§5.53.1at enim apparet quidem polluiomnianec ullis piaculis expiari posse, sed res ipsa cogit vastam incendiis ruinisque relinquere urbem et ad integra omnia Veios migrare nec hic aedificando inopem plebem vexare. §5.53.2hanc autem iactari magis causam quam veram esse, ut ego non dicam, apparere vobis, Quirites, puto, qui meministis ante Gallorum adventum salvis tectis publicis privatisque, stante incolumi urbe hanc eandem rem actam esse, ut Veios transmigraremus. §5.53.3et videte, quantum inter meam sententiam vestramque intersit, tribuni.
"But to be sure, it is clear that all things are polluted and cannot be expiated by any atonement, but the situation itself compels us to leave the city devastated by fires and ruins, and to migrate to Veii where all things are intact, and not to harass the impoverished plebeians by building here. But that this reason is being brandished rather than being the true one, even if I do not say so, I think is apparent to you, Quirites, who remember that before the arrival of the Gauls, while public and private buildings were safe and the city was standing unharmed, this very same project was being pursued, namely, that we should migrate to Veii. And see, tribunes, how great a difference there is between my opinion and yours.
vos, etiamsi tunc faciendum non fuerit, nunc utique faciendum putatis; ego contra — nec id mirati sitis, priusquam, quale sit, audieritis —, etiamsi tum migrandum fuisset incolumi tota urbe, nunc has ruinas relinquendas non censerem. §5.53.4quippe tum causa nobis in urbem captam migrandi victoria esset, gloriosa nobis ac posteris nostris; nunc haec migratio nobis misera ac turpis, Gallis gloriosa est. §5.53.5non enim reliquisse victores, sed amisisse victi patriam videbimur: hoc ad Aliam fuga, hoc capta urbs, hoc circumsessum Capitolium necessitatis inposuisse, ut desereremus penatis nostros exiliumque ac fugam nobis ex eo loco conscisceremus, quem tueri non possemus.
You think that, even if it ought not to have been done then, it certainly must be done now; I, on the contrary—and do not wonder at this before you have heard what kind of opinion it is—even if we ought to have migrated then with the whole city unharmed, would not think that these ruins should be abandoned now. For indeed, at that time, our reason for migrating into a captured city would have been victory, glorious for us and our posterity; now, this migration is wretched and shameful for us, and glorious for the Gauls. For we shall seem not to have left our country as victors, but to have lost it as the vanquished; we shall seem to have been forced by the flight at the Allia, the capture of the city, and the siege of the Capitol, to desert our Penates and to decree exile and flight for ourselves from that place which we could not defend.
et Galli evertere potuerunt Romam, Romani restituere non uidebuntur potuisse? §5.53.6quid restat, nisi ut, si iam novis copiis veniant — constat enim vix credibilem multitudinem esse — et habitare in capta ab se, deserta a vobis hac urbe velint, sinatis?
And shall it seem that while the Gauls were able to destroy Rome, the Romans were unable to restore it? What remains, except that, if they should now come with new forces—for it is well known that their numbers are scarcely credible—and wish to dwell in this city, captured by themselves and deserted by you, you should permit them? What?
§5.53.7quid? si non Galli hoc, sed veteres hostes vestri, Aequi Volscive, faciant, ut commigrent Romam, velitisne illos Romanos, vos Veientes esse? an malitis hanc solitudinem vestram quam urbem hostium esse? non equidem video, quid magis nefas sit.
If not the Gauls, but your ancient enemies, the Aequi or Volsci, should do this, so as to migrate to Rome, would you wish them to be Romans and yourselves to be Veientes? Or would you prefer this solitude of yours to be an enemy city? Indeed, I do not see which is the greater impiety.
haec scelera, quia piget aedificare, haec dedecora pati parati estis? si tota urbe nullum melius ampliusve tectum fieri possit,
Are you prepared to suffer these crimes, these disgraces, because it irks you to build?
§5.53.8quam casa illa conditoris est nostri, non in casis ritu pastorum agrestiumque habitare est satius inter sacra penatesque nostros quam exulatum publice ire? §5.53.9maiores nostri, convenae pastoresque, cum in his locis nihil praeter silvas paludesque esset, novam urbem tam brevi aedificarunt;
If in the whole city no better or larger roof could be made than that cottage of our founder, is it not better to dwell in cottages after the manner of shepherds and rustics among our sacred things and Penates, than to go publicly into exile? Our ancestors, refugees and shepherds, when there was nothing in these places except forests and marshes, built a new city in so short a time; are we, with the Capitol and the citadel unharmed and the temples of the gods standing, loath to rebuild what has been burned?
nos Capitolio atque arce incolumi, stantibus templis deorum aedificare incensa piget? et quod singuli facturi fuimus, si aedes nostrae deflagrassent, hoc in publico incendio universi recusamus facere?
And what we would have done individually if our own houses had burned down, do we refuse to do collectively in a public conflagration?"