§38.47.1talis oratio Furii et Aemilii fuit.
Such was the speech of Furius and Aemilius.
Manlium in hunc maxime modum respondisse accepi: “tribuni plebis antea solebant triumphum postulantibus adversari, patres conscripti; §38.47.2quibus ego gratiam habeo, quod seu mihi seu magnitudini rerum gestarum hoc dederunt, ut non solum silentio comprobarent honorem meum, sed referre etiam, si opus esset, viderentur parati esse; §38.47.3ex decem legatis, si diis placet, quod consilium dispensandae cohonestandaeque victoriae imperatoribus maiores dederunt nostri, adversarios habeo.
I have received that Manlius replied in much this manner: "Formerly, conscript fathers, the tribunes of the plebs were accustomed to oppose those who petitioned for a triumph; to them I am grateful, because, whether to me or to the greatness of my achievements, they granted this, so that they not only approved my honor in silence, but also seemed ready even to make a motion, if there were need; but among the ten commissioners—if it pleases the gods—the advisory council which our ancestors gave to commanders for administering and honoring a victory, I have my opponents.
§38.47.4L. Furius et L. Aemilius currum triumphalem me conscendere prohibent, coronam insignem capiti detrahunt, quos ego, si tribuni triumphare me prohiberent, §38.47.5testes citaturus fui rerum a me gestarum.
Lucius Furius and Lucius Aemilius forbid me to mount the triumphal chariot, they snatch the distinguished crown from my head—men whom, if the tribunes were forbidding me to triumph, I would have summoned as witnesses of my achievements.
nullius equidem invideo honori, patres conscripti; vos tribunos plebei nuper, viros fortes ac strenuos, impedientes Q. Fabii Labeonis triumphum auctoritate vestra deterruistis; §38.47.6triumphavit, quem non bellum iniustum gessisse, sed hostem omnino non vidisse inimici iactabant; ego, qui cum centum milibus ferocissimorum hostium signis collatis totiens pugnavi, qui plus quadraginta milia hominum cepi aut occidi, qui bina castra eorum expugnavi, qui citra iuga Tauri omnia pacatiora, quam terra Italia est, reliqui, non triumpho modo fraudor, §38.47.7sed causam apud vos, patres conscripti, accusantibus meis ipse legatis dico.
Indeed, I envy no man’s honor, conscript fathers; recently, by your authority, you deterred the tribunes of the plebs, brave and energetic men, who were hindering the triumph of Quintus Fabius Labeon; he triumphed, of whom his enemies boasted not that he had waged an unjust war, but that he had not seen the enemy at all; while I, who have fought so many times in pitched battle with a hundred thousand of the fiercest enemies, who have captured or killed more than forty thousand men, who have stormed two of their camps, who have left everything on this side of the ridges of Taurus more peaceful than the land of Italy is, am not only defrauded of my triumph, but also, conscript fathers, I myself plead my cause before you while my own commissioners accuse me.
§38.47.8duplex eorum, ut animadvertistis, patres conscripti, accusatio fuit: nam nec gerendum mihi fuisse bellum cum Gallis, et gestum temere atque imprudenter dixerunt. “non erant Galli hostes, sed tu eos pacatos imperata facientes violasti. ” §38.47.9non sum postulaturus a vobis, patres conscripti, ut, quae communiter de immanitate gentis Gallorum, de infestissimo odio in nomen Romanum scitis, ea de illis quoque, qui Asiam incolunt, existimetis Gallis; §38.47.10remota universae gentis infamia atque invidia per se ipsos aestimate.
Their accusation, as you have noticed, conscript fathers, was twofold; for they said both that the war ought not to have been waged by me with the Gauls, and that it was waged rashly and imprudently: 'The Gauls were not enemies, but you violated them while they were peaceful and doing what they were ordered.' I am not going to demand of you, conscript fathers, that you should think of those Gauls who inhabit Asia what you commonly know about the ferocity of the Gallic race and its most hostile hatred toward the Roman name; setting aside the infamy and hatred of the whole race, judge them by themselves.
utinam rex Eumenes, utinam Asiae omnes civitates adessent, et illos potius querentes quam me accusantem audiretis.
If only King Eumenes, if only all the cities of Asia were present, so that you might hear them complaining rather than me accusing!
§38.47.11mittite, agedum, legatos circa omnes Asiae urbes et quaerite, utra graviori servitute, Antiocho ultra Tauri iuga emoto an Gallis subactis, liberati sint.
Go on, send ambassadors around all the cities of Asia and inquire from which more grievous servitude they have been liberated: by Antiochus being removed beyond the ridges of Taurus, or by the Gauls being subdued.
§38.47.12quotiens agri eorum vastati sint, quotiens praedae abactae, referant, cum vix redimendi captivos copia esset, et mactatas humanas hostias immolatosque liberos suos audirent.
Let them report how many times their lands were devastated, how many times booty was driven off, when they had scarcely any means of ransoming captives, and heard of slaughtered human victims and their own children sacrificed.
§38.47.13stipendium scitote pependisse socios vestros Gallis et nunc, liberatos per vos regio imperio, fuisse pensuros, si a me foret cessatum.
Know that your allies paid tribute to the Gauls, and even now, though liberated by you from the royal rule, they would have paid it, if there had been delay on my part."