Texte grec :
| [6,20] Σερουίλιος δὲ Σουλπίκιος περὶ μὲν τῆς εἰρήνης
καὶ τῆς ἀνανεώσεως τῶν σπονδῶν οὐδὲν ἀντέλεγεν·
ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρότεροι τὰς σπονδὰς ἔλυσαν Λατῖνοι, καὶ
οὐχὶ τότε πρῶτον, ὥστε συγγνώμης τινὸς αὐτοῖς δεῖν
ἀνάγκην καὶ ἀπάτην προβαλλομένοις, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις
ἤδη καὶ πρότερον, ὥστε καὶ διορθώσεως σφίσι δεῖν,
τὴν μὲν ἄδειαν ἅπασι συγκεχωρῆσθαι καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν
διὰ τὸ συγγενές, τῆς δὲ γῆς τὴν ἡμίσειαν αὐτοὺς ἀφαιρεθῆναι
καὶ κληρούχους ἀποσταλῆναι Ῥωμαίων εἰς αὐτήν, οἵ τινες
ἐκείνην καρπώσονται καὶ
τοὺς ἄνδρας μηδὲν ἔτι νεωτερίσαι σπουδάσουσι. Σπόριος δὲ
Κάσσιος ἀνελεῖν τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν συνεβούλευε θαυμάζειν
λέγων ἐπὶ ταῖς εὐηθείαις τῶν παραινούντων ἀφεῖναι τὰς
ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῖς ἀζημίους, εἰ
μηδὲ δύνανται καταμαθεῖν, ὅτι διὰ τὸν φθόνον τὸν
ἔμφυτόν τε καὶ ἀναφαίρετον, ὃν ἔχουσι πρὸς τὴν πόλον
αὐτῶν αὐξομένην, ἄλλους ἐπ´ ἄλλοις ἐπιτεχνῶνται
πολέμους καὶ οὐδέποτε παύσονται τῆς ἐπιβούλου
προαιρέσεως ἑκόντες, ἕως αὐτῶν τοῦτ´ ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὸ
δύστηνον ἐνοικεῖ πάθος· οἵ γε τελευτῶντες ὑπὸ τυράννῳ
ποιήσασθαι, θηρίων ἁπάντων ἀγριωτάτῳ, συγγενῆ σφῶν
πόλιν ἐπεχείρησαν ἁπάσας ἀνατρέψαντες
τὰς ἐπὶ θεῶν ὁμολογίας, οὐκ ἄλλαις τισὶν ἐλπίσιν
ἐπαρθέντες, ἀλλ´ ὅτι ἂν μὴ αὐτοῖς κατὰ γνώμην χωρήσῃ τὰ
τοῦ πολέμου δίκην οὐδεμίαν ὑφέξουσιν ἤ
τινα μικρὰν κομιδῇ. παραδείγμασί τε καὶ αὐτὸς ἠξίου
χρῆσθαι τοῖς τῶν προγόνων ἔργοις, οἳ τὴν Ἀλβανῶν
πόλιν, ἐξ ἧς αὐτοί τ´ ἀπῳκίσθησαν καὶ Λατίνων
ἅπασαι πόλεις, ἐπειδὴ φθονοῦσαν ἔγνωσαν τοῖς αὑτῶν
ἀγαθοῖς καὶ τὴν ἄδειαν, ἣν ἐπὶ τοῖς πρώτοις ἁμαρτήμασιν
εὕρετο, μείζονος ἐπιβουλῆς ἀφορμὴν ποιησαμένην, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ
καθελεῖν ἔγνωσαν μιᾷ· ἐν ἴσῳ δόξαντες
εἶναι τῷ μηδένα οἰκτείρειν τῶν τὰ μέτρια ἁμαρτανόντων τὸ
μηδένα τιμωρεῖσθαι τῶν τὰ μέγιστα καὶ
ἀδιόρθωτα ἀδικούντων. μωρίας δὲ πολλῆς εἶναι καὶ
ἀναλγησίας ἔργον· οὐ γὰρ δὴ φιλανθρωπίας οὐδὲ
μετριότητος· τὸν τῶν ἀποικισάντων σφᾶς φθόνον,
ἐπεὶ πέρα τοῦ δέοντος ἔδοξεν εἶναι βαρὺς καὶ ἀφόρητος, οὐκ
ἀνασχομένους τὸν τῶν ὁμογενῶν ὑπομένειν
τούς τ´ ἐν ἐλάττοσι πείραις ἐλεγχθέντας πολεμίους
ἀφαιρέσει πόλεως ζημιώσαντας, παρὰ τῶν πολλάκις τὸ
μῖσος ἀδιάλλακτον ἀποδειξαμένων μηδεμίαν εἰσπράξασθαι
δίκην. ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν καὶ τὰς ἀποστάσεις τῶν Λατίνων ἁπάσας
ἐξαριθμησάμενος τῶν τ´ ἀπολομένων ἐν
τοῖς πρὸς αὐτοὺς πολέμοις Ῥωμαίων τὸ πλῆθος ὅσον
ἦν ἀναμνήσας, ἠξίου τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον χρήσεσθαι καὶ
τούτοις, ὃν ἐχρήσαντο Ἀλβανοῖς πρότερον· τὰς μὲν
οὖν πόλεις αὐτῶν ἀνελεῖν καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν τῇ
Ῥωμαίων προσθεῖναι, τῶν δ´ ἀνθρώπων τοὺς μὲν εὔνοιάν
τινα πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀποδειξαμένους ἔχοντας τὰ
σφέτερα πολίτας ποιήσεσθαι, τοὺς δ´ αἰτίους τῆς
ἀποστάσεως, ὑφ´ ὧν αἱ σπονδαὶ διελύθησαν, ὡς προδότας
ἀποκτεῖναι· ὅσον δὲ τοῦ δήμου πτωχὸν καὶ ἀργὸν καὶ
ἄχρηστον ἐν ἀνδραπόδων ποιήσεσθαι λόγῳ.
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Traduction française :
| [6,20] Servius Sulpicius opposed nothing the other had said concerning peace and the
renewal of the treaty; but, since the Latins had been the first to violate the treaty, and
not now for the first time either — in which case they might deserve some forgiveness
(p299) when they put forward necessity and their own deception as excuses — but often
in the past too, so that they needed correction, he proposed that impunity and their
liberty should be granted to all of them because of their kinship, but that the should
be deprived of one half of their land number that Roman colonists should be sent
thither to enjoy its produce and see to it that the Latins created no further
disturbances. Spurius Cassius advised them to raze the Latin cities, saying he
wondered at the simple-mindedness of those who urged letting their offences go
unpunished, why they could not understand that, because of the inborn and
ineradicable envy which the Latins felt towards the rising power of Rome, they were
constantly fomenting one war after another against them and would never willingly
give over their treacherous intent so long as this unfortunate passion dwelt in their
hearts; indeed, they had finally endeavoured to bring a kindred people under the
power of a tyrant more savage than any wild beast, thereby overturning all the
covenants they had sworn by the gods to observe, induced by no other hopes than
that, if the war did not succeed according to their expectation, they should incur
either no punishment at all or a very slight one. He too asked them to take as
examples the actions of their ancestors, who, when they knew that the city of Alba, of
which both they themselves and all the other Latin cities were colonies, was envious
of their prosperity and had made use of the impunity it had obtained for its first
transgressions as an opportunity for greater treachery, resolved to destroy it in a
single day, believing that to punish none of (p301) those who had committed the greatest
and the most irremediable crimes was no better than to show compassion to none of
those who were guilty of moderate errors. It would be an act of great folly and
stupidity, surely not one of humanity and moderation, for those who would not
endure the envy of their mother-city, when it appeared beyond measure grievous and
intolerable, to submit now to that of their mere kinsman, and for those who had
punished enemies convicted in milder attempts of being such, by depriving them of
their city, to exact no punishment now from such as had often shown their hatred of
them to be irreconcilable. After he had spoken thus and had enumerated all the
rebellions of the Latins and reminded the senators of the vast number of Romans
who had lost their lives in the wars against them, he advised them to treat these also
in the same manner as they had formerly treated the Albans, namely, to raze their
cities and add their territory to that of the Romans; and as for the inhabitants, to
make citizens of such as had shown any goodwill towards them, permitting them to
retain their possessions, but to put to death as traitors the authors of the revolt by
whom the treaty had been broken, and to make slaves of the poor, the lazy and the
useless among the populace.
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