Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities

§ 8.10.3 For it would be great baseness for one to lose through folly and cowardice what one has acquired by valour and courage. We neither force you to go to war against your will nor deprecate war if you are eager for it; but if you begin it, we shall defend ourselves. Return this answer to the Volscians, and tell them that, though they are the first to take up arms, we shall be the last to lay them down.”

§ 8.11.1 The ambassadors, having received this answer, reported it to the Volscian people. Another assembly was accordingly called and a decree of the whole nation was passed to declare war against the Romans. After this they appointed Tullus and Marcius generals for the war with full power and voted to levy troops, to raise money, and to prepare everything else they thought would be necessary for the war,

§ 8.11.2 When the assembly was about to be dismissed, Marcius rose up and said: “What your league has voted is all well and good; and let each provision be carried out at the proper season. But while you are planning to enrol your armies and making other preparations which, in all probability, will involve some to and delay, let Tullus and me set to work. As many of you, therefore, as wish to plunder the enemy's territory and to gain much booty, come with us. I undertake, with the assistance of Heaven, to give you many rich spoils.

§ 8.11.3 For the Romans, observing that your forces have not yet been assembled, are as yet unprepared; so that we shall have an opportunity of overrunning as large a part of their country as we please without molestation.”

§ 8.12.1 The Volscians having approved of this proposal also, the generals marched out in haste at the head of a numerous army of volunteers before the Romans were informed of their plans. With a part of this force Tullus invaded the territory of the Latins, in order to cut off from the enemy any assistance from that quarter; and with the remainder Marcius marched against the Romans' territory.

§ 8.12.2 As the calamity fell unexpectedly upon the inhabitants of the country, many Romans of free condition were taken and many slaves and no small number of oxen, beasts of burden, and other cattle; as for the corn that was found there, the iron tools and the other implements with which the land is tilled, some were carried away and others destroyed. For at the last the Volscians set fire to the country-houses, so that it would be a long time before those who had lost them could restore them.

§ 8.12.3 The farms of the plebeians suffered most in this respect, while those of the patricians remained unharmed, or, if they received any damage, it seemed to fall only on their slaves and cattle. For Marcius thus instructed the Volscians, in order to increase the suspicion of the plebeians against the patricians and to keep the sedition alive in the state; and that is just what happened.

§ 8.12.4 For when this raid upon the country was reported to the Romans and they learned that the calamity had not fallen upon all alike, the poor clamoured against the rich, accusing them of bringing Marcius against them, while the patricians endeavoured to clear themselves by declaring that this was some malicious trick on the part of the general. But neither of them, because of mutual jealousy and fear of treachery, thought fit either to come to the rescue of what was being destroyed or to save what was left; so that Marcius had full liberty to withdraw his army and to bring all his men home after they had done as much harm as they pleased, while suffering none themselves, and had enriched themselves with much booty.

§ 8.12.5 Tullus also arrived a little later from the territory of the Latins, bringing with him many spoils; for there too the inhabitants had no army with which to engage the enemy, since they were unprepared and the calamity fell upon them unexpectedly. As a result of this every city of the Volscians was buoyed up with hope, and more quickly than anyone would have expected not only were the troops enrolled, but everything else was supplied that the generals needed.

§ 8.13.1 When all their forces were now assembled, Marcius took counsel with his colleague how they should conduct their future operations; and he said to him: “In my opinion, Tullus, it will be best for us to divide our army into two bodies; then one of us, taking the most active and eager of the troops, should engage the enemy, and if they can bring themselves to come to close quarters with us, should decide the contest by a single battle, or, if they hesitate, as I think they will, to stake their all upon a newly raised army and inexperienced generals, then he should attack and lay waste their country, detach their allies, destroy their colonies, and do them any other injury he can.

§ 8.13.2 And the other should remain here and defend both the country and the cities, lest the enemy fall upon these unawares, if they are unguarded, and we ourselves suffer the most shameful of all disgraces in losing what we have while endeavouring to gain what we have not. But it is necessary that the one who remains here should at once repair the walls of the cities that have fallen in ruin, clear out the ditches, and strengthen the fortresses to serve as places of refuge for the husbandmen. He should also enrol another army, supply the forces that are in the field with provisions, forge arms, and speedily supply anything else that shall be necessary.

§ 8.13.3 Now I give you the choice whether you will command the army that is to take the field, or the one which is to remain here.” While he was speaking these words Tullus was greatly delighted with his proposal, and knowing the man's energy and good fortune in battle, yielded to him the command of the army that was to take the field.

§ 8.14.1 Marcius, without losing any more time, came with his army to the city of Circeii, in which there were Roman colonists living intermingled with the native residents; and he took possession of the town as soon as he appeared before it. For when the Circeians saw their country in the power of the Volscians and their army approaching the walls, they opened their gates, and coming out unarmed to meet the enemy, asked them to take possession of the town — a course which saved them from suffering any irreparable mischief.

§ 8.14.2 For the general put none of them to death nor expelled any from the city; but having taken clothing for his soldiers and provisions sufficient for a month, together with a moderate sum of money, he withdrew his forces, leaving only a small garrison in the town, not only for the safety of the inhabitants, lest they should suffer some harm at the hands of the Romans, but also to restrain them from beginning any rebellion in the future.

§ 8.14.3 When news of what had happened was brought to Rome, there was much greater confusion and disorder than before. The patricians reproached the populace with having driven from the state a man who was a great warrior, energetic, and full of noble pride, by involving him in a false charge and having thus caused him to become general of the Volscians; 4 and the leaders of the populace in turn inveighed against the senate, declaring that the whole affair was a piece of treachery devised by them and that the war was being directed, not against all the Romans in common, but against the plebeians only; and the most evil-minded element among the populace sided with them. But neither party gave so much as a thought to raising armies, summoning the allies, or making the necessary preparations, by reason of their mutual hatreds and their actions of one another in the meetings of the assembly.

§ 8.15.1 This being observed by the oldest of the Romans, they joined together and sought to persuade the most seditious of the plebeians both in public and in private to put a stop to their suspicions and accusations against the patricians. If, they argued, by the banishment of one man of distinction the commonwealth had been brought into so great danger, what were they to expect if by their abusive treatment they forced the greater part of the patricians to entertain the same sentiments? Thus these men appeased the disorderliness of the populace.

§ 8.15.2 After the great tumult had been suppressed, the senate met and gave the following answer to the ambassadors who had come from the Latin League to ask for armed assistance: That it was not easy for them to send assistance for the time being; but that they gave the Latins leave to enrol their own army themselves and to send out their own generals in command of their forces until the Romans should send out a force; for by the treaty of friendship they had made with the Latins both these things were forbidden.

§ 8.15.3 The senate also ordered the consuls to raise an army by levy, to guard the city, and to summon the allies, but not to take the field with their forces till everything was in readiness. These resolutions were ratified by the people. Only a short time now remained of the consuls' term of office, so that they were unable to carry to completion any of the measures that had been voted, but handed over everything half finished to their successors.

§ 8.16.1 Those who assumed office after them, Spurius Nautius and Sextus Furius, raised as large an army as they could from the register of citizens, and placed beacons and lookouts in the most convenient fortresses, in order that they might not be unaware of anything that passed in the country. They also got ready a great quantity of money, corn and arms in a short time.

§ 8.16.2 These preparations at home, then, were made in the best manner possible, and nothing now seemed to be wanting; but the allies did not all obey their summons with alacrity nor were they disposed to assist them voluntarily in the war, so that the consuls did not think fit to use compulsion either with them, for fear of treachery. Indeed, some of the allies were already openly revolting from them and aiding the Volscians.

§ 8.16.3 The Aequians had begun the revolt by going at once to the Volscians as soon as the war arose and entering into an alliance with them under oath; and these sent to Marcius a very numerous and zealous army. After these had taken the lead, many of the other allies also secretly assisted the Volscians and sent them reinforcements, though not in pursuance of any votes or general decree, but if any of their people desired to take part in the campaign of Marcius, they not only did not attempt to dissuade them, but even encouraged them.

§ 8.16.4 Thus in a short time the Volscians had got so large an army as they had never possessed when their cities had been in the most flourishing state. At the head of this army Marcius made another irruption into the territory of the Romans, and encamping there for many days, laid waste all the country which he had spared in his former incursion.

§ 8.16.5 He did not, it is true, capture many persons of free condition on this expedition; for the inhabitants had long since fled, after getting together everything that was most valuable, some to Rome and others to such of the neighbouring fortresses as were most capable of defence; but he took all the cattle they had not been able to driven away, together with the slaves who tended them, and carried off the corn, that still lay upon the threshing-floors, and all the other fruits of the earth, whether then gathering or already gathered.

§ 8.16.6 Having ravaged and laid everything waste, as none dared to come to grips with him, he led homeward his army, which was now heavily burdened with the great amount of its spoils and was proceeding in leisurely fashion.

§ 8.17.1 The Volscians, seeing the vast quantity of booty that was being brought home and hearing reports of the craven spirit of the Romans who, though they had hitherto been wont to ravage their neighbours' country, could now bear to see their own laid waste with impunity, were filled with great boastfulness and entertained hopes of the supremacy, looking upon it as an easy undertaking, lying ready to their hands, to overthrow the power of their adversaries. They offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to the gods for their success and adorned their temples and market-places with dedications of spoils, and all passed their time in festivals and rejoicings; while as for Marcius, they continued to admire and celebrate him as the ablest of all men in warfare and a general without an equal either at Rome or in the Greek or barbarian world.

§ 8.17.2 But above all they admired him for his good fortune, observing that everything he undertook easily succeeded according to his desire; so that there was no one of military age who was willing to be left behind by him, but all were eager to share in his exploits and flocked to him from every city.

§ 8.17.3 The general, after he had strengthened the zeal of the Volscians and reduced the manly fortitude of the enemy to a helplessness that was abject and anything but manly, led his army against the cities of their allies that still remained faithful to them; and having promptly prepared everything that was necessary for a siege, he marched against the Tolerienses, who belonged to the Latin nation.

§ 8.17.4 These, having long before made the necessary preparations for war and transported all the effects they had in the country into the city, withstood his attack and held out for some time, fighting from their walls and wounding many of the enemy; then, after being driven back by the slingers and enduring hardships till the late afternoon, they abandoned many parts of the wall.

§ 8.17.5 When Marcius was informed of this, he ordered some of the soldiers to plant ladders against those parts of the wall that were left unprotected, while he himself with the flower of his army hastened to the gates amid a shower of spears that were hurled at him from the towers; and breaking the bars asunder, he was the first to enter the city. Close to the gates stood a large and strong body of the enemy's troops, who stoutly withstood his attack and continued to fight for a long time; but when many of them had been killed, the rest gave way and, dispersing themselves, fled through the streets.

§ 8.17.6 Marcius followed, putting to death all whom he overtook except those who threw away their arms and had recourse to supplications. In the meantime the men who had ascended by the ladders were making themselves masters of the wall. The town being taken in this manner, Marcius set aside such of the spoils as were to be consecrated to the gods and to adorn the cities of the Volscians, and the rest he permitted the soldiers to plunder.

§ 8.17.7 Many prisoners were taken there, also a great deal of money and much corn, so that it was not easy for the victors to remove everything in one day, but they were forced to consume much time while, working in relays, they drove or carried away the booty, either on their own backs or using beasts of burden.

§ 8.18.1 The general, after all the prisoners and effects had been removed out of the city, left it desolate and drew off his forces to Bola, another town of the Latins. The Bolani also, as it chanced, had been apprised of his intended attack and had prepared everything necessary for the struggle. Marcius, who expected to take the town by storm, delivered his attacks upon many parts of the wall. But the Bolani, after watching for a favourable opportunity, opened their gates, and sallying out in force in regular array, engaged the front ranks of the enemy; then, after killing many of them and wounding still more and after forcing the rest to a shameful flight, they retired into the city.

§ 8.18.2 When Marcius learned of rout of the Volscians — for it chanced that he was not present in the place where this defeat occurred — he came up in haste with a few of his men, and rallying those who were dispersed in the flight, he formed them into a body and encouraged them. Then, having got them back in their ranks and indicated what they were to do, he ordered them to attack the town at the same gates.

§ 8.18.3 When the Bolani once more tried the same expedient, sallying out in force, the Volscians did not await them, but gave way and fled down hill, as their general had instructed them to do; and the Bolani, ignorant of the ruse, pursued them a considerable way. Then, when they were at a distance from the town, Marcius fell upon them with a body of chosen youth; and many of the Bolani fell, some while defending themselves and others while endeavouring to escape.

§ 8.18.4 Marcius pursued those who were being pushed back toward the town and forced his way inside the walls before the gates could be slammed shut. When the general had once made himself master of the gates, the rest of the Volscian host followed, and the Bolani, abandoning the walls, fled to their houses. Marcius, having possessed himself of this city also, gave leave to the soldiers to make slaves of the inhabitants and to seize their effects; and after carrying away all the booty at his leisure and with full liberty, as before, he set fire to the town.

§ 8.19.1 From there he took his army and marched against the place called Labici. This city too belonged then to the Latins and was, like the others, a colony of the Albans. In order to terrify the inhabitants, as soon as he entered their territory he set fire to the part of the country from which the flames would most clearly be seen by them. But the Labicani, since they had well-constructed walls, neither became terrified at his invasion nor showed any sign of weakness, but made a brave resistance and often repulsed the enemy as they were attempting to scale the walls.

§ 8.19.2 Notwithstanding this, they were not able to resist to the end, fighting as they were few against many and without the least respite. For many attacks were made upon all parts of the city by the Volscians, who fought in shifts, those who were fatigued continually retiring and other forces that were fresh taking their place; and the inhabitants, contending against these all day, without any respite even at night, were forced through exhaustion to abandon at walls. Marcius, having taken this city also, made slaves of the inhabitants and allowed his soldiers to divide the spoils.

§ 8.19.3 Thence he marched to Pedum — this also was a city of the Latins — and advancing with his army in good order, he took the town by storm as soon as he came near the walls. And having treated it in the same manner as the cities he had captured earlier, he led his forces at break of day against Corbio.

§ 8.19.4 When he was near its walls, the inhabitants opened their gates and came to meet him, holding out olive-branches instead of weapons and offering to surrender their walls without striking a blow. Marcius, after commending them for adopting the course that was to their best interest, ordered them to come out bringing whatever his army required, both money and corn; and having obtained what he demanded, he led his forces to Corioli. When the inhabitants of this place also surrendered it without resistance and very readily supplied his army with provisions and money and everything else that he ordered, he led the army away through their territory as through a friendly land.

§ 8.19.5 For this too was a matter about which he always took great care — that those who surrendered their cities to him should suffer none of the ills incident to war, but should get back their lands unravaged and recover all the cattle and slaves they had left behind on their farms; and he would not permit his army to quarter itself in the cities, limestone some mischief should result from their plundering or stealing, but he always encamped near the walls.

§ 8.20.1 Departing from this city, he led his army to Bovillae, which was then a city of note and counted as one of the very few leading cities of the Latin nation. When the inhabitants would not receive him, but trusted in their ramparts, which were very strong, and in the multitude of defenders who would fight from them, Marcius exhorted his men to fight ardently, promising great rewards to those who should first mount the walls, and then set to work; and a sharp battle took place for this city.

§ 8.20.2 For the Bovillani not only repulsed the assailants from the walls, but even threw open their gates, and sallying out in a body, forcibly thrust back down hill those who opposed them. Here the Volscians suffered very heavy losses and the battle for the walls continued a long time, so that all despaired of taking the town. But the general caused the loss of those who were slain to pass unnoticed by replacing them with others, and inspired with fresh courage those who were spent with toil by pressing forward himself to that part of the army which was in distress. Thus not only his words, but his actions also were incentives to valour; for he faced every danger and was not found wanting in any attempt till the walls were taken. 3 When at length he had made himself master of this city also and had summarily put to death some of the inhabitants and made prisoners of the rest, he withdrew his forces, having won a most glorious victory and carrying off great quantities of the finest spoils, besides enriching his army with vast amounts of money he had got possession of in this city, where it was found in greater quantity than in any of the places he had captured.

§ 8.21.1 After this all the country he marched through submitted to him and no city made any resistance but Lavinium, which was the first city built by the Trojans who land in Italy with Aeneas, and the one from which the Romans derive their origin, as I have shown earlier. The inhabitants of this city thought they ought to suffer any extremity rather than fail to keep faith with their descendants.

§ 8.21.2 Here, therefore, some stubborn fighting took place upon the walls and some sharp engagements before the ramparts; nevertheless, the walls were not carried by storm at the first assault, but their capture seemed to require time and unhurried persistence. Marcius accordingly gave over the attack on the walls and undertook to construct a ditch and a palisade around the town, while guarding all the roads so that neither provisions nor reinforcements might come to the inhabitants from outside.

§ 8.21.3 The Romans, being informed both of the destruction of the cities that were already taken and of the exigency which had influenced those who had joined Marcius, and importuned by the embassies which came to them daily from those who continued firm in their friendship and besought their aid, and being alarmed, moreover, by the investment of Lavinium then in progress and believing that if this stronghold should be taken the war would promptly come to their own gates, thought the only remedy for all these evils would be to pass a vote for the return of Marcius. 4 The entire populace shouted for this and the tribunes too wished to introduce a law for the annulment of his condemnation; but the patricians opposed them, being determined not to reverse any part of the sentence which had been pronounced. And as no preliminary decree was passed by the senate, the tribunes too no longer thought fit to propose the matter to the populace. 5 It may well excite wonder what the motive was that led the senate, which hitherto had so warmly espoused the cause of Marcius, to oppose the populace on this occasion when they wished to recall him — whether they were sounding out the sentiment of the populace and arousing them to greater zeal by their own reluctance to yield to them, or whether they wished to clear themselves of the accusations brought against them so that they might not be held to be either responsible for or accomplices in any of the acts of Marcius. For as their purpose was kept secret, it was difficult to conjecture what it was.

§ 8.22.1 Marcius, being informed of these events by some deserters, was so angry that he broke camp at once and marched on Rome, leaving a sufficient force to keep guard over Lavinium; and he straightway encamped at the place called the Cluilian Ditches, at a distance of forty stades from the city.

§ 8.22.2 When the Romans heard of his presence there, such confusion fell upon them, in their belief that the war would at once come to their walls, that some seized their arms and ran to the walls without orders, others went in a body to the gates without anyone to command them, some armed their slaves and took their stand on the roofs of their houses, and still others seized the citadel and the Capitol and the other strong places of the city; and the women, with their hair dishevelled, ran to the sanctuaries and to the temples, lamenting and praying to the gods to avert the danger that threatened.

§ 8.22.3 But when the night had passed, as well as most of the following day, and none of the evils they had feared befell them, but Marcius remained quiet, all the plebeians flocked to the Forum and called upon the patricians to assemble in the senate-house, declaring that if they would not pass the preliminary decree for the return of Marcius, they themselves, as men who were being betrayed, would take measures for their own protection.

§ 8.22.4 Then at last the senators met in the senate-house and voted to send to Marcius five of their oldest members who were his closest friends, to treat for reconciliation and friendship. The men chosen were Marcus Minucius, Postumus Cominius, Spurius Larcius, Publius Pinarius and Quintus Sulpicius, all ex-consuls.

§ 8.22.5 When they came to the camp and Marcius was informed of their arrival, he seated himself in the midst of the most important of the Volscians and their allies, where very many would hear all that was said, and then ordered the envoys to be summoned. When these came in, Minucius, who during his consulship had been most active in his favour and had distinguished himself by his opposition to the plebeians, spoke first, as follows:

§ 8.23.1 “We are all sensible, Marcius, that you have suffered injustice at the hands of the populace in having been banished from your country under a foul accusation, and we do not regard it as anything strange on your part if you feel anger and resentment at your misfortunes. For common to the nature of all men is this law — that the injured party is an enemy to the aggressor.

§ 8.23.2 But that you do not examine in the light of sober reason who those are whom you ought to requite and punish, nor show any moderation in exacting that punishment, but class together the innocent with the guilty and friends with enemies, and that you violate the inviolable laws of Nature, confound the duties of religion, and, even as to yourself, no longer remember from whom you are sprung and what sort of man you are — that has seemed strange to us.

§ 8.23.3 We have come now, the oldest of the patricians and the most zealous of your friends, sent by the commonwealth to present our defence mingled with entreaty, and to bring word upon what conditions we ask you to lay aside your enmity toward the populace; and furthermore, to advise you of the course which we believe will be the most honourable and advantageous for you.

§ 8.24.1 ”Let me speak first concerning the point of justice. The plebeians, inflamed by the tribunes, conspired against you and came with the intention of putting you to death without a trial, because they feared you. This attempt we of the senate prevented, and we permitted you to suffer no injustice on that occasion. Afterwards the same men who had been prevented from destroying you summoned you to trial, charging you with having uttered malicious words about them in the senate.

§ 8.24.2 We opposed this too, as you know, and would not permit you to be brought to trial either for your opinion or for your words. Disappointed in this also, they came to us at last, accusing you at aiming at tyranny. This charge you yourself consented to answer, since you were far from guilty of it, and you permitted the plebeians to give their votes concerning you.

§ 8.24.3 The senate was present on this occasion also and made many pleas in your behalf. Of which of the misfortunes, then, that have befallen you have we patricians been the cause? And why do you make war upon us who showed so much goodwill toward you during that contest? But, for that matter, not even all the plebeians were found to desire your banishment; at any rate, you were condemned by two votes only, so that you could not with justice be an enemy to those plebeians, either, who acquitted you as guilty of no wrongdoing.

§ 8.24.4 I will assume, however, if you wish, that it was pursuant to the vote of all the plebeians and the judgement of the entire senate that you suffered this misfortune, and that your hatred against us all is just; but the women, Marcius, what wrong have they done to you that you should make war upon them? By what vote did they condemn you to banishment, or what malicious words did they utter against you?

§ 8.24.5 And our children, what wrong have they done or contemplated doing that they should be exposed to captivity and to all the other misfortunes which they would presumably suffer if the city should be taken? You are not just in your judgements, Marcius; and if you think you ought to hate those who are guilty and your enemies in such a manner as not to spare even those who are innocent and your friends, then your way of thinking is not such as becomes a good man.

§ 8.24.6 But, to omit all these considerations, what, in Heaven's name, could duty answer if anyone should ask you what injure you have received from your ancestors to induce you to destroy their sepulchres and to deprive them of the honours they receive from men? Or resentment at what injury has led you to despoil, burn and demolish the altars of the gods, their shrines and their temples, and to prevent them from receiving their customary worship? What could you say in answer to this? For my part, I see nothing that you could say.

§ 8.24.7 Let these considerations of justice suffice, Marcius, both in behalf of us of the senate and of the other citizens whom you are eager to destroy, even though you have suffered no wrong at their hands, and in behalf of the sepulchres, the sanctuaries and the city to which you owe both your birth and your rearing.

§ 8.25.1 “Come now, even if it were fitting that all men, even those who have not wronged you at all, together with their wives and children should make atonement to you, and that all the gods, the heroes and the lesser divinities, the city and the country, should reap the benefit of the tribunes' folly, and that nothing whatever should be exempted, nothing go unrevenged by you, have you not already exacted sufficient punishment from us all you slaying so many people, ravaging so much territory by fire and sword, razing to the ground so many cities, and doing away in many places with the festivals, the sacrifices and the worship of the gods and other divinities and compelling them to go without their festivals and sacrifices and to have no part in their customary honours?

§ 8.25.2 For my part, I should have refused to believe that a man who had the least regard for virtue would either destroy his friends along with his enemies or show himself harsh and inexorable in his anger toward those who offend him in any way, especially after he has already exacted from them many severe retributions.

§ 8.25.3 These, then, are the considerations we had to offer you by way of both clearing ourselves and asking to be lenient toward the plebeians; and the advice which we, your most valued friends, were ready to give you out of goodwill if you were bent on strife, and the promises we could make if you were ready to be reconciled to your country, are as follows: While your power is greatest and Heaven still assists you, we advise you to act with moderation and to husband your good fortune, bearing in mind that all things are subject to change and that nothing is apt to continue long in the same state. All things that wax too great, when they reach the peak of eminence, incur the displeasure of the gods and are brought to naught again. And this is the fate which comes especially to stubborn and haughty spirits and those that overstep the bounds of human nature.

§ 8.25.4 It is in your power now to put an end to the war on the best possible terms; for the whole senate is eager to pass a vote for your return, and the populace is ready by a law ratifying the senate's vote to annul your sentence of perpetual banishment. What is there, then, to prevent you any longer from enjoying once more the most dear and precious sight of your nearest of kin, from recovering your fatherland that is so well worth fighting for, from ruling, as you ought, over rulers and commanding those who cdm others, and from bequeathing to children and descendants the greatest glory?

§ 8.25.5 Moreover, we are the sureties that all these promises will be performed forthwith. For though at present it would not be well for the senate or the people to pass any mild or lenient vote in your favour while you are encamped against us and are committing hostile acts, yet if you lay down your arms, the decree for your return will soon come to you, brought by us.

§ 8.26.1 ”These, then, are the advantages you will reap by becoming reconciled; whereas, if you psi in your resentment and do not give up your hatred toward us, many disagreeable things will befall you, of which I shall now mention two as the most important and the most obvious. The first is that you have an evil passion for a thing that is difficult of accomplishment, or rather, impossible — the overthrow of the power of Rome, and that too by the arms of the Volscians; the second is that, alike if you succeeded and if you fail, it will be your lot to be looked upon as the most unfortunate of all men. Hear now, Marcius, the reasons that induce me to entertain this opinion concerning you, and take no offence at my frankness of speech.

§ 8.26.2 Consider, first, the impossibility of the thing. The Romans, as you yourself know, have a numerous body of youth of their own nation, whom, if the sedition is once banished from among them — and banished it will now inevitably be by this war, since a common fear is wont to reconcile all differences — surely not the Volscians, nay, no other Italian nation either, will ever overcome. Great also is the power of the Latins and of our other allies and colonies, and that power, be assured, will soon come to our assistance. We have generals too of the same ability as yourself, both older men and young, in greater number than are to be found in any other states.

§ 8.26.3 But the greatest assistance of all, and one which in times of danger has never betrayed our hopes, and better too than all human strength combined, is the favour of the gods, by whom this city which we inhabit not only continues to this day to preserve her liberty for already the eighth generation, but is also flourishing and the ruler over many nations.

§ 8.26.4 And do not liken us to the Pedani, the Tolerienses, or the peoples of the other petty towns you have seized; for a general less able than yourself and with a smaller army than this great host of yours could have reduced small garrisons and slight defences. But consider the greatness of our city, the brilliance of her achievements in war, and the good fortune that abides with her through the favour of the gods, by which she has been raised from a small beginning to her present grandeur.

§ 8.26.5 As for your own forces, at the head of which you are undertaking so great an enterprise, do not imagine that they have changed, but bear clearly in mind that you are leading against us an army of mere Volscians and Aequians, whom we here who are still living were wont to defeat in many battles, yes, as often as they dared to come to an engagement with us. Know, then, that you are going to fight with inferior troops against those that are superior to them, and with troops that are accustomed to defeat every time against those that are always victorious.

§ 8.26.6 Yet even if the contrary of this were true, it would still be a matter for wonder how you, who are experienced in warfare, could have failed to observe that courage in the face of danger is not apt to be felt in equal measure by those who fight for their own blessings and by those who set out after what belongs to others. For the latter, if they do not succeed, suffer no loss, whereas the others, if they are defeated, have nothing left. And this is the chief reason why large armies have often been beaten by smaller ones and superior forces by inferior ones. For necessity is formidable, and a struggle in which life itself is at stake is capable of inspiring boldness in a man which was not already his by nature. I had many other things to say concerning the impossibility of your undertaking, but this is enough.

§ 8.27.1 "I still have one argument left which, if you will judge of it by reason rather than in anger, will not only seem to you to have been well made, but will also cause you to repent of what you are doing. What is this argument? That the gods have not given it to any mortal creature to possess sure knowledge of future events, and you will not find in all past time a man for whom all his undertakings succeeded according to his plan and whom Fortune thwarted in none.

§ 8.27.2 For this reason alone those who excel others in prudence — the fruit of a long life and many lessons from experience — think that they ought, before beginning any enterprise whatever, first to consider its possible outcome — not only the one which they desire for themselves, but also the one which will be contrary to their judgement. And this is particularly true of commanders in wars, the more so because the affairs of which they have charge are of greater importance and because everybody imputes to them the responsibility for both victories and defeats. Then, if they find that no loss inheres in failure, or few and small losses, they set about their undertakings, but if the losses might be many and serious, they abandon them.

§ 8.27.3 Do you too, then, follow their example, and before you resort to action, consider what it will be your fate to suffer if you fail in this war and all conditions do not favour you. You will be reproached by those who have received you and you will also blame yourself for having undertaken greater things than are possible; and when our army in turn marches into their territory and lays it waste — for we shall never submit to such injuries without avenging ourselves on our aggressors — you will not be able to avoid one of these two fates: you will be put to death in a shameful manner either by those very men, in whose eyes you will be to blame the great misfortunes, or by us, whom you came to slay and to enslave.

§ 8.27.4 But perhaps those others, before they become involved in any misfortune, may, in the attempt to effect an accommodation with us, think fit to deliver up to us to be punished — a course to which many, both barbarians and Greeks, have been obliged to submit when reduced to such extremities. Do you look upon these as small matters unworthy of your consideration and believe that you ought to overlook them, or rather as the worst evils of all to suffer?

§ 8.28.1 “Come now, if you do succeed, what wonderful, what enviable advantage will be yours, or what glory will you gain? For this also you must consider. In the first place, it will be your fate to be deprived of those who are dearest and nearest of kin to you — of an unhappy mother, to whom you are making no honourable return for your birth and rearing and for all the hardships she underwent on your account; and again, of a faithful wife, who through yearning for you sits in solitude and widowhood, lamenting every day and night your banishment; and furthermore of two sons who ought, being descendants of worthy ancestors, to benefit from their honours by being held in high esteem in a flourishing fatherland.

§ 8.28.2 But you will be forced to behold the pitiable and unhappy deaths of all these if you dare to bring the war to our walls. For surely no mercy will be shown to any of your family by those who are in danger of losing their own and are treated by you with the same cruelty. On the contrary, they will proceed to inflict on them dreadful tortures, pitiless indignities and every other kind of abuse, if they are forced thereto by their calamities. And for all these things it will not be those who do them that are to blame, but you, who impose the necessity upon them.

§ 8.28.3 Such will be the pleasures you will reap if this enterprise of yours succeeds; but as for praise and emulation and honours, which good men ought to strive for, consider of what nature they will be. You will be called the slayer of your mother, the murderer of your children, the assassin of your wife, and the evil genius of your country; wherever you go, no man who is pious and just will be willing to let you partake with him in sacrifices or libations or in the hospitality of his home; and even by those for whom out of friendliness you perform these services you will not be held in honour, but every one of them, after reaping some advantage from your impious actions, will detest your arrogant manner.

§ 8.28.4 I forbear to add that, besides the hatred which you will encounter on the part of the most fair-minded men, you will have to face much envy from your equals and fear from your inferiors and, in consequence of both the envy and the fear, plots and many other disagreeable things which are likely to befall a man destitute of friends and living in a foreign land. I say nothing, indeed, of the Furies sent by the gods and other divinities to punish those who have been guilty of impious and dreadful deeds — those Furies tormented by whom in both soul and body they drag out a miserable life while awaiting a pitiable death. Bearing these things in mind, Marcius, repent of your purpose and give up your grudge against your country; and regarding Fortune as having been the cause of all the evils you have suffered at our hands or have inflicted on us, return with joy to your family, receive a mother's most affectionate embraces, a wife's sweetest welcome, and give yourself back to your country as a most honourable repayment of the debt you owe to her for having given birth and rearing to so great a man.”

§ 8.29.1 Minucius having spoken in this manner, Marcius after a short pause replied: “To you, Minucius, and to all others who have been sent here with him by the senate I am a friend and am ready to do you any service in my power, because not only earlier, when I was your fellow citizen and had a share in the administration of public affairs, you assisted me in many times of need, but also after my banishment you did not turn from me in contempt of my then unhappy fate, as if I were no longer able either to serve my friends or to hurt my enemies, but you continued to show yourselves good and staunch friends by taking care of my mother, my wife and my children, and alleviating their misfortune by your personal attentions.

§ 8.29.2 But to the rest of the Romans I am as hostile as I can be and am at war with them, and I shall never cease to hate them; for they, in return for the many glorious achievements for which I deserved honour, drove me out of my country with ignominy, as being guilty of the most grievous crimes against the commonwealth, and showed neither respect for my mother, nor compassion for my children, nor any other humane field in view of my misfortunes.

§ 8.29.3 Now that you have been informed of this, if you desire anything from me for yourselves, declare it without hesitation, in the assurance that you shall fail of naught that is in my power; but as regards friendship and a reconciliation, which you desire me to enter into with the populace in the hope that they will let me return, discuss it no more. Great indeed would be the satisfaction with which I should accept restoration to a city like this, in which vice receives the rewards of virtue and the innocent await the punishment of criminals!

§ 8.29.4 For come, tell me, in Heaven's name, with what crime am I charged that I should have experienced this misfortune? Or what course have I pursued that is unworthy of my ancestors? I made my first campaign when I was very young, at the time we fought against the kings who were endeavouring to bring about their restoration by force. As a result of that battle I was crowned by the general with a wreath of valour for having saved a citizen and slain an enemy.

§ 8.29.5 After that, in every other action I was engaged in, whether of the horse or foot, I distinguished myself in all and from all received the rewards for valour. And there was neither any town taken by storm whose walls I was not the very first or among the first few to mount, nor any flight of the enemy from the field of battle where all who were present did not acknowledge that I had been the chief cause of it, nor any other signal or brave action performed in war without the assistance of either my valour or my good fortune.

§ 8.30.1 ”These are exploits, it is true, that some other brave man also might perhaps be able to cite in his favour, even if not so many of them; but what general or captain could boast of capturing an entire city, as I captured Corioli, and also of putting to flight the enemy's army on that very same day, as I did that of the Antiates when it came to the assistance of the besieged?

§ 8.30.2 I refrain from adding that after I had given such proofs of my valour, when I might have received out of the spoils a large amount of gold and silver, as well as slaves, beasts of burden and cattle, and much fertile land, I refused, but desiring to secure myself as far as possible against envy, took only a single war- horse out of the spoils and my personal friend from among the captives, and all the rest of the wealth I brought and turned over to the state.

§ 8.30.3 Did I, then, for these actions deserve to suffer punishments, or to receive honours? To become subject to the basest of the citizens, or myself to issue orders to my inferiors? Or perhaps it was not for these reasons that the populace banished me, but rather because in my private life I was unrestrained, extravagant and lawless? And yet who can point to anyone who because of my lawless pleasures has either been banished from his country, or lost his liberty, or been deprived of his money, or met with any other misfortune? On the contrary, no one even of my enemies ever accused or charged me any of these things, but all bore witness that even my daily life was irreproachable.

§ 8.30.4'But, great heavens, man,' some one may say,'it was your political principles that aroused hatred and brought this misfortune upon you. For when you had it in your power to choose the better side, you chose the worse, and you continued to say and do everything calculated to effect the overthrow of the established aristocracy and to put the whole power of the commonwealth into the hands of an ignorant and base municipal.' But I, Minucius, pursued a course the very reverse of that, and sought to provide that the senate should always administer the public business and that the established constitution should be maintained.

§ 8.30.5 In return, however, for these honourable principles, which our forefathers thought worthy of emulation, I have received this happy, this blessed reward from my country — to have been banished, not by the populace alone, Minucius, but, long before that, by the senate, which encouraged me at first with vain hopes while I was opposing the tribunes in their efforts to establish a tyranny, promising that it would itself provide for my security, and then, upon the first suspicion of any danger from the plebeians, abandoned me and delivered me up to my enemies!

§ 8.30.6 But you yourself were consul at the time, Minucius, when the senate passed the preliminary decree concerning my trial and when Valerius, who advised delivering me up to the populace, gained great applause by his speech, and I, fearing that, if the question were put, I should be condemned by the senators, acquiesced and promised of appear voluntarily for trial.

§ 8.31.1 “Come, answer me, Minucius, did I seem to the senate also to deserve punishment for having promoted and pursued the best measures, or to the populace only? For if you were all of the same opinion at that time and if all of you banished me, it is plain that all of you who were of this mind hate virtue and that there is no place in your city for loyalty to principle. But if the senate was forced to yield to the populace and its action was the result of compulsion, not of conviction, you senators admit, I take it, that you are governed by the baser element and that the senate has not the power to act in any matter as it thinks fit.

§ 8.31.2 After this do you ask me to return to such a city, in which the better element is governed by the worse? Then you have judged me capable of an act of sheer madness! But come, suppose that I have been persuaded, and having put an end to the war as you desire, have returned home; what sentiments shall I entertain after this, and what manner of life shall I live? Shall I choose the safe and secure course, and, in order to obtain magistracies, honours and the other advantages of which I think myself worthy, consent to court the mob which has the power of bestowing them? In that case I shall change from a worthy to a base citizen and shall reap no benefit from my former virtue.

§ 8.31.3 Or, maintaining the same character and observing the same political principles, shall I oppose those who do not make the same choice? Then is it not obvious that the populace will again make war upon me and insist on exacting fresh penalties, making this very point their first charge against me, that after obtaining my return at their hands I do not humour them in the measures I pursue? You cannot deny it.

§ 8.31.4 Then some other bold demagogue, an Icilius or a Decius, will appear who will accused me of setting the citizens at variance with one another, of forming a plot against the populace, of betraying the commonwealth to the enemy, or of aiming at tyranny, even as Decius charged me, or of any other crime that may occur to him; for hatred will never be at a loss to find an accusation.

§ 8.31.5 And, besides the other charges, there will also be brought up presently all the things I have done in this war — that I have laid waste your country, driven off booty, taken your towns, slain some of those who defended them and delivered up others to the enemy. If my accusers charge me with these things, what shall I say to them in my defence, or on what assistance shall I rely?

§ 8.32.1 ”Is it not therefore plain, Minucius, that your envoys are indulging in fair words and dissimulation, cloaking with a specious name a wicked design? For surely it is not my restoration that you are offering me, but you are taking me back to the populace as a sacrificial victim, perhaps because you have actually planned to do this (for it no longer occurs to me to hold any good opinion of you);

§ 8.32.2 but if you wish it so — I am merely assuming this — that it is because you do not foresee any of the things that I shall suffer, what advantage shall I gain from your ignorance or folly, since you will not be able to prevent anything even if you are so disposed, but are compelled to gratify the populace in this too, as in everything else? Now to show that from the point of view of my safety there will be no gain to me in this —'restoration,' as you call it, but I a quick road to destruction, not many more words are called for, I think; but to prove that I will not enhance my reputation, either, or my honour, or my piety — for you, Minucius, asked me to take these into consideration, and rightly — but that, on the contrary, I shall be acting in a most shameful and impious manner if I follow your advice, pray hear in turn what I have to say.

§ 8.32.3 I became an enemy to these men here and did them many injuries during the war while I was acquiring sovereignty, power and glory for my country. Was it not fitting, therefore, that I should be honoured by those I had benefited and hated by those I had injured? Certainly, if what one could reasonably expect had happened. But Fortune upset both these expectations and reversed the two principles. For you Romans, on whose account I was an enemy to these men, deprived me of all my possessions, and making a nobody of me, cast me off; while they, who had suffered those dire evils at my hands, received me into their cities, the resourceless, homeless, humbled outcast.

§ 8.32.4 And not content with doing this only, an action so splendid and magnanimous, they also conferred on me citizenship in all their cities, as well as the magistracies and honours that in their country are highest. To omit the rest, they have now appointed me supreme commander of the expeditionary force and have committed to me alone all the interests of their state.

§ 8.32.5 Look you, with what heart would I now betray these men by whom I have been decked with such honours, when I have suffered no injury, great or small, at their hands? Unless, indeed, their favours are injurious to me, as mine are to you! A fine reputation forsooth, throughout all the world will such double treachery bring me, when it shall be known! Who would not praise me on hearing that when I found my friends, from whom I had the right to expect kindness, to be my enemies, and my foes, by whom I should have been put to death, to be my friends, instead of hating those who hate me and loving those who love me, I took the opposite view!