[8,26] Ἀγαθὰ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ὑπάρξει σοι διαλλαττομένῳ, μένοντι δ´ ἐπὶ τῆς ὀργῆς καὶ μὴ διαλυομένῳ τὸ μῖσος πρὸς ἡμᾶς πολλὰ καὶ χαλεπά, ἐξ ὧν ἐγὼ δύο τὰ μέγιστα νυνὶ καὶ φανερώτατα ἐρῶ. πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι δυσκόλου γενέσθαι, μᾶλλον δ´ ἀδυνάτου πράγματος πονηρὸν ἔρωτα ἔχεις, πόλεως τῆς Ῥωμαίων καθελεῖν τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς Οὐολούσκων ὅπλοις· ἔπειθ´ ὅτι σοι κατορθώσαντί τε καὶ δὴ τυχόντι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ὑπάρξει δυστυχεστάτω νομίζεσθαι. ἐξ ὧν δὲ ταῦτα παρίσταταί μοι περὶ σοῦ φρονεῖν, ἄκουσον, ὦ Μάρκιε, μηθὲν πρὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν μου τῶν λόγων τραχυνόμενος. σκόπει δὲ πρῶτον ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀδυνάτου. Ῥωμαίοις, ὡς οἶσθα καὶ σύ, πολλὴ μέν ἐστι νεότης ἐπιχώριος, ἧς εἰ τὸ στασιάζον ἐξαιρεθείη· γενήσεται δὲ τοῦτο κατὰ πολλὴν ἀνάγκην νυνὶ διὰ τόνδε τὸν πόλεμον, πάντα γὰρ ὑπὸ δέους κοινοῦ συνίστασθαι φιλεῖ τὰ διάφορα· οὐχ ὅτι Οὐολοῦσκοι κρατήσουσιν, ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ ἄλλο τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐθνῶν οὐθέν· πολλὴ δ´ ἡ Λατίνων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων τε καὶ ἀποίκων τῆς πόλεως ἰσχύς, ἣν ὀλίγου πᾶσαν ἐπίκουρον ἥξειν προσδέχου· στρατηγοί τε οἷος σὺ καὶ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ νέοι τοσοῦτοι τὸ πλῆθος, ὅσοι παρὰ πάσαις οὐκ εἰσὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις πόλεσι. μεγίστη δὲ πασῶν βοήθεια καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς ἐλπίδας οὐδέποθ´ ἡμῶν ψευσαμένη συμπάσης τ´ ἀμείνων ἀνθρωπίνης ἰσχύος, ἡ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν εὔνοια, δι´ οὓς οὐ μόνον ἐλευθέραν εἰς τόδε χρόνου τὴν πόλιν τήνδε οἰκοῦμεν ὀγδόην ἤδη τὴν νῦν γενεάν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐδαίμονα καὶ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν ἄρχουσαν. μὴ δὲ Πεδανοῖς ἡμᾶς εἰκάσῃς μηδὲ Τολερίνοις μηδὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις μικροπολίταις, ὧν κατέσχες τὰ πολίχνια· καὶ γὰρ ἥττων ἄν τίς σου στρατηγὸς καὶ ἀπ´ ἐλάττονος ἢ τοσαύτης στρατιᾶς ὀλιγανθρωπίαν καὶ φαυλότητα ἐρυμάτων ἐβιάσατο· ἀλλ´ ἐνθυμοῦ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς πόλεως καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῶν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις πράξεων καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ θείου παροῦσαν αὐτῇ τύχην, δι´ ἣν ἐκ μικρᾶς τοσαύτη γέγονε. καὶ τὴν σεαυτοῦ δύναμιν, ἣν ἄγων ἔργῳ τοσῷδε ἐπιχειρεῖς, μὴ νόμιζε ἠλλάχθαι, ἀλλὰ μέμνησο ἀκριβῶς, ὅτι Οὐολούσκων τε καὶ Αἰκανῶν στρατιὰν ἐπάγῃ, οὓς ἡμεῖς οἵδε {οἱ νῦν ὄντες} ἐν πολλαῖς ἐνικῶμεν μάχαις, ὁσάκις ἡμῖν ἐτόλμησαν εἰς πόλεμον καταστῆναι· ὥστε σὺν τοῖς χείροσιν ἀγωνίζεσθαι μέλλων ἴσθι πρὸς τοὺς κρείττονας καὶ σὺν τοῖς ἡττωμένοις διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τοὺς νικῶντας ἀεί. εἰ δὲ δὴ τἀναντία τούτων ἦν, ἐκεῖνό γέ τοι θαυμάζειν ἄξιον, πῶς λέληθέ σε πολεμικῶν ὄντα πραγμάτων ἔμπειρον, ὅτι τὸ παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ εὔτολμον οὐκ ἐξ ἴσου παραγίνεσθαι φιλεῖ τοῖς θ´ ὑπὲρ οἰκείων ἀγαθῶν ἀγωνιζομένοις καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ τἀλλότρια πορευομένοις· οἱ μέν γ´ οὐδέν, ἐὰν μὴ κατορθώσωσι, βλάπτονται, τοῖς δ´ οὐδέν, ἐὰν πταίσωσι, καταλείπεται· καὶ τοῦ σφάλλεσθαι τὰς μεγάλας δυνάμεις ὑπὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων καὶ τὰς κρείττους ὑπὸ τῶν φαυλοτέρων τοῦτ´ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστ´ αἴτιον ἦν. δεινὴ γὰρ ἡ ἀνάγκη, καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων κίνδυνος ἱκανὸς θάρσος ἐνθεῖναί τινι καὶ μὴ προϋπάρχον φύσει. εἶχον ἔτι πλείω λέγειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀδυνάτου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦθ´ ἱκανά.

[8,26] "These, then, are the advantages you will reap by becoming reconciled; whereas, if you psi in your resentment and do not give up your (p73) hatred toward us, many ids agreeable things will befall you, of which I shall now mention two as the most important and the most obvious. The first is that you have an evil passion for a thing that is difficult of accomplishment, or rather, impossible — the overthrow of the power of Rome, and that too by the arms of the Volscians; the second is that, alike if you succeeded and if you fail, it will be your lot to be looked upon as the most unfortunate of all men. Hear now, Marcius, the reasons that induce me to entertain this opinion concerning you, and take no offence at my frankness of speech. Consider, first, the impossibility of the thing. The Romans, as you yourself know, have a numerous body of youth of their own nation, whom, if the sedition is once banished from among them — and banished it will now inevitably be by this war, since a common fear is wont to reconcile all differences — surely not the Volscians, nay, no other Italian nation either, will ever overcome. Great also is the power of the Latins and of our other allies and colonies, and that power, be assured, will soon come to our assistance. We have generals too of the same ability as yourself, both older men and young, in greater number than are to be found in any other states. But the greatest assistance of all, and one which in times of danger has never betrayed our hopes, and better too than all human strength combined, is the favour of the gods, by whom this city which we inhabit not only continues to this day to preserve her liberty for already the eighth generation, but is also flourishing and the ruler over many nations. And do not liken us to the (p75) Pedani, the Tolerienses, or the peoples of the other petty towns you have seized; for a general less able than yourself and with a smaller army than this great host of yours could have reduced small garrisons and slight defences. But consider the greatness of our city, the brilliance of her achievements in war, and the good fortune that abides with her through the favour of the gods, by which she has been raised from a small beginning to her present grandeur. As for your own forces, at the head of which you are undertaking so great an enterprise, do not imagine that they have changed, but bear clearly in mind that you are leading against us an army of mere Volscians and Aequians, whom we here who are still living were wont to defeat in many battles, yes, as often as they dared to come to an engagement with us. Know, then, that you are going to fight with inferior troops against those that are superior to them, and with troops that are accustomed to defeat every time against those that are always victorious. Yet even if the contrary of this were true, it would still be a matter for wonder how you, who are experienced in warfare, could have failed to observe that courage in the face of danger is not apt to be felt in equal measure by those who fight for their own blessings and by those who set out after what belongs to others. For the latter, if they do not succeed, suffer no loss, whereas the others, if they are defeated, have nothing left. And this is the chief reason why large armies have often been beaten by smaller ones and superior forces by inferior ones. For necessity is formidable, and a struggle in which life itself is at stake is capable of inspiring boldness in a man which was not already his by nature. I had many other things to (p77) say concerning the impossibility of your undertaking, but this is enough.