5.44
"Men of Ardea! friends of
old, and now my fellow-citizens -for this your
kindness has granted, this my fortunes have
compelled -let none of you imagine that I have come
here in forgetfulness of my position. The force of
circumstances and the common danger constrain every
man to contribute what help he can to meet the
crisis. When shall I ever be able to show my
gratitude for all the obligations you have conferred
if I fail in my duty now? When shall I ever be of
any use to you if not in war? It was by that that I
held my position in my native City as having never
known defeat; in times of peace my ungrateful
countrymen banished me. Now the chance is offered to
you, men of Ardea, of proving your gratitude for all
the kindness that Rome has shown you -you have not
forgotten how great it is, nor need I bring it up
against those who so well remember it -the chance
of winning for your city a vast reputation for war
at the expense of our common foe. Those who are
coming here in loose and disorderly fashion are a
race to whom nature has given bodies and minds
distinguished by bulk rather than by resolution and
endurance. It is for this reason that they bring
into every battle a terrifying appearance rather
than real force. Take the disaster of Rome as a
proof. They captured the City because it lay open to
them; a small force repelled them from the Citadel
and Capitol. Already the irksomeness of an
investment has proved too much for them, they are
giving it up and wandering through the fields in
straggling parties. When they are gorged with food
and the wine they drink so greedily, they throw
themselves down like wild beasts, on the approach of
night, in all directions by the streams, without
entrenching themselves, or setting any outposts or
pickets on guard. And now after their success they
are more careless than ever. If it is your intention
to defend your walls and not to allow all this
country to become a second Gaul, seize your arms and
muster in force by the first watch and follow me to
what will be a massacre, not a battle. If I do not
deliver them, whilst enchained by sleep, into your
hands to be slaughtered like cattle, I am ready to
accept the same fate in Ardea which I met with in
Rome."