[8,74] Ταύτην εἰσηγησαμένου τὴν γνώμην Ἀππίου καὶ σφόδρα δόξαντος εὐδοκιμεῖν δεύτερος ἐρωτηθεὶς Αὖλος Σεμπρώνιος Ἀτρατῖνος ἔλεξεν· Ἄππιον μὲν οὐ νῦν ἔχω πρῶτον ἐπαινεῖν, ὡς φρονῆσαί τε ἱκανώτατον πρὸ πολλοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα καὶ γνώμας τὰς καλλίστας τε καὶ ὠφελιμωτάτας ἀποδεικνύμενον βέβαιόν τε καὶ ἀμετακίνητον ἐν τοῖς κριθεῖσι καὶ οὔτε φόβῳ εἴκοντα οὔτε χάρισιν ὑποκατακλινόμενον. ἀεὶ γὰρ ἐπαινῶν αὐτὸν καὶ θαυμάζων διατελῶ τοῦ τε φρονίμου καὶ τῆς γενναιότητος, ἣν παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ ἔχει. γνώμην τ´ οὐχ ἑτέραν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς ταύτην ἀποδείκνυμαι, μικρὰ ἔτι προσθεὶς αὐτῇ, ἅ μοι παραλιπεῖν Ἄππιος ἐδόκει. Ἕρνικας μὲν γὰρ καὶ Λατίνους, οἷς νεωστὶ δεδώκαμεν τὴν ἰσοπολιτείαν, οὐδ´ αὐτὸς οἶμαι δεῖν κληρουχεῖν τὰ ἡμέτερα. οὐ γάρ, ἐξ οὗ προσῆλθον εἰς τὴν φιλίαν ἡμῖν, ταύτην τὴν γῆν κτησάμενοι ἔχομεν, ἀλλὰ παλαίτερον ἔτι τοῖς ἑαυτῶν κινδύνοις οὐθενὸς ἄλλου προσωφελήσαντος ἀφελόμενοι τοὺς ἐχθρούς. ἀποκρινώμεθά τ´ αὐτοῖς, ὅτι τὰς μὲν πρότερον ὑπαρχούσας ἡμῖν κτήσεις, ὅσας ἕκαστοι εἴχομεν, ὅτε τὴν φιλίαν συνετιθέμεθα, ἰδίας τε καὶ ἀναφαιρέτους ἑκάστοις δεῖ μένειν, ὅσων δ´ ἄν, ἀφ´ οὗ τὰς συνθήκας ἐποιησάμεθα, κοινῇ στρατεύσαντες ἐκ πολέμου κύριοι γενώμεθα, τούτων ὑπάρξει τὸ ἐπιβάλλον ἑκάστοις λάχος. ταῦτα γὰρ οὔτε τοῖς συμμάχοις ὡς ἀδικουμένοις ὀργῆς παρέξει δικαίας προφάσεις, οὔτε τῷ δήμῳ δέος, μὴ δόξῃ τὰ κερδαλεώτερα πρὸ τῶν εὐπρεπεστέρων αἱρεῖσθαι. τῇ τε αἱρέσει τῶν ἀνδρῶν, οὓς Ἄππιος ἠξίου ὁριστὰς γενέσθαι τῆς δημοσίας γῆς, πάνυ εὐδοκῶ. πολλὴν γὰρ ἡμῖν τοῦτ´ οἴσει παρρησίαν πρὸς τοὺς δημοτικούς, ἐπεὶ νῦν γ´ ἄχθονται κατ´ ἀμφότερα, καὶ ὅτι αὐτοὶ τῶν δημοσίων οὐθὲν ἀπολαύουσι κτημάτων, καὶ ὅτι ἐξ ἡμῶν τινες οὐ δικαίως αὐτὰ καρποῦνται. ἐὰν δὲ δημοσιωθέντα ἴδωσι καὶ τὰς ἀπ´ αὐτῶν προσόδους εἰς τὰ κοινὰ καὶ ἀναγκαῖα δαπανωμένας, οὐδὲν ὑπολήψονται σφίσι διαφέρειν τῆς γῆς ἢ τῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς καρπῶν μετέχειν. ἐῶ γὰρ λέγειν, ὅτι τῶν ἀπόρων ἐνίους μᾶλλον εὐφραίνουσιν αἱ ἀλλότριαι βλάβαι τῶν ἰδίων ὠφελειῶν. οὐ μὴν ἀποχρῆν γ´ οἴομαι τούτων ἑκάτερον ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι γράφειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι´ ἄλλης τινὸς οἴομαι δεῖν θεραπείας μετρίας τὸν δῆμον οἰκειώσασθαί τε καὶ ἀναλαβεῖν· ἣν μετὰ μικρὸν ἐρῶ, τὴν αἰτίαν πρῶτον ὑμῖν ἀποδειξάμενος, μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν ἀνάγκην, δι´ ἣν καὶ τοῦτο πρακτέον ἡμῖν.

[8,74] After Appius had introduced this motion and appeared to win great approval, Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, who was called upon next, said: "This is not the first time that I have had occasion to praise Appius as a man highly capable of grasping eventualities long in advance, and as one always offering the most excellent and useful opinions, a man who is firm and unshaken in his judgements and neither yields to fear nor is swayed by favour. For I have never ceased to praise and admire him both for his prudence and the noble spirit he shows in the presence of danger. And it is not a different motion that I offer, but I too make the same one, merely adding a few details which Appius seemed to me to omit. As regards the Hernicans and the Latins, to whom we recently granted equal rights of citizenship, I too think they ought not to share in the allotment of our lands; for it was not after they entered into friendship with us that we acquired this land which we now occupy, but still earlier, when by our own perilous efforts, without the assistance of anyone else, we took it from our enemies. Let us give them this answer: that the possessions which each of us already had when we entered into the treaty of friendship must remain the peculiar and inalienable property of each, but that in the case of all that we may come to possess through war when taking the field together, from the time we made this treaty, each shall have his share. For this arrangement will (p227) neither afford our allies any just excuses for anger, as being wronged, nor cause the populace any fear of appearing to prefer their own interests to their good name. As to the appointment of the men proposed by Appius to delimit the public land, I quite agree with him. For this will afford us great frankness in dealing with the plebeians, since they are now displeased on both accounts — because they themselves reap no benefit from the public possessions and because some of us enjoy them contrary to justice. But if they see them restored to the public and the revenues therefrom applied to the necessary uses of the commonwealth, they will not suppose that it makes any difficult to them whether it is the land or its produce that they share. I need not mention, of course, that some of the poor are more delighted with the losses of others with now their own advantages. However, I do not regard the entering of these two provisions in the decree as enough; but we ought in my opinion to gain the goodwill of the populace and relieve them by another moderate favour also, one which I shall presently name, after I have first shown you the reason, or rather the necessity, for our doing this also.