Sapientiores igitur Q. Fulvius, qui Capua capta, et L. Opimius, qui Fregellanis ad deditionem compulsis, triumphandi potestatem a senatu petierunt, uterque editis operibus magnificus sed neuter petitae rei compos, non quidem invidia patrum conscriptorum, cui numquam aditum in curia<m> esse voluerunt, sed summa diligentia observandi iuris, quo cautum erat ut pro aucto imperio, non pro recuperatis quae populi Romani fuissent, triumphus decerneretur: tantum enim interest adicias aliquid an detractum restituas quantum distat beneficii initium ab iniuriae fine.
Wiser then were Q. Fulvius and L. Opimius, who petitioned from the senate the power to triumph after taking Capua and forcing the people of Fregellae to surrender respectively. Both had fine achievements to boast, but neither gained his point: not from jealousy on the part of the Conscript Fathers, who would never allow such a sentiment access to their house, but from utmost care to observe the law, which provided that a triumph be decreed for augmentation of empire, not for recovery of what had belonged to the Roman people. For there is as much difference between adding something and restoring what has been taken away as between the beginning of a benefaction and the end of an injury.
final_alignments\Valerius_Memorable_Book2.json