Plutarch, Quaestiones Romanae, ed. William W. Goodwin, 91

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[91]

Question 91.

Why was it unlawful for the patricians to dwell about the Capitol?

Solution. Was it because M. Manlius, whilst he dwelt there, affected arbitrary government; upon whose account the family came under an oath of abjuration that no Manlius should for the future bear the name of Marcus? Or was this an ancient suspicion? For the potent men would never leave calumniating Publicola, a most popular man, nor would the common people leave fearing him till he had plucked down his house, which seemed to hang over the market-place.

Quaestiones Romanae. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.

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Current edition Perseus

Roman Questions (English) (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. II. Goodwin, William W., editor; Chauncy, Isaac translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.)

Editions (2)

Αἴτια Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 91 focus

[91] διὰ τί τοῖς πατρικίοις οὐκ ἐξῆν περὶ τὸ Καπετώλιον κατοικεῖν;

πότερον ὅτι Μᾶρκος Μάλλιος ¹ αὐτόθι κατοικῶν ἐπεχείρησε τυραννίδι, διʼ ² ὃν ἀπώμοτόν φασιν εἶναι τῷ οἴκῳ μηδενὶ Μαλλίων ³ ὄνομα Μάρκου γενέσθαι.

ἢ παλαιὸς ἦν φόβος οὗτος; Ποπλικόλαν γοῦν ἄνδρα δημοτικώτατον οὐκ ἐπαύσαντο διαβάλλοντες μὲν οἱ δυνατοὶ δεδιότες δʼ οἱ πολλοί, μέχρι οὗ τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτὸς κατέσκαψεν ἐπικεῖσθαι τῇ ἀγορᾷ δοκοῦσαν.

Κεφαλαίων καταγραφή Ῥωμαϊκά Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol IΙ. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 91 focus

[91] διὰ τί τοῖς πατρικίοις οὐκ ἐξῆν περὶ τὸ Καπετώλιον, ¹ κατοικεῖν; πότερον ὅτι Μᾶρκος Μάλλιος ² αὐτόθι κατοικῶν ἐπεχείρησε τυραννίδι, διʼ ³ ὃν ἀπώμοτόν φασιν εἶναι τῷ οἴκῳ μηδενὶ Μαλλίων ⁴ ὄνομα Μᾶρκον γενέσθαι· ἢ παλαιὸς ἦν φόβος οὗτος; Ποπλικόλαν γοῦν ἄνδρα δημοτικώτατον οὐκ ἐπαύσαντο διαβάλλοντες μὲν οἱ δυνατοὶ δεδιότες δʼ οἱ πολλοί, μέχρι οὗ τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτὸς κατέσκαψεν ἐπικεῖσθαι τῇ ἀγορᾷ δοκοῦσαν.

Translations (1)

The Roman Questions Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. IV. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).) — 91 focus

[91] Why was it not permitted the patricians to dwell about the Capitoline?

Was it because Marcus Manlius,¹ while he was dwelling there, tried to make himself king? They say that because of him the house of Manlius was bound by an oath that none of them should ever bear the name of Marcus.

Or does this fear date from early times? At any rate, although Publicola² was a most democratic man, the nobles did not cease traducing him nor the commoners fearing him, until he himself razed his house, the situation of which was thought to be a threat to the Forum.

Plutarch Quaestiones Romanae 91

ed. William W. Goodwin

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Question 91.

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