Texte grec :
| [8,54] Ταῦτ´ εἰποῦσα ἔρριψεν ἑαυτὴν χαμαὶ καὶ
περιπλέξασα ταῖς χερσὶν ἀμφοτέραις τοὺς πόδας τοῦ
Μαρκίου κατεφίλησε. πεσούσης δ´ αὐτῆς αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες
ἀνεβόησαν ἅμα πᾶσαι κωκυτὸν ὀξὺν καὶ μακρόν,
οἱ δ´ ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ παρόντες Οὐολούσκων οὐκ ἠνέσχοντο τὴν
ἀήθειαν τῆς ὄψεως, ἀλλ´ ἀπεστράφησαν.
αὐτὸς δ´ ὁ Μάρκιος ἀναλόμενος ἐκ τοῦ δίφρου καὶ
περιπεσὼν τῇ μητρὶ ἀνίστησιν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς
ὀλίγον ἐμπνέουσαν, καὶ περιβαλὼν καὶ πολλὰ ἐκχέας
δάκρυα εἶπε· Νικᾷς, ὦ μῆτερ, οὐκ εὐτυχῆ νίκην οὔτε
σεαυτῇ οὔτ´ ἐμοί· τὴν μὲν γὰρ πατρίδα σέσωκας, ἐμὲ
δὲ τὸν εὐσεβῆ καὶ φιλόστοργον υἱὸν ἀπολώλεκας.
ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν ἐπὶ τὴν σκηνὴν ἀπῄει κελεύσας ἀκολουθεῖν τήν τε
μητέρα καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ παιδία,
ἔνθα τὸν λοιπὸν τῆς ἡμέρας χρόνον σκοπούμενος σὺν
αὐταῖς, ὅ τι χρὴ πράττειν, διετέλεσεν. ἦν δὲ τὰ δόξαντα αὐτοῖς
τοιάδε· περὶ μὲν τῆς καθόδου μήτε τὴν
βουλὴν τέλος μηθὲν ἐκφέρειν εἰς τὸν δῆμον μήτ´ ἐκεῖνον
ἐπιψηφίζειν, πρὶν ἂν τοῖς Οὐολούσκοις εὐτρεπῆ
γένηται τὰ περὶ φιλίας καὶ καταλύσεως τοῦ πολέμου·
αὐτὸν δὲ τὴν στρατιὰν ἀναστήσαντα ὡς διὰ φιλίας
γῆς ἀπάγειν· ὑποσχόντα δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς λόγον καὶ τὰς
εὐεργεσίας ἀποδειξάμενον ἀξιοῦν τοὺς ἐπιτρέψαντας
αὐτῷ τὴν στρατιάν, μάλιστα μὲν φιλίᾳ δέχεσθαι τοὺς
πολεμίους καὶ συνθήκας ποιήσασθαι δικαίας, αὐτῷ τὴν
ἰσότητα καὶ τὸ μὴ σφαλῆναι περὶ τὰς ὁμολογίας ἐπιτρέψαντας. εἰ
δ´ ἐπὶ τοῖς κατωρθωμένοις σφίσιν αὐθαδείας ἀναπιμπλάμενοι μὴ
δέχοιντο τὰς διαλλαγάς,
ἀφίστασθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῖς. ἢ γὰρ οὐχ ὑπομενεῖν
αὐτοὺς ἄλλον τινὰ αἱρεῖσθαι στρατηγὸν δι´ ἀπορίαν
ἀγαθοῦ ἡγεμόνος, ἢ παρακινδυνεύσαντας ὁτῳδήτινι
παραδοῦναι τὰς δυνάμεις σὺν μεγάλῃ διδαχθήσεσθαι
βλάβῃ τὴν τοῦ συμφέροντος αἵρεσιν. τὰ μὲν δὴ βουλευθέντα
αὐτοῖς καὶ δόξαντα δίκαιά τε καὶ ὅσια εἶναι,
φήμης τ´ ἀγαθῆς ἐφ´ ᾗ μάλιστα ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐσπούδαζε
παρὰ πᾶσι τευξόμενα, τοιάδε ἦν. ἐτάραττε δέ τις αὐτοὺς ὑποψία
δέος ἔχουσα, μή ποτε ἀλόγιστος ὄχλος ἐν
ἐλπίδι τοῦ καταπεπολεμηκέναι τὸ ἀντίπαλον ἤδη ὢν
δι´ ὀργῆς ἀκράτου λάβῃ τὴν ἀποτυχίαν κἄπειτα ὡς
προδότην αὐτὸν οὐδὲ λόγου μεταδοὺς αὐτοχειρίᾳ φθάσῃ
διολέσας. ἐδόκει οὖν αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῦτο καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο
δεινότερον εἴη κινδύνευμα σὺν ἀρετῇ σώζουσι τὴν
πίστιν ὑπομένειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ περὶ δύσιν ἡλίου ἦν ἤδη,
ἀσπασάμενοι ἀλλήλους ἐξῄεσαν ἐκ τῆς σκηνῆς· ἔπειθ´
αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπῄεσαν, ὁ δὲ Μάρκιος
ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τὰς αἰτίας ἀποδοὺς τοῖς παροῦσι, δι´ ἃς
ἔμελλε λύειν τὸν πόλεμον, καὶ πολλὰ τῶν στρατιωτῶν δεηθεὶς
συγγνῶναί τ´ αὐτῷ καί, ἐπειδὰν οἴκαδε
ἀφίκωνται, μεμνημένους ὧν ἔπαθον εὖ τοῦ μηθὲν
ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνήκεστον παθεῖν συναγωνιστὰς γενέσθαι, καὶ
ἄλλα πολλὰ καὶ ἐπαγωγὰ διαλεχθεὶς παρασκευάζεσθαι
ἐκέλευσεν ὡς τῇ ἐπιούσῃ νυκτὶ ἀναστρατοπεδεύσοντας.
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Traduction française :
| [8,54] With these words she threw herself upon the ground, and embracing the feet of
Marcius with both her hands, she kissed them, As soon as she fell prostrate, all the
women cried out together, raising a loud and prolonged wailing; and the Volscians
who (p159) were present at the assembly could not bear the unusual sight, but turned
away their eyes. Marcius himself, leaping up from his seat, took his mother in his
arms, and raising her up from the ground scarcely breathing, embraced her, and
shedding many tears, said: "Yours is the victory, mother, but a victory which will be
happy for neither you nor me. For though you have saved your country, you have
ruined me, your dutiful and affectionate son: After saying this, he retired to his
tent, bidding his mother, his wife, and his children follow him; and there he passed
the rest of the day in considering with them what should be done. The decisions they
reached were as follows: That the senate should lay no proposal before the people
providing for his return nor should the latter pass any vote till the Volscians should
be ready to consider friendship and the termination of the war; that Marcius should
break camp and lead his army away as through friendly territory; and that after he
had given an accounting to the Volscians of his conduct in the command of their army
and recounted the services he had done them, he should ask those who had entrusted
him with the army, preferably to admit their enemies into friendship and to conclude
a just treaty with them, commissioning them to see that the terms of the agreement
were fair and free from guile; but if, becoming puffed up with arrogance over their
successes, they should reject an accommodation, he should resign the command they
had given him. For they thought that the Volscians would either not bring themselves
to choose another commander, for want of a good general, or, if they did run the
hazard of handing over their forces to any chance person, they would learn through
heavy losses (p161) to choose what was advantageous. Such were the subjects of their
deliberation and such were the decisions they reached as just and right and calculated
to win the good opinion of all men — a thing which Marcius had most at heart. But
they were troubled by a suspicion, not unmixed with fear, that an unreasoning mob,
now buoyed up with the hope that they had completely crushed their foes, might take
their disappointment with uncontrolled anger and as a result put Marcius to death
with their own hands as a traitor without even granting him a hearing. However, they
determined to submit even to this or to any other danger still more formidable which
they might incur in honourably keeping faith. When it was now near sunset, they
embraced one another and left the tent, after which the women returned to the city.
Then Marcius in an assembly of the troops laid before those present the reasons why
he intended to put an end to the war; and after earnestly beseeching the soldiers both
to forgive him and, when they returned home, to remember the benefits they had
received from him and to strive with him to prevent his suffering any irreparable
injury at the hands of the other citizens, and after saying many other things
calculated to win their support, he ordered them to make ready to break camp the
following night.
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