Texte grec :
| [6,75] Ἃ μὲν δὴ εἰς τὸ συνελευθερῶσαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ
τῶν τυράννων παρεσχόμεθα ὑπὲρ δύναμιν διὰ τὸ
ἑαυτῶν πρόθυμον, οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου μᾶλλον εἰς
αὐτὸ καταστάντες ἢ ὑπ´ ἀρετῆς, ταῦτ´ ἐστιν. ἃ δ´ εἰς
τὸ τιμᾶσθαί τε καὶ ἄρχειν ἑτέρων δυναστείαν τε
περιβαλέσθαι μείζω ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς δόκησιν ἀκούσατε,
καὶ ὅπως, ἐάν τι παρατρέψω τὸν λόγον ἔξω τοῦ
ἀληθοῦς, ὥσπερ καὶ ἀρχόμενος εἶπον, ἐναντιώσεσθέ
μοι. ὑμῖν γὰρ ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἀσφαλὲς τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἔδοξεν
εἶναι βέβαιον, οὐκ ἀπέχρησεν ἐπὶ τούτου μένειν, ἀλλ´
ἐπὶ τὸ τολμᾶν καὶ νεωτεροποιεῖν ὁρμήσαντες, ἐχθρὸν
δ´ ἴσως ἅπαν ἡγούμενοι τὸ περιεχόμενον ἐλευθερίας,
καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους πόλεμον
ἀναδείξαντες, εἰς ἅπαντα τὰ κινδυνεύματα καὶ τοὺς
ὑπὲρ τῆς πλεονεξίας ταύτης ἀγῶνας τοῖς ἡμετέροις
ᾤεσθε δεῖν καταχρῆσθαι σώμασιν. ὅσας μὲν οὖν πόλεις κατὰ
μίαν καὶ δύο πολεμούσας ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς
ἐλευθερίας, τὰς μὲν ἐκ παρατάξεως χειρωσάμενοι, τὰς
δὲ τειχομαχίαις ἑλόντες ὑπηκόους ἐποιήσαμεν, ἐῶ. τί
γὰρ δεῖ κατὰ μικρὸν λέγειν τὰς πράξεις τοσαύτην ἔχοντας
λόγων ἀφθονίαν; ἀλλὰ Τυρρηνίαν ἅπασαν εἰς δώδεκα
νενεμημένην ἡγεμονίας καὶ πολλῇ μὲν τῇ κατὰ
γῆν, πολλῇ δὲ τῇ κατὰ θάλατταν δυναστείᾳ περιουσιάζουσαν,
τίνες ἦσαν οἱ συγκατακτησάμενοι καὶ
ποιήσαντες αὐτὴν ὑμῖν ὑπήκοον; Σαβίνους δὲ τουτουσὶ
ἔθνος τηλικοῦτον, οἷς διὰ παντὸς ὁ περὶ τῶν πρωτείων
πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἦν ἀγών, ποία παρέσχεν ὑμῖν βοήθεια μηκέτι
διαμιλλᾶσθαι περὶ τῶν ἴσων; τί δέ; τὰς τῶν Λατίνων
τριάκοντα πόλεις, οὐ μόνον δυνάμεως μεγέθει ἐπαιρομένας,
ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ δικαιότερα ἀξιοῦν μεγάλα φρονούσας, τίνες
ἦσαν οἱ καταδουλωσάμενοι καὶ παρασχόντες ὑπὲρ
ἀνδραποδισμοῦ καὶ κατασκαφῆς τῶν πόλεων δεομένας
καταφυγεῖν ἐφ´ ὑμᾶς;
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Traduction française :
| [6,75] "These are the services we rendered to assist you in freeing yourselves from the
tyrants, exerting ourselves beyond our strength because of our enthusiasm, and
engaging in the struggle quite as much through the promptings of our own valour as
because of necessity. Now hear what we have done to gain for you the respect of and
the rule over others, and to acquire for you a power greater than was at first expected;
and, as I said before, if I deviate from the truth, you will contradict me. For you,
when it seemed that your liberty was firmly (p79) assured, were not contented to stop
there, but intent upon bold and new undertakings, and regarding as a possible enemy
every creature who clung to liberty, and declaring war against almost all the world, in
all the perils and in all the battles fought to support that greed for power you thought
fit to waste our bodies. I say nothing of all the cities that sometimes singly,
sometimes two jointly, fought with you in defence of their liberty, some of which we
overcame in pitched battles and others we took by storm and compelled them to
become subjects to you. For what need is there to relate these actions in detail when
we have such an abundance of material? But who were they who assisted you in
acquiring and subjecting to you all Tyrrhenia, a country divided into twelve
principalities and exceeding powerful on both land and sea? Whose assistance
rendered the Sabines, this powerful nation which had ever contended with you for the
primacy, unable any longer to contend for equality? And again, who subdued the
thirty cities of the Latins, which not only gloried in the superiority of their forces but
prided themselves on the superior justice of their demands? And who compelled
them to fly to you imploring you to prevent their enslavement and the razing of their
cities?
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