§45.25.1secundum talem orationem universi rursus prociderunt supplices ramosque oleae iactantes; tandem excitati curia excesserunt.
Following such a speech, they all fell down again as suppliants, waving olive branches; at last, having been bid to rise, they left the senate house.
tunc sententiae interrogari coeptae.
Then, opinions began to be asked.
§45.25.2infestissimi Rhodiis erant, qui consules praetoresve aut legati gesserant in Macedonia bellum.
Those who were most hostile to the Rhodians were those who had waged war in Macedonia as consuls, praetors, or legates.
plurimum causam eorum adiuvit M. Porcius Cato, qui, asper ingenio, tum lenem mitemque senatorem egit.
M. Porcius Cato helped their cause the most; he, though harsh by nature, on this occasion acted as a mild and gentle senator.
§45.25.3non inseram simulacrum veri copiose, quae dixerit, referendo: ipsius oratio scripta extat, Originum quinto libro inclusa.
I will not insert a representation of the truth by reporting what he said at great length: his own speech exists in writing, included in the fifth book of his *Origines*.
§45.25.4Rhodiis responsum ita redditum est, ut nec hostes fierent nec socii permanerent.
The answer returned to the Rhodians was such that they neither became enemies nor remained allies.
Philocrates et Astymedes principes legationis erant.
Philocrates and Astymedes were the leaders of the embassy.
§45.25.5partim cum Philocrate renuntiare Rhodum legationem placuit, partim cum Astymede Romae subsistere, qui, quae agerentur, scirent certioresque suos facerent.
It was decided that part of the embassy should return to Rhodes with Philocrates to report, and part should remain in Rome with Astymedes, so that they might know what was being done and keep their people informed.
§45.25.6in praesentia deducere ante certam diem ex Lycia Cariaque iusserunt praefectos.
For the present, they ordered the prefects to withdraw from Lycia and Caria before a certain day.
haec Rhodum nuntiata, quae per se tristia fuissent, quia maioris mali levatus erat timor, cum bellum timuissent, in gaudium verterunt.
When these tidings were brought to Rhodes, although they would have been depressing in themselves, because the fear of a greater evil had been removed, since they had feared war, they turned into joy.
§45.25.7itaque extemplo coronam viginti milium aureorum decreverunt; Theodotum, praefectum classis, in eam legationem miserunt.
Therefore they immediately decreed a crown of twenty thousand gold pieces; they sent Theodotus, the commander of the fleet, on that embassy.
societatem ab Romanis ita volebant peti, ut nullum de ea re scitum populi fieret aut litteris mandaretur, quod, nisi impetrarent, maior a repulsa ignominia esset.
They wished to seek an alliance from the Romans in such a way that no decree of the people should be made on the matter or committed to writing, because, if they did not obtain it, the ignominy of a rejection would be greater.
§45.25.8praefecti classis id unius erat ius, ut agere de ea re sine rogatione ulla perlata posset nam ita per tot annos in amicitia fuerant, §45.25.9ut sociali foedere se cum Romanis non inligarent, ob nullam aliam causam, quam ne spem regibus absciderent auxilii sui, si quid opus esset, neu sibi ipsis fructus ex benignitate et fortuna eorum percipiendi.
For the commander of the fleet alone had the right to negotiate about that matter without any bill being proposed; for they had been in friendship for so many years in such a way that they did not bind themselves to the Romans by a treaty of alliance, for no other reason than that they might not cut off from kings the hope of their aid, if there should be any need, nor from themselves the fruits of receiving from their kindness and fortune.
§45.25.10tunc utique petenda societas videbatur, non quae tutiores eos ab aliis faceret — nec enim timebant quemquam praeter Romanos —, sed quae ipsis Romanis minus suspectos.
Then indeed it seemed that an alliance must be sought, not to make them safer from others—for they feared no one except the Romans—but to make them less suspected by the Romans themselves.
§45.25.11sub idem fere tempus et Caunii descivere ab iis, et Mylassenses Euromensium oppida occuparunt.
At about the same time, the Caunians also revolted from them, and the Mylasensians occupied the towns of the Euromensians.
§45.25.12non ita fracti animi civitatis erant, ut non sentirent, si Lycia et Caria ademptae ab Romanis forent, cetera aut se ipsa per defectionem liberarent aut a finitumis occuparentur, includi se insulae parvae et sterilis agri litoribus, quae nequaquam alere tantae urbis populum posset.
The spirit of the state was not so broken that they did not realize that, if Lycia and Caria were taken away by the Romans, the other parts would either free themselves by defection or be occupied by their neighbors, and that they would be shut up within the shores of a small and sterile island, which could by no means support the population of so great a city.
§45.25.13missa igitur iuventute propere et Caunios, quamquam Cibyratarum asciverant auxilia, coegerunt imperio parere; et Mylassensis Alabandensisque, qui Euromensium provinciam ademptum et ipsi coniuncto exercitu venerant, circa Orthosiam acie vicerunt.
Having quickly sent their youth, therefore, they forced the Caunians, although they had called in the aid of the Cibyratae, to submit to their authority; and they defeated in a pitched battle near Orthosia the Mylasensians and Alabandians, who had themselves come with a combined army to take away the province of the Euromensians.