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St Photius the Great, tr. Freese, 1920; selections

83. Codex 83: Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Histories

Read the twenty books of the Histories of Dionysius of Halicarnassus.¹ He begins with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy after the capture of Troy, describes in detail the foundation of Rome, the birth of Romulus and Remus, and other events down to the war of the Romans with Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. The work ends at the third year of the 128th Olympiad, where, the author says, the history by Polybius of Megalopolis begins. Dionysius flourished in the Augustan age, since he tells us that he sailed to Italy after the end of the civil war between Antony and Augustus, and lived there for twenty-two years. During this time he acquired an accurate knowledge of the Latin language and of Roman antiquities, and, having thoroughly equipped himself with materials, he began to write his history. His style and diction are marked by innovation, which drives the narrative out of the beaten track, but his fondness for detail produces a certain simplicity of sentiment, so that the language does not seem to be carried away into harshness and unpleasantness. He is fond of digressions which relieve the reader and prevent his becoming tired of history, and refresh and revive him. In a word, the elegance of his style, the admixture of detail and digression, soften the composition, which has a tendency to harshness.

Notes

Rhetorician and historian. He came to Rome in 30 B.C. and remained there till his death (7 B.C.). He was the author of numerous rhetorical works, several of which are extant, the most important being that on the ancient Greek orators. Of the twenty books of the History (Roman Antiquities) eleven have been preserved, going down to 441 B.C., the period of the decemvirs. It is a rhetorical production, the chief object of which is to represent the Romans as superior to the Greeks, while at the same time he soothes the vanity of the latter by insisting upon the Greek origin of the former.