Man. 18.1Quae cīvitās umquam fuit anteā, nōn dīcō Athēniēnsium quae satis lātē quondam mare tenuisse dīcitur, nōn Carthāginiēnsium quī permultum classe ac maritimīs rēbus valuērunt, nōn Rhodiōrum quōrum ūsque ad nostram memoriam disciplīna nāvālis et glōria permānsit, quae cīvitās, inquam, anteā tam tenuis aut tam parvola fuit quae nōn portūs suōs et agrōs et aliquam partem regiōnis atque ōrae maritimae per sē ipsa dēfenderet?What state ever existed before (I do not speak of the Athenians, who are said once to have held the sea far and wide, nor of the Carthaginians, who were very strong in fleets and maritime affairs, nor of the Rhodians, whose naval discipline and glory have lasted down to our own time), what state, I say, was ever before so weak or so tiny that it did not defend its own harbours and fields and some part of its region and coast by itself? Man. 18.1At hercules aliquot annōs continuōs ante lēgem Gabīniam ille populus Rōmānus, cuius ūsque ad nostram memoriam nōmen invictum in nāvālibus pugnīs permānserit, magnā ac multō maximā parte nōn modo ūtilitātis sed etiam dignitātis atque imperī caruit.But, by Hercules, for a number of years in succession before the Gabinian law, the Roman people, whose name has remained unconquered in naval battles down to our own time, was deprived of a great part, indeed by far the greatest part, not only of its advantage but also of its dignity and empire.
Man. 18.55Nōs quōrum maiōrēs Antiochum rēgem classe Persēnque superārunt omnibusque nāvālibus pugnīs Carthāginiēnsīs, hominēs in maritimīs rēbus exercitātissimōs parātissimōsque, vīcērunt, eī nūllō in locō iam praedōnibus parēs esse poterāmus.We, whose ancestors overcame King Antiochus and Perseus with their fleets and defeated in every naval battle the Carthaginians, men most practised and best prepared in maritime affairs, we were no longer a match for the pirates anywhere. Man. 18.55Nōs quī anteā nōn modo Ītaliam tūtam habēbāmus sed omnīs sociōs in ultimīs ōrīs auctōritāte nostrī imperī salvōs praestāre poterāmus, tum cum īnsula Dēlus tam procul ā nōbīs in Aegaeō marī posita, quō omnēs undique cum mercibus atque oneribus commeābant, referta dīvitiīs, parva, sine mūrō nihil timēbat, īdem nōn modo prōvinciīs atque ōrīs Ītaliae maritimīs ac portibus nostrīs sed etiam Appiā iam viā carēbāmus.We, who previously not only kept Italy safe but could guarantee the safety of all our allies on the furthest coasts by the authority of our empire, at a time when the island of Delos, situated so far from us in the Aegean Sea, to which everyone from everywhere travelled with merchandise and cargoes, packed with riches, small and without a wall, feared nothing, we the same were deprived not only of our provinces and the sea coasts of Italy and our harbours but even of the Appian Way.
Man. 18.55Et eīs temporibus nōnne pudēbat magistrātūs populī Rōmānī in hunc ipsum locum ēscendere, cum eum nōbīs maiōrēs nostrī exuviīs nauticīs et classium spoliīs ōrnātum relīquissent!And in those times were the magistrates of the Roman people not ashamed to mount this very place, when our ancestors had left it to us adorned with naval trophies and the spoils of fleets!