§V"ὅτι τοῦ Μαρκίου φυγαδευθέντος καὶ ἐς Οὐολούσκους καταφυγόντος καὶ κατὰ Ῥωμαίων ἐκστρατεύσαντος καὶ τεσσαράκοντα σταδίους ἀποσχόντος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄστεος καὶ στρατοπεδεύσαντος, ὁ δῆμος ἠπείλει τῇ βουλῇ παραδώσειν τὰ τείχη τοῖς πολεμίοις, εἰ μὴ πρεσβεύσοιντο περὶ διαλλαγῶν πρὸς Μάρκιον.
On the ground that Marcius having been exiled, and having fled to the Volscians, and having marched against the Romans, and having encamped forty stades away from the city, the people threatened the senate that they would deliver the walls to the enemy unless they sent an embassy to Marcius to treat for peace.
ἡ δὲ μόλις ἐξέπεμψεν αὐτοκράτορας εἰρήνης πέρι Ῥωμαίοις πρεπούσης, οἳ προελθόντες ἐς τὸ Οὐολούσκων στρατόπεδον Μαρκίῳ μετὰ Οὐολούσκων ἀκροωμένῳ προύτειναν ἀμνηστίαν καὶ κάθοδον, εἰ καταλύσει τὸν πόλεμον, τῆς τε βουλῆς αὐτὸν ὑπεμίμνησκον ὡς οὐχ ἁμαρτούσης ἐς αὐτόν.
The senate, with difficulty, sent plenipotentiaries concerning a peace suitable for Romans, who, having advanced to the Volscian camp, offered amnesty and restoration to Marcius, as he listened in the company of the Volscians, if he would put an end to the war, and they reminded him that the senate had done him no wrong.
ὁ δὲ πολλὰ τοῦ δήμου κατηγορήσας περὶ ὧν ἐς αὐτὸν καὶ Οὐολούσκους ἐξημαρτήκεσαν, ἐπηγγέλλετο ὅμως Οὐολούσκους αὐτοῖς διαλλάξειν, ἂν ἥν τε γῆν ἔχουσι Οὐολούσκων καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἀποδῶσι, καὶ ποιήσωνται πολίτας ὥσπερ Λατίνους.
But he, after accusing the people at length for the wrongs they had committed against him and the Volscians, nevertheless promised to reconcile the Volscians with them, if they would restore the land of the Volscians which they held, and their cities, and make them citizens just like the Latins.
ἕως δʼ ἂν ἔχωσι τὰ τῶν κρατούντων οἱ κρατούμενοι, οὐχ ὁρᾶν τίνες αὐτοῖς ἔσονται διαλύσεις.
But so long as the conquered hold the possessions of the conquerors, he did not see what reconciliation there could be for them.
ταῦτα μετοίσοντας ἀπέλυε τοὺς πρέσβεις, καὶ τριάκοντα ἡμέρας ἐς τὴν σκέψιν ἐδίδου.
He dismissed the ambassadors to carry back these conditions, giving them thirty days for consideration.
τραπεὶς δʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Λατίνους ἑπτὰ πόλεις αὐτῶν εἷλε ταῖς τριάκοντα ἡμέραις, καὶ ἧκεν ἐπὶ τὰς ἀποκρίσεις.
Then, turning against the other Latins, he captured seven of their cities during those thirty days, and returned for the answers.
οἱ δὲ ἀπεκρίναντο, ἐὰν ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς ἀπαγάγῃ τὸν στρατόν, πέμψειν τοὺς συνθησομένους αὐτῷ τὰ πρέποντα.
And they answered that, if he would withdraw his army from the Roman territory, they would send those who would make suitable treaties with him.
πάλιν δʼ ἀντειπόντος ἔπεμπον ἑτέρους δέκα δεησομένους μηδὲν ἀνάξιον ποιεῖν τῆς πατρίδος, μηδʼ ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος ἀλλʼ ἑκουσίους ἐᾶν γίγνεσθαι τὰς συνθήκας, αἰδούμενόν τε τὴν πατρίδα, καὶ τὸ τῶν προγόνων ἀξίωμα τιμῶντα τῶν ἐς αὐτὸν οὐχ ἁμαρτόντων.
But when he spoke against this in turn, they sent ten others to beg him to do nothing unworthy of his country, nor to let the treaties be made under compulsion but voluntarily, showing respect for his country and honoring the dignity of his ancestors, who had done him no wrong.
ὁ δὲ τοσοῦτον αὐτοῖς ἀπεκρίνατο, τριῶν ἄλλων ἡμερῶν ἥκειν βουλευσαμένους τι κάλλιον.
But he answered them only this, to return after three more days with some better counsel.
οἱ μὲν δὴ τοὺς ἱερέας ἔπεμπον, ταῖς ἱεραῖς ἐσθῆσιν ἐσταλμένους, ταὐτὰ τοῦ Μαρκίου δεησομένους· ὁ δὲ καὶ τούτοις ἔφη δεῖν ἢ τὰ κελευόμενα ποιεῖν, ἢ μηδʼ αὖ ἀφικνεῖσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν.
They then sent the priests, arrayed in their sacred robes, to make the same requests of Marcius; but he told them also that they must either do what was commanded or not come to him again.
ἐς οὖν πολιορκίαν καθίσταντο, καὶ τὸ τεῖχος ἐπλήρουν λίθων καὶ βελῶν ὡς ἄνωθεν ἀμυνούμενοι Μάρκιον.
Therefore, they prepared for a siege, and filled the wall with stones and missiles, so as to defend themselves against Marcius from above.
Οὐαλερία δʼ ἡ Ποπλικόλα θυγάτηρ πολλὰς ἀγομένη γυναῖκας ἐπί τε τὴν μητέρα τοῦ Μαρκίου Οὐετουρίαν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα Οὐολουμνίαν, πένθιμα ἠμφιεσμέναι πᾶσαι, καὶ τὰ παιδία ταῖς ἱκεσίαις ἐπιφέρουσαι, συνεξελθεῖν αὑταῖς πρὸς Μάρκιον ἠξίουν αὐτάς, καὶ δεηθῆναι φείσασθαι σφῶν τε αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς πατρίδος.
Valeria, the daughter of Poplicola, taking many women with her to Veturia, the mother of Marcius, and Volumnia, his wife, all dressed in mourning and bringing their children for the entreaties, begged them to go out with them to Marcius and petition him to spare both themselves and their country.
αἱ μὲν δὴ τῆς βουλῆς ἐπιτρεπούσης ἐξῄεσαν, μόναι γυναῖκες, ἐς ἐχθρῶν στρατόπεδον· ὁ δὲ Μάρκιος θαυμάζων τῆς εὐτολμίας τὴν πόλιν, οἷα Ῥωμαίων ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ γύναια, προσιούσαις ἀπήντα, καὶ τὰς ῥάβδους καθῄρει καὶ τοὺς πελέκεας διὰ τὴν μητέρα, προσδραμών τε ἠσπάζετο, καὶ ἦγεν ἐπὶ τὸ συνέδριον τῶν Οὐολούσκων, καὶ λέγειν ἐκέλευσεν ὅ τι χρῄζοι.
They, with the senate's permission, went out, women alone, to the enemy's camp; and Marcius, marveling at the courage of the city, that even the women were of such a character as Romans, met them as they approached, and lowered his rods and axes on account of his mother, and running up he embraced her, and led her to the council of the Volscians, and ordered her to say what she desired.
ἡ δὲ συνηδικῆσθαι μὲν ἐξελαυνομένῳ τῆς πόλεως, μήτηρ οὖσα, ἔφη, ὁρᾶν δʼ ὅτι Ῥωμαῖοι πολλὰ πρὸς αὐτοῦ πεπόνθασιν ἤδη καὶ τίσιν ἔτισαν ἱκανήν, ὧν χώρα τε τοσαύτη διέφθαρται καὶ πόλεις ἀπολώλασι πολλαί, καὶ τὸ Ῥωμαίοις ἔσχατον, παρακαλοῦσι καὶ πρέσβεις πέμπουσιν ὑπάτους καὶ ἱερέας καὶ μητέρα καὶ γυναῖκα, τό τε ἀδίκημα ἰῶνται ἀμνηστίᾳ καὶ καθόδῳ.
And she said that, being his mother, she saw that she had been wronged with him when he was driven from the city, but she saw that the Romans had already suffered much at his hands and had paid a sufficient penalty, since so much of their territory had been destroyed and many cities lost, and, as a last resort for the Romans, they were entreating him and sending as ambassadors consuls, priests, his mother, and his wife, and were curing the wrong with amnesty and restoration.
σὺ δὲ μὴ ἀνιάτῳ κακῷ τὸ κακὸν ἰῶ, μηδὲ συμφοραῖς ἐπιχείρει κοιναῖς αὐτοῦ τε σοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀδικούντων.
"But do not cure evil with an incurable evil, nor attempt common disasters for both yourself and those who did wrong.
ποῖ φέρων οἴσεις τὸ πῦρ;
Whither will you carry and bring the fire?
μετὰ τὴν χώραν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν;
After the country, against the city?
μετὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἑστίαν τὴν σήν;
After the city, against your own hearth?
μετὰ τὴν ἑστίαν ἐπὶ τὰ ἱερά;
After the hearth, against the sacred shrines?
δὸς χάριν, ὦ παῖ, κἀμοὶ καὶ τῇ πατρίδι παρακαλούσαις. ἡ μὲν δὴ τοσαῦτα εἶπεν, ὁ δὲ Μάρκιος οὐκ εἴα πατρίδα καλεῖν τὴν ἐκβαλοῦσαν ἀλλὰ τὴν ὑποδεδεγμένην· οὐδὲν γὰρ εἶναι φίλιον, ἂν ἀδικῇ, οὐδὲ ἐχθρὸν εὖ ποιοῦν· καὶ τὸ τῶν παρόντων ἐκέλευεν ὁρᾶν, πίστιν τε δόντων αὐτῷ καὶ λαβόντων, καὶ πολίτην πεποιημένων καὶ στρατηγὸν ἀποφηνάντων καὶ τὰ ἴδια ἐπιτρεψάντων.
Grant this favor, my child, both to me and to your country who entreat you." She spoke thus, but Marcius would not allow her to call the city that had cast him out his country, but rather the one that had received him; for nothing is friendly if it does wrong, nor is an enemy if it does good; and he told her to look at the situation of those present, who had given and received pledges with him, and had made him a citizen, and declared him general, and entrusted their property to him.
τιμάς τε ὅσων ἠξίωτο, καὶ ὅρκους οὓς ὤμοσεν αὐτοῖς, ἐπεξῄει, καὶ παρεκάλει τὴν μητέρα τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐκείνοις τίθεσθαι πολεμίους καὶ φίλους.
He went over the honors of which he had been deemed worthy, and the oaths he had sworn to them, and exhorted his mother to hold the same enemies and friends as they did.
ἡ δὲ ἔτι λέγοντος ἀγανακτήσασα καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνασχοῦσα, θεοὺς γενεθλίους ἐμαρτύρατο δύο μὲν ἤδη πρεσβείας γυναικῶν ἀπὸ Ῥώμης ἐν μεγάλοις ἐστάλθαι κακοῖς, ἐπὶ Τατίου βασιλέως καὶ Γαΐου Μαρκίου, τούτοιν δὲ Τάτιον μέν, ὄντα ξένον καὶ ἀληθῆ πολέμιον, ἐνδοῦναι ταῖς γυναιξὶν αἰδούμενον, Μάρκιον δʼ ὑπερορᾶν πρεσβείας γυναικῶν τοσῶνδε, καὶ τῆς γεγαμημένης καὶ μητρὸς ἐπὶ ταύταις.
But she, while he was still speaking, being indignant and raising her hands to heaven, called the tutelary gods to witness that already two embassies of women had been sent from Rome in great calamities, in the time of King Tatius and of Gaius Marcius, and of these Tatius, though a foreigner and a real enemy, had yielded to the women out of respect, while Marcius disregarded an embassy of so many women, and his wife and mother besides them.
ἄλλη μὲν οὖν,
ἔφη,
μηδεμία μήτηρ, ἀτυχοῦσα παιδός, ἐς ἀνάγκην ἀφίκοιτο προσπεσεῖν αὐτῷ· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ὑφίσταμαι· προκυλίσομαί σου. καὶ λέγουσα ἐς τὸ ἔδαφος ἑαυτὴν ἐρρίπτει.
"Let no other mother, then," she said, "who is unfortunate in her child, come to the necessity of falling at his feet; but I submit even to this: I will roll myself before you." And as she spoke she threw herself on the ground.
ὁ δὲ ἐδάκρυσέ τε καὶ ἀνεπήδα καὶ ἀντείχετο αὐτῆς, ὑπό τε τοῦ πάθους ἐξεφώνησε,
νικᾷς, ὦ μῆτερ, ἀλλὰ νίκην ἐξ ἧς τὸν υἱὸν ἀπολεῖς. ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἀπῆγε τῆν στρατιὰν ὡς λόγον ἀποδώσων Οὐολούσκοις καὶ τὰ ἔθνη συναλλάξων· ἐλπίς τε ἦν ὅτι καὶ ταῦτα πείσει Οὐολούσκους.
But he wept and leaped up and held her, and cried out in his passion: "You conquer, mother, but a victory from which you will destroy your son." Having said this, he led the army away, intending to give an account to the Volscians and to reconcile the nations; and there was hope that he would persuade the Volscians of this too.
κατελεύσθη δὲ φθονούμενος παρὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ Ἀττίου. "
But he was stoned to death, being envied by the general Attius.