Texte grec :
| [4,40] Τοιαύτης τελευτῆς ἔτυχε Τύλλιος ἔτη τετταράκοντα
καὶ τέτταρα τὴν βασιλείαν κατασχών. τοῦτον
τὸν ἄνδρα λέγουσι Ῥωμαῖοι πρῶτον τὰ πάτρια
ἔθη καὶ νόμιμα κινῆσαι, τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβόντα οὐ παρὰ
τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τοῦ δήμου, καθάπερ οἱ πρὸ αὐτοῦ
πάντες, ἀλλὰ παρὰ μόνου τοῦ δήμου, δεκασμοῖς δὲ
{καὶ δωροδοκίαις} καὶ ἄλλαις πολλαῖς κολακείαις ἐκθεραπεύσαντα
τοὺς ἀπόρους· καὶ ἔχει τἀληθὲς οὕτως.
ἐν γὰρ τοῖς πρότερον χρόνοις, ὁπότε βασιλεὺς ἀποθάνοι,
τὴν μὲν ἐξουσίαν ὁ δῆμος ἐδίδου τῷ συνεδρίῳ
τῆς βουλῆς, οἵαν προέλοιτο καταστήσασθαι πολιτείαν·
ἡ δὲ βουλὴ μεσοβασιλεῖς ἀπεδείκνυεν· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ τὸν
ἄριστον ἄνδρα, εἴτ´ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιχωρίων, {εἴτ´ ἐκ τῶν
πολιτῶν,} εἴτ´ ἐκ τῶν ξένων, βασιλέα καθίστασαν. εἰ
μὲν οὖν ἥ τε βουλὴ τὸν αἱρεθέντα ὑπ´ αὐτῶν ἐδοκίμασε,
καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἐπεψήφισε καὶ τὰ μαντεύματα ἐπεκύρωσε,
παρελάμβανεν οὗτος τὴν ἀρχήν· ἐλλείποντος
δέ τινος τούτων ἕτερον ὠνόμαζον, καὶ τρίτον, εἰ μὴ
συμβαίη μηδὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ τά τε παρ´ ἀνθρώπων καὶ
τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀνεπίληπτα. ὁ δὲ Τύλλιος ἐπιτρόπου
βασιλικοῦ σχῆμα κατ´ ἀρχὰς λαβών, ὡς εἴρηταί
μοι πρότερον, ἔπειτα φιλανθρωπίαις τισὶ τὸν δῆμον
οἰκειωσάμενος ὑπ´ ἐκείνου βασιλεὺς ἀπεδείχθη μόνου.
ἐπιεικὴς δὲ καὶ μέτριος ἀνὴρ γενόμενος ἔλυσε τὰς ἐπὶ
τῷ μὴ πάντα τὰ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους πρᾶξαι διαβολὰς
τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτ´ ἔργοις, παρέσχε τε πολλοῖς ὑπόληψιν
ὡς, εἰ μὴ θᾶττον ἀνῃρέθη, μεταστήσων τὸ σχῆμα τῆς
πολιτείας εἰς δημοκρατίαν. καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ μάλιστα τῇ
αἰτίᾳ λέγεται τῶν πατρικίων αὐτῷ τινας συνεπιβουλεῦσαι·
ἀδυνάτους δ´ ὄντας δι´ ἑτέρου τρόπου τὴν
ἐξουσίαν αὐτοῦ καταλῦσαι καὶ Ταρκύνιον ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα
παραλαβεῖν καὶ συγκατασκευάσαι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκείνῳ,
κακῶσαί τε βουλομένους τὸ δημοτικὸν ἰσχύος οὐ μικρᾶς
ἐπειλημμένον ἐκ τῆς Τυλλίου πολιτείας, καὶ τὴν
ἰδίαν ἀξίωσιν, ἣν πρότερον εἶχον, ἀναλαβεῖν. θορύβου
δὲ γενομένου πολλοῦ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ὅλην καὶ οἰμωγῆς
ἐπὶ τῷ Τυλλίου θανάτῳ δείσας ὁ Ταρκύνιος, εἰ
διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ὁ νεκρὸς φέροιτο, ὡς ἔστι Ῥωμαίοις
ἔθος, τόν τε βασίλειον κόσμον ἔχων καὶ τἆλλ´, ὅσα
νόμος ἐπὶ ταφαῖς βασιλικαῖς μή τις εἰς ἑαυτὸν ὁρμὴ
γένηται τοῦ δημοτικοῦ, πρὶν ἢ βεβαίως κρατύνασθαι
τὴν ἀρχήν, οὐκ εἴασε τῶν νομίμων οὐδὲν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι·
ἀλλ´ ἡ γυνὴ τοῦ Τυλλίου σὺν ὀλίγοις τισὶ
τῶν φίλων, Ταρκυνίου θυγάτηρ οὖσα τοῦ προτέρου
βασιλέως, νυκτὸς ἐκκομίζει τὸ σῶμα τῆς πόλεως, ὡς
τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων τινός· καὶ πολλὰ μὲν τὸν ἑαυτῆς
καὶ ἐκείνου δαίμονα κατοδυραμένη, μυρίας δὲ κατάρας
τῷ τε γαμβρῷ καὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ καταρασαμένη κρύπτει
γῇ τὸ σῶμα. ἀπελθοῦσα δ´ ἀπὸ τοῦ σήματος οἴκαδε
καὶ μίαν ἡμέραν ἐπιβιώσασα μετὰ τὴν ταφὴν τῇ κατόπιν
νυκτὶ ἀποθνήσκει. τοῦ θανάτου δ´ ὁ τρόπος, ὅστις
ἦν, ἠγνοεῖτο τοῖς πολλοῖς· ἔλεγον δ´ οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ λύπης
αὐτοχειρίᾳ τὸ ζῆν προεμένην αὐτὴν ἀποθανεῖν· οἱ δ´
ὑπὸ τοῦ γαμβροῦ καὶ τῆς θυγατρὸς ἀναιρεθῆναι τῆς
εἰς τὸν ἄνδρα συμπαθείας τε καὶ εὐνοίας ἕνεκα. ταφῆς
μὲν οὖν βασιλικῆς καὶ μνήματος ἐπιφανοῦς διὰ ταύτας
τὰς αἰτίας οὐκ ἐξεγένετο τυχεῖν τῷ Τυλλίου σώματι,
μνήμης δ´ αἰωνίου τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ παρὰ πάντα τὸν
χρόνον ὑπάρχει τυγχάνειν. ἐδήλωσε δέ τι καὶ ἄλλο
δαιμόνιον ἔργον, ὅτι θεοφιλὴς ἦν ἁνήρ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἡ
περὶ τῆς γενέσεως αὐτοῦ μυθικὴ καὶ ἄπιστος ὑπόληψις,
ὥσπερ εἴρηταί μοι πρότερον, ἀληθὴς εἶναι ὑπὸ πολλῶν
ἐπιστεύθη. ἐν γὰρ τῷ ναῷ τῆς Τύχης, ὃν αὐτὸς
κατεσκεύασεν, εἰκὼν αὐτοῦ κειμένη ξυλίνη κατάχρυσος
ἐμπρήσεως γενομένης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων διαφθαρέντων
μόνη διέμεινεν οὐδὲν λωβηθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός.
καὶ ἔτι νῦν ὁ μὲν νεὼς καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα,
ὅσα μετὰ τὴν ἔμπρησιν εἰς τὸν ἀρχαῖον κόσμον ἐπετελέσθη
φανερά, ὅτι τῆς καινῆς ἐστι τέχνης, ἡ δ´ εἰκών,
οἵα πρότερον ἦν, ἀρχαικὴ τὴν κατασκευήν· διαμένει
γὰρ ἔτι σεβασμοῦ τυγχάνουσα ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων. καὶ περὶ
μὲν Τυλλίου τοσαῦτα παρελάβομεν.
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Traduction française :
| [4,40] Such was the death which fell to the lot of Tullius after he had reigned forty-
four years. The Romans say that this man was the first who altered ancestral customs
and laws by receiving the sovereignty, not from the senate and the people (p403) jointly,
like all the former kings, but from the people alone, the poorer sort of whom he had
won over by bribery and many other ways of courting popular favour; and this is true.
For before this time, upon the death of a king it was the custom for the people to
grant to the senate authority to establish such a form of government as they should
think fit; and the senate created interreges, who appointed the best man king,
whether he was a native Roman or a foreigner. And if the senate approved of the one
so chosen and the people by their votes confirmed the choice, and if the auguries also
gave their sanction to it, he assumed the sovereignty; but if any one of these
formalities was lacking, they named a second, and then a third, if it so happened that
the second was likewise not found unobjectionable by both men and gods. Tullius,
on the contrary, at first assumed the guise of royal guardian, as I said before, after
which he gained the affections of the people by certain ingratiating acts and was
appointed king by them alone. But as he proved to be a man of mildness and
moderation, by his subsequent actions he put an end to the complaints caused by his
not having observed the laws in all respects, and gave occasion for many to believe
that, if he had not been made away with too soon, he would have changed the form of
government to a democracy. And they say it was for this reason chiefly that some of
the patricians joined in the conspiracy against him; that, being unable by any other
means to overthrow (p405) his power, they took Tarquinius as an ally in their
undertaking and aided him in gaining the sovereignty, it being their wish not only to
weaken the power of the plebeians, which had received no small addition from the
political measures of Tullius, but also to recover their own former dignity.
The death of Tullius having occasioned a great tumult and lamentation throughout
the whole city, Tarquinius was afraid lest, if the body should be carried through the
Forum, according to the custom of the Romans, adorned with the royal robes and the
other marks of honour usual in royal funerals, some attack might be made against
him by the populace before he had firmly established his authority; and accordingly
he would not permit any of the usual ceremonies to be performed in his honour. But
the wife of Tullius, who was daughter to Tarquinius, the former king, with a few of
her friends carried the body out of the city at night as if it had been that of some
ordinary person; and after uttering many lamentations over the fate both of herself
and of her husband and heaping countless imprecations upon her son-in-law and her
daughter, she buried the body in the ground. Then, returning home from the
sepulchre, she lived but one day after the burial, during the following night. The
manner of her death was not generally known. Some said that in her grief she lost all
desire to live and died by her own hand; others, that she was put to death by her son-
in-law and her daughter because of her compassion and affection for her husband.
For the reasons (p407) mentioned, then, the body of Tullius could not be given a royal
funeral and a stately monument; but his achievements have won lasting
remembrance for all time. And it was made clear by another prodigy that this man
was dear to the gods; in consequence of which that fabulous and incredible opinion
I have already mentioned68 concerning his birth also came to be regarded by many as
true. For in the temple of Fortune which he himself had built there stood a gilded
wooden statue of Tullius, and when a conflagration occurred and everything else
was destroyed, this statue alone remained uninjured by the flames. And even to this
day, although the temple itself and all the objects in it, which were restored to their
formed condition after the fire, are obviously the products of modern art, the statue,
as aforetime, is of ancient workmanship; for it still remains an object of veneration by
the Romans. Concerning Tullius these are all the facts that have been handed down to us.
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