Texte grec :
| [3,10] Ταῦτ´ ἀκούσας ὁ Φουφέττιος χρόνον εἰς
βουλὴν ᾐτήσατο, καὶ μεταστὰς ἐκ τοῦ συλλόγου μετὰ
τῶν παρόντων Ἀλβανῶν εἰ χρὴ δέχεσθαι τὰς αἱρέσεις
ἐσκόπει. ὡς δὲ τὰς ἁπάντων γνώμας ἔλαβεν,
ἐπιστρέψας αὖθις εἰς τὸν σύλλογον ἔλεξεν· Ἡμῖν
μέν, ὦ Τύλλε, τὴν μὲν πατρίδα καταλιπεῖν οὐ δοκεῖ
οὐδ´ ἐξερημοῦν ἱερὰ πατρῷα καὶ προγονικὰς ἑστίας
καὶ τόπον, ὃν ἐγγὺς ἐτῶν πεντακοσίων οἱ πατέρες
ἡμῶν κατέσχον, καὶ ταῦτα μὴ πολέμου κατειληφότος
ἡμᾶς μηδ´ ἄλλης θεοπέμπτου συμφορᾶς μηδεμιᾶς·
ἓν δὲ καταστήσασθαι βουλευτήριον καὶ μίαν εἶναι
τὴν ἄρξουσαν τῆς ἑτέρας πόλιν οὐκ ἀπαρέσκει. γραφέσθω
δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ μέρος ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις, εἰ
δοκεῖ, καὶ πᾶσα ἀναιρείσθω πολέμου πρόφασις. ὡς
δὲ συνέβησαν ἐπὶ τούτοις, περὶ τῆς μελλούσης τὴν
ἡγεμονίαν παραλήψεσθαι πόλεως διεφέροντο, καὶ
πολλοὶ ἐλέχθησαν εἰς τοῦτο λόγοι παρ´ ἀμφοτέρων
δικαιοῦντος ἑκατέρου τὴν αὑτοῦ πόλιν ἄρχειν τῆς
ἑτέρας. ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἀλβανὸς τοιαῦτα προίσχετο δίκαια·
Ἡμεῖς, ὦ Τύλλε, καὶ τῆς μὲν ἄλλης ἄρχειν
ἄξιοί ἐσμεν Ἰταλίας, ὅτι ἔθνος Ἑλληνικὸν καὶ μέγιστον
τῶν κατοικούντων τήνδε τὴν γῆν ἐθνῶν παρεχόμεθα,
τοῦ δὲ Λατίνων ἔθνους, εἰ καὶ μηδενὸς
τῶν ἄλλων {ἐθνῶν}, ἡγεῖσθαι δικαιοῦμεν οὐκ ἄτερ
αἰτίας, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸν κοινὸν ἀνθρώπων νόμον, ὃν
ἡ φύσις ἔδωκεν ἅπασι, τῶν ἐκγόνων ἄρχειν τοὺς
προγόνους. ὑπὲρ ἁπάσας δὲ τὰς ἄλλας ἀποικίας, αἷς
μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος οὐδὲν ἐγκαλοῦμεν, τῆς ὑμετέρας
οἰόμεθα δεῖν πόλεως ἄρχειν οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ τὴν
ἀποικίαν εἰς αὐτὴν ἀπεσταλκότες, ὥστε ἐξίτηλον εἶναι
ἤδη τὸ ἀφ´ ἡμῶν γένος ὑπὸ χρόνου παλαιωθέν,
ἀλλὰ τῇ τρίτῃ πρὸ ταύτης γενεᾷ. ἐὰν δὲ ἀναστρέψασα
τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας δικαιώσεις ἡ φύσις τὰ νέα
τάξῃ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἄρχειν καὶ τὰ ἔκγονα τῶν
προγόνων, τότε καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀνεξόμεθα τὴν μητρόπολιν
ὑπὸ τῆς ἀποικίας ἀρχομένην, πρότερον δὲ οὔ. ἓν
μὲν δὴ τοῦτο τὸ δικαίωμα παρεχόμενοι τῆς ἀρχῆς
οὐκ ἂν ἀποσταίημεν ὑμῖν ἑκόντες ἕτερον δὲ τοιόνδε·
δέξασθε δὲ αὐτὸ μὴ ὡς ἐπὶ διαβολῇ καὶ ὀνειδισμῷ
τῷ ὑμετέρῳ λεγόμενον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου ἕνεκα·
ὅτι τὸ μὲν Ἀλβανῶν γένος οἷον ἦν ἐπὶ τῶν κτισάντων
τὴν πόλιν, τοιοῦτον ἕως τῶν καθ´ ἡμᾶς χρόνων
διαμένει, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι τις ἐπιδεῖξαι φῦλον ἀνθρώπων
οὐδὲν ἔξω τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ Λατίνων,
ᾧ τῆς πολιτείας μεταδεδώκαμεν· ὑμεῖς δὲ τὴν
ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ παρ´ ἑαυτοῖς πολιτεύματος διεφθάρκατε
Τυρρηνούς τε ὑποδεξάμενοι καὶ Σαβίνους καὶ
ἄλλους τινὰς ἀνεστίους καὶ πλάνητας καὶ βαρβάρους
πάνυ πολλούς, ὥστε ὀλίγον τὸ γνήσιον ὑμῶν ἐστιν
ὅσον ἀφ´ ἡμῶν ὡρμήθη, μᾶλλον δὲ πολλοστὸν τοῦ
ἐπεισάκτου τε καὶ ἀλλοφύλου. εἰ δὲ ἡμεῖς παραχωρήσαιμεν
ὑμῖν τῆς ἀρχῆς, τὸ νόθον ἄρξει τοῦ γνησίου
καὶ τὸ βάρβαρον τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ καὶ τὸ ἐπείσακτον
τοῦ αὐθιγενοῦς. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν τοῦτο ἔχοιτε
εἰπεῖν, ὅτι τὸν μὲν ἔπηλυν ὄχλον οὐδενὸς εἰάκατε
εἶναι τῶν κοινῶν κύριον, ἄρχετε δ´ αὐτοὶ τῆς πόλεως
καὶ βουλεύετε οἱ αὐθιγενεῖς· ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀποδείκνυτε
ξένους, καὶ τῆς βουλῆς τὸ πλεῖστον ὑμῖν
ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν ἐπηλύδων, ὧν οὐδὲν ἂν φήσαιτε ἑκόντες
ὑπομένειν. τίς γὰρ ἑκουσίως ἄρχεται τῶν κρειττόνων
ὑπὸ τοῦ χείρονος; πολλὴ δὴ μωρία καὶ κακότης,
ἃ δι´ ἀνάγκην φαίητ´ ἂν ὑμεῖς ὑπομένειν,
ταῦτα ἡμᾶς ἑκόντας δέχεσθαι. τελευταῖός μοι λόγος
ἐστίν, ὅτι τῆς Ἀλβανῶν πόλεως οὐθὲν ἔτι παρακινεῖ
μέρος τοῦ πολιτεύματος ὀκτωκαιδεκάτην ἤδη
γενεὰν οἰκουμένης καὶ πάντα ἐν κόσμῳ τὰ συνήθη
καὶ πάτρια ἐπιτελούσης, ἡ δ´ ὑμετέρα πόλις ἀδιακόσμητός
ἐστιν ἔτι καὶ ἀδιάτακτος, ἅτε νεόκτιστος
οὖσα καὶ ἐκ πολλῶν συμφορητὸς ἐθνῶν, ᾗ μακρῶν
δεῖ χρόνων καὶ παθημάτων παντοδαπῶν, ἵνα καταρτισθῇ
καὶ παύσηται ταραττομένη καὶ στασιάζουσα
ὥσπερ νῦν. ἅπαντες δ´ ἂν εἴποιεν ὅτι δεῖ τὰ καθεστηκότα
τῶν ταραττομένων καὶ τὰ πεπειραμένα τῶν
ἀδοκιμάστων καὶ τὰ ὑγιαίνοντα τῶν νοσούντων ἄρχειν·
οἷς ὑμεῖς τἀναντία ἀξιοῦντες οὐκ ὀρθῶς ποιεῖτε.
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Traduction française :
| [3,10] Fufetius, hearing this, desired time for taking counsel; and withdrawing from the
assembly along with the Albans who were present, he consulted with them whether
they should accept the proposals. Then, having taken the opinions of all, he returned
to the assembly and spoke as follows: "We do not think it best, Tullius, to abandon
our country or to desert the sanctuaries of our fathers, the hearths of our ancestors,
and the place which our forbears have possessed for nearly five hundred years,
particularly when we are not compelled to such a course either by war or by any other
calamity inflicted by the hand of Heaven. But we are not opposed to establishing a
single council and letting one of the two cities rule over the other. Let this article,
then, also be inserted in the treaty, if agreeable, and let every excuse for war be
removed."
These conditions having been agreed upon, they fell to disputing which of the two
cities should be given the supremacy and many words were spoken by both of them
upon this subject, each contending that his own city should rule over the other. The
claims advanced by the Alban leader were as follows:
"As for us, Tullius, we deserve to rule over even all the rest of Italy, inasmuch as we
represent a Greek nation and the greatest nation (p41) of all that inhabit this country.
But to the sovereignty of the Latin nation, even if no other, we think ourselves
entitled, not without reason, but in accordance with the universal law which Nature
bestowed upon all men, that ancestors should rule their posterity. And above all our
other colonies, against whom we have thus far no reason to complain, we think we
ought to rule your city, having sent our colony thither not so long ago that the stock
sprung from us is already extinct, exhausted by the lapse of time, but only the third
generation before the present. If, indeed, Nature, inverting human rights, shall ever
command the young to rule over the old and posterity over their progenitors, then we
shall submit to seeing the mother-city ruled by its colony, but not before. This, then,
is one argument we offer in support of our claim, in virtue of which we will never
willingly yield the command to you. Another argument — and do not take this as said
by way of censure or reproach of you Romans, but only from necessity — is the fact
that the Alban race has to this day continued the same that it was under the founders
of the city, and one cannot point to any race of mankind, except the Greeks and
Latins, to whom we have granted citizenship; whereas you have corrupted the purity
of your body politic by admitting Tyrrhenians, Sabines, and some others who were
homeless, vagabonds and barbarians, and that in great numbers too, so that the true-
born element among you that went out from our midst (p43) is become small, or rather
a tiny fraction, in comparison with those who have been brought in and are of alien
race. And if we should yield the command to you, the base-born will rule over the
true-born, barbarians over Greeks, and immigrants over the native-born. For you
cannot even say this much for yourself, that you have not permitted this immigrant
mob to gain any control of public affairs but that you native-born citizens are
yourselves the rulers and councillors of the commonwealth. Why, even for your kings
you choose outsiders, and the greatest part of your senate consists of these
newcomers; and to none of these conditions can you assert that you submit willingly.
For what man of superior rank willingly allows himself to be ruled by an inferior? It
would be great folly and baseness, therefore, on our part to accept willingly those
evils which you must own you submit to through necessity. My last argument is this:
The city of Alba has so far made no alteration in any part of its constitution, though it
is already the eighteenth generation that it has been inhabited, but continues to
observe in due form all its customs and traditions; whereas your city is still without
order and discipline, due to its being newly founded and a conglomeration of many
race, and it will require long ages and manifold turns of fortune in order to be
regulated and freed from those troubles and dissensions with which it is now
agitated. But all will agree that order ought to rule over confusion, experience over
inexperience, and health over sickness; and you do wrong in demanding the reverse."
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