§34.34.1cum adversus tendendo nihil moveret socios, §34.34.2simulando se transire in eorum sententiam omnis in adsensum consilii sui traduxit.
Since he could move the allies not at all by exerting pressure in the opposite direction, by pretending that he was going over to their opinion, he brought them all over to the approval of his own plan.
“bene vertat” inquit, “obsideamus Lacedaemonem, quando ita placet; illud modo ne fallat: cum res tam lenta, quam ipsi scitis, oppugnatio urbium sit et obsidentibus prius saepe quam obsessis taedium adferat, iam nunc hoc ita proponere vos animis oportet, hibernandum circa Lacedaemonis moenia esse. §34.34.3quae mora si laborem tantum ac periculum haberet, ut et animis et corporibus ad sustinenda ea parati essetis, hortarer vos; §34.34.4nunc impensa quoque magna eget in opera, in machinationes et tormenta, quibus tanta urbs oppugnanda est, in commeatus vobis nobisque in hiemem expediendos. §34.34.5itaque, ne aut repente trepidetis aut rem inchoatam turpiter destituatis, scribendum ante vestris civitatibus censeo explorandumque, quid quaeque animi, quid virium habeat. §34.34.6auxiliorum satis superque habeo; sed quo plures sumus, pluribus rebus egebimus.
"May it turn out well," he said; "let us besiege Lacedaemon, since it so pleases you; only let this not escape you: since the siege of cities is a slow business, as you yourselves know, and often brings weariness to the besiegers sooner than to the besieged, you ought even now to lay this down in your minds, that we must winter around the walls of Lacedaemon. If this delay involved only labor and danger, such that you were prepared in both mind and body to endure them, I would encourage you; but as it is, it also requires great expense for the works, for the engines and artillery with which so great a city must be attacked, and for procuring provisions for you and us for the winter. Therefore, lest you either suddenly panic or shamefully abandon an undertaking once begun, I think we should first write to your states and ascertain what mind and what strength each possesses. I have more than enough auxiliary troops; but the more we are, the more things we shall need.
nihil iam praeter nudum solum ager hostium habet.
The enemy's territory now has nothing except bare soil.
ad hoc hiems accedet ad comportandum ex longinquo difficilis. ” §34.34.7haec oratio primum animos omnium ad respicienda sua cuiusque domestica mala convertit, segnitiam, invidiam et obtrectationem domi manentium adversus militantis, §34.34.8libertatem difficilem ad consensum, inopiam publicam, malignitatem conferendi ex privato. §34.34.9versis itaque subito voluntatibus faceret, quod e re publica populi Romani sociorumque esse crederet, imperatori permiserunt.
To this will be added winter, which is difficult for bringing in supplies from a distance." This speech first turned the minds of all to looking back at their own domestic evils: the laziness, jealousy, and detraction of those remaining at home toward those on active service, a liberty difficult for agreement, public poverty, and unwillingness to contribute from private property. Therefore, their desires having suddenly changed, they left it to the general to do what he believed to be for the public interest of the Roman people and the allies.