§9.11.1tum Pontius “nec ego istam deditionem accipiam” inquit, “nec Samnites ratam habebunt.
Then Pontius said, "Neither shall I accept that surrender of yours, nor will the Samnites hold it valid.
§9.11.2quin tu, Spuri Postumi, si deos esse censes, aut omnia inrita facis aut pacto stas?
Why do you not, Spurius Postumius, if you believe that there are gods, either make all things void or stand by your agreement?
§9.11.3Samniti populo omnes, quos in potestate habuit, aut pro iis pax debetur.
To the Samnite people either all those whom they had in their power are owed, or in their place peace.
sed quid ego te appello, qui te captum victori cum qua potes fide restituis? populum Romanum appello, quem si sponsionis ad furculas Caudinas factae paenitet, restituat legiones intra saltum, quo saeptae fuerunt.
But why do I appeal to you, who restore yourself, a captive, to the victor with whatever faith you can? I appeal to the Roman people; whom if they repent of the guarantee made at the Caudine Forks, let them restore the legions within the pass where they were hemmed in.
§9.11.4nemo quemquam deceperit; omnia pro infecto sint; recipiant arma, quae per pactionem tradiderunt; redeant in castra sua;
Let no one deceive anyone; let all things be as if undone; let them receive back the arms which they surrendered by the agreement; let them return to their own camp; let them have whatever they possessed on the day before we came to the conference.
quidquid pridie habuerunt, quam in conloquium est ventum, habeant: tum bellum et fortia consilia placeant, tum sponsio et pax repudietur.
Then let war and bold counsels please them, then let the guarantee and peace be rejected.
§9.11.5ea fortuna, iis locis, quae ante pacis mentionem habuimus, geramus bellum, nec populus Romanus consulum sponsionem nec nos fidem populi Romani accusemus.
Let us wage war with that fortune, in those places, which we had before the mention of peace, and let neither the Roman people accuse the guarantee of the consuls, nor us accuse the faith of the Roman people.
§9.11.6numquamne causa defiet, cur victi pacto non stetis? obsides Porsinnae dedistis: furto eos subduxistis; auro civitatem a Gallis redemistis: inter accipiendum aurum caesi sunt;
Will a cause never be lacking why you, when defeated, do not stand by your agreement? You gave hostages to Porsinna: you withdrew them by stealth; you redeemed your state from the Gauls with gold: in the midst of receiving the gold, they were slain.
§9.11.7pacem nobiscum pepigistis, ut legiones vobis captas restitueremus: eam pacem inritam facitis.
You struck a peace with us, so that we might restore to you the captured legions: you make that peace void.
et semper aliquam fraudi speciem iuris inponitis.
And you always impose some appearance of right upon fraud.
§9.11.8non probat populus Romanus ignominiosa pace legiones servatas; pacem sibi habeat, legiones captas victori restituat: hoc fide, hoc foederibus, hoc fetialibus caerimoniis dignum erat.
The Roman people does not approve of legions saved by an ignominious peace; let them keep the peace for themselves, let them restore the captured legions to the victor: this would have been worthy of faith, of treaties, of fetial ceremonies.
§9.11.9ut quidem tu, quod petisti per pactionem, habeas, tot cives incolumes, ego pacem, quam hos tibi remittendo pactus sum, non habeam, hoc tu, A. Corneli, hoc vos, fetiales, iuris gentibus dicitis?
Is this the law you declare to the nations, Aulus Cornelius, and you, fetials, that you indeed should have what you sought through the agreement, so many citizens unharmed, while I should not have the peace which I bargained for by releasing these men to you?
§9.11.10ego vero istos, quos dedi simulatis, nec accipio nec dedi arbitror nec moror, quo minus in civitatem obligatam sponsione commissa iratis omnibus dis, quorum eluditur numen, redeant.
For my part, I neither accept those men whom you pretend to surrender, nor do I think they have been surrendered, nor do I hinder them from returning to their state—which is bound by the forfeited guarantee—under the wrath of all the gods whose divinity is mocked.
§9.11.11gerite bellum, quando Sp. Postumius modo legatum fetialem genu perculit.
Wage war, since Spurius Postumius just now struck the fetial ambassador with his knee.
ita di credent Samnitem civem Postumium, non civem Romanum esse et a Samnite legatum Romanum violatum: eo vobis iustum in nos factum esse bellum.
In this way the gods will believe that Postumius is a Samnite citizen, not a Roman citizen, and that a Roman ambassador was violated by a Samnite; and that on this account a just war has been waged by you against us!
§9.11.12haec ludibria religionum non pudere in lucem proferre et vix pueris dignas ambages senes ac consulares fallendae fidei exquirere.
That they are not ashamed to bring these mockeries of religion into the light, and that old men and consulars seek subterfuges scarcely worthy of children for the purpose of breaking their faith!
§9.11.13i, lictor, deme vincla Romanis; moratus sit nemo, quo minus, ubi visum fuerit, abeant. ” et illi quidem, forsitan et publica, sua certe liberata fide ab Caudio in castra Romana inviolati redierunt.
"Go, lictor, remove the bonds from the Romans; let no one delay them from departing whenever they please." And they indeed, with their own faith certainly cleared, and perhaps also the public faith, returned unharmed from Caudium to the Roman camp.