Kitap 45
23
"After the final defeat of Philip and of Antiochus we received the most splendid rewards from you. If the good fortune which, through the kindness of heaven and your own courage, is now yours had fallen to the lot of Perseus and we had gone to Macedonia to meet the victorious king and ask him for rewards, what could we possibly say for ourselves? That he had received assistance from us in money or corn? Or in naval and military contingents? Or that we had held any fortified position for him? Or that we had fought any battles for him either under his generals or on our own account? If he were to ask where our soldiers were supplying his garrison or our ships joining his fleet, we should, perhaps, make the same defence before the victor that we are now making before you. This is what we have gained by sending envoys to both parties to urge peace-we have won the gratitude of neither, and from one side we have incurred suspicion and danger. And yet Perseus truly might bring a charge against us which you, senators, cannot bring. At the outset of the war we sent a deputation to promise assistance with whatever was needful for the war, and to assure you that everything was in readiness, our naval forces, our munitions of war, our fighting men, just as in the former wars. It was owing to you that we did not supply them; whatever the reason was, you refused our assistance. So then not only did we show no hostility to you, but we were not lacking in our duty as faithful allies, though you prohibited us from discharging it.
