§26.13.1concursus ad curiam populi factus coegit Loesium senatum vocare; et primoribus, qui iam diu publicis consiliis aberant, propalam minabantur, nisi venirent in senatum, circa domos eorum ituros se et in publicum omnis vi extracturos esse.
The gathering of the people at the senate-house forced Loesius to call the senate; and they openly threatened the leading men, who had long been absent from public deliberations, that unless they came into the senate, they would go around their houses and drag everyone out by force into the public view.
is timor frequentem senatum magistratui praebuit.
This fear provided a well-attended senate to the magistrate.
§26.13.2ibi cum ceteri de legatis mittendis ad imperatores Romanos agerent, Vibius Virrius, qui defectionis auctor ab Romanis fuerat, interrogatus sententiam negat eos, qui de legatis et de pace ac deditione loquantur, §26.13.3meminisse, nec quid facturi fuerint, si Romanos in potestate habuissent, nec quid ipsis patiendum sit.
There, while the others were discussing the sending of ambassadors to the Roman commanders, Vibius Virrius, who had been the author of the defection from the Romans, when asked his opinion, denied that those who spoke of ambassadors and of peace and surrender remembered either what they would have done if they had had the Romans in their power, or what they themselves must suffer.
§26.13.4“quid? vos” inquit “ear deditionem fore censetis, qua quondam, ut adversus Samnites auxilium impetraremus, nos nostraque omnia Romanis dedidimus?
"What? Do you," he said, "think that this surrender will be like the one by which we once surrendered ourselves and all our possessions to the Romans, in order to obtain aid against the Samnites?
§26.13.5iam e memoria excessit, quo tempore et in qua fortuna a populo Romano defecerimus? iam, quem ad modum in defectione praesidium, quod poterat emitti, per cruciatum et ad contumeliam necarimus?
Has it already escaped your memory at what time and in what fortune we revolted from the Roman people? Already, in what manner during our revolt we killed the garrison, which could have been sent away, with torture and to their dishonor?
§26.13.6quotiens in obsidentis quam inimice eruperimus, castra oppugnarimus, Hannibalem vocaverimus ad opprimendos eos? hoc, quod recentissimum est, ad oppugnandam Romam hinc eum miserimus?
How many times we sallied forth in so hostile a manner against the besiegers, attacked their camp, and called Hannibal to overwhelm them? And this, which is most recent, that we sent him from here to attack Rome?
§26.13.7age contra, quae illi infeste in nos fecerint, repetite, ut ex eo, quid speretis, habeatis.
Come, on the contrary, recall what hostile things they have done against us, so that from this you may know what to hope for.
cum hostis alienigena in Italia esset, et Hannibal hostis, et cuncta bello arderent, omissis omnibus, omisso ipso Hannibale ambo consules et duo consulares exercitus ad Capuam oppugnandam miserunt.
When a foreign enemy was in Italy, and Hannibal was that enemy, and everything was ablaze with war, neglecting all else, neglecting Hannibal himself, they sent both consuls and two consular armies to besiege Capua.
§26.13.8alterum annum circumuallatos inclusosque nos fame macerant, et ipsi nobiscum ultima pericula et gravissimos labores perpessi, circa vallum ac fossas saepe trucidati ac prope ad extremum castris exuti.
For a second year they waste us, blockaded and shut up, with hunger, having themselves endured with us the ultimate dangers and the heaviest labors, often slaughtered around their rampart and ditches, and almost stripped of their camp to the very end.
§26.13.9sed omitto haec: vetus atque usitata res est in oppugnanda hostium urbe labores ac pericula pati.
But I pass over these things; it is an old and customary thing to endure labors and dangers in besieging an enemy's city.
§26.13.10illud irae atque odii execrabilis inexpiabilisque indicium est: Hannibal ingentibus copiis peditum equitumque castra oppugnavit et ex parte cepit: tanto periculo nihil moti sunt ab obsidione; profectus trans Vulturnum perussit Calenum agrum: §26.13.11nihil tanta sociorum clade avocati sunt; ad ipsam urbem Romam infesta signa ferri iussit: eam quoque tempestatem imminentem spreverunt; transgressus Anienem amnem tria milia passum ab urbe castra posuit, postremo ad moenia ipsa et ad portas accessit, Romam se adempturum eis, nisi omitterent Capuam, ostendit: §26.13.12non omiserunt.
That is an indication of an execrable and inexpiable wrath and hatred: Hannibal attacked their camp with huge forces of infantry and cavalry and captured a part of it; moved by so great a danger, they did not stir at all from the siege; having departed across the Volturnus, he burnt the Calenian territory; they were not at all recalled by so great a disaster of their allies; he ordered hostile standards to be carried to the city of Rome itself; they despised that imminent storm as well; having crossed the river Anio, he pitched his camp three miles from the city, and finally approached the walls themselves and the gates, showing them that he would take Rome from them unless they gave up Capua: they did not give it up.
feras bestias, caeco impetu ac rabie concitatas, si ad cubilia et catulos earum ire pergas, ad opem suis ferendam avertas: Romanos Roma circumsessa, §26.13.13coniuges, liberi, quorum ploratus hinc prope exaudiebantur, arae, foci, deum delubra, sepulcra maiorum temerata ac violata a Capua non averterunt: tanta aviditas supplicii expetendi, tanta sanguinis nostri hauriendi est sitis.
Wild beasts, excited by blind impulse and rage, if you go to their dens and cubs, you would turn aside to bring aid to their own; but the Romans were not turned away from Capua by Rome being besieged, by their wives, their children, whose weeping was almost heard from here, by their altars, hearths, shrines of the gods, and the tombs of their ancestors desecrated and violated: so great is their eagerness for exacting punishment, so great is their thirst for drinking our blood.
nec iniuria forsitan; nos quoque idem fecissemus, si data fortuna esset.
And perhaps not unjustly; we also would have done the same, if fortune had been given.
itaque quoniam aliter dis immortalibus est visum, cum mortem ne recusare quidem debeam, cruciatus contumeliasque, quas parat hostis, dum liber, dum mei potens sum, effugere morte, praeterquam honesta, etiam leni possum.
Therefore, since it has seemed otherwise to the immortal gods, since I ought not even to refuse death, I can escape the tortures and insults which the enemy prepares, while I am free, while I am master of myself, by a death that is not only honorable but also painless.
§26.13.14non videbo Ap. Claudium et Q. Fulvium victoria insolenti subnixos, neque vinctus per urbem Romanam triumphi spectaculum trahar, ut deinde in carcere expirem aut ad palum deligatus lacerato virgis tergo cervicem securi Romanae subiciam; nec dirui incendique patriam videbo, §26.13.15nec rapi ad stuprum matre Campanas virginesque et ingenuos pueros.
I shall not see Appius Claudius and Quintus Fulvius supported by insolent victory, nor shall I be dragged in chains through the Roman city as a spectacle in a triumph, to expire thereafter in prison, or, bound to a stake with my back lacerated with rods, to submit my neck to the Roman axe; nor shall I see my country destroyed and burned, nor the Campanian mothers, maidens, and freeborn boys dragged away for violation.
§26.13.16Albam, unde ipsi oriundi erant, a fundamentis proruerunt, ne stirpis ne memoria originum suarum extaret: nedum eos Capuae parsuros credam, cui infestiores quam Carthagini sunt.
Alba, from where they themselves originated, they tore down from its foundations, lest any trace or memory of their origins should exist; much less do I believe they will spare Capua, to which they are more hostile than to Carthage.
§26.13.17itaque quibus vestrum ante fato cedere, quam haec tot tam acerba videant, in animo est, iis apud me hodie epulae instructae parataeque sunt.
Therefore, for those of you who intend to yield to fate before they see so many and such bitter things, a banquet has been prepared and made ready at my house today.
§26.13.18satiatis vino ciboque poculum idem, quod mihi datum fuerit circumferetur: ea potio corpus a cruciatu, animum a contumeliis, oculos, auris a videndis audiendisque omnibus acerbis indignisque, quae manent victos, vindicabit.
When we are satisfied with wine and food, the same cup that is given to me will be passed around. That potion will deliver the body from torture, the mind from insults, and the eyes and ears from seeing and hearing all the bitter and unworthy things that await the vanquished.
parati erunt, qui magno rogo in propatulo aedium accenso corpora exanima iniciant.
Men will be ready to throw our lifeless bodies into a great pyre lighted in the courtyard of the house.
§26.13.19haec una via et honesta et libera ad mortem.
This is the only way, both honorable and free, to death.
et ipsi virtutem mirabuntur hostes, et Hannibal fortis socios sciet ab se desertos ac proditos esse. ”
Even the enemies themselves will admire our courage, and Hannibal will know that his brave allies were deserted and betrayed by him.