Texte grec :
| [3,67] Αὗται πολεμικαὶ πράξεις βασιλέως Ταρκυνίου
μνημονεύονται, εἰρηνικαὶ δὲ καὶ πολιτικαὶ
τοιαίδε τινές, οὐδὲ γὰρ ταύτας βούλομαι παρελθεῖν
ἀμνημονεύτους. εὐθὺς γὰρ ἅμα τῷ παραλαβεῖν
τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸν δημοτικὸν ὄχλον οἰκεῖον ἑαυτῷ
ποιῆσαι προθυμηθείς, ὥσπερ οἱ πρότεροι βασιλεῖς
ἐποίουν, διὰ τοιαύτας εὐεργεσίας ὑπηγάγετο· ἐπιλέξας
ἄνδρας ἑκατὸν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν δημοτικῶν, οἷς
ἀρετήν τινα πολεμικὴν ἢ πολιτικὴν φρόνησιν ἅπαντες
ἐμαρτύρουν, πατρικίους ἐποίησε καὶ κατέταξεν εἰς τὸν
τῶν βουλευτῶν ἀριθμόν, καὶ τότε πρῶτον ἐγένοντο
Ῥωμαίοις τριακόσιοι βουλευταὶ τέως ὄντες διακόσιοι.
ἔπειτα ταῖς ἱεραῖς παρθένοις, ὑφ´ ὧν τὸ ἄσβεστον
φυλάττεται πῦρ, τέτταρσιν οὔσαις δύο προσκατέλεξεν
ἑτέρας· πλειόνων γὰρ ἤδη συντελουμένων ὑπὸ τῆς
πόλεως ἱερουργιῶν, αἷς ἔδει τὰς τῆς Ἑστίας παρεῖναι
θυηπόλους, οὐκ ἐδόκουν αἱ τέτταρες ἀρκεῖν. Ταρκυνίου
δὲ ἄρξαντος ἠκολούθουν οἱ λοιποὶ βασιλεῖς,
καὶ μέχρι τῶν καθ´ ἡμᾶς χρόνων ἓξ ἀποδείκνυνται
τῆς Ἑστίας ἀμφίπολοι. δοκεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰς τιμωρίας, αἷς
κολάζονται πρὸς τῶν ἱεροφαντῶν αἱ μὴ φυλάττουσαι
τὴν παρθενίαν, ἐκεῖνος ἐξευρεῖν πρῶτος εἴτε
κατὰ λογισμὸν εἴτε ὡς οἴονταί τινες ὀνείρῳ πειθόμενος,
ἃς μετὰ τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν ἐν τοῖς Σιβυλλείοις
εὑρεθῆναι χρησμοῖς οἱ τῶν ἱερῶν ἐξηγηταὶ
λέγουσιν· ἐφωράθη γάρ τις ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκείνου βασιλείας
ἱέρεια Πιναρία Ποπλίου θυγάτηρ οὐχ ἁγνὴ προσιοῦσα
τοῖς ἱεροῖς. τρόπος δὲ τιμωρίας ὅστις ἐστίν, ᾧ κολάζουσι
τὰς διαφθαρείσας, ἐν τῇ πρὸ ταύτης δεδήλωταί
μοι γραφῇ. τήν τε ἀγοράν, ἐν ᾗ δικάζουσι καὶ
ἐκκλησιάζουσι καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πολιτικὰς ἐπιτελοῦσι
πράξεις ἐκεῖνος ἐκόσμησεν ἐργαστηρίοις τε καὶ παστάσι
περιλαβών, καὶ τὰ τείχη τῆς πόλεως αὐτοσχέδια
καὶ φαῦλα ταῖς ἐργασίαις ὄντα πρῶτος ᾠκοδομήσατο
λίθοις ἁμαξιαίοις εἰργασμένοις πρὸς κανόνα.
ἤρξατο δὲ καὶ τὰς ὑπονόμους ὀρύττειν τάφρους, δι´
ὧν ἐπὶ τὸν Τέβεριν ὀχετεύεται πᾶν τὸ συρρέον ἐκ
τῶν στενωπῶν ὕδωρ, ἔργα θαυμαστὰ καὶ κρείττω
λόγου κατασκευασάμενος. ἔγωγ´ οὖν ἐν τρισὶ τοῖς
μεγαλοπρεπεστάτοις κατασκευάσμασι τῆς Ῥώμης, ἐξ
ὧν μάλιστα τὸ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἐμφαίνεται μέγεθος,
τάς τε τῶν ὑδάτων ἀγωγὰς τίθεμαι καὶ τὰς τῶν ὁδῶν
στρώσεις καὶ τὰς τῶν ὑπονόμων ἐργασίας οὐ μόνον
εἰς τὸ χρήσιμον τῆς κατασκευῆς τὴν διάνοιαν ἀναφέρων,
ὑπὲρ οὗ κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρὸν ἐρῶ, ἀλλὰ
καὶ εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀναλωμάτων πολυτέλειαν, ἣν ἐξ ἑνὸς
ἔργου τεκμήραιτ´ ἄν τις Γάιον Ἀκίλλιον ποιησάμενος
τοῦ μέλλοντος λέγεσθαι βεβαιωτήν, ὅς φησιν ἀμεληθεισῶν
ποτε τῶν τάφρων καὶ μηκέτι διαρρεομένων
τοὺς τιμητὰς τὴν ἀνακάθαρσιν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν
ἐπισκευὴν χιλίων μισθῶσαι ταλάντων.
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Traduction française :
| [3,67] These are the military achievements of Tarquinius which are recorded; those that
relate to peace and to the civil administration (for these too I do not wish to pass over
without mention) are as follows: As soon as he had assumed the sovereignty, being
anxious to gain the affections of the common people, after the example of his
predecessors, he won them over by such services as these: He chose a hundred
persons out of the whole body of the plebeians who were acknowledged by all to be
possessed of some warlike prowess or political sagacity, and having made them
patricians, he enrolled them among the senators; and then for the first time the
Romans had three hundred senators, instead of two hundred, (p239) as previously.
Next, he added to the four holy virgins who had the custody of the perpetual fire two
others; for the sacrifices performed on behalf of the state at which these priestesses of
Vesta were required to be present being now increased, the four were not thought
sufficient. The example of Tarquinius was followed by the rest of the kings and to this
day six priestesses of Vesta are appointed. He seems also to have first devised the
punishments which are inflicted by the pontiffs on those Vestals who do not preserve
their chastity, being moved to do so either by his own judgment or, as some believe,
in obedience to a dream; and these punishments, according to the interpreters of
religious rites, were found after his death among the Sibylline oracles. For in his reign
a priestess named Pinaria, the daughter of Publius, was discovered to be approaching
the sacrifices in a state of unchastity. The manner of punishing the Vestals who have
been debauched has been described by me in the preceding Book. 74Tarquinius also
adorned the Forum, where justice is administered, the assemblies of the people held,
and other civil matters transacted, by surrounding it with shops and porticos. And
he was the first to build the walls of the city, which previously had been of temporary
and careless construction, with huge76 stones regularly squared. He also began the
digging of the sewers, through which a the water that collects from the streets is
conveyed into the Tiber — a wonderful work exceeding all (p241) description. Indeed,
in my opinion the three most magnificent works of Rome, in which the greatness of
her empire is best seen, are the aqueducts, the paved roads and the construction of
the sewers. I say this with respect not only to the usefulness of the work (concerning
which I shall speak in the proper place), but also to the magnitude of the cost, of
which one may judge by a single circumstance, if one takes as his authority Gaius
Acilius, who says that once, when the sewers had been neglected and were no longer
passable for the water, the censors let out the cleaning and repairing of them at a
thousand talents.
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