Texte grec :
| [6,50] Ὧν ἑκάτερον ὅσης ἐστὶ μεστὸν εὐηθείας, ἐξ
αὐτῶν ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσαιμ´ ἂν ἔγωγε τῶν ἔργων σκοπεῖν
ἐνθυμηθέντας, ὅτι διαστασιασάντων πρὸς ὑμᾶς τῶν
ταπεινοτέρων διὰ τοὺς οὔτε πολιτικῶς οὔτε μετρίως
ταῖς ἀτυχίαις χρησαμένους, καὶ ὑπαναχωρησάντων μὲν
ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν ὑμᾶς δεινὸν μήτε
ἐργαζομένων μήτε διανοουμένων, ἀλλ´ ὡς διαλλαγήσονται
χωρὶς αἰσχύνης σκοπούντων, ἀγαπητῶς δεξάμενοι τὸ
συμβὰν ἀπὸ τῆς τύχης πολλοὶ τῶν οὐκ εὖ διανοουμένων
πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀνεπτέρωνται ταῖς γνώμαις, καὶ τοῦτον οἴονται
σφίσι παρεῖναι τὸν εὐκταῖον καιρόν, ἐν ᾧ
καταλύσουσιν ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρχήν. Αἰκανοὶ μέν γε καὶ
Οὐολοῦσκοι, Σαβῖνοί τε καὶ τὸ Ἑρνίκων ἔθνος, πρὸς
τῷ μηδένα χρόνον ἐξαίρετον πεποιῆσθαι τοῦ πρὸς
ἡμᾶς πολέμου, καὶ τοῖς ἔναγχος κακοῖς δυσανασχετοῦντες
λῃστεύουσιν ἡμῶν τοὺς ἀγρούς. Καμπανίας δὲ
καὶ Τυρρηνίας ὅσα ἐνδοιαστῶς ἡμῶν ἀφείμενα διατελεῖ, τὰ
μὲν ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ ἀφίσταται, τὰ δ´ ἀφανῶς
παρασκευάζεται. δοκεῖ τ´ οὐδὲ τὸ Λατίνων συγγενὲς
ἔτι βέβαιον ἡμῖν διαμένειν φίλιον εἰς πύστιν ἐλθόν,
ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου πολὺ μέρος διαγγέλλεται νοσεῖν ἔρωτι
κρατούμενον, ἧς ἅπαντες γλίχονται, μεταβολῆς· οἱ δὲ
τέως ἐπιστρατοπεδεύοντες ἑτέροις, νῦν αὐτοὶ τειχήρεις
μένοντες καθήμεθα, γῆν τ´ ἄσπορον ἀφεικότες καὶ
αὐλὰς διαρπαζομένας ὁρῶντες λείαν τ´ ἀπελαυνομένην
καὶ θεράποντας αὐτομολοῦντας καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες, ὅ τι
χρησόμεθα τοῖς κακοῖς. καὶ ταῦτα πάσχοντες ἔτι
διαλλαγήσεσθαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐλπίζομεν τὸ δημοτικόν, {καὶ}
ἐφ´ ἡμῖν ὑπάρχον εἰδότες ἑνὶ καταλύσασθαι ψηφίσματι
τὴν στάσιν;
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Traduction française :
| [6,50] "How utterly silly either of those two expedients is, I would have you consider
from the facts themselves, bearing in mind that since the humbler citizens grew
disaffected toward you because of those who treated their misfortunes as neither
fellow-citizens nor men of self-restraint should, and withdrew, indeed, from the city,
yet neither are doing to you, nor have any thought of doing, any other mischief, but
are considering only by what means they may be reconciled to you without
dishonour, many of those who are not well disposed toward you, joyfully seizing upon
this incident presented to them by Fortune, have become elated in their minds and
look upon this as the long-desired opportunity for breaking up your empire. Thus,
the Aequians and Volscians, the Sabines and (p9) Hernicans, who in any case have
missed no opportunity to make war against us, being now exasperated also at their
late defeats, are plundering our fields. As to the parts of Campania and Tyrrhenia
which have continued to be doubtful in their allegiance to us, some of them are
openly revolting and others are secretly preparing to do the same. Not even the
kindred race of Latins, as it seems, longer remains steadfastly loyal to us, though it
entered into relations of confidence with us, but a large part even of this people is
reported to be disaffected, succumbing to the passion for change which all men crave.
And we who used to besiege the cities of others now ourselves sit at home, pent
within our walls, having left our lands unsown and seeing our farm-houses
plundered, our cattle driven off as booty, and our slaves deserting, without knowing
how to deal with these misfortunes. while we suffer all this, do we still hope that the
plebeians will become reconciled to us, even though we know that it is in our own
power to put an end to the sedition by a single decree?
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