§10.34.1συναγανακτοῦντος δʼ αὐτοῖς τοῦ πλήθους ἐκάλουν τοὺς ὑπάτους ἐπὶ τὸν δῆμον ὡς τῶν πεπραγμένων ὑφέξοντας λόγον.
With the multitude sharing their indignation, they summoned the consuls before the people to render an account of their actions.
ὡς δʼ οὐ προσεῖχον αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖνοι τὸν νοῦν, ἐπὶ τὴν βουλὴν παρῆσαν — ἔτυχον γὰρ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τούτων συνεδρεύοντες — καὶ παρελθόντες ἐδέοντο μήθʼ αὑτοὺς τὰ αἴσχιστα πεπονθότας ὑπεριδεῖν μήτε τὸν δῆμον ἀφαιρεθέντα τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν βοήθειαν, διεξιόντες ὅσα ἦσαν πεπονθότες ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων καὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτοὺς συνωμοσίας οὐ μόνον εἰς τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὰ §10.34.2σώματα προπηλακισθέντες.
But since the consuls paid no attention to them, they came to the senate—for they happened to be sitting in council concerning these very matters—and coming forward, they begged them neither to overlook that they themselves had suffered the most shameful treatment, nor that the people had been deprived of the assistance from them, recounting how much they had suffered under the consuls and the conspiracy around them, having been insulted not only in their authority but also in their bodies.
ἠξίουν τε δυεῖν θάτερον ποιεῖν τοὺς ὑπάτους· εἰ μὲν ἀρνοῦνται μηδὲν ὧν οἱ νόμοι κεκωλύκασιν εἰς τὰ τῶν δημάρχων πλημμελῆσαι σώματα, παραγενομένους εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀπομόσαι, εἰ δʼ οὐχ ὑπομένουσι τὸν ὅρκον, ἥκειν ἐπὶ τοὺς δημότας λόγον ὑφέξοντας· ἀναδώσειν γὰρ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ταῖς φυλαῖς τὴν ψῆφον.
And they demanded that the consuls do one of two things: if they denied having committed any offense against the bodies of the tribunes which the laws had forbidden, they should come to the assembly and swear to it; but if they would not submit to the oath, they should come before the citizens to render an account; for they would submit the vote concerning them to the tribes.
§10.34.3οἱ δʼ ὕπατοι πρὸς ταῦτʼ ἀπελογοῦντο διδάσκοντες, ὅτι τῆς ὕβρεως οἱ δήμαρχοι ἄρξειαν αὐθαδείᾳ χρησάμενοι καὶ τολμήσαντες εἰς ὑπάτων σώματα παρανομεῖν, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὑπηρέταις τε καὶ ἀγορανόμοις ἐπιτάττοντες ἄγειν εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἄρχοντας, οἷς τὸ πάντων ἀποδέδοται κράτος, ἔπειτʼ αὐτοὶ τολμήσαντες ὁμόσε χωρεῖν σὺν τοῖς ἰταμωτάτοις τῶν δημοτικῶν· §10.34.4τάς τε ἀρχὰς διδάσκοντες ὅσον ἀλλήλων διαφέρουσιν, ἡ μὲν ὑπατικὴ τὸ τῶν βασιλέων ἔχουσα κράτος, ἡ δὲ δημαρχικὴ τῆς βοηθείας ἕνεκα παρεληλυθυῖα τῶν κατισχυομένων, ᾗ τοσούτου δεῖν ἐξεῖναι κατὰ τῶν ὑπάτων τινὸς ψῆφον ἀναδιδόναι τοῖς ὄχλοις, ὥστε μηδὲ κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων πατρικίων τοῦ φαυλοτάτου ταύτην ἀποδεδόσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἂν μὴ ἡ βουλὴ ψηφίσηται.
In reply to this, the consuls defended themselves, showing that the tribunes had begun the insolence by acting with arrogance and daring to act illegally against the bodies of the consuls, in the first place by commanding attendants and aediles to lead away to prison magistrates to whom the supreme power of all had been entrusted, and then by themselves daring to come to close quarters with the most reckless of the plebeians; and explaining how much their offices differed from one another, the consular power possessing the authority of kings, whereas the tribunician office had come into existence for the sake of assisting the oppressed; for which office it was so far from being permitted to submit a vote to the multitudes against any of the consuls, that this authority was not even granted against the lowest of the other patricians unless the senate should pass a decree.
ἠπείλουν τε, ὅταν ἐκεῖνοι ψῆφον ἀναδῶσι τοῖς δημόταις, αὐτοὶ τὰ ὅπλα περιθήσειν τοῖς πατρικίοις.
And they threatened that, when those men should submit the vote to the citizens, they themselves would put arms on the patricians.
§10.34.5τοιούτων δὴ ῥηθέντων λόγων δι’ ὅλης ἡμέρας οὐδὲν ἐξήνεγκεν ἡ βουλὴ τέλος, ἵνα μήτε τὴν τῶν ὑπάτων ἀρχὴν μειώσειε μήτε τὴν τῶν δημάρχων, ἑκάτερον ὁρῶσα μεγάλων κινδύνων αἴτιον ἐσόμενον.
Such speeches having been spoken through the whole day, the senate brought out no decision, in order that they might neither diminish the office of the consuls nor that of the tribunes, seeing that each would be the cause of great dangers.