[8,51] Εἰ δ´ ἄρα πρὸς ἐκείνην ἀδιαλλάκτως ἔχεις, ἐμοὶ ταύτην δός, ὦ τέκνον, τὴν τιμὴν καὶ χάριν, παρ´ ἧς οὐ τὰ ἐλαχίστου ἄξια ἔχεις οὐδ´ ὧν ἀντιποιήσαιτ´ ἄν τις καὶ ἕτερος, ἀλλὰ τὰ μέγιστα καὶ τιμιώτατα καὶ οἷς ἅπαντα τὰ λοιπὰ κέκτησαι, τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν ψυχήν. δανείσματα γὰρ ἔχεις ταῦτ´ ἐμά, καὶ οὐκ ἀφαιρήσεταί με ταῦτ´ οὐθεὶς οὔτε τόπος οὔτε καιρός, οὐδέ γ´ αἱ Οὐολούσκων οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων εὐεργεσίαι συμπάντων καὶ χάριτες τοσοῦτον ἰσχύουσιν οὐδ´ ἂν οὐρανομήκεις γένωνται, ὥστε τὰ τῆς φύσεως ἐξαλεῖψαι καὶ παρελθεῖν δίκαια· ἀλλ´ ἐμὸς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον ἔσῃ καὶ πρώτῃ πάντων τὰς τοῦ βίου χάριτας ὀφειλήσεις ἐμοί, καὶ ὧν ἂν δέωμαι δίχα προφάσεως ὑπουργήσεις. τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ τῆς φύσεως νόμος ὥρισεν ἅπασι τοῖς αἰσθήσεως καὶ λόγου μετειληφόσι τὸ δίκαιον, ᾧ πιστεύουσα, Μάρκιε τέκνον, κἀγὼ δέομαί σου μὴ ἐπάγειν πόλεμον τῇ πατρίδι, καὶ ἐμποδὼν ἵσταμαί σοι βιαζομένῳ. ἢ προτέραν οὖν ἐμὲ τὴν ἐναντιουμένην σοι μητέρα ταῖς ἐρινύσι προθυσάμενος αὐτοχειρίᾳ τότε τοῦ κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος ἅπτου πολέμου, ἢ τὸ μητροκτόνον ἄγος αἰδούμενος εἶξον τῇ σεαυτοῦ μητρὶ καὶ δός, ὦ τέκνον, τὴν χάριν ἑκών. νόμον μὲν οὖν τόνδε, ὃν οὐθεὶς πώποτε ἀνελεῖ χρόνος, τιμωρὸν καὶ σύμμαχον ἔχουσα οὐκ ἀξιῶ, Μάρκιε, μόνη τιμῶν, ἃς οὗτός μοι δίδωσιν, ἄμοιρος ἐκ σοῦ γενέσθαι· ἔργων δὲ χρηστῶν ὑπομνήσεις, ἵν´ ἀφῶ τὸν νόμον, σκόπει πάλιν ὡς πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας· ἥτις ὀρφανὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς καταλειφθέντα σε παραλαβοῦσα νήπιον διέμεινα ἐπὶ σοὶ χήρα καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς παιδοτροφίας ἀνήντλησα πόνους, οὐ μήτηρ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατὴρ καὶ τροφὸς καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ πάντα τὰ φίλτατά σοι γενομένη. ἐπειδὴ δ´ εἰς ἄνδρας ἦλθες, ἐξόν μοι τότε ἀπηλλάχθαι τῶν φροντίδων ἑτέρῳ γημαμένην καὶ ἕτερα τέκνα ἐπιθρέψαι καὶ πολλὰς γηροβοσκοὺς ἐλπίδας ἐμαυτῇ καταλιπεῖν, οὐκ ἠβουλήθην, ἀλλ´ ἔμεινα ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἑστίας καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔστερξα βίον, ἐν σοὶ μόνῳ πάσας τιθεῖσα τὰς ἐμαυτῆς ἡδονάς τε καὶ ὠφελείας· ὧν ἔψευσάς με τὰ μὲν ἄκων, τὰ δ´ ἑκών, καὶ πασῶν ἀτυχεστάτην ἐποίησας μητέρων. ποῖον γὰρ χρόνον, ἀφ´ οὗ σε εἰς ἄνδρας ἤγαγον, ἄνευ λύπης ἢ φόβου διετέλεσα, ἢ πότε ἱλαρὰν ἔσχον ἐπὶ σοὶ τὴν ψυχὴν πολέμους ἐπὶ πολέμοις στέλλοντα ὁρῶσά σε καὶ μάχας ἐπὶ μάχαις ἀναιρούμενον καὶ τραύματ´ ἐπὶ τραύμασι λαμβάνοντα;

[8,51] "But if you are indeed irreconcilable to her, grant, my son, this honour and favour to me, at least, from whom you have received, not the boons that are of least value nor those to which another also might lay claim, but rather those that are the greatest and most precious and have enabled you to acquire everything else you possess — namely, your body and your soul. These are loans you have from me, and neither (p151) place nor time will ever deprive me of them, nor will the benefactions of the Volscians or of all the rest of mankind together, even if they should reach the heavens in magnitude, avail to efface and surpass the rights of Nature; but you will be mine forever, and to me before all others you will owe gratitude for your life, and you will oblige me in everything I ask without alleging any excuse. For this is a right which the law of Nature has prescribed for all who partake of sense and reason; and putting my trust in this law, Marcius, my son, I too beg of you not to make war upon your country, and I stand in your way if you resort to violence. Either, therefore, first sacrifice with your own hand to the Furies your mother who opposes you and then begin the war against your country, or, if you shrink from the guilt of matricide, yield to your mother, my son, and grant this favour willingly. Having this law, then, which no lapse of time will ever repeal, to avenge my wrongs and be my ally, I cannot consent, Marcius, to be alone deprived by you of honours to which it entitles me. But leaving this law aside, consider in turn the reminders I have to give you of the good offices you have received from me, human many and how great they are. When you were left an orphan by your father, I took you as an infant, and for your sake I remained a widow and underwent the labours of rearing you, showing myself not only a mother to you, but also a father, a nurse, a sister, and everything that is dearest. When you reached manhood and it was in my power to be freed from these cares by marrying again, to rear other children, and lay up many hopes (p153) to support me in my old age, I would not do so, but remained at the same hearth and put up with the same kind of life, placing all my pleasures and all my advantages in you alone. Of these you have disappointed me, partly against your will and partly of your own accord, and have made me the most wretched of all mothers. For what time, since I brought you up to manhood, have I passed free from grief or fear? Or when have I possessed a spirit cheerful on your account, seeing you always undertaking wars upon wars, engaged in battles upon battles, and receiving wounds upon wounds?