§10.38.1ἐπεὶ φέρε πρὸς Διός, εἴ τι τούτων ἐγὼ ψεύδομαι, δειξάτω τις ὑμῖν τῶν σεμνῶν τούτων παρελθών, τίνας ἐπιφανεῖς καὶ καλὰς πράξεις προεχόμενος ἐμοῦ πλέον ἔχειν ἀξιοῖ· πότερον ἔτη πλείω στρατευσάμενος ἢ μάχας πλείους ἀγωνισάμενος ἢ τραύματα πλείω λαβὼν ἢ στεφάνοις καὶ φαλάροις καὶ σκύλοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπινικίοις κόσμοις ὑπερβαλόμενος, δι’ ὃν ἀσθενέστεροι μὲν οἱ πολέμιοι γεγόνασιν ἐπιφανεστέρα δὲ καὶ μείζων ἡ πατρίς;
For come, by Zeus, if I am lying in any of these things, let one of these grandees step forward and show you by producing what illustrious and noble deeds he claims to deserve to have more than I; whether by having served more years, or having fought more battles, or having received more wounds, or having surpassed me in crowns, medallions, spoils, and other triumphal ornaments, through whom the enemy have become weaker and our country more illustrious and greater?
μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ δέκατον ἐπιδειξάτω μέρος, ὧν ὑμῖν ὑπέδειξα ἐγώ.
Or rather, let him display the tenth part of what I have pointed out to you.
§10.38.2ἀλλὰ τούτων γʼ οἱ πλείους οὐδʼ ἂν πολλοστὴν ἔχοιεν προενέγκασθαι μοῖραν τῶν ἐμῶν· ἔνιοι δὲ οὐδʼ ἂν τῷ φαυλοτάτῳ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ δήμου φανεῖεν τὰ ἴσα κακοπαθήσαντες.
But indeed most of them would not be able to produce even a tiny fraction of my deeds; and some would not even appear to have suffered hardships equal to the most humble of the common people.
οὐ γάρ ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἡ λαμπρότης, ἀλλʼ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις, οὐδὲ κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τὸ δυνάμενον, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τῶν φίλων· οὐδʼ ἡγοῦνται κοινὴν οἰκεῖν πόλιν, σφῶν δʼ αὐτῶν ἰδίαν, ὥσπερ οὐ συνελευθερωθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς τυραννίδος ὑφʼ ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ κληρονομίαν παρὰ τῶν τυράννων παραλαβόντες ἡμᾶς· οἵ γε — τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ὅσα ὑβρίζοντες ἡμᾶς μικρὰ καὶ μείζω διατελοῦσιν, ὡς ἅπαντες ἐπίστασθε, §10.38.3σιωπῶ, — ἀλλʼ εἰς τοῦτο προεληλύθασιν ὑπερηφανίας, ὥστʼ οὐδὲ φωνὴν ἀξιοῦσί τινα ἡμῶν ἀφιέναι περὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἐλευθέραν οὐδὲ διᾶραι τὸ στόμα, ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν εἰπόντα περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας Σπόριον Κάσσιον, τρισὶ μὲν ὑπατείαις κεκοσμημένον, δυσὶ δὲ θριάμβοις λαμπροτάτοις, τοσαύτην δὲ δεινότητα περί τε τὰς στρατηγικὰς πράξεις καὶ περὶ τὰ πολιτικὰ βουλεύματα ἀποδειξάμενον, ὅσην οὐδεὶς τῶν τότε γενομένων, τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα αἰτιασάμενοι τυραννίδι ἐπιχειρεῖν καὶ ψευδέσι καταγωνισάμενοι μαρτυρίαις διʼ οὐδὲν ἕτερον, ἀλλʼ ὅτι φιλόπολις ἦν καὶ φιλόδημος, §10.38.4ὤσαντες ἀπὸ τοῦ κρημνοῦ διέφθειραν.
For their brilliance is not in arms, but in words, and their power is not against enemies, but against friends; nor do they think they inhabit a shared city, but one that is private to themselves, as if they had not been liberated together from tyranny by us, but had received us by inheritance from the tyrants; who—as for other things, both small and great, which they continually do to outrage us, since you all know them, ¦p.v.4p.72 I am silent—but they have advanced to such a pitch of arrogance that they do not even think any of us should utter a free voice concerning our country, nor open his mouth; but Spurius Cassius, who spoke about the allotment of land—a man adorned with three consulships and two most brilliant triumphs, and who displayed such great ability both in military deeds and in political counsels as no one of those of that time—having accused this man of aiming at tyranny, and having overcome him with false testimonies for no other reason than because he was a lover of his city and a lover of the people, they destroyed him by pushing him from the cliff.
Γναῖον δὲ Γενύκιον δήμαρχον ὄντα ἡμέτερον, ἐπεὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πολίτευμα μετὰ τὸ ἔτος ἑνδέκατον ἀνενεοῦτο, καὶ τοὺς ὑπατεύσαντας ἐν τῷ πρότερον ἐνιαυτῷ κατέστησεν ὑπὸ δίκην ἀμελήσαντας τῶν ψηφισμάτων τῆς βουλῆς, ἃ περὶ τῶν γεωμόρων ἐψηφίσατο, ἐπεὶ φανερῶς οὐχ οἷοί τʼ ἦσαν ἀνελεῖν, μιᾷ πρότερον ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δίκης ἀφανῶς ἀνήρπασαν.
And Gnaeus Genucius, our tribune of the plebs, when this very same political measure was renewed after the eleventh year, and he brought to trial those who had been consuls in the preceding year for having neglected the decrees of the senate which it had passed concerning the land-sharers, since they were openly unable to destroy him, they made away with him secretly on the day before the trial.
§10.38.5τοιγάρτοι πολὺς ἐνέπεσε τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα φόβος, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔτι τὸ κινδύνευμα τοῦτο ὑπέδυ, ἀλλὰ τριακοστὸν ἔτος τοῦτο ἀνεχόμεθα ὥσπερ ἐν τυραννίδι τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἀπολωλεκότες.
Therefore, a great fear fell upon those who came after them, and no one since has undergone this danger, but this is now the thirtieth year that we endure, having lost our power as if under a tyranny.