§8.41.1ἡ μὲν δὴ ταῦτʼ εἰποῦσα καὶ πολλὰ προεμένη δάκρυα ἐσίγησεν· ὀδυρομένων δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων γυναικῶν καὶ πολλὰς δεήσεις ποιουμένων μικρὸν ἐπισχοῦσα ἡ Οὐετουρία καὶ δακρύσασα εἶπεν· εἰς ἀσθενῆ καὶ λεπτὴν ἐλπίδα καταπεφεύγατε, ὦ Οὐαλερία, τὴν ἐξ ἡμῶν τῶν ἀθλίων γυναικῶν βοήθειαν, αἷς ἡ μὲν εὔνοια ἡ πρὸς τὴν πατρίδα πάρεστι καὶ τὸ θέλειν σώζεσθαι τοὺς πολίτας, οἷοί ποτέ εἰσιν, ἡ δʼ ἰσχὺς καὶ
Thus having spoken and shed many tears, she fell silent; and while the other women also lamented and made many supplications, Veturia, having paused a little and wept, said: "You have fled, O Valeria, to a weak and slender hope, the help from us wretched women, in whom goodwill toward our country is present, as well as the wish that our citizens be saved, whoever they may be, but strength and the power to do what we wish is absent.
§8.41.2τὸ δύνασθαι ποιεῖν ἃ θέλομεν ἄπεστιν. ἀπέστραπται γὰρ ἡμᾶς, ὦ Οὐαλερία, Μάρκιος, ἐξ οὗ τὴν πικρὰν ἐκείνην ὁ δῆμος αὐτοῦ κατέγνω δίκην, καὶ μεμίσηκε τὴν οἰκίαν ὅλην ἅμα τῇ πατρίδι· τοῦτο δʼ ὑμῖν οὐ παρʼ ἄλλου τινός, ἀλλὰ παρʼ αὐτοῦ Μαρκίου μαθοῦσαι λέγειν ἔχομεν.
For Marcius has turned away from us, O Valeria, since the people condemned him to that bitter sentence, and he has hated the whole house along with the country; and this we are able to tell you, having learned it not from anyone else, but from Marcius himself.
ὅτε γὰρ ἁλοὺς τὴν δίκην ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν προπεμπόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἑταίρων, καταλαβὼν ἡμᾶς καθημένας ἐν πενθίμοις τρύχεσι, ταπεινάς, κρατούσας ἐν τοῖς γόνασι τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ στενούσας τε οἷα εἰκὸς καὶ ἀνακλαιομένας τὴν καθέξουσαν ἡμᾶς τύχην στερομένας ἐκείνου, στὰς μικρὸν ἄπωθεν ἡμῶν ἄδακρυς ὥσπερ λίθος καὶ ἀτενής· §8.41.3οἴχεται, φησίν, ὑμῖν Μάρκιος, ὦ μῆτερ ἅμα καὶ σύ, ὦ Οὐολουμνία, κρατίστη γυναικῶν, ἐξελασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν, ὅτι γενναῖος ἦν καὶ φιλόπολις καὶ πολλοὺς ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἀγῶνας.
For when, having lost his trial, he came to the house escorted by his companions, finding us sitting in mourning garments, humble, holding his children upon our knees and groaning, as is natural, and bewailing the fortune that would possess us when deprived of him, standing a little distance from us, tearless, like a stone and rigid, he said: 'Marcius is gone from you, O mother, and also you, O Volumnia, best of women, driven out by the citizens because he was noble and public-spirited and endured many struggles on behalf of his country.
ἀλλʼ ὡς πρέπει γυναιξὶν ἀγαθαῖς, οὕτω φέρετε τὰς συμφορὰς μηδὲν ἄσχημον ποιοῦσαι μηδὲ ἀγεννές, καὶ τὰ παιδία ταῦτα παραμύθια τῆς ἐμῆς ἐρημίας ἔχουσαι τρέφετε ἀξίως ὑμῶν τε καὶ τοῦ γένους· οἷς θεοὶ δοῖεν εἰς ἄνδρας ἐλθοῦσι τύχην μὲν κρείττονα τοῦ πατρός, ἀρετὴν δὲ μὴ χείρονα· καὶ χαίρετε.
But as is fitting for good women, so bear your misfortunes, doing nothing unseemly or ignoble, and keeping these children as consolations for my absence, rear them worthily of yourselves and of their race; to whom may the gods grant, when they have come to manhood, a fortune better than their father's, but a virtue not inferior; and farewell.
ἀπέρχομαι γὰρ ἤδη καταλιπὼν τὴν οὐκέτι χωροῦσαν ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς πόλιν.
For I am already departing, leaving behind a city that no longer has room for good men.
καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὦ θεοὶ κτήσιοι καὶ ἑστία πατρῴα καὶ δαίμονες οἱ κατέχοντες τοῦτον τὸν τόπον, χαίρετε. §8.41.4ὡς δὲ ταῦτʼ εἶπεν, ἡμεῖς μὲν αἱ δυστυχεῖς ἃς τὸ πάθος ἀπῄτει φωνὰς ἀναβοῶσαι καὶ παίουσαι τὰ στήθη περιεχύθημεν αὐτῷ τοὺς ἐσχάτους ἀσπασμοὺς κομιούμεναι· τῶν δὲ παιδίων τούτων ἐγὼ μὲν τὸ πρεσβύτερον ἦγον, ἡ δὲ μήτηρ τὸ νεώτερον εἶχεν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγκάλης· ὁ δʼ ἀποστραφεὶς καὶ παρωσάμενος ἡμᾶς εἶπεν· οὔτε σὸς υἱὸς ἔτι, μῆτερ, ἔσται τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦδε χρόνον Μάρκιος, ἀλλʼ ἀφῄρηταί σε τὸν γηροβοσκὸν ἡ πατρίς, οὔτε σὸς ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ ταύτης, ὦ Οὐολουμνία, τῆς ἡμέρας, ἀλλʼ εὐτυχοίης ἕτερον ἄνδρα λαβοῦσα εὐδαιμονέστερον ἐμοῦ, οὔθʼ ὑμῶν, ὦ τέκνα φίλτατα, πατήρ, ἀλλʼ ὀρφανοὶ καὶ ἔρημοι παρὰ §8.41.5ταύταις, ἕως εἰς ἄνδρας ἔλθητε, τραφήσεσθε. ταῦτʼ εἰπὼν ἄλλʼ οὐθὲν οὔτε διοικησάμενος οὔτʼ ἐπιστείλας οὔθʼ ὅποι πορεύεται φράσας ἀπῆλθεν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας μόνος, ὦ γυναῖκες, ἄδουλος, ἄπορος, οὐδὲ τὴν ἐφήμερον ὁ δύστηνος ἐκ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ χρημάτων τροφὴν ἐπαγόμενος.
And you, O gods of property and ancestral hearth, and spirits who possess this place, farewell.' And when he had said this, we, wretched women, crying out with such utterances as our grief demanded and beating our breasts, clung to him, about to receive his last embraces; and of these children, I indeed led the elder, while his mother held the younger in her arms; but he, turning away and pushing us aside, said: 'Neither will Marcius be your son anymore, mother, from this time forth, but the country has deprived you of him who would have nourished your old age, nor will he be your husband from this day, O Volumnia, but may you be fortunate in taking another husband more happy than I, nor a father to you, O dearest children, but you will be reared as orphans and destitute under these women until you come to manhood.' Having said this, without arranging anything else, nor leaving any instructions, nor saying where he was going, he departed from the house alone, O women, without a servant, without means, not even taking along, the wretched man, his daily sustenance from his own resources.
καὶ τέταρτον ἐνιαυτὸν ἤδη τοῦτον, ἐξ οὗ φεύγει τὴν πατρίδα, πάντας ἡμᾶς ἀλλοτρίους ἑαυτοῦ νενόμικεν, οὐ γράφων οὐθέν, οὐκ ἐπιστέλλων, οὐ §8.41.6τὰ περὶ ἡμᾶς εἰδέναι βουλόμενος.
And this is now the fourth year since he went into exile from his country, during which he has regarded all of us as strangers to him, writing nothing, sending no letters, and not wishing to know our affairs.
πρὸς δὴ τοιαύτην ψυχὴν οὕτω σκληρὰν καὶ ἄτρωτον, ὦ Οὐαλερία, τίνα ἰσχὺν ἕξουσιν αἱ παρʼ ἡμῶν δεήσεις, αἷς οὔτʼ ἀσπασμῶν μετέδωκεν οὔτε φιλημάτων οὔτʼ ἄλλης φιλοφροσύνης οὐδεμιᾶς τὴν τελευταίαν πορευόμενος ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ὁδόν;
Toward indeed such a soul, so hard and invulnerable, O Valeria, what power will the supplications from us have, to whom he granted neither embraces, nor kisses, nor any other friendliness when he was going on his last journey from the house?"