[3,7] Ταῦτα δὴ μαθὼν ὁ Φουφέττιος ἔτι μᾶλλον ἔσπευσε ποιήσασθαι τὰς διαλύσεις, ὡς οὐδὲ αἱρέσεως ἔτι τοῦ μὴ ταῦτα πράττειν σφίσι καταλειπομένης. ἐγεγόνει δὲ καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὑπὲρ τῆς συνωμοσίας ταύτης {ἡ} μήνυσις παρὰ τῶν ἐκ Φιδήνης φίλων, ὥστ´ οὐδ´ αὐτὸς ἔτι διαμελλήσας δέχεται τὰς τοῦ Φουφεττίου προκλήσεις. ἐπεὶ δὲ συνῆλθον εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ τῶν στρατοπέδων χωρίον ἐπαγόμενοι συμβούλους ἑκάτεροι τοὺς φρονῆσαι τὰ δέοντα ἱκανούς, ἀσπασάμενοι πρῶτον ἀλλήλους ὡς πρότερον εἰώθεσαν καὶ φιλοφρονηθέντες τὰς ἑταιρικάς τε καὶ συγγενικὰς φιλοφροσύνας διελέγοντο περὶ τῶν διαλύσεων. ἤρχετο δ´ ὁ Ἀλβανὸς πρότερος τοιάδε λέγων· Ἀναγκαῖον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ τὰς αἰτίας πρῶτον ἐπιδεῖξαι, δι´ ἃς ἐγὼ πρῶτος ἠξίωσα περὶ καταλύσεως τοῦ πολέμου διαλέγεσθαι, οὔτε μάχῃ κρατηθεὶς ὑφ´ ὑμῶν οὔτ´ ἐπισιτισμοὺς εἰσάγεσθαι κωλυόμενος οὔτε εἰς ἄλλην κατακεκλεισμένος ἀνάγκην οὐδεμίαν, ἵνα μή με ὑπολάβητε τῆς μὲν οἰκείας δυνάμεως ἀσθένειαν κατεγνωκότα, τὴν δὲ ὑμετέραν ἰσχὺν δυσκαταγώνιστον εἶναι νομίζοντα εὐπρεπῆ ζητεῖν ἀπαλλαγὴν τοῦ πολέμου. ἀφόρητοι γὰρ ἂν γένοισθε ὑπὸ βαρύτητος, εἴ τι πεισθείητε περὶ ἡμῶν τοιοῦτον, καὶ οὐθὲν ἂν τῶν μετρίων ὑπομείναιτε ποιεῖν, ὡς κρατοῦντες ἤδη τῷ πολέμῳ. ἵνα δὴ μὴ τὰς ψευδεῖς αἰτίας εἰκάζητε περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς προαιρέσεως, δι´ ἃς ἀξιῶ καταλύσασθαι τὸν πόλεμον, ἀκούσατε τὰς ἀληθεῖς· ἐγὼ στρατηγὸς ἀποδειχθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς πατρίδος αὐτοκράτωρ ἅμα τῷ παραλαβεῖν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐσκόπουν τίνες ἦσαν αἱ συνταράξασαι τὰς πόλεις ἡμῶν προφάσεις. ὁρῶν δὲ μικρὰς καὶ φαύλας καὶ οὐχ ἱκανὰς διελεῖν τοσαύτην φιλίαν καὶ συγγένειαν οὐ τὰ κράτιστα ἡγούμην οὔτε Ἀλβανοὺς οὔτε ὑμᾶς βουλεύσασθαι. ἔτι δὲ μᾶλλον ἔγνων τοῦτο καὶ πολλὴν κατέγνων ἀμφοτέρων ἡμῶν μανίαν, ἐπειδὴ παρῆλθον ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα καὶ πεῖραν ἐλάμβανον τῆς ἑκάστου προαιρέσεως. οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις οὔτ´ ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς συλλόγοις ὁμονοοῦντας ὑπὲρ τοῦ πολέμου πάντας Ἀλβανοὺς ἑώρων, μακρῷ δέ τινι τῶν ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνου λογισμοῦ καταλαμβανομένων χαλεπῶν τὰ δαιμόνια σημεῖα, ὁπότε χρησαίμην σφαγίοις περὶ μάχης, χαλεπώτερα γινόμενα πολλὴν δυσθυμίαν παρεῖχέ μοι καὶ ἀμηχανίαν. ἐνθυμούμενος δὴ ταῦτα τῆς μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ὁρμῆς ἐπέσχον, ἀναβολὰς δὲ καὶ διατριβὰς ἐποιούμην τοῦ πολέμου προτέρους ὑμᾶς οἰόμενος ἄρξειν τῶν περὶ φιλίας λόγων· καὶ ἔδει γε, ὦ Τύλλε, τοῦτο ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς ἀποίκους ὄντας ἡμῶν καὶ μὴ περιμένειν ἕως ἡ μητρόπολις ἄρξῃ. ὅσης γὰρ ἀξιοῦσι τιμῆς τυγχάνειν οἱ πατέρες παρὰ τῶν ἐκγόνων, τοσαύτης οἱ κτίσαντες τὰς πόλεις παρὰ τῶν ἀποίκων. ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἡμεῖς ἐμέλλομεν καὶ παρετηροῦμεν ἀλλήλους, πότεροι τῶν εὐγνωμόνων ἄρξουσι λόγων, ἑτέρα τις ἡμᾶς ἀνάγκη κρείττων ἅπαντος ἀνθρωπίνου λογισμοῦ περιλαβοῦσα συνάγει· ἣν ἐγὼ πυθόμενος ἔτι λανθάνουσαν ὑμᾶς οὐκέτ´ ᾠόμην δεῖν τῆς εὐπρεπείας τῶν διαλλαγῶν στοχάζεσθαι. δειναὶ γάρ, ὦ Τύλλε, μηχαναὶ πλέκονται καθ´ ἡμῶν καὶ δόλος ἄφυκτος ἔρραπται κατ´ ἀμφοτέρων, ὃς ἔμελλεν ἀκονιτὶ καὶ δίχα πόνου πάντα συντρίψειν καὶ διαφθερεῖν ἡμῶν τὰ πράγματα πυρὸς ἢ ποταμοῦ δίκην ἐμπεσών. δημιουργοὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνοσίων βουλευμάτων εἰσὶν οἱ δυνατώτατοι Φιδηναίων τε καὶ Οὐιεντανῶν συνελθόντες. ὅστις δὲ ὁ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς αὐτῶν τρόπος ἦν καὶ πόθεν εἰς ἐμὲ ἡ τῶν ἀπορρήτων βουλευμάτων γνῶσις ἐλήλυθεν ἀκούσατε.

[3,7] Fufetius, upon learning of this, grew still more desirous of making an accommodation, feeling that they now had no choice left of any other course. The king of the Romans also had received information of this conspiracy from his friends in Fidenae, so that he, too, made no delay but hearkened to the overtures made by Fufetius. When the two met in the space between the camps, each being attended by his council consisting of persons of competent judgment, they first embraced, according to their former custom, and exchanged the greetings usual among friends and relations, and then proceeded to discuss an accommodation. And first the Alban leader began as follows: "It seems to me necessary to begin my speech by setting forth the reasons why I have determined to take the initiative in proposing a termination of the war, though neither defeated by you Romans in battle nor hindered from supplying my army with provisions nor reduced to any other necessity, to the end that you may not imagine that a recognition of the weakness of my own force or a belief that yours is difficult to overcome makes me seek a plausible excuse for ending the war. For, should you entertain such an opinion of us, you would be intolerably severe, (p27) and, as if you were already victorious in the war, you could not bring yourself to do anything reasonable. In order, therefore, that you may not impute to me false reasons for my purpose to end the war, listen to the true reasons. My country have been appointed me general with absolute power, as soon as I took over the command I considered what were the causes which had disturbed the peace of our cities. And finding them trivial and petty and of too little consequence to dissolve so great a friendship and kinship, I concluded that neither we Albans nor you Romans had been governed by the best counsels. And I was further convinced of this and led to condemn the great madness that we both have shown, an once I had taken hold of affairs and began to sound out each man's private opinion. For I found that the Albans neither in their private meetings nor in their public assemblies were all of one mind regarding the war; and the signs from Heaven, whenever I consulted the victims concerning battle, presenting, as they did, far greater difficulties than those based on human reasoning, caused me great dismay and anxiety. In view, therefore, of these considerations, I restrained my eagerness for armed conflicts and devised delays and postponements of the war, in the belief that you Romans would make the first overtures towards peace. And indeed you should have done this, Tullius, since you are our colony, and not have waited till your mother-city set the example. For the founders of cities have a right to receive as great respect from their colonies as parents from their children. 6But while we have been (p29) delaying and watching each other, to see which side should first make friendly overtures, another motive, more compelling than any arguments drawn from human reason, has arisen to draw us together. And since I learned of this while it was yet a secret to you, I felt that I ought no longer to aim at appearances in concluding peace. For dreadful designs are being formed against us, Tullius, and a deadly plot has been woven against both of us, a plot which was bound to overwhelm and destroy us easily and without effort, bursting upon us like a conflagration or a flood. The authors of these wicked designs are the chiefs of the Fidenates and Veientes, who have conspired together. Hear now the nature of their plot and how the knowledge of their secret design came to me."