§3.1μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρέσβεις ἧκον ἕτεροι τῆς τε βασιλείας ἀφίστασθαι καὶ πολεμοῦντα παυσασθαι τὸν Ταρκύνιον λέγοντες, ἀπαιτεῖν δὲ τὰ χρήματα καὶ τὰς οὐσίας αὑτῷ καὶ φίλοις καὶ οἰκείοις, ἀφʼ ὧν διαβιώσονται φεύγοντες.
After this, other envoys came saying that Tarquin abdicated the kingdom and would cease making war, but demanding the money and property for himself, his friends, and his relatives, from which they might support themselves in exile.
ἐπικλωμένων δὲ πολλῶν καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ Κολλατίνου συναγορεύοντος, ἄτρεπτος ὢν ἀνὴρ καὶ τραχὺς ὀργὴν ὁ Βροῦτος ἐξέδραμεν εἰς ἀγοράν, προδότην ἀποκαλῶν τὸν συνάρχοντα, πολέμου καὶ τυραννίδος ἀφορμὰς χαριζόμενον οἷς δεινὸν ἦν ὄντως ἐφόδια φυγῆς ψηφίσασθαι. §3.2συνελθόντων δὲ τῶν πολιτῶν πρῶτος ἰδιώτης ἀνὴρ εἶπεν ἐν δήμῳ τότε Γάιος Μινούκιος, τῷ τε Βρούτῳ διακελευόμενος καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις π· αραινῶν ὁρᾶν ὅπως τὰ χρήματα μετʼ αὐτῶν ὄντα πολεμοίη πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους μᾶλλον ἢ μετʼ ἐκείνων πρὸς αὐτούς.
Since many were inclined to yield, and especially Collatinus was advocating for them, Brutus, a man of unbending and harsh temper, rushed out into the forum, calling his colleague a traitor for granting materials for war and tyranny to those for whom it was indeed a terrible thing to vote even the supplies for exile. When the citizens had assembled, the first private citizen to speak before the people at that time was Gaius Minucius, who encouraged Brutus and advised the Romans to see to it that the money, by being with them, should make war against the tyrants, rather than, by being with them, make war against themselves.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔδοξε τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἔχουσιν, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἐπολέμουν, μὴ προέσθαι τὴν εἰρήνην ἕνεκα χρημάτων, ἀλλὰ συνεκβαλεῖν καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς τυράννοις. ἦν δὲ ἄρα Ταρκυνίῳ λόγος μὲν ἐλάχιστος τῶν χρημάτων, ἡ δʼ ἀπαίτησις ἅμα πεῖρα τοῦ δήμου καὶ κατασκευὴ προδοσίας,
Nevertheless, it seemed best to the Romans, who held the freedom for which they were fighting, not to throw away peace for the sake of money, but rather to cast out this also along with the tyrants.
§3.3καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔπραττον οἱ πρέσβεις ὑπομένοντες ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν χρημάτων προφάσει, τὰ μὲν ἀποδίδοσθαι, τὰ δὲ φυλάττειν, τὰ δʼ ἀποπέμπειν φάσκοντες, ἄχρι οὗ διέφθειραν οἴκους δύο τῶν καλῶν κάγαθῶν νομιζομένων, τὸν Ἀκυλλίων τρεῖς ἔχοντα βουλευτάς καὶ δύο τὸν Οὐιτελλίων.
But in fact Tarquin had the least regard for the money, and the demand was both a trial of the people and a preparation for conspiracy, and this the envoys were doing while staying under the pretext of the money, saying that they were delivering some things, keeping others, and sending others away, until they corrupted two houses of those considered noble and good, that of the Aquillii, which had three senators, and that of the Vitellii, which had two.
οὗτοι πάντες ἦσαν ἀπὸ μητέρων ἀδελφιδοῖ Κολλατίνου τοῦ ὑπατεύοντος, ἰδίᾳ δὲ Οὐιτελλίοις ἑτέρα πρὸς Βροῦτον οἰκειότης ὑπῆρχεν. ἀδελφὴν γὰρ αὐτῶν ὁ Βροῦτος εἶχε καὶ παῖδας ἐξ αὐτῆς πλείονας·
All of these were nephews, by their mothers' side, of Collatinus the consul, and privately the Vitellii had another connection with Brutus.
§3.4ὧν δύο τοὺς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ συγγενεῖς ὄντας ἅμα καὶ συνήθεις οἱ Οὐιτέλλιοι προσηγάγοντο καὶ συνέπεισαν ἐν τῇ προδοσίᾳ γενέσθαι καὶ καταμίξαντας ἑαυτοὺς εἰς γένος μέγα τὸ τῶν Ταρκυνίων καὶ βασιλικὰς ἐλπίδας ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἀβελτερίας καὶ χαλεπότητος· χαλεπότητα μὲν τὸ ἀπαραίτητον αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς πονηροὺς λέγοντες, τῇ δʼ ἀβελτερίᾳ προσποιήματι καὶ παρακαλύμματι πολὺν χρόνον, ὡς ἔοικε, χρησάμενος ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκα πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους, οὐδʼ ὕστερον ἔφυγεν αὐτῆς τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν.
For Brutus had their sister as wife, and had several children by her; of whom the Vitellii won over two who were of age and at the same time relatives and associates, and persuaded them to take part in the conspiracy, and, by blending themselves with the great house of the Tarquins and royal hopes, to rid themselves of their father's stupidity and severity—calling his inexorability toward the wicked severity, while as for the stupidity, which he had used for a long time, as it seems, as a pretext and a shield for safety against the tyrants, he did not even afterwards escape the surname derived from it.