Cassius Dio

“ For the rest of the Latins, on account of the destruction of Alba and in fear that they themselves might suffer some similar disaster, were angry at the Romans. As long as Tullus survived, they had restrained themselves, fearing him as a mighty warrior; but thinking that Marcius was easy to attack because of his peaceful disposition, they assailed his territory and pillaged it. He, realizing that war is the means of peace, assailed his assailants, and avenged himself ”

“ Lucretia was the daughter of Lucretius Spurius, a member of the senate, and she was wife of the distinguished Tarquinius Collatinus, and was renowned for her beauty and chastity. Sextus, the son of Tarquin, set his heart upon outraging her, not so much because he was inspired with passion by her beauty as because he chose to plot against her chaste reputation. ”

“ Tarquinius, seeing it, took a lively interest in the boy and when he arrived at maturity had him enrolled among the patricians and senators.
The murderers of Tarquinius were arrested, and his wife and Tullius learned the plan of the plot; but instead of making the king's death known at once, they took him up and pretended to care for him, as if he were still alive, and meanwhile exchanged mutual pledges that Tullius should take the sovereignty but surrender it to Tanaquil's sons when they became men. ”

“ Romulus and Remus by their mutual strife made it plain that some go through dangers together with far less risk than through prosperity.
They themselves [1] learned well and taught others the lesson that those who seek to avenge their wrongs are not invariably successful merely because they have first suffered injury, and that those who make demands on stronger men do not necessarily get what they demand, but often lose even what they had before. ”

“ But as Apollo declared that he should be driven from his domain only when a dog should use human speech, he was inspired with confident hope, thinking that the oracle could never be fulfilled.
Now Lucius Junius was a son of Tarquin's sister; his father and brother Tarquin had killed. So he, fearing now for his own person, feigned stupidity, especially when he is of a distinguished family, becomes an object of suspicion to tyrants. And when once he had set out on this course, he acted his part with the greatest precision, and for that reason was also called Brutus ”

“ Many, for example, as if raised unexpectedly to some great height, have not endured their elevation, but being overcome with giddiness, have fallen and not only brought disaster to themselves but at the same time shattered all the interests of their subjects.
Dio, Book III. "It is done not merely by the actual men who rule them, but also by those who share the power with those rulers." ”

“ Now Latinus and Turnus, king of the Rutuli, perished in war at each other's hands, whereupon Aeneas became king. And when Aeneas also had been killed in war at Laurentum by the same Rutuli and Mezentius the Etruscan, while Lavinia his wife was pregnant of Silvius, Ascanius the son of the case of other essential facts. For, while I shall recount the history of the Romans in full, to the best of my ability, outside of that only what has a bearing on their affairs will be recorded. ”

“ Dio followed the annalistic order of treatment, so popular among the Romans, according to which all the events of a given year, in whatever part of the world they occurred, were grouped together. The eponymous consuls of each year are regularly named at the appropiate points in the text, and in addition there is prefixed to each book, even for the imperial age, a table of the consuls for the period covered. When he comes to the empire, moreover, he is very careful to specify to a day the exact duration of each emperor's reign, and in certain other matters aims at equal exactness. ”

“ But if you are indeed irreconcilable and some bolt of madness has fallen upon your heads and drives you to frenzy, then first kill us on account of whom you are fighting, and first slay these children whom you hate, that with no longer any name or bond of kinship between you you may avoid the greatest of evils — the slaying of the grandsires of your children and the fathers of your grandchildren. ”

“ In this way Tullius gained control of the populace; but fearing that some rebellion might take place, he entrusted the greater part and the most important of the public business to the care of the more influential citizens. Thus they became harmonious among themselves and transacted the public business in the best manner. He also conducted a few wars against the Veientes and against all the Etruscans, in the course of which nothing was done worthy of record. Wishing to affiliate the Latins still more closely with the Romans, he persuaded them to construct a temple in Rome out of common funds. ”

“ Dio's point of view is thoroughly Roman. He writes from the standpoint of a senator who, while jealous of the prerogatives of his order, is at the same time a thorough believer in the monarchy; in fact he makes the relations of the emperors to the senate the central idea in his account of the empire. His impatience with all opposition to the monarchy is probably responsible for the almost bitter hostility shown towards Cicero. He has a poor opinion of the common people, and he resents the great power and influence of the praetorian guard. ”

“ After the death of Ascanius it was not his son lulus who became king, but Silvius, the son of Aeneas by Lavinia — or, according to some, Ascanius' son Silvius. Silvius begat another Aeneas, whose son was Latinus, whose son was Capys; Capys had a son Tiberinus, whose son was Amulius, whose son was Aventinus. It is impossible for mortal man either to foresee all that is to happen or to find a way of turning aside the inevitable: of this very maiden [Rhea Silvia] were to be born the avengers of his crime. ”

“ In a few instances Dio refers to the memoirs of emperors (Augustus, Hadrian, and Severus) , as if he had consulted them. He excels the other historians of Rome in the attention paid to constitutional and administrative matters, and it has been argued that he must have consulted some of the public records, at least the lists of magistrates. In general it may be said that his history gives evidence of being based on various sources for a given period, [22] and he seems to have made an honest attempt to arrive at the truth. ”

“ The oracle declared that he who sacrificed her should exalt his country. One of the Romans, learning of this, went to the man and told him it was necessary that he first be purified in the river, and by his words he persuaded him. After persuading him, he took the cow under the pretence of keeping her safe; and having taken her, he sacrificed her. When the Sabine toade known the oracle, the Latins both yielded the presidency of the shrine to the Dio, Book II. "And because his brother did not cooperate with him, he secretly put him out of the way by means of poison administered by his wife." ”

“ For he well understood that every person possessed of his wits,
Zonaras 7, 11.
reported it to their fellow-citizens, to the effect that they should be very powerful and rule a vast multitude. This, then, was another event that inspired them with hope, and they accordingly renamed the mount Capitolium; for capita in the Roman tongue means the "head."
Needing money for the building of the temple, Tarquin waged war upon the inhabitants of Ardea; but from this he not only gained no money, but was actually driven out of the kingdom. ”

“ When Romulus and Remus were grown they kept flocks in the fields of Amulius, but as they killed some of the shepherds of their grandfather Numitor a watch was set for them. When Remus was arrested, Romulus ran and told Faustulus, and he ran and related the whole story to Numitor. Finally Numitor recognized them as his own daughter's children. They with the assistance of many others killed Amulius, and after bestowing the kingdom of Alba on their grandfather Numitor made a beginning themselves of founding Rome in the eighteenth year of Romulus' life. ”

“ The work for which Dio is known to the modern world is his Roman History (Ῥωραἴκὴ ιστορία or Ῥωραἴκά) , originally in eighty books, covering the period from the landing of Aeneas down to the year of his own (second) consulship in 229 A.D. The last seven years, however, were treated very summarily, having been added, apparently, as an afterthought. He informs us that he spent ten years in gathering his material for the period down to Severus' death, [14] that he had read everything of importance on the subject, [15] and that twelve years was the time occupied in composing the work. ”

“ I have myself beheld Romulus ascending to the sky. Dio, Book I. "When, at the risk not only of his safety but even of his life, he encountered danger in your behalf." [3]
Numa dwelt on the hill called Quirinal, because was he a Sabine, but he had his official residence on the Sacred Way; he used to spend his time near the temple of Vesta, although occasionally he would remain in the country.
Dio says: "It is my desire to write a history of all the memorable achievements of the Romans, as well in time of peace as in war, so that no one, whether
loann. ”

“ Sallust was almost certainly not among Dio's sources, and it is not probable that Caesar's Commentaries were used, at least to any extent. For the period of the empire Tacitus has been confidently claimed by some as an important source, particularly for the reign and characterization of Tiberius; others, with less probability, have denied any such influence. A few isolated parallels between Dio and Sallust, also Pliny the Elder, have been pointed out; but they are not of sufficient importance to establish any direct influence. ”

“ The men who dishonour them have their necks inserted in a forked pole in the Forum, and then are scourged naked until they perish. However, an attack was made upon Tarquinius by the sons of Marcius because he would not yield the sovereignty to them, but instead placed a certain Tullius, born to him by a slave woman, at the head of them all. This more than anything else displeased the patricians. The young men interested some of these in their cause, and then they fonned a plot against the king. ”

“ The business of kingship, more than any other, demands not merely excellence of character, but also great understanding and experience, and it is not possible without these qualities for the man who takes hold of it to show moderation. ”

“ Dio exerted no appreciable influence on his immediate successors in the field of Roman history. But among the Byzantines he became the standard authority on the subject, a circumstance to which we doubtless owe the preservation of such a large portion of his work. ”

“ Perchance he even felt some love for her, since she was of surpassing beauty; still, it was rather her reputation than her body that he desired to ruin. He watched for an occasion when Collatinus was among the Rutuli, hurried to Collatia, and coming to her by night as to a kinswoman, obtained both food and lodging. ”

“ All changes are very dangerous, and especially do those in governments work the greatest and most numerous evils to both individuals and states. Sensible men, therefore, choose to remain under the same forms continually, even if they be not the best, rather than by changing, now to one, now to another, to be continually unsettled. ”

“ Thus Tarquin was deprived of his power, after B.C. 509 ruling twenty-five years; and the Romans turned to Brutus and chose him ruler. In order, however, that the rule of one man might not suggest the kingly power, they elected also, as joint-ruler with him, the husband of Lucretia, Tarquinius Collatinus. He was believed to be hostile to the tyrants because of the outrage done his wife. Now from Tarquin Every person comes to possess wishes and desires according to his fortunes, and whatever his circumstances be, of like nature are also the opinions he acquires. ”

“ On the basis of these citations, compared with the epitomes, von Gutschmid and Boissevain independently attempted to determine the points of division between the lost books of Dio, and reached essentially the same results. Yet in several places the evidence is insufficient to constitute more than a reasonable probability. ”

“ Dio, Book II. " [The Romans, realizing] that their [the Albans'] reputation would stand in the way of their own growth."
Neither of the two Tullus or Mettius sanctioned the removal [of his people to the other city] , but both championed their own pretensions. For Tullus felt emboldened in view of the fame of Romulus and of the power the Romans now possessed, and so did Fufetius in view of the antiquity of Alba and because it was the mother city not only of the Romans themselves but of many others; and both felt no little pride. For these reasons they gave up ”

“ Caracalla, the successor of Severus, took Dio along as a member of his retinue on his Eastern expedition in 216, and the following winter was spent at Nicomedia; [10] but Dio did not accompany the emperor to the Parthian war. By Macrinus he was placed over the cities of Pergamum and Smyrna as curator ad corrigendum stalum civitatium, [11] and he was continued in this position by Elagabalus. Under Alexander Severus he became proconsul of Africa, and upon his return was sent out as governor successively of Dalmatia and Upper Pannonia, [12] both imperial provinces. ”

“ He destroyed not merely the followers of Tullius, but in addition those who had cooperated with himself in securing the royal power, and thus he made away with the most powerful element among the senators and the knights. He believed that he was hated by the entire populace; hence he did not appoint any persons whatever in place of the men who were and he was anxious to render the classes mentioned utterly powerless through lack of numbers. ”