50.1Dē Orcō, quī īdem Hādēs appellābātur, haec trāduntur.About Orcus, which was also called Hades, these things are told. 50.2Ut quisque dē vītā dēcesserat, mānēs eius ad Orcum, sēdem mortuōrum, ā deō Mercuriō dēdūcēbantur.As soon as each person had departed from life, his spirit was led down by the god Mercury to Orcus, the home of the dead.Note. Ut + pluperfect here means 'as soon as'. 50.3Huius regiōnis, quae sub terrā fuisse dīcitur, rēx erat Plūtō, cui uxor erat Prōserpina, Iovis et Cereris fīlia.The king of this region, which is said to have been under the earth, was Pluto, whose wife was Proserpina, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres. 50.4Mānēs igitur ā Mercuriō dēductī prīmum ad rīpam veniēbant Stygis flūminis, quō regnum Plūtōnis continētur.So the spirits, led down by Mercury, first came to the bank of the river Styx, by which the kingdom of Pluto is enclosed. 50.5Hoc trānsīre necesse erat antequam in Orcum venīre possent.They had to cross this before they could come into Orcus.Note. necesse erat: 'it was necessary'. necesse does not change form. 50.6Cum tamen in hōc flūmine nūllus pōns factus esset, mānēs trānsvehēbantur ā Charonte quōdam, quī cum parvā scaphā ad rīpam exspectābat.But since no bridge had been built over this river, the spirits were ferried across by a certain Charon, who waited at the bank with a small boat.
50.7Charōn prō hōc officiō mercēdem postulābat, neque quemquam, nisi hoc praemium prius dedisset, trānsvehere volēbat.Charon demanded a fee for this service, and would not ferry anyone across unless he had first paid this price. 50.8Quam ob causam mōs erat apud antīquōs nummum in ōre mortuī pōnere eō cōnsiliō, ut cum ad Stygem vēnisset, pretium trāiectūs solvere posset.For this reason it was the custom among the ancients to place a coin in the mouth of a dead person, with this purpose, that when he came to the Styx, he could pay the price of the crossing.Note. eō cōnsiliō, ut …: 'with this purpose, that …'. Coins were placed in the mouths of the dead to pay Charon. 50.9Iī autem quī post mortem in terrā nōn sepultī erant Stygem trānsīre nōn potuērunt, sed in rīpā per centum annōs errāre coāctī sunt; tum dēmum Orcum intrāre licuit.But those who had not been buried in the earth after death could not cross the Styx, but were forced to wander on the bank for a hundred years; only then were they allowed to enter Orcus.Note. licuit: 'it was allowed'. licet is impersonal.