Texte grec :
[8,14] Καὶ ὁ Μάρκιος οὐθὲν ἔτι διαμελλήσας ἧκεν
ἄγων τὴν δύναμιν ἐπὶ Κιρκαίαν πόλιν, ἐν ᾗ κληροῦχοι
Ῥωμαίων ἦσαν ἅμα τοῖς ἐπιχωρίοις πολιτευόμενοι, καὶ
παραλαμβάνει τὴν πόλιν ἐξ ἐφόδου. ὡς γὰρ ἔγνωσαν
οἱ Κιρκαῖοι κρατουμένην σφῶν τὴν χώραν καὶ προσάγουσαν τῷ
τείχει τὴν στρατιάν, ἀνοίξαντες τὰς πύλας
ἐξῄεσαν ὁμόσε τοῖς πολεμίοις ἄνοπλοι παραλαβεῖν τὴν
πόλιν ἀξιοῦντες· ὅπερ αὐτοῖς αἴτιον τοῦ μηδὲν παθεῖν
ἀνήκεστον ἐγένετο. οὔτε γὰρ αὐτῶν ἀπέκτεινεν ὁ στρατηγὸς
οὐδένα, οὔτ´ ἐξήλασεν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως· ἐσθῆτα
δὲ τοῖς στρατιώταις καὶ τροφὰς εἰς μῆνα ἱκανὰς καὶ
ἀργύριόν τι μέτριον λαβὼν ἀπῆγε τὴν δύναμιν ὀλίγην
μοῖραν ἐν τῇ πόλει καταλιπὼν τῆς τ´ ἀσφαλείας τῶν
ἐνοικούντων ἕνεκα, μή τι ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων πάθωσι κακόν,
καὶ τοῦ μηδὲν ὕστερον νεωτερίσαι. εἰς δὲ τὴν Ῥώμην
ὡς ἠγγέλθη τὰ γενόμενα πολὺ πλείων ταραχὴ καὶ θόρυβος ἦν
τῶν μὲν πατρικίων τὸν δῆμον ἐχόντων δι´
αἰτίας, ὅτι πολεμιστὴν ἄνδρα καὶ δραστήριον καὶ φρονήματος
εὐγενοῦς μεστὸν ψευδεῖ περιβαλόντες αἰτίᾳ
τῆς πόλεως ἀπήλασαν καὶ παρεσκεύασαν ἡγεμόνα Οὐολούσκοις
γενέσθαι· τῶν δὲ προεστηκότων τοῦ δήμου
κατηγορίας τοῦ συνεδρίου ποιουμένων καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα
ὅλον ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ὑπ´ ἐκείνων κατεσκευάσθαι λεγόντων
τόν τε πόλεμον οὐ κοινὸν ἅπασιν, ἀλλὰ σφίσι μόνοις
ἐπάγεσθαι σκηπτομένων· καὶ ἦν τὸ κακοηθέστατον τοῦ
δήμου μέρος ἅμα τούτοις. στρατιὰς δὲ καταγράφειν ἢ
καλεῖν τοὺς συμμάχους ἢ παρασκευάσασθαι τὰ κατεπείγοντα
διὰ τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔχθη καὶ τὰς ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις κατηγορίας
οὐδ´ εἰς νοῦν ἐλάμβανον.
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Traduction française :
[8,14] (p39) Marcius, without losing any more time, came with his army to the city of
Circeii, in which there were Roman colonists living intermingled with the native
residents; and he took possession of the town as soon as he appeared before it. For
when the Circeians saw their country in the power of the Volscians and their army
approaching the walls, they opened their gates, and coming out unarmed to meet the
enemy, asked them to take possession of the town — a course which saved them from
suffering any irreparable mischief. For the general put none of them to death nor
expelled any from the city; but having taken clothing for his soldiers and provisions
sufficient for a month, together with a moderate sum of money, he withdrew his
forces, leaving only a small garrison in the town, not only for the safety of the
inhabitants, lest they should suffer some harm at the hands of the Romans, but also
to restrain them from beginning any rebellion in the future.
When news of what had happened was brought to Rome, there was much greater
confusion and disorder than before. The patricians reproached the populace with
having driven from the state a man who was a great warrior, energetic, and full of
noble pride, by involving him in a false charge and having thus caused him to become
general of the Volscians; and the leaders of the populace in turn inveighed against
the senate, declaring that the whole affair was a piece of treachery devised by them
and that the war was being directed, not against all the Romans in common, but
against the plebeians only; and the most evil-minded element among the populace
sided with them. But neither party gave so much as a p41thought to raising armies,
summoning the allies, or making the necessary preparations, by reason of their
mutual hatreds and their actions of one another in the meetings of the assembly.
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