§11.55.1πρὸς δὴ τὰς ἀπειλὰς ταύτας ἐσκόπουν, ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν, οἱ πρεσβύτατοί τε καὶ κορυφαιότατοι τῶν προεστηκότων τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας, συναχθέντες εἰς τὸν ἰδιωτικὸν σύλλογον ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων αὐτοὶ καθʼ §11.55.2ἑαυτούς.
In response to these threats, the oldest and most prominent among the leaders of the aristocracy, having been assembled into a private meeting by the consuls, considered by themselves privately what they ought to do.
Γάϊος μὲν οὖν Κλαύδιος ἥκιστα δημοτικὸς ὢν καὶ ταύτην διαδεδεγμένος ἐκ προγόνων τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς πολιτείας αὐθαδεστέραν γνώμην εἰσέφερε, μήτε ὑπατείας μήτʼ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς τῷ δήμῳ παραχωρεῖν μηδεμιᾶς· τοὺς δὲ τἀναντία πράττειν ἐπιχειροῦντας ὅπλοις κωλύειν, ἐὰν μὴ πείθωνται τοῖς λόγοις, φειδὼ μηδεμίαν ποιουμένους μήτʼ ἰδιώτου μήτʼ ἄρχοντος.
Gaius Claudius, therefore, who was by no means a friend of the people and had inherited this policy of statecraft from his ancestors, offered a rather stubborn opinion: that they should concede neither the consulship nor any other magistracy to the people, and that they should prevent by force of arms those who attempted to do the opposite if they would not yield to persuasion, sparing neither private citizen nor magistrate.
ἅπαντας γὰρ τοὺς ἐπιχειροῦντας τὰ πάτρια κινεῖν ἔθη καὶ τὸν κόσμον τοῦ πολιτεύματος τὸν ἀρχαῖον διαφθείρειν ἀλλοτρίους καὶ πολεμίους εἶναι τῆς πόλεως.
For he argued that all those who attempted to change the ancestral customs and to destroy the ancient order of the constitution were aliens and enemies to the city.
§11.55.3Τίτος δὲ Κοίντιος οὐκ εἴα βίᾳ κατείργειν τὸ ἀντίπαλον, οὐδὲ διʼ ὅπλων καὶ διʼ αἵματος ἐμφυλίου χωρεῖν πρὸς τὸ δημοτικόν, ἄλλως τε καὶ δημάρχων σφίσιν ἐναντιωσομένων, οὓς ἱεροὺς εἶναι καὶ παναγεῖς ἐψηφίσαντο οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν θεοὺς καὶ δαίμονας ἐγγυητὰς ποιησάμενοι τῶν ὁμολογιῶν, καὶ τοὺς μεγίστους ὅρκους κατʼ ἐξωλείας αὐτῶν τε καὶ τῶν ἐγγόνων, ἐάν τι παραβαίνωσι τῶν συγκειμένων, κατομοσάμενοι.
But Titus Quinctius did not allow them to restrain the opposition by force, nor to advance against the plebeian faction with arms and civil bloodshed, especially since the tribunes of the plebs would oppose them—whom our fathers voted to be sacred and inviolable, making the gods and spirits the guarantors of their agreements, and swearing the greatest oaths of utter destruction upon both themselves and their descendants if they should transgress any of the terms agreed upon.