§3.67.1ibi in hanc sententiam locutum accipio: “etsi mihi nullius noxae conscius, Quirites, sum, tamen cum pudore summo in conspectum vestrum processi.
I understand that he spoke there to this effect: “Although I am conscious of no guilt, Quirites, yet it is with the greatest shame that I have come forward into your sight.
hoc vos scire, hoc posteris memoriae traditum iri, Aequos et Volscos, vix Hernicis modo pares, T. Quinctio quartum consule ad moenia urbis Romae inpune armatos uenisse.
That you know this, that this will be handed down to the memory of posterity, that the Aequi and Volsci, scarcely a match just now for the Hernici, came armed with impunity to the walls of the city of Rome, in the fourth consulship of Titus Quinctius.
hanc ego ignominiam, §3.67.2quamquam iam diu ita vivitur, ut nihil boni divinet animus, si huic potissimum inminere anno scissem, vel exilio vel morte, si alia fuga honoris non esset, vitassem.
This disgrace, although for a long time now life has been lived in such a way that the mind divines nothing good, if I had known that this was threatening this year of all years, I would have avoided it either by exile or by death, if there had been no other escape from the office.
§3.67.3ergo si viri arma illa habuissent, quae in portis fuere nostris, capi Roma me consule potuit.
Therefore, if real men had held those arms which were at our gates, Rome could have been captured during my consulship.
satis honorum, satis superque vitae erat; mori consulem tertium oportuit.
I had had enough of honors, enough and more than enough of life; I ought to have died in my third consulship.
quem tandem ignavissimi hostium contempsere?
Whom, pray, did the most cowardly of the enemy despise?
§3.67.4nos consules an vos, Quirites? si culpa in nobis est, auferte imperium indignis et, si id parum est, insuper poenas expetite; §3.67.5si in vobis, nemo deorum nec hominum sit, qui vestra puniat peccata, Quirites; vosmet tantum eorum paeniteat.
Us consuls, or you, Quirites? If the fault is in us, take away the command from those who are unworthy; and if that is too little, demand punishment besides; if in you, let there be no one of gods or men, Quirites, to punish your sins; may you only yourselves repent of them.
non illi vestram ignaviam contempsere nec suae virtuti confisi sunt; quippe totiens fusi fugatique, castris exuti, agro multati, sub iugum missi et se et vos novere; §3.67.6discordia ordinum et venenum urbis huius, patrum ac plebis certamina, dum nec nobis imperi nec vobis libertatis est modus, dum taedet vos patriciorum, nos plebeiorum magistratuum, sustulere illis animos.
They did not despise your cowardice, nor did they trust in their own valor; for, having been routed and put to flight so many times, stripped of their camps, fined of their land, and sent under the yoke, they knew both themselves and you; the discord of the orders and the poison of this city, the contests between the patricians and the plebs—while there is limit neither to our command nor to your liberty, while you are weary of patrician magistrates and we of plebeian ones—have raised their spirits.
§3.67.7pro deum fidem quid vobis vultis? tribunos plebis concupistis; concordiae causa concessimus.
By the faith of the gods, what do you want for yourselves? You coveted tribunes of the plebs; for the sake of concord we conceded them.
decemviros desiderastis: creari passi sumus.
You desired decemvirs; we allowed them to be created.
decemvirorum vos pertaesum est: coegimus abire magistratu.
You became weary of the decemvirs; we compelled them to depart from office.
§3.67.8manente in eosdem privatos ira vestra mori atque exulare nobilissimos viros honoratissimosque passi sumus.
While your anger remained against those same men when they were private citizens, we allowed the most noble and most honored men to die and to go into exile.
§3.67.9tribunos plebis creare iterum voluistis: creastis;
You wished to create tribunes of the plebs again; you created them.
consules facere vestrarum partium: etsi patribus videbamus iniquum patricium quoque magistratum plebi donum fieri sivimus.
You wished to make consuls of your own party; although it seemed unjust to the patricians, we permitted even the patrician office to become a gift to the plebs.
auxilium tribunicium, provocationem ad populum, scita plebis iniuncta patribus, sub titulo aequandarum legum nostra iura oppressa tulimus et ferimus.
The tribunician aid, the appeal to the people, the decrees of the plebs imposed upon the patricians, under the title of equalizing the laws, our rights having been oppressed, we have borne and are bearing.
§3.67.10qui finis erit discordiarum? ecquando unam urbem habere, ecquando communem hanc esse patriam licebit? victi nos aequiore animo quiescimus quam vos victores.
What limit will there be to our discords? When will it be allowed to have one city, when to have this as a common fatherland? We, the conquered, remain quiet with a more even mind than you, the conquerors.
§3.67.11satisne est nobis vos metuendos esse? adversus nos Aventinum capitur, adversus nos Sacer occupatur mons, Esquiliasque vidimus ab hoste prope captas, et scandentem in aggerem Volscum hostem nemo submovit; in nos viri, in nos armati estis.
Is it not enough for us that you must be feared? Against us the Aventine is seized, against us the Sacred Mount is occupied, and we have seen the Esquiline almost captured by the enemy, and no one repelled the Volscian enemy climbing onto the rampart; against us you are men, against us you are armed.”