§30.31.1μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα προσκαλεσαμένη τοὺς Ῥοδίους διήκουε τούτων.
After this, the Senate, having summoned the Rhodians, heard them.
§30.31.2ὁ δʼ Ἀστυμήδης εἰσελθὼν μετρίως ἔστη καὶ βέλτιον ἢ κατὰ τὴν πρὸ ταύτης πρεσβείαν· §30.31.3ἀφέμενος γὰρ τοῦ κατηγορεῖν τῶν ἄλλων ὥρμησεν ἐπὶ τὸ παραιτεῖσθαι, καθάπερ οἱ μαστιγούμενοι τὰς πληγάς, φάσκων ἱκανοῖς προστίμοις περιπεπτωκέναι τὴν πατρίδα καὶ μείζοσι τῆς ἁμαρτίας.
Astymedes, having entered, stood in a moderate manner, and behaved better than during the embassy before this one; for, refraining from accusing others, he turned to begging off, like those who are being whipped [begging to avoid] the blows, claiming that his country had fallen into sufficient penalties, and even greater than its error.
καὶ προσθέμενος ἐξηγεῖτο τὰς ἐλαττώσεις, §30.31.4κεφαλαιωδῶς διεξιών, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι Λυκίαν καὶ Καρίαν ἀπολωλέκασιν, εἰς ἣν ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν ἐδαπάνησαν χρημάτων ἱκανὸν πλῆθος, τριττοὺς πολέμους ἀναγκασθέντες πολεμεῖν αὐτοῖς, νυνὶ δὲ προσόδων ἐστέρηνται πολλῶν ὧν ἐλάμβανον παρὰ τῶν προειρημένων.
And adding to this, he explained their losses, traversing the points summarily: first, that they had lost Lycia and Caria, on which from the beginning they had spent a considerable amount of money, having been forced to wage three wars against them, and now they were deprived of many revenues which they used to receive from the aforementioned places.
§30.31.5"ἀλλʼ ἴσωσ" ἔφη "ταῦτα μὲν ἔχει λόγον· καὶ γὰρ ἐδώκαθʼ ὑμεῖς αὐτὰ τῷ δήμῳ, μετὰ χάριτος διὰ τὴν εὔνοιαν, καὶ ἀφανίζοντες αὐτὰ κατὰ λόγον ἐδοκεῖτε τοῦτο πράττειν, ἐμπεσούσης τινὸς ὑποψίας καὶ διαφορᾶς ὑμῖν.
"But perhaps," he said, "these things are reasonable; for you yourselves gave them to our people as a favor because of our goodwill, and when some suspicion and disagreement arose between you, you seemed to act reasonably in taking them away.
§30.31.6ἀλλὰ Καῦνον δήπου διακοσίων ταλάντων ἐξηγοράσαμεν παρὰ τῶν Πτολεμαίου στρατηγῶν καὶ Στρατονίκειαν ἐλάβομεν ἐν μεγάλῃ χάριτι παρʼ Ἀντιόχου τοῦ Σελεύκου· §30.31.7καὶ παρὰ τούτων τῶν πόλεων ἀμφοτέρων ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι τάλαντα τῷ δήμῳ πρόσοδος ἔπιπτε καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔτος.
But as for Caunus, surely we bought it for two hundred talents from Ptolemy's generals, and we received Stratonicea as a great favor from Antiochus, the son of Seleucus; and from both of these cities a revenue of one hundred and twenty talents used to accrue to our people every year.
τούτων ἁπασῶν ἐστερήμεθα τῶν προσόδων, §30.31.8θέλοντες πειθαρχεῖν τοῖς ὑμετέροις προστάγμασιν.
Of all these revenues we have been deprived, because we wished to obey your commands.
§30.31.9ἐξ ὧν μείζονα φόρον ἐπιτεθείκατε τοῖς Ῥοδίοις τῆς ἀγνοίας ἢ Μακεδόσι τοῖς διὰ παντὸς πολεμίοις ὑμῖν ὑπάρξασι.
By which you have imposed a greater penalty upon the Rhodians for their ignorance than upon the Macedonians who had been your enemies throughout.
τὸ δὲ μέγιστον σύμπτωμα τῆς πόλεως· §30.31.10καταλέλυται γὰρ ἡ τοῦ λιμένος πρόσοδος ὑμῶν, Δῆλον μὲν ἀτελῆ πεποιηκότων, ἀφῃρημένων δὲ τὴν τοῦ δήμου παρρησίαν, διʼ ἧς καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὸν λιμένα καὶ τἄλλα πάντα τῆς πόλεως ἐτύγχανε τῆς ἁρμοζούσης προστασίας.
And this is the greatest disaster for our city; for the revenue of our harbor has been ruined, because you made Delos a free port, and deprived our people of that freedom of speech by which both the affairs of the harbor and all other affairs of the city obtained their fitting protection.
§30.31.11ὅτι δὲ τοῦτʼ ἔστιν ἀληθὲς οὐ δυσχερὲς καταμαθεῖν· §30.31.12τοῦ γὰρ ἐλλιμενίου κατὰ τοὺς ἀνώτερον χρόνους εὑρίσκοντος ἑκατὸν μυριάδας δραχμῶν, νῦν ἀφῃρήκατε πεντεκαίδεκα μυριάδας, ὥστε καὶ λίαν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ῥωμαῖοι, τὴν ὑμετέραν ὀργὴν ἧφθαι τῶν κυρίων πόρων τῆς πόλεως.
And that this is true is not difficult to understand; for while the harbor dues in former times brought in one million drachmae, now you have reduced it to fifteen myriads, so that your anger, O Romans, has indeed too heavily touched the main resources of our city.
§30.31.13εἰ μὲν οὖν συμβεβήκει πάνδημον γεγονέναι τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀλλοτριότητα τοῦ δήμου, τάχʼ ἴσως ἐδοκεῖτε κἂν ὑμεῖς εὐλόγως ἐπίμονον καὶ δυσπαραίτητον ἔχειν τὴν ὀργήν· §30.31.14εἰ δὲ σαφῶς ἴστε παντάπασιν ὀλίγους γεγονότας αἰτίους τῆς τοιαύτης ἀλογίας, καὶ τούτους ἅπαντας ἀπολωλότας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ δήμου, τί πρὸς τοὺς μηδὲν αἰτίους ἀκαταλλάκτως ἔχετε, §30.31.15καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας εἶναι δοκοῦντες πρᾳότατοι καὶ μεγαλοψυχότατοι;
If, then, it had happened that the error and estrangement of our people had been universal, perhaps you might with good reason be thought to keep your anger persistent and hard to appease; but if you know clearly that those responsible for such folly were entirely few, and that all of them have been put to death by the people themselves, why do you remain irreconcilable toward those who are in no way responsible, and that too when you are thought to be the mildest and most magnanimous toward all others?
§30.31.16διόπερ, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἀπολωλεκὼς ὁ δῆμος τὰς προσόδους, τὴν παρρησίαν, τὴν ἰσολογίαν, ὑπὲρ ὧν τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον πᾶν ἀναδεχόμενος διατετέλεκεν, §30.31.17ἀξιοῖ καὶ δεῖται πάντων ὑμῶν, ἱκανὰς ἔχων πληγάς, λήξαντας τῆς ὀργῆς διαλυθῆναι καὶ συνθέσθαι τὴν συμμαχίαν, ἵνα γένηται τοῦτο συμφανὲς ἅπασιν ὅτι τὴν μὲν ὀργὴν ἀποτέθεισθε τὴν πρὸς Ῥοδίους, ἀνακεχωρήκατε δʼ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς αἵρεσιν καὶ φιλίαν.
Therefore, O men, having lost its revenues, its freedom of speech, and its equality of voice, for the sake of which our people have continuously undertaken every danger in former times, now, having received sufficient blows, they request and entreat all of you, that having ceased your anger, you be reconciled and conclude an alliance, so that this may become manifest to all, that you have laid aside your anger toward the Rhodians, and have returned to your original policy and friendship.
τούτου γὰρ χρείαν ἔχει νῦν ὁ δῆμος, §30.31.18οὐ τῆς διὰ τῶν ὅπλων καὶ στρατιωτῶν συμμαχίας. "ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ τούτοις παραπλήσια διαλεχθεὶς Ἀστυμήδης ἐδόκει πρεπόντως τοῖς καιροῖς πεποιῆσθαι τοὺς λόγους·
For of this our people now have need, not an alliance of arms and soldiers." Astymedes, having spoken these and similar words, was thought to have made a speech suited to the occasion.
§30.31.19πλεῖστά γε μὴν συνήργησαν τοῖς Ῥοδίοις πρὸς τὸ τυχεῖν τῆς συμμαχίας οἱ περὶ τὸν Τεβέριον ἄρτι παραγεγονότες.
But those who had just arrived with Tiberius co-operated most of all with the Rhodians toward obtaining the alliance.
§30.31.20οὗτοι γὰρ ἀπομαρτυρήσαντες πρῶτον μὲν πᾶσιν τοῖς τῆς συγκλήτου δόγμασι πεπειθαρχηκέναι τοὺς Ῥοδίους, ἔπειτα πάντας τοὺς αἰτίους τῆς ἀλλοτριότητος κατακεκρίσθαι θανάτου παρʼ αὐτοῖς, ἥττησαν τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας καὶ ἐποιήσαντο τὴν πρὸς Ῥωμαίους συμμαχίαν. —
For these, having testified first that the Rhodians had obeyed all the decrees of the Senate, and secondly that all those responsible for the estrangement had been condemned to death by them, defeated those who opposed them, and concluded the alliance with the Romans.