[3] In urging this course they demanded that men of superior worth should not be more implacable than their inferiors, nor defer an accommodation till the senseless crowd should be either brought to their senses by necessity or induced by it to cure a smaller evil by a greater, in depriving themselves of liberty as the result of delivering up their arms and surrendering their persons at discretion; for these things were next to impossible. But by treating the people with moderation they ought to set the example of salutary counsels, and to anticipate the others in proposing an accommodation, bearing in mind that while governing and administering the state was the duty of the patricians, the promoting of friendship and peace was the part of good men.
[4] 7 φιλότητος δὲ καὶ εἰρήνης ... τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς. τὸ δ᾽ ἀξίωμα τῆς βουλῆς οὐκ ἐν τῷδε μάλιστα ἐλαττώσεσθαι ἀπέφαινον, ἐν ᾧ μάλιστα τὰς ἀναγκαίας συμφορὰς γενναίως φέροντες ἀσφαλῶς πολιτεύσουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ᾧ δυσοργήτως ταῖς τύχαις ὁμιλοῦντες ἀνατρέψουσι τὸ κοινόν. ἀνοίας δ᾽ ἔργον εἶναι τῆς εὐπρεπείας ὀρεγομένους [p. 333] τῆς ἀσφαλείας ὑπερορᾶν: ἀγαπητὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀμφοῖν τυγχάνειν, εἰ δ᾽ ἐξείργοιτό τις θατέρου, τὰ σωτήρια τῶν εὐπρεπεστέρων νομιστέα ἀναγκαιότερα. τέλος δ᾽ ἦν τῶν ταῦτα παραινούντων, πρέσβεις ἀποστέλλειν τοὺς διαλεξομένους τοῖς ἀφεστηκόσι περὶ φιλίας, ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἡμάρτηται ἀνήκεστον.
[4] They declared that the prestige of the senate would be most diminished, not by a policy of administering the government safely while bearing nobly the calamities that were unavoidable, but by a policy whereby, in showing resentment toward the vicissitudes of fortune, they would overthrow the commonwealth. It was the part of folly, while aiming at appearances, to neglect security; it was desirable of course, to obtain both, but if one must do without either, safety ought to be regarded as more necessary than appearances. The final proposal of those who gave these advice was that ambassadors should be sent to the seceders to treat of peace, since they had been guilty of no irreparable mischief.
[1] ἐδόκει ταῦτα τῇ βουλῇ: καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα προχειρισαμένη τοὺς ἐπιτηδειοτάτους διεπέμψατο πρὸς τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ χάρακος, ἐντειλαμένη πυνθάνεσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν, τίνος δέονται καὶ ἐπὶ τίσι δικαίοις ἀξιοῦσιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀναστρέφειν: εἰ γὰρ εἴη τι μέτριον καὶ δυνατὸν τῶν αἰτημάτων, οὐκ ἐναντιώσεσθαι σφίσι τὴν βουλήν. νῦν μὲν οὖν αὐτοῖς ἀποθεμένοις τὰ ὅπλα καὶ κατιοῦσιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἄδειαν ὑπάρξειν τῶν ἡμαρτημένων, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦδε χρόνον ἀμνηστίαν: ἐὰν δὲ τὰ κράτιστα βουλεύωσι τῷ κοινῷ καὶ προθύμως κινδυνεύωσι περὶ τῆς πατρίδος, ἀμοιβὰς καλὰς καὶ
[48.1] This met with the approval of the senate. Thereupon they chose the most suitable persons and sent them to the people in the camp with orders to inquire of them what they desired and upon what terms they would consent to return to the city; for if any of their demands were moderate and possible to be complied with, the senate would not oppose them. If, therefore, they would now lay down their arms and return to the city they would be granted impunity for their past offences and amnesty for the future; and if they showed the best will for the commonwealth and cheerfully exposed themselves to danger in the service of their country, they would receive honourable and advantageous returns.
[2] λυσιτελεῖς. ταύτας οἱ πρέσβεις τὰς ἐντολὰς κομισάμενοι ἀπέδοσαν τοῖς ἐπὶ στρατοπέδου καὶ τὰ ἀκόλουθα διελέχθησαν. οὐ δεξαμένων δὲ τῶν ἀποστατῶν τὰς προκλήσεις, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπεροψίαν καὶ βαρύτητα καὶ πολλὴν εἰρωνείαν τοῖς πατρικίοις ὀνειδισάντων, εἰ προσποιοῦνται μὲν ἀγνοεῖν, ὧν ὁ δῆμος δεῖται καὶ δι᾽ ἃς ἀνάγκας ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀπέστη, χαρίζονται δ᾽ αὐτῷ τὴν ἄδειαν τοῦ μηδεμίαν ὑποσχεῖν τῆς ἀποστάσεως δίκην, ὥσπερ ἔτι κύριοι, τῆς βοηθείας γε αὐτοὶ δεόμενοι τῆς πολιτικῆς οἱ ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀθνείους πολέμους οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν [p. 334] ἐλευσομένους πανστρατιᾷ, πρὸς οὓς οὐδ᾽ ἀντᾶραι δυνήσονται, οἳ οὐ σφέτερον ἡγοῦνται τὸ σωθῆναι ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ τῶν συναγωνιουμένων εὐτύχημα: τέλος δὲ τοῦτον προσθέντων τὸν λόγον, ὡς ἄμεινον ἤδη αὐτοὶ μαθόντες τὰς κατεχούσας τὴν πόλιν ἀπορίας, γνώσονται πρὸς οἵους ἀντιπάλους αὐτοῖς ἔσται ὁ ἀγών, καὶ πολλὰς καὶ χαλεπὰς ἀπειλὰς ἐπανατειναμένων:
[2] The ambassadors, having received these instructions, communicated them to the people in the camp and spoke in conformity to them. But the seceders, rejecting these invitations, reproached the patricians with haughtiness, severity, and great dissimulation in pretending, on the one hand, to be ignorant of the demands of the people and of the reasons which had compelled them to secede from them, and, again, in granting them impunity from all prosecution for their secession, just as if they were still masters of the situation, though themselves standing in need of the assistance of their fellow-citizens against their foreign enemies, who would soon come with all their forces — enemies who could not be withstood by men who looked upon their preservation as not so much their own advantage as the good fortune of those who should assist them. They ended with the statement that when the patricians themselves understood better the difficulties that beset the commonwealth, they would know what kind of adversaries they had to deal with; and they added many violent threats.
[3] οἱ μὲν πρέσβεις οὐδὲν ἔτι πρὸς ταῦτα ἀντειπόντες ἀπηλλάττοντο καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἀποστατῶν τοῖς πατρικίοις ἐδήλωσαν, ἡ δὲ πόλις, ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἀποκρίσεις ταύτας ἔλαβεν, ἐν ταραχαῖς καὶ δείμασι πολλῷ χαλεπωτέροις ἢ πρόσθεν ἐγένετο, καὶ οὔτε ἡ βουλὴ πόρον εὑρεῖν οἵα τε ἦν οὔτ᾽ ἀναβολάς, δυσφημιῶν δὲ καὶ κατηγοριῶν, ἃς οἱ προεστηκότες αὐτῆς ἐποιοῦντο κατ᾽. ἀλλήλων, ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἀκούουσα ἡμέρας διελύετο: οὔτε τὸ δημοτικὸν πλῆθος, ὅσον ἔτι παρέμενεν εὐνοίᾳ τῶν πατρικίων ἢ πόθῳ τῆς πατρίδος ἠναγκασμένον, ὅμοιον ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου φανερῶς τε καὶ κρύφα πολὺ μέρος διέρρει, βέβαιον δ᾽ οὐδὲν τῶν καταλειπομένων ἐδόκει εἶναι. τούτων δὲ γενομένων οἱ μὲν ὕπατοι: καὶ γὰρ ἦν βραχὺς ὁ λειπόμενος αὐτοῖς ἔτι τῆς ἀρχῆς χρόνος: ἡμέραν ἔστησαν ἀρχαιρεσιῶν.
[3] To all of which the ambassadors made no further answer, but departed and informed the patricians of the representations made by the seceders. When those in the city received this answer, they were in much mo
re serious confusion and fear than before; and neither the senate was able to find a solution of the difficulties or any means of postponing them, but, after listening to the taunts and accusations which the leading men directed at one another, adjourned day after day; nor were the plebeians who still remained in the city, constrained by their goodwill toward the patricians or their affection for their country, of the same mind as before, but a large part even of these were trickling away both openly and secretly, and it seemed that no reliance could be placed upon those who were left. In this state of affairs the consuls — for the period that still remained of their magistracy was short — appointed a day for the election of magistrates.
[1] ὁ δὲ δῆμος, ἐπειδὴ παρῆν ὁ χρόνος, ἐν ᾧ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐπικυροῦν ἔδει συνελθόντας εἰς τὸ πεδίον, οὐδενὸς οὔτε μετιόντος τὴν ὑπατείαν οὔτε διδομένην ὑπομένοντος λαβεῖν, αὐτὸς ἀποδείκνυσιν ὑπάτους [p. 335] ἐκ τῶν εἰληφότων ἤδη τὴν ἀρχὴν ταύτην δήμῳ τε κεχαρισμένους ἄνδρας καὶ ἀριστοκρατίᾳ, Πόστομον Κομίνιον καὶ Σπόριον Κάσσιον, ὑφ᾽ οὗ Σαβῖνοι καταπολεμηθέντες τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἀπέστησαν, ἐπὶ τῆς ἑβδομηκοστῆς καὶ δευτέρας ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Τισικράτης Κροτωνιάτης, ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησι Διογνήτου.
[49.1] When the time came for them to assemble in the field to elect their magistrates, and no one either sought the consulship or would consent to accept it if offered, the people themselves chose two consuls from among those who had already held this magistracy and who were acceptable to both the people and the aristocracy, namely Postumus Cominius and Spurius Cassius, Cassius being the one through whose efforts the Sabines had been conquered and had resigned their claims to the leadership. This was in the seventy-second Olympiad, the year in which Tisicrates of Croton won the short-distance foot-race, Diognetus being then archon at Athens.
[2] οὗτοι παραλαβόντες τὴν ἀρχὴν καλάνδαις Σεπτεμβρίαις θᾶττον ἢ τοῖς προτέροις ἔθος ἦν, πρὶν ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τι διαπράξασθαι βουλὴν συγκαλέσαντες περὶ τῆς καθόδου τῶν δημοτικῶν λέγειν ἠξίουν, ἥν τινα διάνοιαν ἔχει, πρῶτον ἀποφήνασθαι παρακαλοῦντες ἄνδρα ἡλικίας ἐν τῇ κρατίστῃ τότε ὄντα καὶ συνέσει δοκοῦντα τῶν ἄλλων διαφέρειν, μάλιστα δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῇ προαιρέσει τῶν πολιτευμάτων ἐπαινούμενον, ὅτι τῆς μέσης τάξεως ἦν, οὔτε τὴν αὐθάδειαν τῶν ἀριστοκρατικῶν αὔξων οὔτε τῷ δήμῳ ὅσα βουληθείη πράττειν ἐπιτρέπων, Ἀγρίππαν Μενήνιον: ὃς ἐπὶ τὰς διαλλαγὰς τὴν βουλὴν παρεκάλει τάδε λέγων:
[2] Upon assuming office on the calends of September, earlier than had been customary with the former consuls, they convened the senate before attending to any other business and asked for an expression of its opinion concerning the return of the plebeians. The first senator they called upon to declare his views was a man, then in the maturity of his age, who was looked upon as a person of superior wisdom and was particularly commended for his political principles, since he pursued a middle course, being inclined and to increase the arrogance of the aristocratic party nor to permit the people to have their own way in everything — namely Agrippa Menenius. It was he who now urged the senate to an accommodation, speaking as follows:
[3] εἰ μὲν ἅπασιν, ὦ βουλή, τοῖς παροῦσι τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην συνέβαινεν ἔχειν, καὶ μηδεὶς ἔμελλε ταῖς πρὸς τὸν δῆμον διαλλαγαῖς ἐμποδὼν ἔσεσθαι, ἐφ᾽ οἷς δὲ διαλυσόμεθα πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἴτε δικαίοις οὖσιν εἴτε μή, ὅμως ταῦτα προὔκειτο μόνον σκοπεῖν, δι᾽ ὀλίγων ἂν ὑμῖν ἐδήλωσα λόγων, ἃ φρονῶ.
[3] “If all who are present, senators, chanced to be of the same opinion, and no one were going to oppose the accommodation with the people, but only the terms of it, be these just or unjust, on which we are to be reconciled with them were before you for consideration, I could have expressed my thoughts to you in few words.
[4] ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτό [p. 336] τινες οἴονται βουλῆς ἔτι δεῖν, πότερον ἡμῖν ἄμεινόν ἐστι συμβῆναι πρὸς τοὺς ἀφεστηκότας ἢ πολεμεῖν, οὐχ ἡγοῦμαι ῥᾴδιον εἶναί μοι δι᾽ ὀλίγης δηλώσεως, ὅ τι χρὴ πράττειν παραινέσαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνάγκη διὰ πλειόνων διδάξαι λόγων τοὺς πρὸς τὰς διαλλαγὰς ἀλλοτρίως ἔχοντας ὑμῶν, ὅτι τἀναντία συμπείθουσιν ἢ καὶ δεδίττεσθαι μέλλοντες ὑμᾶς τὰ φαυλότατα τῶν χαλεπῶν καὶ ῥᾳδίας ἔχοντα τὰς ἐπανορθώσεις ὀρρωδοῦντας τῶν μεγίστων τε καὶ ἀνιάτων ἱκανῶς ἀπερισκέπτως ἔχουσι. καὶ τοῦτο πεπόνθασι παρ᾽ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ ὥστε λογισμῷ μὴ κρίνειν τὸ συμφέρον, ἀλλὰ θυμῷ καὶ μανίᾳ.
[4] But since some consider that even this very point should be a matter for further consultation, whether it is better for us to come to an agreement with the seceders or go to war with them, I do not think it easy for me in a brief exposition of my views to advise you what ought to be done. On the contrary, a speech of some length is necessary, in order to show those among you who are opposed to the accommodation that they contradict themselves if, while intending to frighten you by playing on your far of those difficulties that are the most trivial and easily corrected, they at the same time neglect to consider the evils that are greatest and incurable. And they have fallen into this predicament for no other reason than that in judging what is expedient they do not use reason but rather passion and frenzy.
[5] πῶς γὰρ ἂν οὗτοι λέγοιντο προορᾶσθαί τι τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν χρησίμων ἢ δυνατῶν, οἵ τινες ὑπολαμβάνουσι τηλικαύτην πόλιν καὶ τοσούτων πραγμάτων κυρίαν ἤδη ἐπίφθονόν τε καὶ λυπηρὰν τοῖς περιοίκοις γιγνομένην, ἢ δίχα τοῦ δημοτικοῦ δυνήσεσθαι κατέχειν τε καὶ σώζειν τὰ ἔθνη ῥᾳδίως, ἢ ἕτερον ἐπάξεσθαι δῆμον ἀντὶ τοῦ πονηροτέρου κρείττονα, ὃς αὐτοῖς προπολεμήσει τε τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ κατὰ πολλὴν ἡσυχίαν συμπολιτεύσεται, παρέχων καὶ ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ κατὰ πολέμους ἑαυτὸν μέτριον; οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἕτερον ἔχοιεν εἰπεῖν, ᾧ πιστεύοντες ἀξιώσουσιν ὑμᾶς μὴ δέχεσθαι τὰς διαλλαγάς. [p. 337]
[5] For how can these men be said to foresee in their minds any course that is profitable or possible, when they imagine that a state so powerful and mistress of so extensive a dominion, a state that is calendar becoming an object of hatred, and a cause of offence to her neighbours, will easily be able either without the plebeians to hold and preserve the subject nations or else to bring some other people into the commonwealth, a better people in place of one most knavish, who will fight to preserve their supremacy for them and will live with them under the same government in profound quiet, behaving themselves with self-rest
raint in both peace and war? For there is no other possibility they could name that would justify their asking you not to accept the accommodation.
[1] ὧν ἑκάτερον ὅσης ἐστὶ μεστὸν εὐηθείας, ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσαιμ᾽ ἂν ἔγωγε τῶν ἔργων σκοπεῖν ἐνθυμηθέντας, ὅτι διαστασιασάντων πρὸς ὑμᾶς τῶν ταπεινοτέρων διὰ τοὺς οὔτε πολιτικῶς οὔτε μετρίως ταῖς ἀτυχίαις χρησαμένους, καὶ ὑπαναχωρησάντων μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἄλλο δὲ μηδὲν ὑμᾶς δεινὸν μήτε ἐργαζομένων μήτε διανοουμένων, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς διαλλαγήσονται χωρὶς αἰσχύνης σκοπούντων, ἀγαπητῶς δεξάμενοι τὸ συμβὰν ἀπὸ τῆς τύχης πολλοὶ τῶν οὐκ εὖ διανοουμένων πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀνεπτέρωνται ταῖς γνώμαις, καὶ τοῦτον οἴονται σφίσι παρεῖναι τὸν εὐκταῖον καιρόν, ἐν ᾧ
[50.1] “How utterly silly either of those two expedients is, I would have you consider from the facts themselves, bearing in mind that since the humbler citizens grew disaffected toward you because of those who treated their misfortunes as neither fellow-citizens nor men of self-restraint should, and withdrew, indeed, from the city, yet neither are doing to you, nor have any thought of doing, any other mischief, but are considering only by what means they may be reconciled to you without dishonour, many of those who are not well disposed toward you, joyfully seizing upon this incident presented to them by Fortune, have become elated in their minds and look upon this as the long-desired opportunity for breaking up your empire.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 563