Remember that famous day when I used my tears to disarm him. I wept,<hr>
shouted, pleaded. I did not forget to use everything that could have made a kind and<hr>
dedicated son yield. I pleaded for mercy for the ungrateful, I sided with the enemies of<hr>
Coriolanus. And even if victory was assured him, if he was ready to take revenge on those who had<hr>
formerly exiled him and chain those who had insulted him, his great heart, which nobody could<hr>
move, was finally touched by his mother. I suppressed in him the desire to conquer Rome<hr>
and obtained what I had asked. All of this, as well as I, Volumnia, you know, I do not remind you<hr>
of all these things but to amplify my grief. I still seem to hear Coriolanus's voice! When casting aside his<hr>
weapons to come and embrace me, he cried out in a sigh:<hr>
"Mother, what have you done? You have achieved a very glorious victory for yourself and very fortunate<hr>
for your country, but very unfortunate for your son." Volumnia, this sigh was<hr>
sadly true! The same weapons that he cast off to come to me were used against him. The Volscians then took up daggers and pierced his heart. I am
responsible for this fate, for I betrayed my son by delivering him defenseless into the hands of his
enemies, after having thwarted their invasion and their revenge upon the Romans. But how could I have imagined that things would go differently? Was I the mother of all the
Volscians, to believe that they would renounce, for love of me, the victory they were ready to win? What right did I have to ask them for the freedom of Rome, their
enemy? I should have thought that they would take vengeance upon my son for the loss I had
caused them.<hr>
Yes, Volumnia, I should have taken into account all these things. Even if Coriolanus could not return to Rome, I should at least have accompanied him in his misfortune. As he had overcome his grudge against Rome for me, I should have left my country out of love for him. But you and I, Volumnia, we did not act this way. I let Coriolanus go, surrounded by those who took his life, and I returned to Rome triumphant, enjoying the fruit of this sad victory. When the Senate asked us on our return, Volumnia, what we would like in reward for our action, we should have demanded the return of Coriolanus and not the permission to build a temple to Fortuna. It seems that this deity did not approve of our zeal, for she did not grant us her benefits. The gods would no doubt have preferred us to be grateful to Coriolanus. This temple that has been built is a sign of our vanity, not our gratitude. We strove for our own glory, not that of our savior. Yet he deserved it more than we. We should have raised altars to the kindness of my son, not to our own. The one who conquered his grudge, saved his country, and yielded victory to his mother's tears surely deserved better than us the honor that has been bestowed upon us. His devotion should have received more favorable treatment from the heavens. For even if there are Romans unjust enough to say that Coriolanus should have put aside his weapons only out of consideration for Rome and not for me, and that in
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