§6.78.1ἐφʼ οἷς δὲ πρεσβεύετε καὶ τίνων δεόμενοι ἥκετε, τί οὐ λέγετε φανερῶς;
Upon what terms you are acting as envoys, and what you have come to ask, why do you not say openly?
ἐπὶ ποίαις ἐλπίσι κατελθεῖν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀξιοῦτε;
Upon what hopes do you expect us to return to the city?
ποίαν ἡγεμόνα τῆς ὁδοῦ λαβόντας τύχην;
What kind of fortune are we to take as the guide of our journey?
τίνος ὑποδεξομένης ἡμᾶς εὐθυμίας ἢ χαρᾶς;
What cheerfulness or joy is to welcome us?
οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄχρι τοῦδε φιλάνθρωπον ὑμῶν ἢ χρηστὸν προτεινομένων ἀκούομεν, οὐ τιμάς, οὐκ ἀρχάς, οὐκ ἐπανόρθωσιν ἀπορίας, οὐκ ἄλλο ἁπλῶς οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν.
For up to this moment we hear you proposing nothing that is humane or beneficial—neither honors, nor offices, nor relief from our poverty, nor simply anything else whatsoever.
καίτοι οὐ λέγειν ὑμᾶς ἐχρῆν, ἃ μέλλετε ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ ποιήσαντες λέγειν, ἵνα προειληφότες ἤδη τι ἔργον ἀπʼ εὐνοίας γενόμενον καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ §6.78.2τοιαῦτα ἔσεσθαι εἰκάσωμεν.
And yet you ought not to have been telling us what you are going to do, but to have told us after doing it, so that, having already received in advance some act arising from goodwill, we might estimate that the remaining things would be of a similar nature.
οἴομαι τοίνυν πρὸς ταῦτα ἐρεῖν αὐτούς, ὅτι περὶ πάντων ἥκουσιν. αὐτοκράτορες, ὥσθʼ, ὅ τι ἂν πείσωμεν ἀλλήλους, τοῦτʼ ἔσται κύριον.
I suppose, then, that they will say to this that they have come with full power over all matters, so that whatever we agree upon with one another will be valid.
ἔστω ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ· γιγνέσθω τἀκόλουθα τούτοις· οὐδὲν ἀντιλέγω.
Let this be true; let the consequences of this take place; I make no objection.
βούλομαι δὲ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐσόμενα παρʼ αὐτῶν μαθεῖν, ἐπειδὰν εἴπωμεν ἡμεῖς, ἐφʼ οἷς ἀξιοῦμεν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν κάθοδον καὶ συγχωρηθῇ ταῦτα ὑπὸ τούτων, τίς ἐγγυητὴς ἔσται τῶν ὁμολογιῶν ἡμῖν;
But I wish to learn from them what will happen after this, when we have stated upon what terms we expect to make our return, and these things have been conceded by them: who will be the guarantor of the agreements to us?
§6.78.3τίνι πιστεύσαντες ἀσφαλείᾳ τὰ ὅπλα θήσομεν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν καὶ καταστήσομεν αὖθις εἰς τὴν τούτων ἐξουσίαν τὰ σώματα;
Trusting in what security shall we lay down our arms from our hands and place our persons once more under their authority?
πότερον τοῖς ψηφίσμασι τῆς βουλῆς τοῖς ὑπὲρ τούτων γραφησομένοις, οὐ γὰρ δὴ γεγραμμένοις;
Will it be the decrees of the senate that are to be written concerning these matters—for they certainly have not yet been written?
καὶ τί πάλιν κωλύσει ἑτέροις ἀκυρωθῆναι ταῦτα ψηφίσμασιν, ὅταν Ἀππίῳ καὶ τοῖς ὅμοια φρονοῦσιν ἐκείνῳ φανῇ;
And what, again, will prevent these from being invalidated by other decrees, whenever it seems good to Appius and those who share his opinions?
ἢ τοῖς ἀξιώμασι τῶν πρεσβευτῶν, οἳ τὰς ἑαυτῶν παρέχονται πίστεις;
Or will it be the prestige of the envoys, who offer their own pledges?
ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων καὶ πρότερον ἡμᾶς ἐξηπάτησαν.
But through these very men they deceived us even before.
ἢ ταῖς ἐπὶ τῶν θεῶν ὁμολογίαις διʼ ὅρκων τὰ πιστὰ πορισάμενοι παρʼ αὐτῶν;
Or will it be the agreements made in the presence of the gods, having obtained pledges from them through oaths?
ἀλλʼ ἔγωγʼ ὑπὲρ ἅπασαν πίστιν ἀνθρωπίνην ταύτην δέδοικα, ἣν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἡγεμονίαις ὄντων καταφρονουμένην ὁρῶ, καὶ τὰς ἀκουσίους συμβάσεις τοῖς ἄρχειν ἀξιοῦσι πρὸς τοὺς ἐλευθερίας μεταποιουμένους, οὐ νῦν πρῶτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλάκις ἤδη καταμαθών, ἐπίσταμαι τοσοῦτον ἰσχυούσας χρόνον, ὅσον ἂν αὐτῶν αἱ ἀνάγκαι κρατῶσι.
But for my part, beyond all human pledge, I fear this very thing, which I see held in contempt by those who are in authority; and involuntary covenants between those who claim the right to rule and those who assert their freedom—having observed this not for the first time now, but already many times—I know to be valid only so long as their necessities compel them.
§6.78.4τίς οὖν ἡ τοιαύτη φιλία καὶ πίστις, ἐν ᾗ παρὰ γνώμην ἀλλήλους θεραπεύειν ἀναγκασθησόμεθα φυλάττοντες τοὺς οἰκείους ἑκάτεροι καιρούς;
What kind of friendship and pledge, then, is this, in which, contrary to our inclination, we shall be forced to court one another, each of us watching for our own opportunities?
ὑποψίαι δὲ δὴ τό γε μετὰ τοῦτο καὶ διαβολαὶ συνεχεῖς κατʼ ἀλλήλων φθόνοι τε καὶ μίση καὶ πᾶσʼ ἄλλη κακῶν ἰδέα καὶ πολὺς ὁ περὶ τοῦ φθάσαι διολέσαντας τὸ ἀντίπαλον ἀγών, ὡς ἐν τῷ μέλλειν κειμένου τοῦ παθεῖν.
Suspicious indeed, at least after this, and continuous accusations against one another, and envies and hatreds, and every other form of evils, and a great struggle to destroy the opponent first, on the ground that to delay is to suffer.