Texte grec :
| [7,71] Ἕτερος μὲν οὖν ἀποχρῆν ἂν ὑπέλαβε καὶ
αὐτὰ τὰ νῦν πραττόμενα ἐν τῇ πόλει μηνύματα οὐ
μικρὰ τῶν παλαιῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ὑπολαβεῖν· ἐγὼ δ´,
ἵνα μή τις ἀσθενῆ τὴν πίστιν εἶναι ταύτην ὑπολάβῃ
{εἴτε} κατ´ ἐκείνην τὴν ἀπίθανον ὑπόληψιν, ὅτι παντὸς
τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ κρατήσαντες ἀσμένως ἂν τὰ κρείττω
μετέμαθον ἔθη τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ὑπεριδόντες, ἐξ ἐκείνου
ποιήσομαι τοῦ χρόνου τὴν τέκμαρσιν, ὅτ´ οὔπω τὴν
τῆς Ἑλλάδος εἶχον ἡγεμονίαν οὐδὲ ἄλλην διαπόντιον
οὐδεμίαν ἀρχήν, Κοίντῳ Φαβίῳ βεβαιωτῇ χρώμενος καὶ
οὐδεμιᾶς ἔτι δεόμενος πίστεως ἑτέρας· παλαιότατος
γὰρ ἁνὴρ τῶν τὰ Ῥωμαϊκὰ συνταξαμένων, καὶ πίστιν
οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ἤκουσε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸς ἔγνω
παρεχόμενος.
Ταύτην δὴ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐψηφίσατο μὲν ἡ βουλὴ τῶν
Ῥωμαίων ἄγειν, ὡς καὶ πρότερον ἔφην, κατὰ τὰς γενομένας
εὐχὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ δικτάτορος Αὔλου Ποστομίου,
ὅτ´ ἔμελλεν ἀγωνίζεσθαι πρὸς τὰς ἀποστάσας Λατίνων
πόλεις κατάγειν ἐπιχειρούσας Ταρκύνιον ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν·
ἀναλοῦσθαι δ´ ἔταξε καθ´ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν εἴς τε τὰς
θυσίας καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἀργυρίου πεντακοσίας μνᾶς·
καὶ μέχρι τοῦ Φοινικικοῦ πολέμου ταῦτ´ ἐδαπάνων εἰς
τὴν ἑορτήν. ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἱεραῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις πολλὰ
μὲν καὶ ἄλλα ἐγίνετο νόμοις Ἑλληνικοῖς κατά τε πανηγυρισμοὺς
καὶ ξένων ὑποδοχὰς καὶ ἐκεχειρίας, ἃ πολὺ
ἂν ἔργον εἴη λέγειν, τὰ δὲ περὶ πομπήν τε καὶ θυσίαν
καὶ τὰ κατὰ τοὺς ἀγῶνας· ἀπόχρη γὰρ ἐκ τούτων καὶ
τὰ μὴ λεχθέντα ἐξετάζειν· τοιάδε.
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Traduction française :
| [7,71] Anyone else might have assumed that the ceremonies now practised in the city
were enough even by themselves to afford no slight indication of the ancient
observances. But for my part, lest anyone should hold this to be weak evidence,
according to that improbable assumption that after the Romans had conquered the
whole Greek world they would gladly have scorned their own customs and adopted
the better ones in their stead, I shall adduce my evidence from the time when they did
not as yet possess the supremacy over Greece or dominion over any other (p361) country
beyond the sea; and I shall cite Quintus Fabius as my authority, without requiring any
further confirmation. For he is the most ancient of all the Roman historians and
offers proof of what he asserts, not only from the information of others, but also from
his own knowledge.
This festival, therefore, the Roman senate ordered to be celebrated, as I said
before, pursuant to the vow made by the dictator Aulus Postumius when he was
upon the point of giving battle to the Latins, who had revolted from the Romans and
were endeavouring to restore Tarquinius to power; and they ordered five hundred
minae of silver to be expended every year upon the sacrifices and the games, a sum
the Romans laid out on the festival till the time of the Punic War. During these
holidays not only were many other observances carried out according to the customs
of the Greeks, in connection with the general assemblies, the reception of strangers,
and the cessation of hostilities, which it would be a big task to describe, but also those
relating to the procession, the sacrifice, and the games — these are sufficient to give
an idea of those I do not mention — which were as follows:
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