Texte grec :
| [10,9] Ποπλίου δὲ Οὐαλερίου Ποπλικόλα καὶ Γαΐου
Κλαυδίου Σαβίνου τὴν ὑπατικὴν ἐξουσίαν παραλαβόντων κίνδυνος ὅσος οὔπω τὴν
Ῥώμην κατέσχεν ἐξ ἀλλοεθνοῦς πολέμου, ὃν παρήγαγεν ἐντὸς τείχους ἡ
πολιτικὴ στάσις, ὡς οἵ τε Σιβύλλειοι χρησμοὶ προὔλεγον καὶ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ
δαιμονίου φανέντα προεθέσπισε
τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ. διηγήσομαι δὲ τήν τε αἰτίαν,
ἀφ´ ἧς ὁ πόλεμος εἰσῆλθε, καὶ τὰ πραχθέντα τοῖς
ὑπάτοις κατὰ τὸν τότε ἀγῶνα. οἱ παρειληφότες τὸ
δεύτερον τὴν δημαρχίαν ἐπὶ τῇ ἐλπίδι τοῦ κυρώσειν
τὸν νόμον, ὁρῶντες τῶν τε ὑπάτων τὸν ἕτερον, Γάιον
Κλαύδιον, ἔμφυτον τὸ πρὸς τοὺς δημοτικοὺς ἔχοντα
μῖσος διὰ προγόνων καὶ παρεσκευασμένον ἁπάσῃ μηχανῇ κωλύειν
τὰ γινόμενα, τῶν τε νέων τοὺς πλεῖστον
δυναμένους εἰς ἀπόνοιαν φανερὰν προεληλυθότας, οὓς
οὐκ ἐνῆν τῷ βιαίῳ καταγωνίσασθαι, μάλιστα δὲ τοῦ
δήμου τὸ πλεῖον ὑποκατακλινόμενον ταῖς θεραπείαις
τῶν πατρικίων καὶ προθυμίαν οὐκέτι περὶ τοῦ νόμου
τὴν αὐτὴν παρεχόμενον, ἰταμωτέραν ὁδὸν ἔγνωσαν ἐπὶ
τὰ πράγματα πορεύεσθαι, δι´ ἧς καταπλήξονται μὲν
τὸν δῆμον, ἀναβαλοῦσι δὲ τὸν ὕπατον. πρῶτον μὲν
κατεσκεύασαν φήμας λέγεσθαι κατὰ τὴν πόλιν παντοδαπάς·
ἔπειτ´ ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ καθεζόμενοι δι´ ὅλης ἡμέρας
συνήδρευον ἐν τῷ φανερῷ, μεταδιδόντες οὐθενὶ τῶν
ἔξωθεν οὔτε βουλεύματος οὔτε λόγου. ἐπεὶ δὲ καιρὸς
ἐπιτήδειος ἔδοξεν αὐτοῖς εἶναι πράττειν τὰ βεβουλευμένα,
πλασάμενοι γράμματα καὶ ταῦτα παρασκευάσαντες
ἀναδοθῆναι σφίσιν ὑπ´ ἀνδρὸς ἀγνῶτος καθημένοις ἐν
ἀγορᾷ, ὡς διῆλθον αὐτά, παίοντες τὰ μέτωπα καὶ
κατηφεῖς τὰς ὄψεις ποιήσαντες ἀνίστανται. πολλοῦ δὲ
συνδραμόντος ὄχλου καὶ μέγα τι κακὸν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν ἐνεῖναι γεγραμμένον
μαντευομένου σιωπὴν προκηρύξαντες εἶπον· ἐν ἐσχάτοις ἐστὶν ὑμῖν κινδύνοις,
ὦ πολῖται, τὸ δημοτικόν· καὶ εἰ μὴ θεῶν τις εὔνοια
προείδετο τῶν ἄδικα πάσχειν μελλόντων, εἰς δεινὰς ἂν
ἅπαντες ἤλθομεν συμφοράς. αἰτούμεθα δὲ ὑμᾶς βραχὺν
ἐπισχεῖν χρόνον, ἕως τῇ βουλῇ δηλώσωμεν τὰ προσαγγελθέντα
καὶ μετὰ κοινῆς γνώμης πράξωμεν τὰ
δέοντα. Ταῦτ´ εἰπόντες ᾤχοντο πρὸς τοὺς ὑπάτους. ἐν
ὅσῳ δὲ ἡ βουλὴ συνήγετο χρόνῳ, πολλοὶ καὶ παντοδαποὶ λόγοι
κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐγίνοντο, τῶν μὲν ἐκ
παρασκευῆς ἃ παρηγγέλλετο αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν δημάρχων
κατὰ συστροφὰς λαλούντων, τῶν δέ, ἃ μάλιστα ἐδεδοίκεσαν μὴ γένηται, ταῦτα ὡς
ἀπηγγελμένα τοῖς δημάρχοις λεγόντων. ἔφη δ´ ὁ μέν τις Αἰκανοὺς καὶ Οὐολούσκους
ὑποδεξαμένους Καίσωνα Κοίντιον τὸν ὑπὸ
τοῦ δήμου καταδικασθέντα ᾑρῆσθαι στρατηγὸν αὐτοκράτορα
τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ πολλὰς δυνάμεις ἀγείραντα
μέλλειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἐλαύνειν· ὁ δέ τις ἀπὸ κοινῆς
γνώμης τῶν πατρικίων τὸν ἄνδρα κατάγεσθαι ξενικαῖς
δυνάμεσιν, ἵνα ἡ φυλακὴ καταλυθείῃ νῦν τε καὶ εἰς
τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον τῶν δημοτικῶν· ὁ δέ τις οὐχ ἅπαντας εἶναι τοὺς πατρικίους ἔφη
τοὺς ταῦτα βεβουλευμένους, ἀλλὰ μόνους τοὺς νέους. ἐτόλμων δέ τινες
λέγειν, ὅτι καὶ ἐντὸς τῆς πόλεως ὁ ἀνὴρ εἴη κρυπτόμενος καὶ μέλλοι
καταλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν τόπων τοὺς
ἐπικαιροτάτους. ὅλης δὲ κραδαινομένης ἐπὶ τῇ προσδοκίᾳ
τῶν δεινῶν τῆς πόλεως, καὶ πάντων ἀλλήλους
ἐχόντων δι´ ὑποψίας καὶ φυλακῆς, οἱ μὲν ὕπατοι τὴν
βουλὴν ἐκάλουν, οἱ δὲ δήμαρχοι παρελθόντες ἐδείκνυσαν
τὰ προσαγγελλόμενα. ἦν δὲ ὁ τοὺς λόγους ὑπὲρ
αὐτῶν ποιούμενος Αὖλος Οὐεργίνιος καὶ ἔλεξε τοιάδε·
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Traduction française :
| [10,9] (p189) When Publius Valerius Publicola and Gaius Claudius Sabinus had assumed
the consular power, a danger greater than ever before came upon Rome from a
foreign war; and it was brought upon her by the civil dissension inside the walls, as
both the Sibylline oracles and the portents sent by Heaven had foretold the year
before. I shall relate not only the cause from which the war arose, but also the action
taken by the consuls during that contest. The men who had assumed tribuneship for
the second time in the hope of securing the ratification of the law, observing that one
of the consuls, Gaius Claudius, had an inborn hatred of the plebeians, inherited from
his ancestors, and was prepared to defeat the plans afoot by every possible means,
that the most influential of the youths had reached the point of open desperation,
with no possibility of their being subdued by forcible means, and above all, that most
of the populace were yielding to the blandishments of the patricians and no longer
exhibiting the same zeal for the law, resolved to take a bolder course toward their
goal, by which they expected to dumbfound the populace and unseat the consul.
First, then, they caused all manner of rumours to be spread throughout the city;
afterwards they sat in council publicly throughout the whole day from early morning
without admitting any outsiders to their counsels and discussions. Then, when it
seemed to them to be the proper time for putting their plans into execution, they
forged letters and contrived to have these delivered to them by an unknown person as
they sat in the Forum; and as soon as they had perused them, they sprang up,
(p191) beating their foreheads and assuming downcast countenances. And when a large
crowd had flocked together and was conjecturing that some dreadful intelligence was
contained in the letters, they ordered the heralds to proclaim silence and then said:
"Your plebeians are in the gravest peril, citizens; and if some benevolence of the gods
had not provided for those who were on the point of suffering injustice, we should all
have fallen into dire calamities. We ask you to have a little patience till we acquaint
the senate with the information we have received and after consulting with them take
the necessary measures." Having spoken this, they went to the consuls. While the
senate was assembling, many reports of all kinds circulated in the Forum, as some
persons, by previous arrangement, talking in groups, retailed the stories suggested to
them by the tribunes, and others named the things they most dreaded to have happen
as the matters that had been reported to the tribunes. One said that the Aequians
and the Volscians, having received Caeso Quintius, the man condemned by the
populace, had chosen him general of both nations with absolute power, had raised
numerous forces, and were upon the point of marching on Rome; another said that
by the concerted plan of the patricians he was being brought back by foreign troops in
order that the magistracy which was the guardian of the plebeians might be abolished
now and forever; and still another said that not all the patricians had decided on this
course, but only the young men. Some ventured to state that Caeso was (p193) actually
inside the city, in hiding, and was about to seize the most advantageous positions.
While the whole city was shaken by expectation of these calamities and all men
suspected and were on their guard against one another, the consuls assembled the
senate, and the tribunes, going in, acquainted them with the reports that were being
received. The one who addressed them on behalf of the others was Aulus Verginius,
and he spoke as follows:
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