[11,7] Ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν πρῶτον μὲν ἐκάλει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ θεῖον Γάιον Κλαύδιον. ὁ δ´ ἀναστὰς τοιαύτην διέθετο δημηγορίαν· Ἐπειδή με πρῶτον γνώμην ἀποφαίνεσθαι ἀξιοῖ Ἄππιος, ὦ βουλή, τιμῶν διὰ τὸ συγγενές, ὥσπερ αὐτῷ προσήκει, καὶ δεῖ με ἃ φρονῶ περὶ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ πρὸς Αἰκανοὺς καὶ Σαβίνους εἰπεῖν, πρὶν ἀποδείξασθαι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ διάνοιαν, ἐκεῖνο βουλοίμην ἂν ὑμᾶς ἐξετάσαι, τίσιν ἐπαρθέντες ἐλπίσιν Αἰκανοὶ καὶ Σαβῖνοι πόλεμον ἐπενεγκεῖν ἐτόλμησαν ἡμῖν καὶ τὴν χώραν ἐπιόντες λεηλατεῖν, οἱ τέως ἀγαπῶντες καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς πολλὴν χάριν εἰδότες, εἴ τις αὐτοὺς εἴα τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἔχειν ἀσφαλῶς. ἐὰν γὰρ τοῦτο μάθητε, καὶ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἥτις ἔσται κρατίστη μαθήσεσθε. ἐκεῖνοι τοίνυν ἀκούσαντες, ὅτι σεσάλευται καὶ νοσεῖ τὸ πάτριον ἡμῶν πολίτευμα ἐκ πολλοῦ, καὶ τοῖς προεστηκόσι τῶν κοινῶν οὔτε ὁ δῆμος εὔνους ἐστὶν οὔτε οἱ πατρίκιοι, καὶ οὐ μάτην ἀκούσαντες - τὸ γὰρ ἀληθὲς οὕτως ἔχει, τὰς δ´ αἰτίας ἐπισταμένοις ὑμῖν οὐδὲν δέομαι λέγειν - ὑπέλαβον, εἴ τις ἔξωθεν ἡμᾶς κατάσχοι πόλεμος ἅμα τοῖς ἐντὸς τείχους κακοῖς, καὶ δόξειε ταῖς ἀρχαῖς δύναμιν ἐξάγειν τὴν προπολεμήσουσαν τῆς γῆς, οὔτε τοὺς πολίτας ἐπὶ τὸν στρατιωτικὸν ὅρκον ἅπαντας ἥξειν ἐκ προθυμίας ὡς πρότερον, ἀπεχθῶς διακειμένους πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς· οὔτε τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ταῖς ἐκ τῶν νόμων τιμωρίαις χρήσεσθαι κατὰ τῶν μὴ παραγενομένων δεδοικότας, μή τι μεῖζον ἐργάσωνται κακόν, τούς τε ὑπακούσαντας καὶ τὰ ὅπλα λαβόντας ἢ καταλείψειν τὰ σημεῖα ἢ παραμένοντας ἐθελοκακήσειν ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν. ὧν οὐδὲν ἔξω τοῦ εἰκότος ἤλπισαν· ὅταν μὲν γὰρ ὁμονοοῦσα πόλις ἅπτηται πολέμου, καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συμφέρον ἅπασι φαίνηται τοῖς τ´ ἄρχουσι καὶ τοῖς ἀρχομένοις, μετὰ προθυμίας ἅπαντες ἐπὶ τὰ δεινὰ χωροῦσι καὶ οὔτε πόνον οὔτε κίνδυνον οὐδένα ὀκνοῦσιν. ὅταν δὲ νοσοῦσα ἐν αὑτῇ, πρὶν ἢ τὰ ἔνδον καταστήσασθαι, τοῖς ὑπαιθρίοις ὁμόσε χωρῇ πολεμίοις, καὶ παραστῇ τῷ μὲν πλήθει λογισμός, ὅτι οὐχ ὑπὲρ οἰκείων ἀγαθῶν κακοπαθοῦσιν, ἀλλ´ ἵνα βεβαιότερον αὐτῶν ἕτεροι ἄρχωσι, τοῖς δ´ ἡγεμόσιν, ὅτι πολέμιον ἔχουσιν οὐχ ἧττον τοῦ ἀντιπάλου τὸ οἰκεῖον, νοσεῖ τὰ ὅλα καὶ πᾶσα ἱκανὴ δύναμις τὰ τοιαῦτα στρατεύματα καταγωνίσασθαι καὶ φθεῖραι.

[11,7] Having said this, he proceeded to call first upon his uncle, Gaius Claudius, who, rising up, delivered a speech about as follows: "Since Appius desires me to deliver my opinion first, senators, showing me this honour because of our relationship, as becomes him, and since I must say what I think concerning the war with the Aequians and the Sabines, I should like, before declaring my own sentiments, to have you inquire what hopes have encouraged the Aequians and Sabines to venture to make war upon us and to invade and lay waste our country, nations which till now were quite satisfied and most grateful to Heaven if they were permitted to enjoy their own land in security. For if you once know what those hopes are, you will also know what means of deliverance from war with these (p27) nations will be most effectual. Well, then, when they heard that our time-honoured constitution has for a long time been shaken and is diseased and that neither the populace nor the patricians are well disposed toward those who are at the head of the commonwealth — and this they heard not without reason, since it is the truth, though I have no need to state the causes to you who are well acquainted with them — they assumed that if any foreign war should come upon us in addition to these domestic evils and the magistrates should resolve to march out with an army in defence of the country, neither the citizens would all present themselves cheerfully, as before, to take the military oath, because of their hostility to the magistrates, nor would these inflict the punishments ordained by law upon those who did not present themselves, lest they should occasion some greater mischief; and that those who did obey and take up arms would either desert the standards or, if they remained, would deliberately play the coward in battle. And none of these hopes was ill grounded; for when a harmonious state undertakes a war and all, both rulers and ruled, look upon their interests as identical, all go to meet the perils with alacrity and decline no toil or danger;but when a state which suffers from sickness within itself engages with its enemies outside before composing its internal disorders, and the rank and file stop to consider that they are undergoing hardships, not for their own advantage, but to strengthen the domination of others over them, and the generals reflect that their own army is no less hostile to them than (p29) is the foe, everything is diseased and any force is sufficient to defeat and destroy such armies.