§32.21.18nunc autem defuncti bello Punico Romani, quod per sedecim annos velut intra viscera Italiae toleraverunt, non praesidium Aetolis bellantibus miserunt, sed ipsi duces belli arma terra marique simul Macedoniae intulerunt.
But now the Romans, having finished the Punic War, which they endured for sixteen years as if within the very bowels of Italy, did not send a garrison to the Aetolians who were at war, but they themselves, as the leaders of the war, brought arms by land and sea at the same time against Macedonia.
§32.21.19tertius iam consul summa vi gerit bellum.
Now already a third consul is waging the war with the greatest force.
Sulpicius in ipsa Macedonia congressus fudit fugavitque regem, partem opulentissimam regni eius depopulatus; §32.21.20nunc Quinctius tenentem claustra Epiri natura loci, munimentis, exercitu fretum castris exuit, fugientem in Thessaliam persecutus praesidia regia sociasque urbes eius prope in conspectu regis ipsius expugnavit.
Sulpicius, having met the king in Macedonia itself, routed him and put him to flight, having plundered the wealthiest part of his kingdom; now Quinctius has dislodged from his camp the king who was holding the barriers of Epirus, relying on the nature of the place, fortifications, and his army; and having pursued him as he fled into Thessaly, he stormed the royal garrisons and his allied cities almost in the sight of the king himself.
§32.21.21ne sint vera, quae Atheniensis modo legatus de crudelitate, avaritia, libidine regis disseruit; nihil ad nos pertineant, quae in terra Attica scelera in superos inferosque deos sunt admissa, §32.21.22multo minus, quae Ciani Abydenique, qui procul ab nobis absunt, passi sunt; §32.21.23nostrorum ipsi vulnerum, si vultis, obliviscamur, caedes direptionesque bonorum Messenae in media Peloponneso factas, et hospitem Cyparissiae Charitelen contra ius omne ac fas inter epulas prope ipsas occisum, et Aratum patrem filiumque Sicyonios, cum senem infelicem parentem etiam appellare solitus esset, interfectos, §32.21.24filii etiam uxorem libidinis causa in Macedoniam asportatam, cetera stupra virginum matronarumque oblivioni dentur; §32.21.25ne sit cum Philippo res, cuius crudelitatis metu obmutuistis omnes — nam quae alia tacendi advocatis in concilium causa est? —; cum Antigono, mitissimo ac iustissimo rege et de nobis omnibus optime merito, existimemus disceptationem esse:
Let it not be true what the Athenian ambassador just now argued concerning the cruelty, avarice, and lust of the king; let what crimes were committed in the Attic land against the gods above and below have nothing to do with us; much less what the people of Cius and Abydos, who are far away from us, have suffered; let us ourselves, if you wish, forget our own wounds—the slaughter and the plundering of goods done at Messene in the middle of the Pelonnese, and Chariteles, the guest-friend of Cyparissia, slain contrary to all law and justice almost at the very banquet itself, and Aratus the father and the son, of Sicyon, killed, although the king was accustomed even to call the unfortunate old man his parent, and even the wife of the son carried off to Macedonia for the sake of lust—let the other violations of virgins and matrons be given over to oblivion; let us suppose that our business is not with Philip, from fear of whose cruelty you have all become silent—for what other cause of silence is there for those summoned to the council?—but let us think that our dispute is with Antigonus, a most mild and just king, and one who deserved exceptionally well of all of us: would he demand us to do that which could not be done?
§32.21.26num † id postularet facere nos, quod fieri non posset? paene insula est Peloponnesus, angustis Isthmi faucibus continenti adhaerens, nulli apertior neque opportunior quam navali bello.
The Peloponnese is a peninsula, clinging to the continent by the narrow neck of the Isthmus, open to none and more exposed to none than to naval war.
§32.21.27si centum tectae naves et quinquaginta leviores apertae et triginta Issaei lembi maritimam oram vastare et expositas prope in ipsis litoribus urbes coeperint oppugnare, in mediterraneas scilicet nos urbes recipiemus, tamquam non intestino et haerente in ipsis visceribus uramur bello!
If a hundred decked ships and fifty lighter open ones and thirty Issaean cutters should begin to lay waste the maritime coast and to attack the cities exposed almost on the shores themselves, we shall, of course, withdraw into the inland cities, as if we were not being consumed by an internal war clinging to our very bowels!
§32.21.28cum terra Nabis et Lacedaemonii, mari classis Romana urgebunt, † unde regiam societatem et Macedonum praesidia inploremus? an ipsi nostris armis ab hoste Romano tutabimur urbes, quae oppugnabuntur? egregie enim Dymas priore bello sumus tutati!
When Nabis and the Lacedaemonians press us by land, and the Roman fleet by sea, from where shall we implore the royal alliance and Macedonian garrisons? Or shall we ourselves protect with our own arms from the Roman enemy the cities which will be attacked? For we protected Dyme magnificently indeed in the former war!
§32.21.29satis exemplorum nobis clades alienae praebent; ne quaeramus, quem ad modum ceteris exemplo simus.
The disasters of others provide us with enough examples; let us not seek how we may be an example to others.
§32.21.30nolite, quia ultro Romani petunt amicitiam, id quod optandum vobis ac summopere petendum erat, §32.21.31fastidire.
Do not, because the Romans of their own accord seek our friendship, that which you ought to have wished for and sought with the utmost effort, despise it.
metu enim videlicet compulsi et deprensi in aliena terra, quia sub umbra vestri auxilii latere volunt, in societatem vestram confugiunt, ut portibus vestris recipiantur, ut commeatibus utantur!
For, compelled by fear, forsooth, and caught in a foreign land, because they wish to hide under the shadow of your help, do they flee to your alliance, so that they may be received in your ports, so that they may use your provisions!
§32.21.32mare in potestate habent; terras, quascunque adeunt, extemplo dicionis suae faciunt.
They have the sea in their power; whatever lands they approach, they immediately make subject to their sway.
quod rogant, cogere possunt; §32.21.33quia pepercisse vobis volunt, committere vos, cur pereatis, non patiuntur.
What they ask for, they are able to compel; because they wish to spare you, they do not allow you to commit an error for which you would perish.
nam quod Cleomedon modo tamquam mediam et tutissimam vobis viam consilii, ut quiesceretis abstineretisque armis, ostendebat, ea non media, sed nulla via est.
For as to what Cleomedon just now showed as a middle and safest path of counsel for you, that you should remain quiet and abstain from arms, that is not a middle path, but no path at all.
§32.21.34etenim praeterquam quod aut accipienda aut spernenda vobis Romana societas est, quid aliud quam nusquam gratia stabili, velut qui eventum expectaverimus, ut fortunae applicaremus nostra consilia, praeda victoris erimus?
For besides the fact that the Roman alliance must either be accepted or spurned by you, what else than, with stable favor nowhere, as if we had waited for the outcome to adapt our counsels to fortune, shall we be the prey of the victor?
§32.21.35nolite, si, quod omnibus votis petendum erat, ultro offertur, fastidire.
Do not despise it if, what ought to have been sought with all prayers, is offered of its own accord.
non, quem ad modum hodie utrumque vobis licet, sic semper liciturum est; nec saepe nec diu eadem occasio erit.
It will not always be permitted to you, just as today both choices are permitted; nor will the same opportunity be frequent or long-lasting.
§32.21.36liberare vos a Philippo iam diu magis vultis quam audetis.
To free yourselves from Philip you have already for a long time wished rather than dared.
sine vestro labore et periculo qui vos in libertatem vindicarent, cum magnis classibus exercitibusque mare traiecerunt.
Those who would vindicate you into liberty without your labor and danger have crossed the sea with great fleets and armies.
§32.21.37hos si socios aspernamini, vix mentis sanae estis; sed aut socios aut hostes habeatis oportet. ”
If you spurn these as allies, you are scarcely of sound mind; but you must have them either as allies or as enemies."