The Fragments on Early Roman History is a historical treatise composed in Greek by the Roman senator Gaius Acilius around the middle of the second century BCE. The work is entirely lost, surviving only through seven fragmentary passages preserved in the writings of later ancient authors, most notably the historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the biographer Plutarch. These citations indicate that the treatise covered Rome’s founding myths and early history, including accounts of Romulus and Remus, the mysterious death and subsequent deification of Romulus, and details regarding early Roman infrastructure. Acilius wrote in Greek, a common practice among early Roman historians, aiming to present Rome’s origins and its rise to power to a Hellenistic audience. The work belongs to a broader cultural and political project to situate Roman history within established Greek literary traditions, an effort that followed Rome’s military expansion into the Greek world. The treatise was likely intended not merely to inform but also to explain and justify Roman customs and institutions to a Greek-speaking readership.
Πλούταρχος Γάϊος δὲ Ἀκίλιος ἱστορεῖ, πρὸ τῆς κτίσεως τὰ θρέμματα τῶν περὶ τὸν Ῥωμύλον ἀφανῆ γενέσθαι· τοὺς δὲ τῷ Φαύνῳ προσευξαμένους ἐκδραμεῖν γυμνοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ζήτησιν, ὅπως ὑπὸ τοῦ ἱδρῶτος μὴ ἐνοχλοῖντο, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γυμνοὺς περιτρέχειν τοὺς Λουπέρκους.
Διονύσιος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεύς Ἔγωγʼ οὖν ἐν τρισὶ τοῖς μεγαλοπρεπεστάτοις κατασκευάσμασι τῆς Ῥώμης, ἐξ ὧν μάλιστα τὸ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἐμφαίνεται μέγιστον, τάς τε τῶν ὑδάτων ἀγωγὰς τίθεμαι καὶ τὰς τῶν ὁδῶν στρώσεις καὶ τὰς τῶν ὑπονόμων ἐργασίας, οὐ μόνον εἰς τὸ χρήσιμον τῆς κατασκευῆς τὴν διάνοιαν φέρων· ὑπὲρ οὗ κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρὸν ἐρῶ· ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀναλωμάτων πολυτέλειαν, ἣν ἐξ ἑνὸς ἔργου τεκμήραιτʼ ἄν τις, Γάϊον Ἀκύλιον ποιησάμενος τοῦ μέλλοντος λέγεσθαι βεβαιωτὴν, ὅς φησιν ἀμεληθεισῶν ποτε τῶν τάφρων καὶ μηκέτι διαρρεομένων, τοὺς τιμητὰς τὴν ἀνακάθαρσιν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἐπισκευὴν χιλίων μισθῶσαι ταλάντων.
