Texte grec :
| [7,73] Λοιπὸν δ´ ἔτι μοι καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀγώνων,
οὓς μετὰ τὴν πομπὴν ἐπετέλουν, ὀλίγα διελθεῖν. πρῶτος
ὁ τῶν τεθρίππων τε καὶ συνωρίδων καὶ τῶν
ἀζεύκτων ἵππων ἐγίνετο δρόμος, ὡς παρ´ Ἕλλησι τὸ
ἀρχαῖον Ὀλυμπίασί τε καὶ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος. ἐν δὲ
ταῖς ἱππικαῖς ἁμίλλαις ἐπιτηδεύματα δύο τῶν πάνυ
παλαιῶν ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνομοθετήθη φυλαττόμενα ὑπὸ
Ῥωμαίων μέχρι τῶν κατ´ ἐμὲ διάκειται χρόνων, τό τε
περὶ τὰ τρίπωλα τῶν ἁρμάτων, ὃ παρ´ Ἕλλησι μὲν
ἐκλέλοιπεν, ἀρχαῖον ὂν ἐπιτήδευμα καὶ ἡρωικόν, ᾧ
ποιεῖ τοὺς Ἕλληνας Ὅμηρος ἐν ταῖς μάχαις χρωμένους·
δυσὶ γὰρ ἵπποις ἐζευγμένοις, ὃν τρόπον ζεύγνυται συνωρίς,
τρίτος παρείπετο σειραῖος ἵππος ῥυτῆρι συνεχόμενος, ὃν ἀπὸ τοῦ
παρῃωρῆσθαί τε καὶ μὴ συνεζεῦχθαι παρῄορον ἐκάλουν οἱ
παλαιοί· ἕτερον δὲ παρ´
ὀλίγαις ἔτι φυλαττόμενον πόλεσιν Ἑλληνίσιν ἐν ἱερουργίαις τισὶν
ἀρχαϊκαῖς, ὁ τῶν παρεμβεβηκότων τοῖς
ἅρμασι δρόμος. ὅταν γὰρ τέλος αἱ τῶν ἱππέων ἅμιλλαι
λάβωνται, ἀποπηδῶντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἁρμάτων οἱ παροχούμενοι τοῖς
ἡνιόχοις, οὓς οἱ ποιηταὶ μὲν παραβάτας,
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ καλοῦσιν ἀποβάτας, τὸν σταδιαῖον ἁμιλλῶνται
δρόμον αὐτοὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους. τελεσθέντων δὲ
τῶν ἱππικῶν δρόμων οἱ τοῖς ἑαυτῶν σώμασιν ἀγωνιζόμενοι τότ´
εἰσῄεσαν δρομεῖς τε καὶ πύκται καὶ παλαισταί. τρία γὰρ
ἀθλήματα παρὰ τοῖς ἀρχαίοις Ἕλλησι
ταῦτ´ ἦν, ὡς Ὅμηρος ἐπὶ τῇ Πατρόκλου δηλοῖ ταφῇ.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς διὰ μέσου τῶν ἀθλημάτων χρόνοις Ἑλληνικώτατον καὶ
κράτιστον ἁπάντων ἐθῶν ἀπεδείκνυντο,
στεφανώσεις καὶ ἀναρρήσεις ποιούμενοι τιμῶν, αἷς
ἐτίμων τοὺς ἑαυτῶν εὐεργέτας, ὡς Ἀθήνησιν ἐν ταῖς
Διονυσιακαῖς ἐγίνετο θυσίαις, καὶ σκύλων, ὅσων ἐκ
πολέμων λάβοιεν, ἐπιδείξεις τοῖς εἰς θέαν συνεληλυθόσιν. ἀλλὰ
γὰρ ὑπὲρ μὲν τούτων οὔτε μηθένα ποιήσασθαι λόγον ἀπαιτούσης
τῆς ὑποθέσεως καλῶς εἶχεν,
οὔτε μηκύνειν πέρα τοῦ δέοντος ἥρμοττε. καιρὸς δ´
ἐπὶ τὴν ἀπολειπομένην διήγησιν ἐπανάγειν. ὡς γὰρ
δὴ τὰ περὶ τὸν ἀπαχθέντα ἐπὶ τιμωρίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου
καὶ προηγησάμενον τῆς πομπῆς ἔμαθεν ἡ βουλὴ
παρὰ τοῦ τὸ πραχθὲν ἀνανεωσαμένου, τοῦτον ὑπολαβοῦσα ὑπὸ
τοῦ θεοῦ λέγεσθαι τὸν οὐ καλὸν ἔπαρχον
τῶν ὀρχηστῶν, ὥσπερ ἔφην, ἀναζητήσασα τὸν τῷ θεράποντι
λωβησάμενον καὶ ζημίαν ἐπιβαλοῦσα, ἧς ἄξιος
ἦν, ἑτέραν ἐψηφίσατο τῷ θεῷ πομπὴν ἐπιτελεσθῆναι
καὶ ἀγῶνας ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἑτέρους ἀπὸ διπλασίων χρημάτων
ἢ πρότερον ἐγένοντο. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ τούτων συντελεσθέντα
τῶν ὑπάτων τοιάδε ἦν.
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Traduction française :
| [7,73] (p379) It now remains for me to give a brief account of the games which the
Romans performed after the procession. The first was a race of four-horse chariots,
two-horse chariots, and of unyoked horses, as has been the custom among the
Greeks, both anciently at Olympia and down to the present. In the chariot races two
very ancient customs continue to be observed by the Romans down to my time in the
same manner as they were first instituted. The first relates to the chariots drawn by
three horses, a custom now fallen into disuse among the Greeks, though it was an
ancient institution of heroic times which Homer represents the Greeks as using in
battle. For running beside two horses yoked together in the same manner as in the
case of a two-horse chariot was a third horse attached by a trace; this trace-horse the
ancients called parêoros or "outrunner," because he was "hitched beside" and not
yoked to the others. The other custom is the race run by those who have ridden in the
chariots, a race which is still performed in a few Greek states upon the occasion of
some ancient sacrifices. For after the chariot races are ended, those who have ridden
with the charioteers, whom the poets call "parabatai" and the Athenians "apobatai", leap
down from their chariots and run a race with one another the length of the stadium.
And after the chariot races were over, those who contended in their own persons
entered the lists, that is, (p381) runners, boxers, and wrestlers; for these three contests
were in use among the ancient Greeks, as Homer shows in describing the funeral of
Patroclus. And in the intervals between the contests they observed a custom which
was typically Greek and the most commendable of all customs, that of awarding
crowns and proclaiming the honours with which they rewarded their benefactors, just
as was done at Athens during the festivals of Dionysus, and displaying to all who had
assembled for the spectacle the spoils they had taken in war. But as regards these
customs, just as it would not have been right to make no mention of them when the
subject required it, so it would not be fitting to extend my account farther than is
necessary. It is now time to return to the narrative which we interrupted.
After the senate, then, had been informed, by the person who remembered the
incident, of the circumstances relating to the slave who had been led to punishment
by the order of his master and had gone ahead of the procession, they concluded that
this slave was the unacceptable leader of the dancers mentioned by the god, as I have
related. And inquiring after the master who had used his slave so cruelly, they
imposed a suitable penalty upon him, and ordered another procession to be
performed in honour of the god and other games to be exhibited at double the
expense of the former. These were the events of this consulship.
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