§8.26.1ἀγαθὰ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ὑπάρξει σοι διαλλαττομένῳ, μένοντι δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς ὀργῆς καὶ μὴ διαλυομένῳ τὸ μῖσος πρὸς ἡμᾶς πολλὰ καὶ χαλεπά, ἐξ ὧν ἐγὼ δύο τὰ μέγιστα νυνὶ καὶ φανερώτατα ἐρῶ.
These good things indeed will be yours if you are reconciled; but if you persist in your anger and do not dissolve your hatred toward us, many and difficult things will await you, of which I shall now mention the two greatest and most obvious.
πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι δυσκόλου γενέσθαι, μᾶλλον δʼ ἀδυνάτου πράγματος πονηρὸν ἔρωτα ἔχεις, πόλεως τῆς Ῥωμαίων καθελεῖν τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς Οὐολούσκων ὅπλοις· ἔπειθʼ ὅτι σοι κατορθώσαντί τε καὶ δὴ τυχόντι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ὑπάρξει δυστυχεστάτῳ νομίζεσθαι.
First, that you have a wicked desire for a thing difficult, or rather impossible to achieve—namely, to destroy the power of the city of the Romans, and that too with the arms of the Volscians; and second, that even if you succeed and indeed attain all things, you will be deemed the most unfortunate of all men.
ἐξ ὧν δὲ ταῦτα παρίσταταί μοι περὶ σοῦ φρονεῖν, ἄκουσον, ὦ Μάρκιε, μηθὲν πρὸς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν μου τῶν λόγων τραχυνόμενος.
Hear now, Marcius, the reasons why I am led to think thus of you, and do not be at all offended by the freedom of my speech.
σκόπει δὲ πρῶτον ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀδυνάτου.
Consider first the matter of impossibility.
§8.26.2Ῥωμαίοις, ὡς οἶσθα καὶ σύ, πολλὴ μέν ἐστι νεότης ἐπιχώριος, ἧς εἰ τὸ στασιάζον ἐξαιρεθείη· γενήσεται δὲ τοῦτο κατὰ πολλὴν ἀνάγκην νυνὶ διὰ τόνδε τὸν πόλεμον, πάντα γὰρ ὑπὸ δέους κοινοῦ συνίστασθαι φιλεῖ τὰ διάφορα· οὐχ ὅτι Οὐολοῦσκοι κρατήσουσιν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἄλλο τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐθνῶν οὐθέν·
The Romans, as you yourself also know, have a large domestic youth, from whom if factional strife should be removed—and this will now happen of great necessity because of this war, for all opposing parties are accustomed to unite under a common fear—not only will the Volscians not prevail, but neither will any other of the nations of Italy.
πολλὴ δʼ ἡ Λατίνων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων τε καὶ ἀποίκων τῆς πόλεως ἰσχύς, ἣν ὀλίγου πᾶσαν ἐπίκουρον ἥξειν προσδέχου·
And great is the strength of the Latins and the other allies and colonists of the city, almost all of whom you must expect to come as auxiliaries before long.
στρατηγοί τε οἷος σὺ καὶ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ νέοι τοσοῦτοι τὸ πλῆθος, ὅσοι παρὰ πάσαις οὐκ εἰσὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις πόλεσι.
There are also generals such as you, and elders and youth so great in number as do not exist in all the other cities combined.
§8.26.3μεγίστη δὲ πασῶν βοήθεια καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς ἐλπίδας οὐδέποθʼ ἡμῶν ψευσαμένη συμπάσης τʼ ἀμείνων ἀνθρωπίνης ἰσχύος, ἡ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν εὔνοια, διʼ οὓς οὐ μόνον ἐλευθέραν εἰς τόδε χρόνου τὴν πόλιν τήνδε οἰκοῦμεν ὀγδόην ἤδη τὴν νῦν γενεάν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὐδαίμονα καὶ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν ἄρχουσαν.
But the greatest help of all, which has never deceived our hopes in times of danger and is better than all human strength, is the goodwill of the gods, because of whom we inhabit this city not only free up to this time, now already in the eighth generation, but also prosperous and ruling over many nations.
§8.26.4μὴ δὲ Πεδανοῖς ἡμᾶς εἰκάσῃς μηδὲ Τολερίνοις μηδὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις μικροπολίταις, ὧν κατέσχες τὰ πολίχνια·
Do not compare us to the Pedani, nor to the Tolerini, nor to the other inhabitants of small towns whose fortresses you have seized.
καὶ γὰρ ἥττων ἄν τίς σου στρατηγὸς καὶ ἀπʼ ἐλάττονος ἢ τοσαύτης στρατιᾶς ὀλιγανθρωπίαν καὶ φαυλότητα ἐρυμάτων ἐβιάσατο·
For even a general inferior to you, with a smaller army than this, could have overcome by force their small population and the weakness of their fortifications.
ἀλλʼ ἐνθυμοῦ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς πόλεως καὶ τὴν λαμπρότητα τῶν ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις πράξεων καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ θείου παροῦσαν αὐτῇ τύχην, §8.26.5δι’ ἣν ἐκ μικρᾶς τοσαύτη γέγονε.
But consider the greatness of the city, the splendor of its achievements in wars, and the fortune present to it from the divine, by which it has become so great from a small beginning.
καὶ τὴν σεαυτοῦ δύναμιν, ἣν ἄγων ἔργῳ τοσῷδε ἐπιχειρεῖς, μὴ νόμιζε ἠλλάχθαι, ἀλλὰ μέμνησο ἀκριβῶς, ὅτι Οὐολούσκων τε καὶ Αἰκανῶν στρατιὰν ἐπάγῃ, οὓς ἡμεῖς οἵδε ἐν πολλαῖς ἐνικῶμεν μάχαις, ὁσάκις ἡμῖν ἐτόλμησαν εἰς πόλεμον καταστῆναι·
And as for your own power, which you lead in attempting so great a task, do not think it has changed, but remember accurately that you are bringing an army of Volscians and Aequians, whom we here have defeated in many battles, as often as they dared to stand against us in war.
ὥστε σὺν τοῖς χείροσιν ἀγωνίζεσθαι μέλλων ἴσθι πρὸς τοὺς κρείττονας καὶ σὺν τοῖς ἡττωμένοις διὰ παντὸς πρὸς τοὺς νικῶντας ἀεί.
Know, therefore, that you are about to fight with the inferior against the superior, and with those who are always defeated against those who always conquer.
§8.26.6εἰ δὲ δὴ τἀναντία τούτων ἦν, ἐκεῖνό γέ τοι θαυμάζειν ἄξιον, πῶς λέληθέ σε πολεμικῶν ὄντα πραγμάτων ἔμπειρον, ὅτι τὸ παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ εὔτολμον οὐκ ἐξ ἴσου παραγίνεσθαι φιλεῖ τοῖς θʼ ὑπὲρ οἰκείων ἀγαθῶν ἀγωνιζομένοις καὶ τοῖς ἐπὶ τἀλλότρια πορευομένοις·
But even if the opposite of these things were true, it would indeed be worthy of wonder how it has escaped you, experienced as you are in military matters, that boldness in the face of dangers is not accustomed to arise equally in those who fight for their own goods and those who march against the property of others.
οἱ μέν γʼ οὐδέν, ἐὰν μὴ κατορθώσωσι, βλάπτονται, τοῖς δʼ οὐδέν, ἐὰν πταίσωσι, καταλείπεται· καὶ τοῦ σφάλλεσθαι τὰς μεγάλας δυνάμεις ὑπὸ τῶν ἐλαττόνων καὶ τὰς κρείττους ὑπὸ τῶν φαυλοτέρων τοῦτʼ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστʼ αἴτιον ἦν.
For the latter, if they do not succeed, suffer no harm, but for the former, if they fail, nothing is left; and this was among the chief causes of the defeat of great powers by smaller ones, and of the superior by the inferior.
δεινὴ γὰρ ἡ ἀνάγκη, καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων κίνδυνος ἱκανὸς θάρσος ἐνθεῖναί τινι καὶ μὴ προϋπάρχον φύσει.
For necessity is a terrible thing, and danger concerning the last extremities is sufficient to inspire courage in someone even if it did not exist by nature.
εἶχον ἔτι πλείω λέγειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀδυνάτου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦθʼ ἱκανά.
I had still more to say concerning the impossibility, but even these things are sufficient.