§5.5.1cum his molliter et per dilationes bellum geri oportet? si nos tam iustum odium nihil movet, ne illa quidem, oro vos, movent?
Ought war to be waged against these people mildly and by delays? If so just a hatred does not move us at all, do not even those things, I beg you, move us?
§5.5.2operibus ingentibus saepta urbs est, quibus intra muros coercetur hostis; agrum non coluit, et culta evastata sunt bello; §5.5.3si reducimus exercitum, quis est, qui dubitet illos non a cupiditate solum ulciscendi, sed etiam necessitate inposita ex alieno praedandi, cum sua amiserint, agrum nostrum invasuros? non differimus igitur bellum isto consilio, sed intra fines nostros accipimus.
The city is enclosed by huge works, by which the enemy is confined within the walls; they have not cultivated their land, and what was cultivated has been devastated by war; if we withdraw our army, who is there who would doubt that they, having lost their own possessions, will invade our territory, not only from a desire for revenge, but also from the imposed necessity of plundering from another's? Therefore, we do not defer the war by that plan, but receive it within our borders.
§5.5.4quid? illud, quod proprie ad milites pertinet, quibus boni tribuni plebis olim stipendium extorquere voluerunt, nunc consultum repente volunt, quale est?
What about that which properly pertains to the soldiers, for whom the "good" tribunes of the plebs once wished to extort their pay, and now suddenly wish their interest to be consulted—what is it like?
§5.5.5vallum fossamque, ingentis utramque rem operis, per tantum spatii duxerunt; castella primo pauca, postea exercitu aucto creberrima fecerunt; munitiones non in urbem modo, sed in Etruriam etiam spectantes, si qua inde auxilia veniant, opposuere; §5.5.6quid turres, quid vineas testudinesque et alium oppugnandarum urbium apparatum loquar? cum tantum laboris exhaustum sit et ad finem iam operis tandem perventum, relinquendane haec censetis, ut ad aestatem rursus novus de integro his instituendis exsudetur labor?
They have constructed a rampart and a ditch, each of them a work of immense labor, over so great an extent of space; they made at first few forts, and afterwards, when the army was increased, very numerous; they set up fortifications facing not only toward the city, but also toward Etruria, in case any assistance should come from there; why should I speak of towers, why of vineae and testudines, and other apparatus for besieging cities? Since so much labor has been expended and we have now at last reached the end of the work, do you think these things should be abandoned, so that in summer a new labor must again be sweated out from the beginning to set them up?
§5.5.7quanto est minus operae opera tueri facta et instare ac perseverare defungique cura brevi? brevis enim profecto res est, si uno tenore peragitur nec ipsi per intermissiones has intervallaque lentiorem spem nostram facimus.
How much less of trouble is it to protect the works already made, to press on and persevere, and to be rid of the anxiety in a short time? For the matter is surely short if it is carried through without interruption, and we ourselves do not, by these pauses and intervals, make our own hope more sluggish.
§5.5.8loquor de operae et de temporis iactura; quid? periculi, quod differendo bello adimus, num oblivisci nos haec tam crebra Etruriae concilia de mittendis Veios auxiliis patiuntur? ut nunc res se habet, §5.5.9irati sunt, oderunt, negant missuros; quantum in illis est, capere Veios licet.
I speak of the loss of labor and of time; what about the danger which we encounter by deferring the war? Do these so frequent councils of Etruria about sending aid to Veii allow us to forget it? As things stand now, they are angry, they hate, they say they will not send help; as far as in them lies, we are free to capture Veii.
quis est, qui spondeat eundem, si differtur bellum, animum postea fore, §5.5.10cum, si laxamentum dederis, maior frequentiorque legatio itura sit, cum id, quod nunc offendit Etruscos, rex creatus Veis, mutari spatio interposito possit vel consensu civitatis, ut eo reconcilient Etruriae animos, vel ipsius voluntate regis, qui obstare regnum suum saluti civium nolit?
Who is there to guarantee that, if the war is deferred, they will have the same mind afterwards, since, if you grant a respite, a larger and more frequent embassy will go, and since that which now offends the Etruscans—the creation of a king at Veii—could be changed with the lapse of time, either by the consensus of the state so that they may reconcile the minds of Etruria thereby, or by the will of the king himself, who would not want his own kingdom to stand in the way of the safety of his citizens?
§5.5.11videte, quot res quam inutiles sequantur illam viam consilii, iactura operum tanto labore factorum, vastatio inminens finium nostrorum, Etruscum bellum pro Veiente concitatum.
See how many useless consequences follow that course of action: the loss of works constructed with so much labor, the imminent devastation of our borders, an Etruscan war stirred up instead of a Veientine one.
haec sunt, §5.5.12tribuni, consilia vestra, non hercule dissimilia ac si quis aegro, qui curari se fortiter passus extemplo convalescere possit, cibi gratia praesentis aut potionis longinquum et forsitan insanabilem morbum efficiat.
These are, tribunes, your counsels, not, by Hercules, dissimilar than if someone should, for the sake of immediate food or drink, bring a lingering and perhaps incurable disease upon a sick man who, had he bravely submitted to treatment, might have immediately recovered.