[3] Having this law, then, which no lapse of time will ever repeal, to avenge my wrongs and be my ally, I cannot consent, Marcius, to be alone deprived by you of honours to which it entitles me. But leaving this law aside, consider in turn the reminders I have to give you of the good offices you have received from me, human many and how great they are. When you were left an orphan by your father, I took you as an infant, and for your sake I remained a widow and underwent the labours of rearing you, showing myself not only a mother to you, but also a father, a nurse, a sister, and everything that is dearest.
[4] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ εἰς ἄνδρας ἦλθες, ἐξόν μοι τότε ἀπηλλάχθαι τῶν φροντίδων ἑτέρῳ γημαμένην καὶ ἕτερα τέκνα ἐπιθρέψαι καὶ πολλὰς γηροβοσκοὺς ἐλπίδας ἐμαυτῇ καταλιπεῖν, οὐκ ἠβουλήθην, ἀλλ᾽ ἔμεινα ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἑστίας καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔστερξα βίον, ἐν σοὶ μόνῳ πάσας τιθεῖσα τὰς ἐμαυτῆς ἡδονάς τε καὶ ὠφελείας: ὧν ἔψευσάς με τὰ μὲν ἄκων, τὰ δ᾽ ἑκών, καὶ πασῶν ἀτυχεστάτην ἐποίησας μητέρων. ποῖον γὰρ χρόνον, ἀφ᾽ οὗ σε εἰς ἄνδρας ἤγαγον, ἄνευ λύπης ἢ φόβου διετέλεσα, ἢ πότε ἱλαρὰν ἔσχον ἐπὶ σοὶ τὴν ψυχὴν πολέμους ἐπὶ πολέμοις στέλλοντα ὁρῶσά σε καὶ μάχας ἐπὶ μάχαις ἀναιρούμενον καὶ τραύματ᾽ ἐπὶ τραύμασι λαμβάνοντα;
[4] When you reached manhood and it was in my power to be freed from these cares by marrying again, to rear other children, and lay up many hopes to support me in my old age, I would not do so, but remained at the same hearth and put up with the same kind of life, placing all my pleasures and all my advantages in you alone. Of these you have disappointed me, partly against your will and partly of your own accord, and have made me the most wretched of all mothers. For what time, since I brought you up to manhood, have I passed free from grief or fear? Or when have I possessed a spirit cheerful on your account, seeing you always undertaking wars upon wars, engaged in battles upon battles, and receiving wounds upon wounds?
[1] ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ οὗ ἐπολιτεύου καὶ τὰ κοινὰ ἔπραττες, [p. 203] ἡδονήν τινα ἐκαρπωσάμην ἡ μήτηρ ἐγὼ διὰ σέ; τότε μὲν οὖν τὰ μάλιστα ἠτύχουν στάσεως πολιτικῆς μέσον ὁρῶσά σε κείμενον. ἐν οἷς γὰρ ἀνθεῖν ἐδόκεις πολιτεύμασι καὶ πολὺς ἔπνεις ἐναντιούμενος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας τοῖς δημοτικοῖς, ταῦτ᾽ ἐμοὶ φόβου μεστὰ ἦν ἐνθυμουμένῃ τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον, ὡς ἐπὶ μικρᾶς αἰωρεῖται ῥοπῆς, καὶ ἐκ πολλῶν ἀκουσμάτων τε καὶ παθημάτων μαθούσῃ, ὅτι τοῖς ἐπισήμοις ἀνδράσι θεία τις ἐναντιοῦται νέμεσις ἢ φθόνος τις ἀνθρώπινος πολεμεῖ: καὶ ἦν ἄρα μάντις ἀληθὴς ὡς μήποτε ὤφελον τῶν ἐκβησομένων. κατηγωνίσατό γ᾽ οὖν σε πολὺς ἐπιρράξας ὁ πολιτικὸς φθόνος καὶ ἀνήρπασεν ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος: ὁ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτά μου βίος, εἰ δὴ καὶ βίον αὐτὸν δεῖ καλεῖν, ἀφ᾽ οὗ με καταλιπὼν ἔρημον ἐπὶ τοῖς παιδίοις τούτοις ἀπῆλθες, ἐν τούτῳ δεδαπάνηται τῷ ῥύπῳ καὶ ἐν τοῖς πενθίμοις τρύχεσι τούτοις.
[52.1] “But from the time when you took up the life of a statesman and engaged in public affairs have I, your mother, enjoyed any pleasure on your account? Nay, it was then that I was most unhappy, seeing you placed in the midst of civil strife. For those very measures which seemed to make you flourish and blow strong in popularity as you opposed the plebeians in behalf of the aristocracy filled me with fear, as I called to mind what the life of man is, how it hangs nicely suspended as in a balance, and had learned from many instances what I had heard and experienced that a kind of divine vengeance opposes men of prominence or a certain envy of men makes war upon them; and I proved a true prophet of what was to be — would to Heaven I had not! At any rate, you were overpowered by the ill-will of your fellow citizens, which burst upon you violently and snatched you away from your country; and my life thereafter — if, indeed I ought to call it life since you departed leaving me and these children, too, desolate — has been spent in this squalor and in these rent garments of mourning.
[2] ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ἁπάντων ταύτην ἀπαιτῶ σε χάριν, μηδέποτέ σοι βαρεῖα γενομένη μηδ᾽ εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν ἐσομένη χρόνον, ἕως ἂν ζῶ, διαλλαγῆναι πρὸς τοὺς σεαυτοῦ πολίτας ἤδη ποτὲ καὶ παύσασθαι τὸν ἀμείλικτον χόλον φυλάσσοντα κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος: κοινὸν ἀγαθὸν ἀμφοτέροις ἡμῖν ἀξιοῦσα λαβεῖν καὶ οὐκ ἐμαυτῆς ἴδιον μόνης.
[2] In return for all this I, who was never a burden to you nor ever shall be as long as I live, ask this favour of you — that you will be at last be reconciled to your fellow citizens and cease nursing that implacable anger against your country. In doing this I am but asking to receive what will be a boon common to us both, and not mine alone.
[3] σοί τε γάρ, ἐὰν πεισθῇς καὶ μηθὲν ἀνήκεστον ἐξεργάσῃ, καθαρὰν καὶ ἀμίαντον ἔχειν συμβήσεται τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ παντὸς χόλου καὶ ταράγματος δαιμονίου: ἐμοί τε ἡ παρὰ τῶν πολιτῶν τε καὶ πολιτίδων τιμὴ ζώσῃ τε παρακολουθοῦσα τὸν βίον εὐδαίμονα ποιήσει, καὶ [p. 204] μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν ἀποδιδομένη καθάπερ εἰκὸς εὔκλειαν ἀθάνατον οἴσει.
[3] For you, if you hearken to me and commit no irreparable deed, will have a mind free and unvexed by any heaven-sent wrath and disquiet, while as for me, the honour I shall receive from the men and women of the city, attending me while I live, will make my life happen, and being paid to my memory after my death, as I may well expect, will bring me everlasting fame.
[4] καὶ εἴ τις ἄρα τὰς ἀνθρωπίνους ψυχὰς ἀπολυθείσας τοῦ σώματος ὑποδέξεται τόπος, οὐχ ὁ καταχθόνιος καὶ ἀφεγγὴς ὑποδέξεται τὴν ἐμήν, ἐν ᾧ φασι τοὺς κακοδαίμονας οἰκεῖν, οὐδὲ τὸ λεγόμενον τῆς Λήθης πεδίον, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μετέωρος καὶ καθαρὸς αἰθήρ, ἐν ᾧ τοὺς ἐκ θεῶν φύντας οἰκεῖν λόγος εὐδαίμονα καὶ μακάριον ἔχοντας βίον: οἷς διαγγέλλουσα τὸ σὸν εὐσεβὲς καὶ τὰς σὰς χάριτας, αἷς αὐτὴν ἐκόσμησας, ἀεί τινας αἰτήσεταί σοι παρὰ θεῶν ἀμοιβὰς καλάς.
[4] And if there is in very truth a place which will receive men’s souls when released from the body, it is not that subterranean and gloomy place where, men say, the unhappy dwell, that will receive mine, nor the region called the Plain of Lethe, but the pure ether high up in the heavens, where, as report has it, those who are sprung from the gods dwell, enjoying a happy and a blessed life; and to them my soul will relate your piety and the acts of kindness with which you honoured her, and will ever ask the gods to requite you with glorious rewards.
[1] ἐὰν δὲ προπηλακίσῃς τὴν σεαυτοῦ μητέρα καὶ ἄτιμον �
�πολύσῃς, ὅ τι μὲν αὐτῷ σοι συμβήσεται διὰ ταῦτα παθεῖν, οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν, μαντεύομαι δ᾽ οὐδὲν εὐτυχές. ὅτι δ᾽ ἐὰν καὶ τἆλλα πάντα εὐδαιμονῇς, ἔστω γάρ, ἡ δι᾽ ἐμὲ καὶ τὰς ἐμὰς συμφορὰς παρακολουθήσουσά σοι καὶ οὐδέποτε ἀνήσουσα τὴν ψυχὴν ὀδύνη πάντων ἀγαθῶν σοι ἀνόνητον ποιήσει τὸν βίον, εὖ οἶδα.
[53.1] “If, however, you treat your mother with indignity and send her away unhonoured, what you yourself will have to suffer for this I cannot say, though I presage no happiness. But even if you should be fortunate in all other respects — for let that be assumed — yet your compunction because of me and my afflictions, haunting you and never giving respite to your soul, will rob your life of the enjoyment of all its blessings; this I do know full well.
[2] οὐ γὰρ ἀνέξεται Οὐετουρία τὴν δεινὴν καὶ ἀνήκεστον ὕβριν ἐν τοσούτοις μάρτυσιν ὑβρισθεῖσα τὸν ἐλάχιστον βιῶναι χρόνον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἁπάντων ὑμῶν φίλων τε καὶ ἐχθρῶν ὄμμασιν ἐμαυτὴν διαχρήσομαι, βαρεῖαν ἀρὰν καὶ δεινὰς ἐρινύας ἀντ᾽ ἐμαυτῆς καταλιποῦσά σοι τιμωρούς.
[2] Veturia, for one thing, after this cruel and irreparable ignominy received before so many witnesses, will not bear to live for a moment; nay, I will kill myself before the eyes of all of you, both friends and enemies, leaving to you in my stead a grievous curse and dire furies to be my avengers.
[3] ὧν μὴ δεήσειεν, ὦ θεοὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων φύλακες ἡγεμονίας, ἀλλ᾽ εὐσεβεῖς καὶ καλοὺς δοίητε Μαρκίῳ λογισμούς: καὶ ὥσπερ ἄρτι προσιούσῃ μοι τούς τε πελέκεις ἀπέθετο καὶ τὰς ῥάβδους [p. 205] ἔκλινε καὶ τὸν δίφρον ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος ἔθηκε χαμαὶ καὶ πάντα τἆλλα, οἷς κοσμεῖσθαι τὰς αὐτοκράτορας ἀρχὰς νόμος, τὰ μὲν ἐμείωσε, τὰ δ᾽ ἐκποδὼν εἰς τέλος ἐποίησε δῆλον ἅπασι βουλόμενος ποιῆσαι, ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἄρχειν αὐτῷ προσῆκεν, ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς μητρὸς ἄρχεσθαι: οὕτω καὶ νῦν τιμίαν καὶ περίβλεπτόν με ποιήσετε, καὶ χαρισάμενος τὴν κοινὴν πατρίδα ἀντὶ κακοδαιμονεστάτης εὐδαιμονεστάτην ἀποδείξειέ με πασῶν γυναικῶν.
[3] May there be no occasion for this, O gods who guard the empire of the Romans, but inspire Marcius with sentiments of piety and honour; and just as a little while ago at my approach he ordered the axes to be laid aside, the rods to be lowered, and his chair to be taken from the tribunal and placed on the ground, and as for all the other observances by which it is the custom to honour supreme magistrates, he moderated some and did away with others altogether, desiring to make it clear to all that though it was fitting that he should rule all others, by his mother he should be ruled, even so may he now also make me honoured and conspicuous, and by giving me back our common country as a favour, render me, instead of the most ill-starred, the most fortunate of all women.
[4] εἰ δὲ ὅσιόν ἐστι καὶ θεμιτὸν υἱοῦ γόνασι μητέρα προσκυλίεσθαι, καὶ τοῦτο καὶ πᾶν ἄλλο ταπεινὸν σχῆμα καὶ λειτούργημα ὑπομενῶ σωτηρίας ἕνεκα τῆς πατρίδος.
[4] And if it is right and lawful for a mother to grovel at the feet of her son, even to this and every other posture and office of humility will I submit in order to save my country.”
[1] ταῦτ᾽ εἰποῦσα ἔρριψεν ἑαυτὴν χαμαὶ καὶ περιπλέξασα ταῖς χερσὶν ἀμφοτέραις τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Μαρκίου κατεφίλησε. πεσούσης δ᾽ αὐτῆς αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες ἀνεβόησαν ἅμα πᾶσαι κωκυτὸν ὀξὺν καὶ μακρόν, οἱ δ᾽ ἐν τῷ συνεδρίῳ παρόντες Οὐολούσκων οὐκ ἠνέσχοντο τὴν ἀήθειαν τῆς ὄψεως, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπεστράφησαν. αὐτὸς δ᾽ ὁ Μάρκιος ἀναλόμενος ἐκ τοῦ δίφρου καὶ περιπεσὼν τῇ μητρὶ ἀνίστησιν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ὀλίγον ἐμπνέουσαν, καὶ περιβαλὼν καὶ πολλὰ ἐκχέας δάκρυα εἶπε: νικᾷς, ὦ μῆτερ, οὐκ εὐτυχῆ νίκην οὔτε σεαυτῇ οὔτ᾽ ἐμοί: τὴν μὲν γὰρ πατρίδα σέσωκας, ἐμὲ δὲ τὸν εὐσεβῆ καὶ φιλόστοργον υἱὸν ἀπολώλεκας. [p. 206]
[54.1] With these words she threw herself upon the ground, and embracing the feet of Marcius with both her hands, she kissed them, As soon as she fell prostrate, all the women cried out together, raising a loud and prolonged wailing; and the Volscians who were present at the assembly could not bear the unusual sight, but turned away their eyes. Marcius himself, leaping up from his seat, took his mother in his arms, and raising her up from the ground scarcely breathing, embraced her, and shedding many tears, said: “Yours is the victory, mother, but a victory which will be happy for neither you nor me. For though you have saved your country, you have ruined me, your dutiful and affectionate son.”
[2] ταῦτ᾽ εἰπὼν ἐπὶ τὴν σκηνὴν ἀπῄει κελεύσας ἀκολουθεῖν τήν τε μητέρα καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ παιδία, ἔνθα τὸν λοιπὸν τῆς ἡμέρας χρόνον σκοπούμενος σὺν αὐταῖς, ὅ τι χρὴ πράττειν, διετέλεσεν. ἦν δὲ τὰ δόξαντα αὐτοῖς τοιάδε: περὶ μὲν τῆς καθόδου μήτε τὴν βουλὴν τέλος μηθὲν ἐκφέρειν εἰς τὸν δῆμον μήτ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἐπιψηφίζειν, πρὶν ἂν τοῖς Οὐολούσκοις εὐτρεπῆ γένηται τὰ περὶ φιλίας καὶ καταλύσεως τοῦ πολέμου: αὐτὸν δὲ τὴν στρατιὰν ἀναστήσαντα ὡς διὰ φιλίας γῆς ἀπάγειν: ὑποσχόντα δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς λόγον καὶ τὰς εὐεργεσίας ἀποδειξάμενον ἀξιοῦν τοὺς ἐπιτρέψαντας αὐτῷ τὴν στρατιάν, μάλιστα μὲν φιλίᾳ δέχεσθαι τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ συνθήκας ποιήσασθαι δικαίας, αὐτῷ τὴν ἰσότητα καὶ τὸ μὴ σφαλῆναι περὶ τὰς ὁμολογίας ἐπιτρέψαντας.
[2] After saying this, he retired to his tent, bidding his mother, his wife, and his children follow him; and there he passed the rest of the day in considering with them what should be done. The decisions they reached were as follows: That the senate should lay no proposal before the people providing for his return nor should the latter pass any vote till the Volscians should be ready to consider friendship and the termination of the war; that Marcius should break camp and lead his army away as through friendly territory; and that after he had given an accounting to the Volscians of his conduct in the command of their army and recounted the services he had done them, he should ask those who had entrusted him with the army, preferably to admit their enemies into friendship and to conclude a just treaty with them, commissioning them to see that the terms of the agreement were fair and free from guile;
[3] εἰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς κατωρθωμένοις σφίσιν αὐθαδείας ἀναπιμπλάμενοι μὴ δέχοιντο τὰς διαλλαγάς, ἀφίστασθαι τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῖς. ἢ γὰρ οὐχ ὑπομενεῖν α�
��τοὺς ἄλλον τινὰ αἱρεῖσθαι στρατηγὸν δι᾽ ἀπορίαν ἀγαθοῦ ἡγεμόνος, ἢ παρακινδυνεύσαντας ὁτῳδήτινι παραδοῦναι τὰς δυνάμεις σὺν μεγάλῃ διδαχθήσεσθαι βλάβῃ τὴν τοῦ συμφέροντος αἵρεσιν. τὰ μὲν δὴ βουλευθέντα αὐτοῖς καὶ δόξαντα δίκαιά τε καὶ ὅσια εἶναι, φήμης τ᾽ ἀγαθῆς ἐφ᾽ ᾗ μάλιστα ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐσπούδαζε παρὰ πᾶσι τευξόμενα, τοιάδε ἦν.
[3] but if, becoming puffed up with arrogance over their successes, they should reject an accommodation, he should resign the command they had given him. For they thought that the Volscians would either not bring themselves to choose another commander, for want of a good general, or, if they did run the hazard of handing over their forces to any chance person, they would learn through heavy losses to choose what was advantageous. Such were the subjects of their deliberation and such were the decisions they reached as just and right and calculated to win the good opinion of all men — a thing which Marcius had most at heart.
[4] ἐτάραττε δέ τις αὐτ ὑποψία δέος ἔχουσα, μή ποτε ἀλόγιστος ὄχλος ἐν ἐλπίδι τοῦ καταπεπολεμηκέναι τὸ ἀντίπαλον ἤδη ὢν δἰ ὀργῆς ἀκράτου λάβῃ τὴν ἀποτυχίαν κἄπειτα ὡς προδότην αὐτὸν οὐδὲ λόγου μεταδοὺς αὐτοχειρίᾳ φθάσῃ [p. 207] διολέσας. ἐδόκει οὖν αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῦτο καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο δεινότερον εἴη κινδύνευμα σὺν ἀρετῇ σώζουσι τὴν πίστιν ὑπομένειν. ἐπεὶ δὲ περὶ δύσιν ἡλίου ἦν ἤδη, ἀσπασάμενοι ἀλλήλους ἐξῄεσαν ἐκ τῆς σκηνῆς: ἔπειθ᾽
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 619