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Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition

Appian of Alexandria

Appian’s Roman History, Volume I

Ancient Greek with Horace White’s English translation

Appian’s Roman History, Volume IBook II · Fragments V–VII

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Facing Pages · Branch 23 of 315

Book II · Fragments V–VII

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Ancient Greek

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καὶ Γαΐου Μαρκίου, τούτοιν δὲ Τάτιον μέν, ὄντα ξένον καὶ ἀληθῆ πολέμιον, ἐνδοῦναι ταῖς γυναιξὶν αἰδούμενον, Μάρκιον δʼ ὑπερορᾶν πρεσβείας γυναικῶν τοσῶνδε, καὶ τῆς γεγαμημένης καὶ μητρὸς ἐπὶ ταύταις. ἄλλη μὲν οὖν, ἔφη, μηδεμία μήτηρ, ἀτυχοῦσα παιδός, ἐς ἀνάγκην ἀφίκοιτο προσπεσεῖν αὐτῷ· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ὑφίσταμαι· προκυλίσομαί σου. καὶ λέγουσα ἐς τὸ ἔδαφος ἑαυτὴν ἐρρίπτει. ὁ δὲ ἐδάκρυσέ τε καὶ ἀνεπήδα καὶ ἀντείχετο αὐτῆς, ὑπό τε τοῦ πάθους ἐξεφώνησε, νικᾷς, ὦ μῆτερ, ἀλλὰ νίκην ἐξ ἧς τὸν υἱὸν ἀπολεῖς. ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἀπῆγε τῆν στρατιὰν ὡς λόγον ἀποδώσων Οὐολούσκοις καὶ τὰ ἔθνη συναλλάξων· ἐλπίς τε ἦν ὅτι καὶ ταῦτα πείσει Οὐολούσκους. κατελεύσθη δὲ φθονούμενος παρὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ Ἀττίου.

ὁ δὲ Μάρκιος ἀντιλέγειν μὲν πρὸς οὐδὲ ἓν αὐτῶν ἐδικαίου.

ἐλεεινοὶ τοῦ πάθους, ἀξιέπαινοι τῆς ἀρετῆς γενόμενοι. μέγα γὰρ τοῦτο Ῥωμαίοις πάθος ἐγένετο καὶ πλήθους ἕνεκα καὶ ἀξιώματος εὐγενοῦς οἴκου καὶ πανωλεθρίας. καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἀποφράδα τίθενται.

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Appian’s Roman History, Volume I: Book II

p. 51

other in that of Gaius Marcius. Of these two Tatius, a stranger and downright enemy, had respect for the women and yielded to them. Marcius scorns a like delegation of women, including his wife, and his mother besides. May no mother, unblessed in her son, ever again be reduced to the necessity of throwing herself at his feet. This I must submit to. I must prostrate myself before yours. So speaking she flung herself on the ground. He burst into tears, sprang forward and lifted her up, exclaiming with the deepest emotion: Mother, you have gained the victory, but it is a victory by which you have lost your son. So saying he led back the army, in order to give his reasons to the Volsci and to make peace between the two nations. There was some hope that he might be able to persuade the Volsci, but on account of the jealousy of their leader Attius he was put to death.

Marcius did not think proper to gainsay either of these [demands].

(The Fabii) were as much to be pitied for their misfortunes as they were worthy of praise for their bravery. For it was a great misfortune to the Romans, on account of their number, the dignity of a noble house, and its total destruction. The day on which it happened was ever after considered unlucky.

The army was incensed against the general (Appius Claudius) from remembrance of old wrongs, and refused to obey

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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.