§39.28.1ad ea Philippus longe aliam, quam adversus Thessalos Perrhaebosque nuper, ingressus disserendi viam “non cum Maronitis” inquit “mihi aut cum Eumene disceptatio est, sed iam vobiscum, Romani, a quibus nihil aequi me impetrare iam diu animadverto.
Philip, having entered upon a far different path of discourse than recently against the Thessalians and Perrhaebians, said, "My dispute is not with the Maronites or with Eumenes, but now with you, Romans, from whom I have long since noticed that I obtain nothing of justice.
§39.28.2civitates Macedonum, quae a me inter indutias defecerant, reddi mihi aequum censebam, non quia magna accessio ea regni futura esset — sunt enim et parva oppida et in finibus extremis posita — sed quia multum ad reliquos Macedonas continendos exemplum pertinebat.
I thought it fair that the cities of the Macedonians, which had revolted from me during the truce, should be restored to me, not because that would be a great addition to my kingdom — for they are small towns and situated on the extreme borders — but because the example was of great importance for keeping the rest of the Macedonians in check.
§39.28.3negatum est mihi.
This was denied to me.
bello Aetolico Lamiam oppugnare iussus a consule M’. Acilio cum diu fatigatus ibi operibus proeliisque essem, transcendentem me iam muros a capta prope urbe revocavit consul et abducere copias inde coegit.
During the Aetolian war, ordered by the consul Manius Acilius to besiege Lamia, when I had been long exhausted there by siege works and battles, the consul recalled me from a city that was nearly captured, when I was already scaling the walls, and forced me to withdraw my forces from there.
§39.28.4ad huius solacium iniuriae permissum est, ut Thessaliae Perrhaebiaeque et Athamanum reciperem quaedam castella magis quam urbes.
As a consolation for this injury, it was permitted that I should recover certain fortresses, rather than cities, of Thessaly, Perrhaebia, and of the Athamanians.
ea quoque ipsa vos mihi, Q. Caecili, paucos ante dies ademistis.
These very things also you, Quintus Caecilius, took away from me a few days ago.
§39.28.5pro non dubio paulo sante, si diis placet, legati Eumenis sumebant, quae Antiochi fuerunt, Eumenem aequius esse quam me habere.
A little before, if it please the gods, the envoys of Eumenes were taking it as beyond doubt that it was fairer for Eumenes to have than me those things which had belonged to Antiochus.
id ego longe aliter iudico esse.
I judge this to be far otherwise.
Eumenes enim non, nisi vicissent Romani, sed nisi bellum gessissent, manere in regno suo non potuit.
For Eumenes was unable to remain in his own kingdom, not merely unless the Romans had conquered, but unless they had waged war.
itaque ille vestrum meritum habet, non vos illius.
And so he holds your service, not you his.
§39.28.6mei autem regni tantum aberat ut ulla pars in discrimine fuerit, ut tria milia talentum et quinquaginta tectas naves et omnes Graeciae civitates, quas antea tenuissem, pollicentem ultro Antiochum in mercedem societatis sim aspernatus; §39.28.7hostemque ei me esse prius etiam quam M’. Acilius exercitum in Graeciam traiceret praetuli. et cum eo consule belli partem, quamcumque mihi delegavit, gessi, §39.28.8et insequenti consuli L. Scipioni, cum terra statuisset ducere exercitum ad Hellespontum, non iter tantum per regnum nostrum dedi, sed vias etiam munivi, pontes feci, commeatus praebui; §39.28.9nec per Macedoniam tantum, sed per Thraciam etiam, ubi inter cetera pax quoque praestanda a barbaris erat.
Moreover, so far was any part of my kingdom from being in danger, that I rejected Antiochus when he voluntarily offered three thousand talents and fifty decked ships and all the cities of Greece which I had previously held, as the reward of an alliance; and I preferred to show that I was an enemy to him even before Manius Acilius crossed with his army into Greece; and with that consul, I waged whatever part of the war he assigned to me, and to the succeeding consul, Lucius Scipio, when he had decided to lead his army by land to the Hellespont, I not only gave passage through our kingdom, but also built roads, made bridges, and provided supplies; and not through Macedonia only, but also through Thrace, where, among other things, peace also had to be secured from the barbarians.
§39.28.10pro hoc studio meo erga vos, ne dicam merito, utrum adicere vos, Romani, aliquid et amplificare et augere regnum meum munificentia vestra oportebat, an, quae haberem aut meo iure aut beneficio vestro eripere, id quod nunc facitis?
In return for this zeal of mine toward you, not to call it merit, was it proper, Romans, that you should add something and enlarge and increase my kingdom by your munificence, or that you should snatch away what I held either by my own right or by your benefit, which is what you are now doing?
§39.28.11Macedonum civitates, quas regni mei fuisse fatemini, non restituuntur.
The Macedonian cities, which you admit were part of my kingdom, are not restored.
Eumenes, tamquam ad Antiochum spoliandum me venit, et si diis placet, decem legatorum decretum calumniae impudentissimae praetendit, quo maxime et refelli et coargui potest.
Eumenes comes to despoil me as if he had come to despoil Antiochus, and, if it please the gods, puts forward the decree of the ten commissioners as a screen for his most impudent false claim, by which very decree he can be most completely refuted and convicted.
§39.28.12disertissime enim planissimeque in eo scriptum est Chersonesum et Lysimachiam Eumeni dari.
For it is written most clearly and plainly in it that the Chersonese and Lysimachia are given to Eumenes.
ubi tandem Aenus et Maronea et Thraciae civitates adscriptae sunt? quod ab illis ne postulare quidem est ausus, id apud vos, tamquam ab illis impetraverit, obtinebit? quo in numero me apud vos esse velitis, refert. si tamquam inimicum et hostem insectari propositum est, pergite ut coepistis facere:
Where, I ask, are Aenus and Maronea and the cities of Thrace added? Shall he obtain from you, as if he had obtained it from them, what he did not even dare to ask of them? It matters in what category you wish me to be among you.
§39.28.13sin aliquis respectus est mei ut socii atque amici regis, deprecor, ne me tanta iniuria dignum iudicetis. ”
If it is your purpose to pursue me as an adversary and enemy, go on doing as you have begun; but if there is any regard for me as an allied and friendly king, I pray that you do not judge me worthy of so great an injury."