§6.62.1ἀλλὰ πλεῖστον δὴ ἐν τούτῳ Μενήνιος ἐψεύσθη τῆς δόξης, ἀνὴρ σώφρων, ἐκ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ τρόπων τεκμαίρεται χρηστὰ ὑπὲρ ἑτέρων. ἐγκείσεται γὰρ ὑμῖν πέρα τοῦ δέοντος βαρὺς ὑπό τʼ αὐθαδείας, ἣ φιλεῖ περὶ τὸ κρατοῦν ἀεὶ γίνεσθαι, καὶ ἀφροσύνης, ἧς πλεῖστον ὄχλος μετέχει μέρος· κἂν εἰ μὴ ἐν ἀρχαῖς, χρόνῳ γοῦν ὕστερον καὶ ἐφʼ ἑκάστῳ χρήματι, ὧν ἂν δεηθεὶς μὴ τύχῃ, τὰ ὅπλα λαβὼν τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὑμῖν σοβαρῶς ἐπιθήσεται. ὥστʼ εἰ τὰ πρῶτα συγχωρήσετε συμφέροντα εἶναι νομίσαντες, ἕτερόν τι χεῖρον εὐθὺς ἐπιταχθήσεσθε καὶ αὖθις ἄλλο τούτου χαλεπώτερον, ὡς φόβῳ καὶ τὰ πρῶτα ὑπακούσαντες, ἕως ἐκβάλωσιν ὑμᾶς τελευτῶντες τῆς πόλεως, ὡς ἐν πολλαῖς ἄλλαις καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα ἐν Συρακούσαις οἱ γεωμόροι πρὸς τῶν πελατῶν ἐξηλάθησαν.
But in this matter Menenius is most completely mistaken in his opinion; being a prudent man, he judges well of others from his own character. But in this matter Menenius is most completely mistaken in his opinion; being a prudent man, he judges well of others from his own character. For the populace will press heavily upon you beyond what is necessary, driven both by arrogance, which always tends to accompany the dominant power, and by folly, of which the crowd shares the greatest part; and even if not in the beginning, yet in course of time and on every occasion when they do not obtain what they demand, they will take up arms and attack you in the same haughty manner. Therefore, if you concede their first demands, thinking them advantageous, you will immediately be commanded to do something else worse, and again another harder than this, on the ground that you yielded even to the first through fear, until at last they expel you from the city, as has happened in many other places, and most recently in Syracuse, where the landowners were driven out by their dependents. Therefore, if you concede their first demands, thinking them advantageous, you will immediately be commanded to do something else worse, and again another harder than this, on the ground that you yielded even to the first through fear, until at last they expel you from the city, as has happened in many other places, and most recently in Syracuse, where the landowners were driven out by their dependents.
§6.62.2εἰ δʼ ἐπʼ ἐκείνων ἀγανακτήσαντες ἐναντιώσεσθε τοῖς αἰτήμασι, τί δή ποτʼ οὐκ αὐτόθεν ἄρχεσθε ἐλεύθερα φρονήματα ἔχειν; κρεῖττον γὰρ ἀπʼ ἐλάττονος αἰτίας ὁρμηθέντας πρὶν βλαβῆναί τι ἀποδείξασθαι τὸ γενναῖον, ἢ πολλὰ ὑπομείναντας τότε ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ τῶν γεγονότων καὶ μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν τὰ λοιπὰ καὶ ὀψὲ ἄρξασθαι νοῦν ἔχειν. φοβείτω δʼ ὑμῶν μηδένα μήτε ὁ τῶν ἀποστατῶν ἀνασεισμὸς μήτε ὁ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων πόλεμος· μήτε καταγινώσκετε τῆς οἰκείας δυνάμεως ὡς οὐχ ἱκανῆς οὔσης διασῶσαι τὴν πόλιν.
But if you are going to be indignant at those demands and oppose them, why on earth do you not begin right now to have the spirit of free men? For it is better, starting from a lesser cause, to show your nobility before suffering any harm, than, after enduring many things, to be indignant then at what has happened, to refuse the rest, and to begin to be wise too late. For it is better, starting from a lesser cause, to show your nobility before suffering any harm, than, after enduring many things, to be indignant then at what has happened, to refuse the rest, and to begin to be wise too late. And let neither the agitation of the rebels nor the war of the foreigners terrify any of you; nor should you condemn your own power as being insufficient to preserve the city. And let neither the agitation of the rebels nor the war of the foreigners terrify any of you; nor should you condemn your own power as being insufficient to preserve the city.
§6.62.3ἡ μὲν γὰρ τῶν φυγάδων βραχεῖά ἐστιν ἰσχὺς καὶ οὔτε πολὺν ἀνθέξει χρόνον διαμένουσα, ὥσπερ νῦν, ὑπαίθριος ὑπὸ καλύβαις ὥρᾳ ἔτους χειμερίῳ, πορίζεσθαι δὲ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια οὐχ ὅπως διʼ ἁρπαγῆς ἔτι δυνησομένη ἐπειδὰν τὰ ὄντα ἀναλώσῃ, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἂν ἄλλοθεν ὠνητὰ ἐπεισάγεσθαι διὰ πενίαν, οἷς οὔτε ἰδίᾳ οὔτʼ ἐν κοινῷ χρήματά ἐστιν· οἱ δὲ πόλεμοι ταῖς περιουσίαις τῶν χρημάτων ὡς τὰ πολλὰ ἀντέχουσιν· ἀναρχία τʼ αὐτοῖς ὡς εἰκὸς καὶ στάσις ἐκ τῆς ἀναρχίας ἐμπεσοῦσα ταχὺ διαχεῖ τὰ βουλεύματα.
For the strength of the fugitives is slight, and they will not hold out for a long time remaining, as they do now, under huts in the open air during the winter season; and as for procuring provisions, they will not only be unable to do so any longer by plunder when they have consumed what they have, but they will not even be able to purchase and import them from elsewhere because of their poverty, since they have no money either individually or in common. And wars are for the most part sustained by abundance of funds; and disorder, as is natural, and faction arising from disorder falling upon them, will quickly dissolve their plans. And wars are for the most part sustained by abundance of funds; and disorder, as is natural, and faction arising from disorder falling upon them, will quickly dissolve their plans.
§6.62.4οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἀξιώσουσιν οὔτε Σαβίνοις οὔτε Τυρρηνοῖς οὔτʼ ἄλλοις τισὶ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων παραδόντες σφᾶς αὐτούς, ἐκείνοις δουλεύειν, ὧν καὶ αὐτοί ποτʼ ἀφείλοντο τὴν ἐλευθερίαν σὺν ὑμῖν, καὶ μάλιστα οὐδὲ πιστευθήσονται πρὸς αὐτῶν οἱ κακῶς αὑτῶν τὴν πατρίδα καὶ αἰσχρῶς ἀπολέσαι προθυμηθέντες, μὴ οὐχὶ ὅμοια δράσειν τὴν ὑποδεξαμένην. ἀριστοκρατεῖται δὲ καὶ τα ἔθνη τὰ πέριξ ὑμῶν ᾶπαντα, καὶ το δημοτικὸν ἐν οὐδεμιᾷ πόλει μεταποιεῖται τῶν ἰσων, ὥστε οὐ δήπου οἱ προὔχοντες ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει τὸν οἰκεῖον οὐκ ἐῶντες παρακινεῖν ὄχλον, τοῦτον εἰσδέξονται τὸν ἔπηλυν καὶ στασιαστὴν εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα, μὴ μεταδόντες αὐτοὶ τῶν ὁμοίων σὺν χρόνῳ στερήσονται τῶν ἴσων.
For they will certainly not think it right to deliver themselves up either to the Sabines or to the Tyrrhenians or to any other of the foreigners, and to serve as slaves to those from whom they themselves once took away their liberty along with you; and above all, they will not be trusted by them—these men who have been eager to destroy their own fatherland wickedly and shamefully—as if they would not do the same to the city that received them. For they will certainly not think it right to deliver themselves up either to the Sabines or to the Tyrrhenians or to any other of the foreigners, and to serve as slaves to those from whom they themselves once took away their liberty along with you; and above all, they will not be trusted by them—these men who have been eager to destroy their own fatherland wickedly and shamefully—as if they would not do the same to the city that received them. Moreover, all the nations around you are governed by aristocracies, and the common people in no city claim equal rights; so that the leading men in each city, who do not permit their own populace to make disturbances, will surely not admit this foreign and rebellious crowd into their own country, lest, by sharing similar privileges with them, they should in time be deprived of their own equality. Moreover, all the nations around you are governed by aristocracies, and the common people in no city claim equal rights; so that the leading men in each city, who do not permit their own populace to make disturbances, will surely not admit this foreign and rebellious crowd into their own country, lest, by sharing similar privileges with them, they should in time be deprived of their own equality.
§6.62.5εἰ δʼ ἄρα γε γνώμης ἁμάρτοιμι καὶ παραδέξαιτό τις αὐτοὺς πόλις, ἐνταῦθα δὴ διαγινώσκοινθʼ ὡς ἄν πολέμιοί τε ὄντες καὶ τὰ πολεμίων πεισόμενοι. ἔχομεν δʼ αὐτῶν ὅμηρα πατέρας καὶ γαμετὰς καὶ τὴν ἄλλην συγγένειαν, ὧν οὐδʼ ἂν εὐχόμενοι κρείττονα παρὰ θεῶν αἰτησαίμεθα· οὓς ἐν ὄψει τῶν συγγενῶν στήσαντες ἀπολοῦμεν, εἰ τολμήσαιεν ὁμόσε χωρεῖν, ὡς ταῖς ἐσχάταις λώβαις διαχρησόμενοι.
But if, after all, I should be mistaken in my judgment and some city should receive them, in that case they would be recognized as being enemies and would suffer the treatment due to enemies. But if, after all, I should be mistaken in my judgment and some city should receive them, in that case they would be recognized as being enemies and would suffer the treatment due to enemies. And we have as hostages their fathers, wives, and other relatives, than whom we could not, even in our prayers, ask for better from the gods; whom, if they should dare to come to close quarters, we will put to death in the sight of their relatives, as intending to inflict the ultimate outrages upon them. And we have as hostages their fathers, wives, and other relatives, than whom we could not, even in our prayers, ask for better from the gods; whom, if they should dare to come to close quarters, we will put to death in the sight of their relatives, as intending to inflict the ultimate outrage.
καὶ αὐτούς, εἰ τοῦτο μάθοιεν, εὖ ἴστε, ὅτι λήψεσθε ἀντιβολοῦντας, ὀλοφυρομένους, παραδιδόντας σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν δίχα τῶν ὅπλων, ἅπαντα ὑπομένοντας.
And be well assured that, if they learn of this, you will find them entreating, lamenting, surrendering themselves to us without their arms, and submitting to everything.
δειναὶ γὰρ αἱ τοιαίδε ἀνάγκαι πάντας τοὺς αὐθάδεις λογισμοὺς κλάσαι καὶ καταβαλεῖν εἰς τὸ μηδέν.
For such necessities are powerful to break all arrogant calculations and cast them down to nothing.