Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79)

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

  [2] I ask you to give much thought to this matter and to hold a session for this very purpose as soon as you have dismissed the embassies. As to the answers to be now given to them, this is the advice I have to offer. Since the Volscians demand restitution of what we are in possession of by right of arms, and threaten us with war if we refuse to restore it, let our answer be, that we Romans look upon those acquisitions to be the most honest and the most just which we have acquired in accordance with the law of war, and that we will not consent to destroy the fruits of our valour by an act of folly. Whereas, by restoring to those who lost them these possessions, which we ought to share with our children and which we shall strive to leave to their posterity, we shall be depriving ourselves of what is already ours and be treating ourselves as harshly as we would our enemies.

  [3] Λατίνων δὲ τὸ εὔνουν ἐπαινέσαντες ἀναθαρσύνωμεν τὸ δεδιὸς ὡς οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψομεν αὐτούς, ἕως ἂν τὸ πιστὸν φυλάσσωσιν, ἐν οὐδενὶ δεινῷ γενομένους δι᾽ ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ δύναμιν ἱκανὴν ἀμύνειν αὐτοῖς πέμψομεν οὐ διὰ μακροῦ. ταύτας ἡγοῦμαι κρατίστας τε καὶ δικαιοτάτας ἔσεσθαι τὰς ἀποκρίσεις. ἀπαλλαγεισῶν δὲ τῶν πρεσβειῶν πρώτην φημὶ χρῆναι βουλὴν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν θορύβοις ἡμᾶς ἀποδοῦναι καὶ ταύτην οὐκ εἰς μακράν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ.

  [3] As to the Latins, let us commend their goodwill and dispel their fears by assuring them that we will not abandon them in any danger they may incur on our account, so long as they keep faith with us, but will shortly send a force sufficient to defend them. These answers, I believe, will be the best and the most just. After the embassies have departed, I say we ought to devote the first meeting of the senate to the consideration of the tumults in the city and that this meeting ought not to be long deferred, but appointed for the very next day.”

  [1] ταύτην ἀποφηναμένου τὴν γνώμην Λαρκίου καὶ πάντων ἐπαινεσάντων, τότε μὲν αἱ πρεσβεῖαι λαβοῦσαι τὰς εἰρημένας ἀποκρίσεις ἀπηλλάγησαν: τῇ δ᾽ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ συναγαγόντες τὴν βουλὴν οἱ ὕπατοι περὶ τῆς ἐπανορθώσεως τῶν πολιτικῶν θορύβων προὔθεσαν σκοπεῖν. πρῶτος οὖν ἐρωτηθεὶς γνώμην Πόπλιος Οὐεργίνιος, ἀνὴρ δημοτικός, τὴν διὰ μέσου πορευόμενος [p. 318] ὁδὸν ἔλεξεν: ἐπειδὴ τὸ δημοτικὸν πλῆθος ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ προθυμίαν πλείστην εἰς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἀγῶνας ἐπεδείξατο, Οὐολούσκοις καὶ Ἀρούγκοις πολλῇ στρατιᾷ ἐπιοῦσιν ἀντιταξάμενον μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν, οἴομαι δεῖν τοὺς συναραμένους ἡμῖν τότε καὶ τῶνδε τῶν πολέμων μετασχόντας ἀφεῖσθαι καὶ μηδενὸς αὐτῶν μήτε τὸ σῶμα μήτε τὴν οὐσίαν ὑπὸ τῶν δανειστῶν κρατεῖσθαι: τὸ δ᾽ αὐτὸ δίκαιον εἶναι καὶ γονεῦσι τοῖς τούτων ἄχρι καὶ πάππων, καὶ παισὶν ἕως ἐγγόνων: τοὺς δ᾽ ἄλλους ἀγωγίμους εἶναι τοῖς δεδανεικόσιν, ὡς ἑκάστοις συνέβαλον.

  [37.1] When Larcius had delivered this opinion and it had received the approval of all, the embassies then received the answers that I have reported, and departed. The next day the consuls assembled the senate and proposed that it consider how the civil disorders might be corrected. Thereupon Publius Verginius, a man devoted to the people, being asked his opinion first, took the middle course and said: “Since the plebeians last year showed the greatest zeal for the struggles in behalf of the commonwealth, arraying themselves with us against the Volscians and Auruncans when they attacked us with a large army, I think that all who then assisted us and took their share in those wars ought to be let off, and that neither their persons nor their property ought to be in the power of the money-lenders; and that the same principle of justice ought to extend to their parents as far as their grandfathers, and to their posterity as far as their grandchildren; but that all the rest ought to be liable to imprisonment at the suit of the money-lenders upon the terms of their respective obligations.”

  [2] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Τῖτος Λάρκιος εἶπεν: ἐμοὶ δ᾽, ὦ βουλή, δοκεῖ κράτιστον μὴ μόνον τοὺς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις ἀγαθοὺς γενομένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἄλλον ἅπαντα δῆμον ἐλεύθερον τῶν συμβολαίων ἀφεῖσθαι. μόνως γὰρ ἂν οὕτως ὅλην τὴν πόλιν ὁμονοοῦσαν ἐργασαίμεθα. τρίτος δὲ παρελθὼν Ἄππιος Κλαύδιος ὁ τὴν ὕπατον ἀρχὴν τῷ παρελθόντι ἔτει σχὼν ἔλεξεν:

  [2] After this Titus Larcius said: “My opinion, senators, is that to those who proved themselves good men in the wars, but all the rest of the people as well, should be released from their obligations; for only thus can we make the whole state harmonious.” The third speaker was Appius Claudius, the consul of the preceding year, who came forward and said:

  [1] ἀεὶ μέν, ὦ βουλή, ὁσάκις ὑπὲρ τούτων προὐτέθη λόγος, ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς εἰμὶ γνώμης, μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν τῷ δήμῳ μηδὲν τῶν ἀξιουμένων, ὅ τι μὴ νόμιμον μηδὲ καλόν, μήτε τὸ φρόνημα τῆς πόλεως ἐλαττοῦν, καὶ οὐδὲ νῦν μεταγινώσκω τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς μοι φανέντων οὐδέν: ἢ πάντων ἂν εἴην ἀνθρώπων ἀφρονέστατος, εἰ πέρυσι μὲν ὕπατος ὢν ἀντιπράττοντός μοι τοῦ συνυπάτου καὶ τὸν δῆμον ἐπισείοντος ἀντέσχον [p. 319] καὶ διέμεινα ἐπὶ τῶν ἐγνωσμένων οὔτε φόβῳ ἀποτραπεὶς οὔτε δεήσει οὔτε χάρισιν εἴξας, νῦν δ᾽ ἰδιώτης ὢν ῥίψαιμι ἐμαυτὸν καὶ τὴν παρρησίαν καταπροδοίην:

  [38.1] “Every time these matters have been up for debate, senators, I have always been of the same opinion, never to yield to the people any one of their demands that is not lawful and honourable, nor to lower the dignity of the commonwealth; nor do I even now change the opinion which I entertained from the beginning. For I should be the most foolish of all men, if last year, when I was consul and my colleague opposed me and stirred up the people against me, I resisted and adhered to my resolutions, undeterred by fear and yielding neither to entreaties nor to favour, only to demean myself now, when I am a private citizen, and to prove utterly false to the principle of free speech.

  [2] εἴτε μου τὸ ἐλεύθερον τῆς ψυχῆς ὑμῶν ἕκαστος βούλεται ἀποκαλεῖν εὐγενὲς εἴτε αὔθαδες, ὅσον ἂν ζῶ χρόνον οὐκ ἀποστήσομαι τοῦ ἤδη καλῶς δεδογμένου, καὶ οὐδέποτε εἰσάξω χαριζόμενος τοῖς κακοῖς χρεῶν ἀποκοπάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς εἰσάγοντας αὐτὰς ἁπάσῃ προθυμίᾳ χρώμενος ὁμόσε χωρήσω, λογιζόμενος, ὅτι πᾶσα κακία καὶ διαφθορὰ καὶ συλλήβδην ἀνατροπὴ πόλεως ἀπὸ χρεοκοπίας ἄρχεται.

  [2] You may call this independence of mind on my part nobility or arrogance, as each of you prefers; but, as long as I live, I will never propose an abolition of debts as a f
avour to wicked men, but will go so far as to resist with all the earnestness of which I am capable those who do propose it, reasoning as I do that every evil and corruption and, in a word, the overthrow of the state, begins with the abolition of debts.

  [3] καὶ εἴτε τις ἀπὸ τοῦ φρονίμου εἴτε διὰ μανίας τινός, ἐπειδὴ οὐ τὸ ἴδιον ἀσφαλές, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀξιῶ σκοπεῖν, εἴτε ὁπωσδήποτε οἰήσεται τάδε λέγεσθαι, συγχωρῶ αὐτῷ νομίζειν, ὅπως βούλεται, μέχρι δὲ παντὸς ἐναντιώσομαι τοῖς μὴ τὰ πάτρια πολιτεύματα εἰσηγησομένοις. ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ οὐ τὰ χρέα ἀπαιτοῦσιν οἱ καιροί, μεγάλην δὲ βοήθειαν, ὃ μόνον ἔσται τῆς διχοστασίας φάρμακον ἐν τῷ παρόντι φράσω: δικτάτορα ἕλεσθε κατὰ τάχος, ὃς ἀνευθύνῳ χρώμενος ἐξουσίᾳ καὶ βουλὴν καὶ δῆμον ἀναγκάσει τὰ κράτιστα τῷ κοινῷ φρονεῖν: ἄλλη γὰρ οὐκ ἔσται τηλικούτου κακοῦ λύσις.

  [3] And whether anyone shall think that what I say proceeds from prudence, or from a kind of madness (since I see fit to consider, not my own security, but that of the commonwealth), or from any other motive, I give him leave to think as he pleases; but to the very last I will oppose those who shall introduce measures that are not in accord with our ancestral traditions. And since the times require, not an abolition of debts, but relief on a large scale, I will state the only remedy for the sedition at the present time: choose speedily a dictator, who, subject to no accounting for the use he shall make of his authority, will force both the senate and the people to entertain such sentiments as are most advantageous to the commonwealth. For there will be of other deliverance from so great an evil.”

  [1] ταῦτ᾽ εἰπόντος Ἀππίου καὶ τῶν νέων ἐπιθορυβησάντων ὡς τὰ δέοντα εἰσηγουμένου, Σερουίλιός [p. 320] τ᾽ ἀντιλέξων ἀνέστη καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς τῶν πρεσβυτέρων: ἡττῶντο δ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν νεωτέρων ἐκ παρασκευῆς τ᾽ ἀφικνουμένων καὶ βίᾳ πολλῇ χρωμένων,

  [39.1] This speech of Appius was received by the young senators with tumultuous applause, as proposing just the measures that were needed; but Servilius and some others of the older senators rose up to oppose it. They were defeated, however, by the younger men, who arrived for that very purpose and used much violence; and at last the motion of Appius carried.

  [2] καὶ πέρας ἐνίκησεν ἡ Ἀππίου γνώμη. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα οἱ ὕπατοι κοινῇ γνώμῃ χρησάμενοι τῶν πλείστων οἰομένων τὸν Ἄππιον ἀποδειχθήσεσθαι δικτάτορα, ὡς μόνον ἐπικρατῆσαι τῆς προστασίας δυνησόμενον, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἀπήλασαν, Μάνιον δ᾽ Οὐαλέριον ἀδελφὸν Ποπλίου Οὐαλερίου τοῦ πρώτου ὑπατεύσαντος καὶ δημοτικώτατον δοκοῦντα ἔσεσθαι καὶ ἄνδρα γηραιὸν ἀπέδειξαν, αὐτὸ τὸ φοβερὸν οἰόμενοι τῆς ἐξουσίας ἀποχρῆναι, ἀνδρὸς δὲ τὰ πάντα ἐπιεικοῦς τοῖς πράγμασι δεῖν, ἵνα μηδὲν ἐξεργάσηται νεώτερον.

  [2] After this, when most people expected that Appius would be appointed dictator as the only person who would be capable of quelling the sedition, the consuls, acting with one mind, excluded him and appointed Manius Valerius, a brother of Publius Valerius, the first man to be made consul, who, it was thought, would be most favourable to the people and moreover was an old man. For they thought the terror alone of the dictator’s power was sufficient, and that the present situation required a person equitable in all respects, that he might occasion no fresh disturbances.

  [1] παραλαβὼν δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν Οὐαλέριος καὶ προσελόμενος ἱππάρχην Κόιντον Σερουίλιον, ἀδελφὸν τοῦ συνυπατεύσαντος Ἀππίῳ Σερουιλίου, παρήγγειλε τὸν δῆμον εἰς ἐκκλησίαν παρεῖναι. συνελθόντος δ᾽ ὄχλου συχνοῦ τότε πρῶτον, ἐξ οὗ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὁ Σερουίλιος ἀπέθετο καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἀγόμενος ἐπὶ τὰς στρατείας εἰς φανερὰν ἀπόνοιαν ἐτράπετο, προελθὼν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα ἔλεξεν: ὦ πολῖται, εὖ ἴσμεν, ὅτι βουλομένοις ὑμῶν, ἐστιν ἀεί τινας ἐκ τοῦ Οὐαλερίων γένους ἄρχειν ὑμῶν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἐλεύθεροι τυραννίδος χαλεπῆς γεγόνατε καὶ οὐδενὸς τῶν μετρίων ἀτυχήσειν τάχ᾽ ἂν ἐπιμείναιτε [p. 321] ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐπιτρέψαντες τοῖς ἁπάντων δημοτικωτάτοις δοκοῦσι καὶ οὖσιν.

  [40.1] After Valerius had assumed office and had appointed Quintus Servilius, a brother of the Servilius who had been the colleague of Appius in the consulship, to be his Master of the Horse, he summoned the people to an assembly. And a great crowd coming together then for the first time since Servilius had resigned his magistracy and the people who were being forced into the service had been driven to open despair, he came forward to the tribunal and said:

  “Citizens, we are well aware that you are always pleased at being governed by any of the Valerian family, by whom you were freed are a harsh tyranny, and perhaps you would never expect to fail of obtaining anything that was reasonable when once you had entrusted yourselves to those who are regarded as being, and are, the most democratic of men.

  [2] ὥστ᾽ οὐ διδαχῆς ὑμῖν δεομένοις ὅτι βεβαιώσομεν τῷ δήμῳ τὸ ἐλεύθερον, οἵπερ καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτὸ ἐδώκαμεν, οἱ λόγοι ἔσονται, ἀλλὰ παρακλήσεως μετρίας, ἵνα πιστεύητε ἡμῖν, ὅ τι ἂν ὑποσχώμεθα, ἐμπεδώσειν. ἡλικίας γάρ, ἣ τὸ φενακίζειν ἥκιστα ἐπιδέχεται, ἐπὶ τὸ τέλειον ἥκομεν, καὶ ἀξιώσεως, ἣ τοῦ ῥᾳδιουργεῖν ἐλάχιστον φέρεται μέρος, ἀρκούντως ἔχομεν, χρόνον τε οὐχ ἑτέρωθί που τὸν λειπόμενον βιοτεύειν μέλλομεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ὑμῖν δίκας, ὧν ἂν ἐξαπατῆσαι δοκῶμεν, ὑφέξοντες.

  [2] So that you to whom my words will be addressed do not need to be informed that we shall confirm to the people the liberty which we bestowed upon them in the beginning, but you need only moderate encouragement to have confidence in us that we shall perform whatever we promise you. For I have attained to that maturity of age which is the least capable of trickiness, and have been sufficiently honoured with public office, which carries it a minimum of shiftiness; and I am not intending to pass the remainder of my life anywhere else but among you, where I shall be ready to stand trial for any deception you may think I have practised against you.

  [3] ταῦτα μὲν οὖν, ὥσπερ ἔφην, ὡς οὐ μακρῶν δεόμενος λόγων πρὸς εἰδότας, ἐάσω. ὃ δέ μοι δοκεῖτε παθόντες ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρων εἰκότως ἐπὶ πάντων ὑποπτεύειν, ὁρῶντες αἰεί τινα τῶν παρακαλούντων ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τοὺς πολέμους ὑπάτων ὑπισχνούμενον, ὧν ἂν δέησθε, παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς διαπράξεσθαι, μηδὲν δ᾽ ἐπὶ τέλος ἄγοντα τῶν ὁμολογηθέντων: τοῦτο ὡς οὐ δικαίως ἂν ὑποπτεύοιτε καὶ π
ερὶ ἐμοῦ, δυσὶν ἂν τοῖσδε μάλιστα πιστωσαίμην, τῷ τε μὴ ἂν ἐμοὶ τὴν βουλὴν εἰς τοῦτο τὸ λειτούργημα, ἑτέρων ὄντων τῶν ἐπιτηδειοτέρων, τῷ φιλοδημοτάτῳ δοκοῦντι εἶναι καταχρήσασθαι: καὶ τῷ μὴ ἂν αὐτοκράτορι κοσμῆσαι ἀρχῇ, δι᾽ ἣν τὰ δόξαντά μοι κράτιστα εἶναι καὶ δίχ᾽ ἐκείνης ἐπικυροῦν δυνήσομαι. [p. 322]

  [3] Of this, then, I shall speak no further, since, as I have said, no lengthy arguments are needed for those who are acquainted with the facts. But there is one thing which, having suffered from others, you seem with reason to suspect of all: you have ever observed that one or another of the consuls, when they want to engage you to march against the enemy, promises to obtain for you what you desire of the senate, but never carries out any of his promises. That you can have no just grounds for entertaining the same suspicions of me also, I can convince you chiefly by these two considerations: first, that the senate would never have made the mistake of employing me, who am regarded as the greatest friend of the people, for this service, when there are others better suited to it, and second, that they would not have honoured me with an absolute magistracy by which I shall be able to enact whatever I think best, even without their participation.

  [1] οὐ γὰρ δήπου συνεξαπατᾶν ὑμᾶς ἐπιστάμενον τὴν ἀπάτην καὶ βουλευσάμενόν με μετὰ ταύτης συγκακουργεῖν ὑπολαμβάνετε. εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα ὑμῖν εἰσέρχεται περὶ ἐμοῦ ὡς ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων κακουργοτέρου, ... ὅ τι βούλεσθε χρώμενοί μοι ταύτης μὲν τῆς ὑποψίας ἐμοὶ πειθόμενοι τὰς ψυχὰς ἐλευθερώσατε, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς πολεμίους τὴν ὀργὴν μετάθετε ἀπὸ τῶν φίλων, οἳ πόλιν τε ὑμᾶς ἀφελούμενοι ἥκουσι καὶ ἀντ᾽ ἐλευθέρων δούλους ποιήσοντες καὶ τἆλλα, ὅσα δεινὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις νενόμισται, διαθεῖναι σπεύδοντες οὐ πόρρω τῆς χώρας εἶναι ἀγγέλλονται.