Appian’s Roman History, Volume I

Name: Appian’s Roman History, Volume I
Author: Appian of Alexandria

Ancient Greek with Horace White’s English translation

Appian’s Roman History, Volume IBook I · Fragments 2–5

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Facing Pages · Branch 15 of 315

Book I · Fragments 2–5

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Ancient Greek

p. 32

μὲν πρῶτος τόμος τῶν ἑπτὰ βασιλέων, Ῥωμύλου, Νουμᾶ Πομπιλίου, Ἄγκου Ὁστιλίου καὶ Ἄγκου ἑτέρου τοῦ καὶ Μαρκίου, ἐπιγόνου Νουμᾶ, Ταρκυνίου, Σερουίου Τυλλίου, καὶ Ταρκυνίου Λευκίου τοῦ Ταρκυνίου, τούτων τῶν ἑπτὰ ἔργα τε καὶ πράξεις περιέχει. ὧν ὁ πρῶτος κτίστης τε Ῥώμης καὶ οἰκιστὴς γεγονώς, ἄρξας τε πατρικῶς μᾶλλον ἢ τυραννικῶς, ὅμως ἐσφάγη, ἢ ὡς ἄλλοι φασίν, ἠφανίσθη. ὁ δὲ δεύτερος οὐδὲν ἧττον βεβασιλευκώς, εἰ μὴ καὶ μᾶλλον, τὸν ἑαυτοῦ βίον ἐτελεύτησε ζήσας ὁ δὲ τρίτος ἐκεραυνώθη. νόσῳ δὲ τὸν βίον ὁ τέταρτος ὑπεξῆλθεν. ὁ δὲ πέμπτος ὑπὸ ποιμένων ἐσφάγη, καὶ ὁ ἕκτος ὁμοίως σφαγῇ κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον. ὁ δὲ ἕβδομος καὶ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς βασιλείας παρανομῶν ἐξηλάθη· ἐξ οὗ τῆς βασιλείας καταλυθείσης εἰς τοὺς ὑπάτους τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς μετετέθη.

ἡ δὲ τὸν πατέρα φυλάξασα ἀποδημοῦντα ὑπισχνεῖται Τατίῳ προδώσειν τὸ φρούριον.

κελεύσαντος δὲ Τατίου τὸν χρυσὸν ἐς τὴν παῖδα ἐλίθαζον, ἔστε τιτρωσκομένη κατεχώσθη.

ὅτι

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book I

p. 33

Ancus Marcius (a descendant of Numa), Tarquinius, Servius Tullius, and Lucius Tarquinius, a son of the other Tarquinius. The first of these was the founder and builder of Rome, and although he governed it rather as a father than as an absolute monarch, he was nevertheless slain, or, as some think, translated. The second, not less kingly, but even more so than the first, died at the age of . . . The third was struck by lightning. The fourth died of a disease. The fifth was murdered by some shepherds. The sixth lost his life in a similar manner. The seventh was expelled from the city and kingdom for violating the laws. From that time kingly rule came to an end, and the administration of government was transferred to consuls.

Having kept careful watch against her father’s return, she (Tarpeia) promises Tatius to betray the garrison.

At the command of Tatius they threw pieces of gold at the girl until she succumbed to her wounds and was buried under the heap.

About This Reading Edition

Appian’s Roman History asked readers of the Roman Empire to reckon with how conquest, ambition, and civil conflict created their world; its questions about political power, cultural encounter, civic division, and the human cost of expansion remain urgent today. This approximately page-aligned parallel-text edition pairs the Ancient Greek text with Horace White’s English translation, following the 1912 facing leaves while omitting translator’s notes, figures, fragment attributions, marginalia, and unnumbered appendices.

Historical Text and Translation

Appian, a Greek-speaking Roman historian from Alexandria, wrote in the second century CE and arranged Rome’s expansion by the peoples and regions it conquered rather than as one continuous chronology—a strikingly original design. Much of his twenty-four-book work is lost, making the surviving books and fragments especially valuable.

About Horace White

Horace White was an American journalist, editor, and financial writer rather than a university professor. He led the Chicago Tribune and later the New York Evening Post, yet his Greek scholarship produced the fluent two-volume Appian translation of 1899 that became the English text of the original Loeb edition in 1912.

Rights

Appian’s ancient work, Ludwig Mendelssohn’s 1879 Greek edition, Horace White’s 1899/1912 English translation, and the Eulogikon Greek Preface are in the public domain in the United States. The Perseus digital transcriptions are reused under CC BY-SA 4.0; their attribution and share-alike terms continue to apply.