31 Trogus, Historiae Philippicae 18.4
The connection between Tyre and North Africa is established; after the death of their father, Pygmalion usurps the kingship from his sister, Dido, and eventually kills Dido’s husband, Acherbas, to steal his wealth.
| 1 | Hōc igitur modō Tyriī Alexandrī auspiciīs conditī parsimōniā et labōre quaerendī cito convaluēre. |
| 2 | Ante clādem dominōrum cum et opibus et multitūdine abundārent, missā in Āfricam iuventūte Vticam condidēre. |
| 3 | Cum interim rēx Tȳrō dēcēdit fīliō Pygmaliōne et Elissā fīliā, īnsignis fōrmae virgine, hērēdibus īnstitūtīs. |
| 4 | Sed populus Pygmaliōnī, admodum puerō, rēgnum trādidit. |
| 5 | Elissa quoque Acherbae avunculō suō, sacerdōtī Herculis, quī honōs secundus ā rēge erat, nūbit. |
| 6 | Huic magnae, sed dissimulātae opēs erant, aurumque metū rēgis nōn tēctīs, sed terrae crēdiderat; |
| 7 | quam rem etsī hominēs ignōrābant, fāma tamen loquēbātur. |
| 8 | Quā incēnsus Pygmaliōn oblītus iūris hūmānī avunculum suum eundemque generum sine respectū pietātis occīdit. |
| 1 | Tyriī Alexandrī auspiciīs conditī: in the previous chapter, we learned that Alexander the Great, after sacking the city of Tyre, executed all the descendants of a former slave revolt, and refunded the city, placing on the throne the descendent of the only enslaved person who had spared his owner.
labōre quaerendī: “industry”, lit. ‘their effort at seeking (profit)’ convaluēre: alternative 3rd person plural perfect, convaluērunt. |
| 2 | Ante clādem dominōrum: the slaughter of the owners by the enslaved peoples, described in 18.3.
cum… abundārent: what kind of cum-clause? (AG ***). missā in Āfricam iuventūte: ablative absolute condidēre = condidērunt Vticam: Utica was an urban center located west of Carthage. |
| 3 | Cum interim rēx Tȳrō dēcēdit: note the indicative, therefore a temporal cum-clause. The king was Mattan, who ruled Tyre c. 840–832 or 829–821 BCE
The remainder of the sentence is an extended ablative absolute: fīliō Pygmaliōne et Elissā fīliā, īnsignis fōrmae virgine, hērēdibus īnstitūtīs. Pygmaliōne and Elissā (Dido) agreeing with the participle īnstitūtīs; the phrase īnsignis fōrmae virgine, is in apposition with Elissā. Pygmalion would rule Tyre from 831 (or 820) to 785 BCE; he should not be confused with the sculpture from Cyprus who fell in love with his own statue. īnsignis fōrmae: genitive of characteristic; remember that this almost always includes an adjective, as here. |
| 4 | Sed populus… regnum tradidit: popular will seems to have overridden the attempt of the king to make Pygmalion and Elissa co-rulers, likely because Pygmalion was still so young (admodum puero). |
| 5 | Acherbae avunculō suō: datives with nūbit. Vergil calls the uncle Sichaeus; Vergil’s ancient commentator, Servius, thinks the real name was likely Sicharbas.
honōs secundus: “an honor second” (only)…; in English we say ‘an honor second to someone or something; in Latin, we say ‘an honor second from‘ (ā rēge). |
| 6 | Huic: dative of possession, referring back to Acherbas.
Magnae: nominative, agreeing with opēs. metū: ablative of cause. nōn tēctīs, sed terrae: both datives with crēdiderat; |
| 7 | quam rem: connective relative (also quā in the next sentence), looking back to the fact of Acherbas burying his wealth. |
| 8 | iūris hūmānī: genitives with oblītus < obliviscor.
avunculum suum eundemque generum: the two familial connections between Pygmalion and Acherbas.Notes |
| 9 | Elissa diū frātrem propter scelus āversāta ad postrēmum dissimulātō odiō mītigātōque interim vultū fugam tacita mōlītur adsūmptīs quibusdam prīncipibus in societātem, quibus pār odium in rēgem esse eandemque fugiendī cupiditātem arbitrābātur. |
| 10 | Tunc frātrem dolō adgreditur, fingit sē ad eum migrāre velle, nē amplius eī marītī domus cupidae oblīviōnis gravem lūctūs imāginem renovet. |
| 11 | Nōn invītus Pygmaliōn verba sorōris audīvit, exīstimāns cum eā et aurum Acherbae ad sē ventūrum. |
| 12 | Sed Elissa ministrōs migrātiōnis ā rēge missōs nāvibus cum omnibus opibus suīs prīmā vesperā inpōnit prōvectaque in altum conpellit eōs onera harēnae prō pecūniā involūcrīs involūta in mare dēicere. |
| 13 | Tunc dēflēns ipsa lūgubrīque vōce Acherbam ciet; ōrat ut libēns opēs suās recipiat, quās relīquerit, habeatque īnferiās, quās habuerat causam mortis. |
| 14 | Tunc ipsōs ministrōs adgreditur; sibi quidem ait optātam ōlim mortem, sed illīs acerbōs cruciātūs et dīra supplicia inminēre, quī Acherbae opēs, quārum spē parricīdium rēx fēcerit, avāritiae tyrannī subtrāxerint |
| 15 | Hōc metū omnibus iniectō comitēs fugae accēpit. Iunguntur et senātōrum in eam noctem praeparāta agmina, atque ita sacrīs Herculis, cūius sacerdōs Acherbās fuerat, repetītīs exiliō sēdēs quaerunt. |
| 9 | frātrem… āversāta: the deponent (< āversor) can take an accusative object of the thing or person ‘shunned, rejected, avoided, etc.’
ad postrēmum ~ postrēmō dissimulātō odiō mītigātōque interim vultū: two ablative absolutes molītur: while molior usually has a physical sense (‘to endeavor, struggle, strive, toil’), it can also signal mental efforts, i.e., “contrive” or “devise”. tacita: modifying Elissa. adsūmptīs quibusdam prīncipibus: another ablative absolute; note how these come in a logical sequence relative to the actions of the verbs. in societātem: an “alliance” in the sense that Elissa and the other nobles are conspiring together against Pygmalion. |
| 10 | dolō: ablative of respect, describing Elissa’s approach.
ad eum: with migrāre the sense is “to his house” Tunc frātrem dolō adgreditur, fingit sē ad eum migrāre velle, nē amplius eī marītī domus cupidae oblīviōnis gravem lūctūs imāginem renovet. Word order in the negative purpose clause may be unexpected; let’s look it is in detail. amplius is strongly implicated with the negative purpose introduced by nē: “so that no longer…” eī is dative (referring to Elissa), and so cannot modify marītī, which is genitive, limiting domus. cupidae: the form is ambiguous but note that it must be feminine and so most naturally agrees with eī [Elissae], “for her, desirous of…” + genitive (oblīviōnis). What effect does the intrusion of marītī domus between eī… cupidae oblīviōnis have? lūctūs: since we already have a word the must be the subject (domus), we are prepared to understand lūctūs as genitive singular, limiting gravem… imāginem. |
| 11 | exīstimāns: introduces an indirect statement (aurum… ventūrum [esse]).
cum eā = cum Elissā. |
| 12 | ministrōs migrātiōnis: “attendants to help with her moving”.
inpōnit: with the compound verb, you put an accusative (ministrōs) on a dative (nāvibus). prīmā vesperā: ablative of time when. in altum: “into the deep (sea)” eōs (ministrōs), the accusative subject of dēicere. The onera… involūcrīs involūta: are “sacks” filled with sand instead of money; lit. ‘burdens concealed by coverings’. |
| 13 | Tunc dēflēns ipsa lūgubrīque vōce Acherbam ciet; ōrat ut libēns opēs suās recipiat, quās relīquerit, habeatque īnferiās, quās habuerat causam mortis.
ut libēns opēs suās recipiat: indirect command, introduced by ōrat. relīquerit: subjunctive in an indirect command. īnferiās: note that this is feminine, and so “sacrifices” or “offerings” (to the Manes or powers below). causam mortis: i.e., the cause of Acherbas’ death. |
| 14 | Tunc ipsōs ministrōs adgreditur; sibi quidem ait optātam ōlim mortem, sed illīs acerbōs cruciātūs et dīra supplicia inminēre, quī Acherbae opēs, quārum spē parricīdium rēx fēcerit, avāritiae tyrannī subtrāxerint
ōlim: “for a long time”. sibi: i.e., Elissa; contrasted with the illīs in the next clause. spē quārum: ablative of cause with an objective genitive, whose antecedent is the opēs. |
| 15 | Hōc metū omnibus iniectō comitēs fugae accēpit. Iunguntur et senātōrum in eam noctem praeparāta agmina, atque ita sacrīs Herculis, cūius sacerdōs Acherbās fuerat, repetītīs exiliō sēdēs quaerunt.
Hōc metū omnibus iniectō: ablative absolute, with an ablative of means or cause (Hōc metū). in eam noctem praeparāta: several groups (agmina) of Senators — i.e., wealthy leaders in the city — knew Elissa was planning to flee and so were ready to move when she acted. sacrīs Herculis, cuius… repetītīs: ablative absolute, “after offering sacrifices to Hercules, whose….”. sēdēs: “seat” of government or “home”, so “a settlement” |
| exiliō: ablative of description, “in exile”. |
