Texte grec :
| [8,82] Ἐπεὶ δὲ κατεγράφη τὰ στρατεύματα,
παραλαβόντες οἱ ὕπατοι τὰς δυνάμεις ἐξήγαγον ἐπὶ
τοὺς πολεμίους. Κορνήλιος μὲν οὖν εἰς τὴν Οὐιεντανῶν χώραν
ἐμβαλὼν τὴν ἐγκαταληφθεῖσαν λείαν ἐν
αὐτῇ ἀπήλασε, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πρεσβευσαμένων τῶν
Οὐιεντανῶν τούς τ´ αἰχμαλώτους αὐτοῖς ἀπέλυσε χρημάτων, καὶ
ἀνοχὰς τοῦ πολέμου συνέθετο ἐνιαυσίους.
Φάβιος δὲ τὴν ἑτέραν δύναμιν ἔχων εἰς τὴν Αἰκανῶν
γῆν ἐνέβαλεν· ἔπειτ´ ἐκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν Οὐολούσκων.
χρόνον μὲν οὖν τινα οὐ πολὺν ἠνέσχοντο οἱ Οὐολοῦσκοι
διαρπαζομένων αὐτοῖς καὶ κειρομένων τῶν ἀγρῶν·
ἔπειτα καταφρονήσαντες τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὡς οὐ πολλῇ
δυνάμει παρόντων ἐξεβοήθουν ἐκ τῆς Ἀντιατῶν χώρας
τὰ ὅπλα ἁρπάσαντες ἀθρόοι, ταχύτερα μᾶλλον ἢ ἀσφαλέστερα
βουλευσάμενοι. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔφθασαν ἐσκεδασμένοις τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις
ἐπιφανέντες ἐκ τοῦ ἀπροσδοκήτου, μεγάλην ἂν αὐτῶν
εἰργάσαντο τροπήν· νῦν δὲ
προαισθόμενος τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν ὁ ὕπατος διὰ τῶν
ἀποσταλέντων ἐπὶ τὰς κατασκοπάς, ἀνακλήσει ταχείᾳ
τοὺς ἐν ταῖς προνομαῖς ἐσκεδασμένους ἀναλαβών, τάξιν
αὐτοῖς ἀπέδωκε τὴν εἰς πόλεμον ἁρμόττουσαν. τοῖς
δὲ Οὐολούσκοις σὺν καταφρονήσει καὶ θάρσει χωροῦσιν, ὡς
παρὰ δόξαν ἐφάνη συνεστῶσα ἐν κόσμῳ πᾶσα
ἡ τῶν πολεμίων δύναμις, δέος ἐμπίπτει πρὸς τὴν ἀδόκητον ὄψιν,
καὶ τοῦ μὲν κοινοῦ τῆς ἀσφαλείας οὐδεμία φροντίς, τῆς δ´ ἰδίας
ἑκάστῳ σωτηρίας πρόνοια.
ὑποστρέψαντες δὴ ὡς εἶχον ἕκαστοι τάχους ἔφευγον
ἄλλοι κατ´ ἄλλας ὁδούς· καὶ οἱ μὲν πλείους ἀπεσώθησαν εἰς τὴν
πόλιν, ὀλίγον δέ τι στῖφος, ὃ μάλιστα
ἦν συντεταγμένον, εἰς ὄρους τινὰ κορυφὴν ἀναδραμὸν
καὶ θέμενον ἐνταῦθα τὰ ὅπλα τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν νύκτα
διέμενε· ταῖς δ´ ἑξῆς ἡμέραις φρουρὰν περιστήσαντος
τοῦ ὑπάτου τῷ λόφῳ καὶ πάσας διακλείσαντος ὅπλοις
τὰς ἐξόδους, λιμῷ βιασθὲν ὑποχείριον γίνεται καὶ
παραδίδωσι τὰ ὅπλα. ὁ δ´ ὕπατος τήν τε λείαν, ὅσῃ
ἐπέτυχε, καὶ τὰ λάφυρα καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἀποδόσθαι
κελεύσας τοῖς ταμίαις, εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀπήνεγκε
τὸ ἀργύριον. καὶ μετ´ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον ἀναστήσας
τὴν δύναμιν ἐκ τῆς πολεμίας ἀπῆγεν ἐπ´ οἴκου τελευτῶντος ἤδη
τοῦ ἔτους. ἐπιστάντων δὲ τῶν ἀρχαιρεσίων ἔδοξε τοῖς πατρικίοις
ἠρεθισμένον ὁρῶσι τὸν
δῆμον καὶ μεταμελόμενον ἐπὶ τῇ Κασσίου καταδίκῃ,
διὰ φυλακῆς αὐτὸν ἔχειν, μή τι παρακινήσειε πάλιν
εἰς δεκασμῶν ἐλπίδα καὶ κλήρων διανομῆς ὑπαχθεὶς
ὑπ´ ἀνδρὸς δημαγωγῆσαι δυνατοῦ τὸ τῆς ὑπατείας λαβόντος
ἀξίωμα. ἐφαίνετο δ´ αὐτοῖς ῥᾷστα κωλυθήσεσθαι τούτων τινὸς
ὀρεγόμενος, εἰ γένοιτο ὕπατος
ἀνὴρ ἥκιστα δημοτικός. βουλευσάμενοι δὴ τοῦτο κελεύουσι
μετιέναι τὴν ὑπατείαν τὸν ἕτερον τῶν κατηγορησάντων τοῦ
Κασσίου, Καίσωνα Φάβιον ἀδελφὸν
ὄντα τοῦ τότε ὑπατεύοντος Κοΐντου, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων πατρικίων
Λεύκιον Αἰμίλιον ἄνδρα ἀριστοκρατικόν.
τούτων δὲ μετιόντων τὴν ἀρχὴν κωλύειν μὲν οὐχ οἷοί
τ´ ἦσαν οἱ δημοτικοί, καταλιπόντες δὲ τὰς ἀρχαιρεσίας
ᾤχοντο ἐκ τοῦ πεδίου. τὸ γὰρ τῆς λοχίτιδος ἐκκλησίας κῦρος ἐν
ταῖς ψηφοφορίαις περὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους ἦν καὶ τὰ πρῶτα
τιμήματα ἔχοντας, καὶ σπάνιόν
τι ἦν, ὃ ἐπεκύρουν οἱ διὰ μέσου· ὁ δὲ τελευταῖος λόχος,
ἐν ᾧ τὸ πλεῖστόν τε καὶ ἀπορώτατον τοῦ δημοτικοῦ μέρος
ἐψηφοφόρει, μιᾶς, ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἴρηταί
μοι, τῆς ἐσχάτης ψήφου κύριος ἦν.
|
|
Traduction française :
| [8,82] When the armies had been enrolled, the consuls took command and led them
out against their foes. Cornelius invaded the territory of the Veientes and drove off all
the booty that was found there, and later, when the Veientes sent ambassadors, he
released their prisoners for a ransom and made a truce with them for a year. fabius,
at the head of the other army, marched into the country of the Aequians, and from
there into that of the Volscians. For a short time the Volscians permitted their lands
to be plundered and laid waste; then, conceiving contempt for the Romans, as they
were not present in any great force, they snatched up their ams and set out from the
territory of the Antiates in a body to go to the rescue of their lands, having formed
their plans with greater precipitancy than regard for their own safety. Now if they had
surprised the Romans by appearing unexpectedly to them while they were dispersed,
they might have inflicted a severe defeat upon them; but as it was, the consul, being
informed of their approach by those he had sent out to reconnoitre, by a prompt
recall drew in his men, then dispersed (p251) in pillaging, and put them back into the
proper order for battle. As for the Volscians, who were advancing contemptuously
and confidently, when the entire army of the enemy unexpectedly appeared, drawn
up in orderly array, they were struck with fear at the unlooked-for sight, and no
longer was there any thought for their common safety, but every man consulted his
own. Turning about, therefore, they fled, each with all the speed he could, some one
way and some another, and the greater part got back safely to their city. A small body
of them, however, which had been best kept in formation, ran up to the top of a hill,
and standing to their arms, remained there during the following night; but when in
the course of the succeeding days the consul placed a guard round the hill and closed
all the exits with armed troops, they were compelled by hunger to surrender and to
deliver up their arms. The consul, after ordering the quaestors to sell the booty he
had found, together with the spoils and the prisoners, brought the money back to the
city. And not long afterwards, withdrawing his forces from the enemy's country, he
returned home with them, as the year was now drawing to its close.
When the election of magistrates was at hand, the patricians, perceiving that the
people were exasperated and repented of having condemned Cassius, resolved to
guard against them, lest they should create some fresh disturbance when encouraged
to hope for bribes and a distribution of allotments by some man skilful in the arts of
the demagogue who should have gained the prestige of the consulship. And it seemed
to them that the people would be most (p253) easily prevented from realizing any of
these desires if a man who was at least democratic in his sympathies should become
consul. Having come to this decision, they ordered Caeso Fabius, one of the two
persons who had accused Cassius, and brother to Quintus, who was consul at the
time, and, from among the other patricians, Lucius Aemilius, one of the aristocratic
party, to stand for the consulship. When these offered themselves for the office, the
plebeians, though they could do nothing to prevent it, did leave the comitia and
withdraw from the Field. For in the centuriate assembly the balance of power in
voting lay with the most important men and those who had the highest property
ratings, and it was seldom that those of middling fortunes determined a matter; the
last century, in which the most numerous and poorest part of the plebeians voted,
had but one vote, as I stated before, which was always the last to be called for.
|
|
