[8,32] Ἆρ´ οὐ φανερόν, ὅτι καλλιλογεῖτε καὶ εἰρωνεύεσθε, ὦ Μηνύκιε, ὄνομα καλὸν ἔργῳ περιθέντες ἀνοσίῳ; οὐ γὰρ δὴ κάθοδόν μοι δίδοτε, ἀλλὰ σφάγιόν με τῷ δήμῳ κατάγετε, τάχα μὲν καὶ βεβουλευμένοι τοῦτο πράττειν· οὐθὲν γὰρ ἔτι μοι χρηστὸν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐπέρχεται φρονεῖν· εἰ δὲ βούλεσθε - τίθημι γάρ - οὐδὲν ὧν πείσομαι προορώμενοι, τί οὖν ἔσται μοι τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγνοίας ἢ μωρίας ὄφελος, κωλύειν μὲν οὐδὲν οὐδ´ ἂν οἷοι ἦτε δυνησομένων, χαρίζεσθαι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τῷ δήμῳ σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀναγκαζομένων; ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὅτι μὲν οὐ συνοίσει μοι πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν ἥδε, ἣν ὑμεῖς μὲν κάθοδον καλεῖτε, ἐγὼ δὲ ταχεῖαν ὁδὸν ἐπὶ τὸν ὄλεθρον, οὐ πολλῶν οἴομαι δεῖν ἔτι λόγων· ὅτι δ´ οὐδὲ πρὸς εὐδοξίαν ἢ τιμὴν ἢ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ σὺ τούτων, ὦ Μηνύκιε, πρόνοιαν ἔχειν με ἠξίους, εὖ ποιῶν, ἀλλ´ αἴσχιστά μοι καὶ ἀνοσιώτατα πραχθήσεται πεισθέντι ὑμῖν, ἄκουσον ἐν τῷ μέρει. ἐγὼ πολέμιος ἐγενόμην τούτοις {Οὐολούσκοις} καὶ πολλὰ ἠδίκησα αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, τῇ πατρίδι πράττων ἡγεμονίαν καὶ ἰσχὺν καὶ κλέος. οὐκοῦν προσῆκέ μοι τιμᾶσθαι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων, μισεῖσθαι δ´ ὑπὸ τῶν ἠδικημένων; εἰ γοῦν τι τῶν εἰκότων ἐγένετο. ἀνέτρεψε δ´ ἀμφότερα ταῦθ´ ἡ τύχη, καὶ εἰς τἀναντία μετέθηκε τὰς ἀξιώσεις. ὑμεῖς μὲν γάρ, ὑπὲρ ὧν τούτοις ἐχθρὸς ἦν, ἀφείλεσθέ με πάντα τἀμὰ καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ποιήσαντες ἐρρίψατε· οὗτοι δ´ οἱ τὰ δεινὰ ὑπ´ ἐμοῦ παθόντες, τὸν ἄπορον καὶ ἀνέστιον καὶ ταπεινὸν καὶ ἄπολιν ὑπεδέξαντό με ταῖς ἑαυτῶν πόλεσι. καὶ οὐκ ἀπέχρη αὐτοῖς τοῦτο ποιήσασι μόνον οὕτω λαμπρὸν καὶ μεγαλόψυχον ἔργον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολιτείαν ἔδοσάν μοι ἐν ἁπάσαις ταῖς ἑαυτῶν πόλεσι καὶ ἀρχὰς καὶ τιμάς, αἳ μέγισται παρ´ αὐτοῖς εἰσιν. ἐῶ τἆλλα· ἀλλὰ νυνὶ στρατηγὸν ἀποδεδείχασί με αὐτοκράτορα τῆς ὑπερορίου στρατιᾶς καὶ πάντα τὰ κοινὰ ἐπ´ ἐμοὶ πεποιήκασι μόνῳ. φέρε δή, τίνα λαβὼν καρδίαν προδοίην ἂν ἔτι τούτους, ὑφ´ ὧν τηλικαύταις κεκόσμημαι τιμαῖς, οὐθὲν οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτ´ ἔλαττον ἀδικηθείς; εἰ μὴ ἄρα αἱ χάριτες αὐτῶν ἀδικοῦσί με, ὥσπερ ὑμᾶς αἱ ἐμαί· καλήν γε δόξαν οἴσει μοι παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις γνωσθεῖσα ἡ παλιμπροδοσία. τίς δ´ {οὐκ} ἂν ἐπαινέσειέ με ἀκούσας, ὅτι τοὺς μὲν φίλους, ὑφ´ ὧν εὖ πάσχειν μοι προσῆκε, πολεμίους εὑρών, τοὺς δ´ ἐχθρούς, ὑφ´ ὧν ἐχρῆν με ἀπολωλέναι, φίλους, ἀντὶ τοῦ μισεῖν μὲν τὰ μισοῦντα, φιλεῖν δὲ τὰ φιλοῦντα, τὴν ἐναντίαν γνώμην ἔσχον;

[8,32] "Is it not therefore plain, Minucius, that your envoys are indulging in fair words and dissimulation, cloaking with a specious name a wicked design? For surely it is not my restoration that you are offering me, but you are taking me back to the populace as a sacrificial victim, perhaps because you have actually planned to do this (for it no longer occurs to me to hold any good opinion of you); but if you wish it so — I am merely assuming this — that it is because you do not foresee any of the things that I shall suffer, what advantage shall I gain from your ignorance or folly, since you will not be able to prevent anything even if you are so disposed, but are compelled to gratify the populace in this too, as in everything else? Now to show that from the point of view of my safety there will be no gain to me in this — 'restoration,' as you call it, but I a quick road to destruction, not many more words are called for, I think; but to prove that I will not enhance my reputation, either, or my honour, or my piety — for you, Minucius, asked me to take these into consideration, and rightly — but that, on the contrary, I shall be acting in a most shameful and impious manner if I follow your advice, pray hear in turn what I have to say. I became an enemy to these men here and did them many injuries during the war while I (p95) was acquiring sovereignty, power and glory for my country. Was it not fitting, therefore, that I should be honoured by those I had benefited and hated by those I had injured? Certainly, if what one could reasonably expect had happened. But Fortune upset both these expectations and reversed the two principles. For you Romans, on whose account I was an enemy to these men, deprived me of all my possessions, and making a nobody of me, cast me off; while they, who had suffered those dire evils at my hands, received me into their cities, the resourceless, homeless, humbled outcast. 4 And not content with doing this only, an action so splendid and magnanimous, they also conferred on me citizenship in all their cities, as well as the magistracies and honours that in their country are highest. To omit the rest, they have now appointed me supreme commander of the expeditionary force and have committed to me alone all the interests of their state. Look you, with what heart would I now betray these men by whom I have been decked with such honours, when I have suffered no injury, great or small, at their hands? Unless, indeed, their favours are injurious to me, as mine are to you! A fine reputation forsooth, throughout all the world will such double treachery bring me, when it shall be known! Who would not praise me on hearing that when I found my friends, from whom I had the right to expect kindness, to be my enemies, and my foes, by whom I should have been put to death, to be my friends, instead of hating those who hate me and loving those who love me, I took the opposite view!