§31.29.1concilium Aetolorum stata die, quod Panaetolium vocant, futurum erat.
The council of the Aetolians, which they call the Panaetolium, was to be held on a stated day.
huic ut occurrerent, et regis legati iter adcelerarunt, et a consule missus L. Furius Purpurio legatus venit;
To meet this, both the king's envoys hastened their journey, and Lucius Furius Purpurio, an envoy sent by the consul, arrived.
§31.29.2Atheniensium quoque legati ad id concilium occurrerunt.
The envoys of the Athenians also came to that council.
primi Macedones, cum quibus recentissimum foedus erat, auditi sunt.
First the Macedonians, with whom there was the most recent treaty, were heard.
§31.29.3qui in nulla nova re nihil se novi habere, quod adferrent, dixerunt; quibus enim de causis experta inutili societate Romana pacem cum Philippo fecissent, compositam semel pacem servare eos debere.
They said that, as there was no change in the situation, they had nothing new to bring forward; for by the same reasons that they had made peace with Philip after experiencing the uselessness of the Roman alliance, they ought to preserve the peace once established.
§31.29.4“an imitari” inquit unus ex legatis “Romanorum licentiam, an levitatem dicam, mavultis? qui cum legatis vestris Romae responderi ita iussissent: “quid ad nos venitis, Aetoli, sine quorum auctoritate pacem cum Philippo fecistis?”, §31.29.5iidem nunc, ut bellum secum adversus Philippum geratis, postulant; et antea propter vos et pro vobis arma sumpta adversus eum simulabant, nunc vos in pace esse cum Philippo prohibent.
"Or do you prefer," said one of the envoys, "to imitate the licentiousness—or should I say the fickleness—of the Romans? Who, when they had ordered your envoys in Rome to be answered: 'Why do you come to us, Aetolians, without whose authority you made peace with Philip?', now demand that you should wage war with them against Philip; and whereas formerly they pretended that arms were taken up against him on your account and for your sake, they now forbid you to be at peace with Philip.
§31.29.6Messanae ut auxilio essent, primo in Siciliam transcenderunt; iterum, ut Syracusas oppressas ab Carthaginiensibus in libertatem eximerent;
That they might assist Messana, they first crossed over into Sicily; a second time, that they might rescue Syracuse, when oppressed by the Carthaginians, into liberty.
§31.29.7et Messanam et Syracusas et totam Siciliam ipsi habent vectigalemque provinciam securibus et fascibus subiecerunt.
Now they themselves possess both Messana and Syracuse and the whole of Sicily, and have subjected it as a tributary province to their axes and rods.
§31.29.8scilicet sicut vos Naupacti legibus vestris per magistratus a vobis creatos concilium habetis, socium hostemque libere quem velitis lecturi, pacem ac bellum arbitrio habituri vestro, sic Siculorum civitatibus Syracusas aut Messanam aut Lilybaeum indicitur concilium: — praetor Romanus conventus agit;
Doubtless, just as you at Naupactus hold your council according to your own laws through magistrates created by yourselves, freely choosing whom you wish as ally and enemy, having peace and war at your own disposal, so to the cities of the Sicilians a council is indicted at Syracuse or Messana or Lilybaeum: the Roman praetor holds the assembly.
§31.29.9eo imperio evocati conveniunt; excelso in suggestu superba iura reddentem, stipatum lictoribus vident; virgae tergo, secures cervicibus imminent; et quotannis alium atque alium dominum sortiuntur.
Summoned by that command, they assemble; they see him from his lofty tribunal dispensing proud justice, surrounded by lictors; the rods threaten their backs, the axes their necks; and every year they draw lots for a different master.
§31.29.10nec id mirari debent aut possunt, cum Italiae urbes Regium, Tarentum, Capuam, ne finitimas, quarum ruinis crevit urbs Roma, nominem, eidem subiectas videant imperio.
Nor ought they or can they wonder at this, when they see the cities of Italy, Rhegium, Tarentum, Capua, not to mention the neighboring ones on whose ruins the city of Rome grew, subjected to the same empire.
§31.29.11Capua quidem, sepulcrum ac monumentum Campani populi, elato et extorri eiecto ipso populo, superest, urbs trunca sine senatu, sine plebe, sine magistratibus, prodigium, relicta crudelius habitanda, quam si deleta foret.
Capua indeed, the tomb and monument of the Campanian people, after the people themselves were carried off and driven out in banishment, survives, a truncated city without a senate, without a plebs, without magistrates, a prodigy, left to be inhabited more cruelly than if it had been destroyed.
§31.29.12furor est, si alienigenae homines, plus lingua et moribus et legibus quam maris terrarumque spatio discreti, haec tenuerint, sperare quicquam eodem statu mansurum.
It is madness, if foreign men, separated more by language, manners, and laws than by the space of sea and land, should hold these, to hope that anything will remain in the same condition.
§31.29.13Philippi regnum officere aliquid videtur libertati vestrae; qui, cum merito vestro vobis infensus esset, nihil a vobis ultra quam pacem petiit fidemque hodie pacis pactae desiderat.
The kingdom of Philip seems to stand somewhat in the way of your liberty; yet he, although by your own desert he was angry with you, asked nothing more from you than peace, and today desires only the fidelity of the peace agreed upon.
§31.29.14adsuefacite his terris legiones externas et iugum accipite: sero ac nequiquam, cum dominum Romanum habebitis, socium Philippum quaeretis.
Accustom foreign legions to these lands and accept the yoke; too late and in vain, when you have a Roman master, will you seek Philip as an ally.
§31.29.15Aetolos, Acarnanas, Macedonas, eiusdem linguae homines, leves ad tempus ortae causae diiungunt coniunguntque; cum alienigenis, cum barbaris aeternum omnibus Graecis bellum est eritque; natura enim, quae perpetua est, non mutabilibus in diem causis hostes sunt.
The Aetolians, Acarnanians, Macedonians, men of the same language, are separated and united by light causes arising from time to time; with foreigners, with barbarians, all Greeks have and will have eternal war; for by nature, which is eternal, they are enemies, not by causes changeable from day to day.
§31.29.16sed unde coepit oratio mea, ibi desinet: hoc eodem loco iidem homines de eiusdem Philippi pace triennio ante decrevistis iisdem improbantibus eam pacem Romanis, qui nunc pactam et compositam turbare volunt.
But where my speech began, there it shall end: in this very place, you, the same men, decreed concerning the peace of the same Philip three years ago, while those same Romans disapproved of that peace, who now wish to disturb the pact and agreement.
in qua consultatione nihil fortuna mutavit, cur vos mutetis, non video. ”
In this consultation fortune has changed nothing; why you should change, I do not see."