν, οὐδὲ Καῖσαρ, εἰπὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ Θρᾳκὸς Ῥοιμητάλκου, φιλεῖν μὲν προδοσίαν, προδότην δὲ μισεῖν, ἀλλὰ κοινόν τι τοῦτο πάθος ἐστὶ πρὸς τοὺς πονηροὺς τοῖς δεομένοις αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ ἰοῦ καὶ χολῆς ἐνίων θηρίων δέονται· τὴν γὰρ χρείαν ὅτε λαμβάνουσιν ἀγαπῶντες, ἐχθαίρουσι τὴν κακίαν ὅταν τύχωσι.
Tatius agreed to this, whereupon she opened one of the gates by night and let the Sabines in. Antigonus was not alone, then, in saying that he loved men who offered to betray, but hated those who had betrayed; nor yet Caesar, in saying of the Thracian Rhoemetalces, that he loved treachery but hated a traitor; but this is a very general feeling towards the base on the part of those who need their services, just as they need certain wild creatures for their venom and gall; for while they feel the need of them, they put up with them, but abhor their vileness when they have obtained from them what they want.
τοῦτο καὶ πρὸς τὴν Ταρπηίαν τότε παθὼν ὁ Τάτιος, ἐκέλευσε μεμνημένους τῶν ὁμολογιῶν τοὺς Σαβίνους μηδενὸς αὐτῇ φθονεῖν ὧν ἐν ταῖς ἀριστεραῖς ἔχουσι, καὶ πρῶτος ἅμα τὸν βραχιονιστῆρα τῆς χειρὸς περιελὼν καὶ τὸν θυρεὸν ἐπέρριψε. πάντων δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιούντων, βαλλομένη τε τῷ χρυσῷ καὶ καταχωσθεῖσα τοῖς θυρεοῖς, ὑπὸ πλήθους καὶ βάρους ἀπέθανεν.
This, too, was the feeling which Tatius then had towards Tarpeia, when he ordered his Sabines, mindful of their agreement, not to begrudge the girl anything they wore on their left arms. And he was first to take from his arm not only his armlet, but at the same time his shield, and cast them upon her. All his men followed his example, and the girl was smitten by the gold and buried under the shields, and died from the number and weight of them.
ἑάλω δὲ καὶ Ταρπήιος προδοσίας ὑπὸ Ῥωμύλου διωχθείς, ὡς Ἰόβας φησὶ Γάλβαν Σουλπίκιον ἱστορεῖν. τῶν δʼ ἄλλα περὶ Ταρπηίας λεγόντων ἀπίθανοι μέν εἰσιν οἱ Τατίου θυγατέρα τοῦ ἡγεμόνος τῶν Σαβίνων οὖσαν αὐτήν, Ῥωμύλῳ δὲ βίᾳ συνοικοῦσαν, ἱστοροῦντες ταῦτα ποιῆσαι καὶ παθεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός· ὧν καὶ Ἀντίγονός ἐστι. Σιμύλος δʼ ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ παντάπασι ληρεῖ, μὴ Σαβίνοις οἰόμενος, ἀλλὰ Κελτοῖς τὴν Ταρπηίαν προδοῦναι τὸ Καπιτώλιον, ἐρασθεῖσαν αὐτῶν τοῦ βασιλέως. λέγει δὲ ταῦτα· ἡ δʼ ἀγχοῦ Τάρπεια παραὶ Καπιτώλιον αἶπος ναίουσα Ῥώμης ἔπλετο τειχολέτις, Κελτῶν ἣ στέρξασα γαμήλια λέκτρα γενέσθαι σκηπτούχῳ, πατέρων οὐκ ἐφύλαξε δόμους. καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα περὶ τῆς τελευτῆς· τὴν δʼ οὔτʼ ἄρʼ Βόιοί τε καὶ ἔθνεα μυρία Κελτῶν χηράμενοι ῥείθρων ἐντὸς ἔθεντο Πάδου, ὅπλα δʼ ἐπιπροβαλόντες ἀρειμανέων ἀπὸ χειρῶν κούρῃ ἐπὶ στυγερῇ κόσμον ἔθεντο φόνον.
And Tarpeius also was convicted of treason when prosecuted by Romulus, as, according to Juba, Sulpicius Galba relates. Of those who write differently about Tarpeia, they are worthy of no belief at all who say that she was a daughter of Tatius, the leader of the Sabines, and was living with Romulus under compulsion, and acted and suffered as she did, at her father’s behest; of these, Antigonus is one. And Simylus the poet is altogether absurd in supposing that Tarpeia betrayed the Capitol, not to the Sabines, but to the Gauls, because she had fallen in love with their king. These are his words:— And Tarpeia, who dwelt hard by the Capitolian steep, / Became the destroyer of the walls of Rome; / She longed to be the wedded wife of the Gallic chieftain, / And betrayed the homes of her fathers. / And a little after, speaking of her death:— Her the Boni and the myriad tribes of Gauls / Did not, exulting, cast amid the currents of the Po; / But hurled the shields from their belligerent arms / Upon the hateful maid, and made their ornament her doom. /
τῆς μέντοι Ταρπηίας ἐκεῖ ταφείσης, ὁ λόφος ὠνομάζετο Ταρπήιος, ἄχρι οὗ Ταρκυνίου βασιλέως Διὶ τὸν τόπον καθιεροῦντος ἅμα τά τε λείψανα μετηνέχθη, καὶ τοὔνομα τῆς Ταρπηίας ἐξέλιπε· πλὴν πέτραν ἔτι νῦν ἐν τῷ Καπιτωλίῳ Ταρπηίαν καλοῦσιν, ἀφʼ ἧς ἐρρίπτουν τοὺς κακούργους.
However, Tarpeia was buried there, and the hill was called from her Tarpcius, until King Tarquin dedicated the place to Jupiter, when her bones were removed and the name of Tarpeia died out, except that a cliff on the Capitol is still called the Tarpeian Rock, from which they hurl male-factors.
ἐχομένης δὲ τῆς ἄκρας ὑπὸ τῶν Σαβίνων, ὅ τε Ῥωμύλος ὑπʼ ὀργῆς εἰς μάχην αὐτοὺς προὐκαλεῖτο, καὶ ὁ Τάτιος ἐθάρρει, καρτερὰν εἰ βιασθεῖεν ἀναχώρησιν ὁρῶν αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχουσαν. ὁ γὰρ μεταξὺ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ συμπίπτειν ἔμελλον, ὑπὸ πολλῶν λόφων περιεχόμενος, ἀγῶνα μὲν ὀξὺν ἐδόκει καὶ χαλεπὸν ὑπὸ δυσχωρίας ἀμφοτέροις παρέξειν, φυγὰς δὲ καὶ διώξεις ἐν στενῷ βραχείας.
The citadel thus occupied by the Sabines, Romulus angrily challenged them to battle, and Tatius was bold enough to accept, since he saw that the Sabines, if worsted, had a strong place of retreat. For the intervening space, in which they were to join battle, being surrounded by many hills, seemed to impose upon both parties a sharp and grievous contest, owing to the difficulties of the field, where flight and pursuit must be narrowly confined and short.
ἔτυχε δὲ τοῦ ποταμοῦ λιμνάσαντος οὐ πολλαῖς πρότερον ἡμέραις ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι τέλμα βαθὺ καὶ τυφλὸν ἐν τόποις ἐπιπέδοις κατὰ τὴν νῦν οὖσαν ἀγοράν, ὅθεν οὐκ ἦν ὄψει πρόδηλον οὐδʼ εὐφύλακτον, ἄλλως δὲ χαλεπὸν καὶ ὕπουλον. ἐπὶ τοῦτο τοῖς Σαβίνοις ἀπειρίᾳ φερομένοις εὐτύχημα γίγνεται.
It happened, too, since the river had overflowed not many days before, that a deep and blind slime had been left in the valley where the forum is now. Wherefore it was not apparent to the eye, nor yet easy to avoid, and besides it was soft beneath the surface and dangerous. On to this the Sabines were ignorantly rushing, when a piece of good fortune befell them.
Κούρτιος γάρ, ἀνὴρ ἐπιφανὴς δόξῃ καὶ φρονήματι γαῦρος, ἵππον ἔχων πολὺ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἐχώρει· δεξαμένου δὲ τοῦ βαράθρου τὸν ἵππον, ἄχρι μέν τινος ἐπειρᾶτο πληγῇ καὶ παρακελεύσει χρώμενος ἐξελαύνειν, ὡς δʼ ἦν ἀμήχανον, ἐάσας τὸν ἵππον ἑαυτὸν ἔσῳζεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν τόπος διʼ ἐκεῖνον ἔτι νῦν Κούρτειος λάκκος ὀνομάζεται· φυλαξάμενοι δὲ τὸν κίνδυνον οἱ Σαβῖνοι μάχην καρτερὰν ἐμαχέσαντο, κρίσιν οὐ λαβοῦσαν, καίτοι πολλῶν πεσόντων, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Ὁστίλιος.
Curtius, a conspicuous man among them, eager for glory and high design, was advancing on horseback far in front of the rest, when his horse sank in the gulf of mud. For some time he tried to drive him out, with blows and cries of encouragement, but since it was impossible, he abandoned his horse and saved himself. Accordingly, the place to this day is called from him lacus Curtius. But the Sabines, having avoided this peril, fought a sturdy fight, and one which was indecisive, although many fell, among whom was Hostilius.
τοῦτον Ἑρσιλίας ἄνδρα καὶ πάππον Ὁστιλίου τοῦ μετὰ Νομᾶν βασιλεύσαντος γενέσθαι λέγουσιν. αὖθις δὲ πολλῶν ἀγώνων ἐν βραχεῖ συνισταμένων ὡς εἰκός, ἑνὸς μάλιστα τοῦ τελευταίου μνημονεύουσιν, ἐν ᾧ Ῥωμύλου τὴν κεφαλὴν πληγέντος λίθῳ καὶ πεσεῖν ὀλίγον δεήσαντος τοῦ τʼ ἀντέχειν ὑφεμένου, τοῖς Σαβίνοις ἐνέδωκαν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ φυγῇ πρὸς τὸ Παλάτιον ἐχώρουν, ἐξωθούμενοι τῶν ἐπιπέδων.
This man, they say, was husband of Hersilia and grandfather to the Hostilius who was king after Numa. Afterwards many conflicts raged within a short time, as might be expected, but one is most memorable, namely the last, in which Romulus was hit on the head with a stone and almost fell to the ground, abandoning his resistance to the Sabines. The Romans thereupon gave way and began to fly to the Palatine, now that they were repulsed from the plain.
ἤδη δὲ ὁ Ῥωμύλος ἐκ τῆς πληγῆς ἀναφέρων, ἐβούλετο μὲν εἰς τὰ ὅπλα χωρεῖν τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἐναντίως, καὶ μέγα βοῶν ἵστασθαι καὶ μάχεσθαι παρεκάλει. πολλῆς δὲ τῆς φυγῆς αὐτῷ περιχεομένης, καὶ μηδενὸς ἀναστρέφειν τολμῶντος, ἀνατείνας εἰς οὐρανὸν τὰς χεῖρας ηὔξατο τῷ Διὶ στῆσαι τὸ στράτευμα καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων πράγματα πεσόντα μὴ περιιδεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὀρθῶσαι.
But presently Romulus, recovering from his blow, wished to stem the tide of fugitives and renew the battle, and called upon them with a loud voice to stand and fight. But as the waves of flight encompassed him and no man dared to face about, he stretched his hands towards heaven and prayed Jupiter to stay his army and not suffer the Roman cause to fall, but to restore it.
γενομένης δὲ τῆς εὐχῆς, αἰδώς τε τοῦ βασιλέως ἔσχε πολλούς, καὶ θάρσος ἐκ μεταβολῆς παρέστη τοῖς φεύγουσιν. ἔστησαν οὖν πρῶτον οὗ νῦν ὁ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Στάτορος ἵδρυται νεώς, ὃν Ἐπιστάσιον ἄν τις ἑρμηνεύσειεν, εἶτα συνασπίσαντες πάλιν ἔωσαν ὀπίσω τοὺς Σαβίνους ἐπὶ τὴν νῦν Ῥήγιαν προσαγορευομένην καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἑστίας ἱερόν.
No sooner was his prayer ended than many stopped out of reverence for their king, and courage returned to the fugitives. They made their first stand, then, where now is the temple of Jupiter Stator, which epithet might be interpreted as Stayer. Then they closed their ranks again and drove the Sabines back to where the so-called Regia now stands, and the temple of Vesta.
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