§24.9.1νουθετεῖν.
[He attempted] to advise [the Senate].
ἔφη γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους αἰτίους εἶναι τοῦ μὴ πειθαρχεῖν αὐτοῖς τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ἀλλὰ παρακούειν καὶ τῶν γραφομένων καὶ τῶν παραγγελλομένων.
For he said that the Romans themselves were the cause of the Greeks not obeying them, but disregarding both what was written and what was commanded.
§24.9.2δυεῖν γὰρ οὐσῶν αἱρέσεων κατὰ τὸ παρὸν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς δημοκρατικαῖς πολιτείαις, καὶ τῶν μὲν φασκόντων δεῖν ἀκολουθεῖν τοῖς γραφομένοις ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ μήτε νόμον μήτε στήλην μήτʼ ἄλλο μηθὲν προυργιαίτερον νομίζειν τῆς Ῥωμαίων προαιρέσεως, §24.9.3τῶν δὲ τοὺς νόμους προφερομένων καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ στήλας καὶ παρακαλούντων τὰ πλήθη μὴ ῥᾳδίως ταῦτα παραβαίνειν, §24.9.4ἀχαϊκωτέραν εἶναι παρὰ πολὺ ταύτην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν καὶ νικητικωτέραν ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς.
For since there were at present two parties in all the democratic states, and one party asserted that they should follow what was written by the Romans and hold neither law nor tablet nor anything else to be more important than the purpose of the Romans, while the other party brought forward the laws, the oaths, and the tablets, and exhorted the multitudes not easily to violate these, this latter policy was far more Achaean and more winning among the many.
§24.9.5ἐξ οὗ τοῖς μὲν αἱρουμένοις τὰ Ῥωμαίων ἀδοξίαν συνεξακολουθεῖν παρὰ τοῖς ὄχλοις καὶ διαβολήν, τοῖς δʼ ἀντιπράττουσιν τἀναντία.
As a result, bad reputation and slander followed those who chose the side of the Romans among the crowds, but the opposite followed those who opposed them.
§24.9.6ἐὰν μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου γίνηταί τις ἐπισημασία, ταχέως καὶ τοὺς πολιτευομένους μεταθέσθαι πρὸς τὴν Ῥωμαίων αἵρεσιν, καὶ τοὺς πολλοὺς τούτοις ἐπακολουθήσειν διὰ τὸν φόβον.
If, therefore, some sign of approval should be made by the Senate, the politicians also would quickly change over to the Roman party, and the multitude would follow them out of fear.
§24.9.7ἐὰν δὲ παρορᾶται τοῦτο τὸ μέρος, ἅπαντας ἀπονεύσειν ἐπʼ ἐκείνην τὴν ὑπόθεσιν· ἐνδοξοτέραν γὰρ εἶναι καὶ καλλίω παρὰ τοῖς ὄχλοις.
But if this matter should be overlooked, everyone would incline towards that other policy; for it was more honorable and more beautiful in the eyes of the crowds.
§24.9.8διὸ καὶ νῦν ἤδη τινὰς οὐθὲν ἕτερον προσφερομένους δίκαιον πρὸς φιλοδοξίαν, διʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τῶν μεγίστων τυγχάνειν τιμῶν παρὰ τοῖς ἰδίοις πολιτεύμασιν διὰ τὸ δοκεῖν ἀντιλέγειν τοῖς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν γραφομένοις, χάριν τοῦ διαμένειν τοὺς νόμους ἰσχυροὺς καὶ τὰ δόγματα τὰ γινόμενα παρʼ αὐτοῖς.
Therefore even now, some who bring forward no other claim to distinction obtain the highest honors in their own states for this very reason, because they seem to oppose what is written by you, for the sake of keeping the laws and the decrees enacted among them in force.
§24.9.9εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀδιαφόρως ἔχουσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ πειθαρχεῖν αὐτοῖς τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ συνυπακούειν τοῖς γραφομένοις, ἄγειν αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευε τὴν ἀγωγήν, ἣν καὶ νῦν ἄγουσιν· §24.9.10εἰ δὲ βούλονται γίνεσθαι σφίσι τὰ παραγγελλόμενα καὶ μηθένα καταφρονεῖν τῶν γραφομένων, ἐπιστροφὴν ποιήσασθαι παρεκάλει τοῦ μέρους τούτου τὴν ἐνδεχομένην.
If, then, the Romans were indifferent about the Greeks obeying them and complying with what was written, he told them to continue the course which they were now pursuing; but if they wished their commands to be carried out and no one to despise what was written, he exhorted them to show the necessary attention to this matter.
§24.9.11εἰ δὲ μή, σαφῶς εἰδέναι δεῖν ὅτι τἀναντία συμβήσεται ταῖς ἐπινοίαις αὐτῶν· ὃ καὶ νῦν ἤδη γεγονέναι.
Otherwise, they must know clearly that the opposite of their designs would happen, which indeed had already happened now.
§24.9.12πρῴην μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς Μεσσηνιακοῖς πολλὰ ποιήσαντος Κοΐντου Μαρκίου πρὸς τὸ μηδὲν τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς βουλεύσασθαι περὶ Μεσσηνίων ἄνευ τῆς Ῥωμαίων προαιρέσεως, §24.9.13παρακούσαντας καὶ ψηφισαμένους αὐτοὺς τὸν πόλεμον οὐ μόνον τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν καταφθεῖραι πᾶσαν ἀδίκως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν πολιτῶν οὓς μὲν φυγαδεῦσαι, τινὰς δʼ αὐτῶν ἐκδότους λαβόντας αἰκισαμένους πᾶσαν αἰκίαν ἀποκτεῖναι, διότι προεκαλοῦντο περὶ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους.
For recently, in the Messenian affair, although Quintus Marcius did much to prevent the Achaeans from deciding anything about the Messenians without the consent of the Romans, they disregarded this and voted for war, and not only unjustly ravaged all their land, but also banished some of the most prominent citizens, and having demanded and received others, tortured them with every kind of abuse and put them to death, because they had appealed to the Romans concerning the matters in dispute.
§24.9.14νῦν δὲ πάλιν ἐκ πλείονος χρόνου γραφόντων αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς καθόδου τῶν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος φυγάδων, τοσοῦτον ἀπέχειν τοῦ πειθαρχεῖν ὡς καὶ στήλην τεθεῖσθαι καὶ πεποιῆσθαι πρὸς τοὺς κατέχοντας τὴν πόλιν ὅρκους ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδέποτε κατελεύσεσθαι τοὺς φυγάδας.
And now again, though the Romans had been writing for a long time concerning the return of the exiles from Lacedaemon, they were so far from obeying that they had even set up a tablet and made oaths with those who held the city that the exiles should never return.
§24.9.15εἰς ἃ βλέποντας αὐτοὺς ἠξίου πρόνοιαν ποιεῖσθαι τοῦ μέλλοντος.
Looking to these things, he urged them to take foresight for the future.