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| ID |
2211 |
| Text |
Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII (417 - 418) Orosius |
| Quotation |
1 Scio aliquantos post haec deinceps permoueri posse, quod uictoriae Romanae multarum gentium et ciuitatum strage crebrescunt. quamquam, si diligenter appendant, plus damni inuenient accidisse quam commodi. neque enim parui pendenda sunt tot bella seruilia, socialia, ciuilia, fugitiuorum, nullorum utique fructuum et magnarum tamen miseriarum. 2 Sed coniueo, ut quemadmodum uolunt ita fuisse uideatur; unde arbitror esse dicturos: ecquid his temporibus beatius, quibus continui triumphi, celebres uictoriae, diuites praedae, nobiles pompae, magni ante currum reges et longo ordine uictae gentes agebantur? 3 Quibus breuiter respondebitur et ipsos de temporibus solere causari et nos pro isdem temporibus instituisse sermonem, quae tempora non uni tantum urbi adtributa sed orbi uniuerso constat esse communia. ecce quam feliciter Roma uincit tam infeliciter quidquid extra Romam est uincitur. (...)
6 Edat Hispania sententiam suam: cum per annos ducentos ubique agros suos sanguine suo rigabat inportunumque hostem ultro ostiatim inquietantem nec repellere poterat nec sustinere, cum se suis diuersis urbibus ac locis, fracti caede bellorum, obsidionum fame exinaniti, interfectis coniugibus ac liberis suis ob remedia miseriarum concursu misero ac mutua caede iugulabant, - quid tunc de suis temporibus sentiebat? 7 Ipsa postremo dicat Italia: cur per annos quadringentos Romanis utique suis contradixit obstitit repugnauit, si eorum felicitas sua infelicitas non erat Romanosque fieri rerum dominos bonis communibus non obstabat? 8 Non requiro de innumeris diuersarum gentium populis diu ante liberis, tunc bello uictis, patria abductis, pretio uenditis, seruitute dispersis, quid tunc sibi maluerint, quid de Romanis opinati sint, quid de temporibus iudicarint. 9 Omitto de regibus magnarum opum, magnarum uirium, magnae gloriae, diu potentissimis, aliquando captis, seruiliter catenatis, sub iugum missis, ante currum actis, in carcere trucidatis: quorum tam stultum est exquirere sententiam, quam durum non dolere miseriam.
10 Nos, nos inquam ipsos uitaeque nostrae electionem, cui adquieuimus, consulamus. maiores nostri bella gesserunt, bellis fatigati pacem petentes tributa obtulerunt: tributum pretium pacis est. 11 Nos tributa dependimus, ne bella patiamur, ac per hoc in portu, ad quem illi tandem pro euadendis malorum tempestatibus confugerunt, nos consistimus et manemus. igitur nostra tempora uiderim utrum felicia; certe feliciora illis ducimus, qui quod illi ultime delegerunt nos continue possidemus. 12 Inquietudo enim bellorum, qua illi attriti sunt, nobis ignota est. in otio autem, quod illi post imperium Caesaris natiuitatemque Christi tenuiter gustauerunt, nos nascimur et senescimus; quod illis erat debita pensio seruitutis nobis est libera conlatio defensionis, 13 Tantumque interest inter praeterita praesentiaque tempora, ut quod Roma in usum luxuriae suae ferro extorquebat a nostris, nunc in usum communis reipublicae conferat ipsa nobiscum. aut si ab aliquo dicitur tolerabiliores parentibus nostris Romanos hostes fuisse, quam nobis Gothos esse, audiat et intellegat, quanto aliter quam circa se ipsum agitur sibi esse uideatur.
14 Olim cum bella toto orbe feruebant, quaeque prouincia suis regibus suis legibus suisque moribus utebatur, nec erat societas adfectionum, ubi dissidebat diuersitas potestatum; postremo solutas et barbaras gentes quid tandem ad societatem adduceret, quas diuersis sacrorum ritibus institutas etiam religio separabat? |
| Translation |
1. I know that a number of men could be influenced after my description of
these events on the grounds that through the slaughter of many states and
nations Rome’s victories grew greater. Nevertheless, if they look carefully,
they will discover that the City suffered more harm than good. For so many
wars waged against slaves, her allies, her own citizens, or runaway slaves
ought not to be seen as of little account, as they yielded no fruits of victory,
but only great suffering.
2. But I shall ignore this fact in order that this period can seem to have
been just as they wish it to have been. At this point I think they will say,
‘What more blessed times were there than these in which there were never-
ending triumphs, famous victories, rich booty, glorious parades, and mighty
kings and long columns of conquered nations driven before the victor’s
chariot?’ 3. I will reply briefly that they are accustomed to plead the case for
these times and I have written a tract about the same times, and it is agreed
that they concern the whole world, not just one city. See then that Rome’s
good fortune in her conquests is matched by the misfortune of those outside
Rome whom she conquers.
(...)
6. Let Spain give her opinion. When for 200 years she watered her
own fields everywhere with her own blood, while she could neither repel
nor endure her persistent foe who, with no provocation, restlessly moved
as it were from door to door, and when in various towns and places, her
people, broken by the slaughter of war and emaciated from the hunger of
being besieged, killed their women and children and cured their sufferings
by cutting one another’s throats in mutual slaughter in a conclave of misery
– what then did she feel about these times?
7. Finally, let Italy herself speak. Why did she quarrel with, oppose,
and fight back against the Romans, who are one of her own, for 400 years,
unless good times for Rome signalled bad times for herself, and that the
common good was harmed by Rome becoming the dominant power?
8. I need not ask what the countless nations of divers peoples, previously long free, but then conquered in war, dragged from their homelands,
priced, sold, and scattered far apart into slavery, would have preferred for
themselves at that time, what they thought of the Romans, or what was
their verdict on this period of history. 9. I shall say nothing of those kings
of great wealth, resources, and glory, who had long enjoyed great power,
but were then captured, loaded with chains as slaves, forced under the yoke,
paraded before the victor’s chariot, and finally butchered in gaol. It would
be as stupid to ask their opinion, as it would be hard-hearted not to grieve
at their sufferings.
10. Now, I say, let us look now at ourselves, and the life that we have
chosen and with which we are comfortable. Our ancestors waged war and
wearied by it, sought peace and paid tribute: for tribute is the price of peace.8
11. We pay tribute to avoid suffering war and for this reason have put in and
stayed at anchor in the port to which they finally fled to escape the storms
of evil.
Therefore, I would look at our own days to see if they are happy.
Certainly, I think them happier than the past, for what our ancestors finally
chose for themselves, we have all the time. 12. The tribulation of war that
wasted them away is unknown to us. We are born into, and grow old in,
that peace of which they had only the first taste after the rule of Caesar9
and the birth of Christ. What for them was a compulsory levy of slavery, is
for us a voluntary contribution for our defence. 13. The enormous differ-
ence between past and present can be seen in the fact that what Rome once
extorted from us at sword-point to satisfy her own extravagance, now she
contributes with us for the good of the state we share. And if anyone says
that the Romans were more tolerable enemies for our ancestors than the
Goths are for us, let him hear and discover how different the things going
on around him are to what he believes is the case.
14. Once the entire world was ablaze with war: each province had its
own king, laws, and customs, nor was there any common fellow-feeling
as the different powers quarrelled with one another. What then could draw
together these scattered barbarian tribes whom even religion divided as they
had different sacred rites? |
| Quotation source |
Lib. 5, Cap. 1, 1-3, 6-14 (Vol. II, pp. 82-5, trans. Fear, p. 206, 208-9) |
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