§4.11.1οὐκέτι μοι περὶ τῶν Ταρκυνίου παίδων μόνον ὁ κίνδυνός ἐστιν, ἵνα μηδὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν δεινὸν πάθωσιν, ἀλλʼ ἤδη καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς ψυχῆς δέος εἰσέρχεται, μὴ πικρὰς ἀμοιβὰς τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀπολάβω.
No longer for me is the danger only concerning the children of Tarquinius, so that they may suffer no dreadful thing from their enemies, but already also concerning my own life fear enters, lest I receive bitter returns for my justice.
ἐπιβουλεύομαι γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν πατρικίων, καὶ μεμήνυνταί μοι τινὲς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποκτεῖναί με συνομνύμενοι ἀδίκημα μὲν οὐδὲν οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτʼ ἔλαττον ἔχοντες ἐγκαλεῖν, ὧν δὲ τὸν δῆμον εὖ πεποίηκα καὶ παρεσκεύασμαι ποιεῖν ἀχθόμενοί τε καὶ ἀναξιοπαθοῦντες·
For I am plotted against by the patricians, and it has been reported to me that some of them are conspiring to kill me, having no charge, either greater or less, of any wrongdoing to bring against me, but being vexed and feeling themselves undeservedly treated because of the benefits I have done to the people and have prepared myself to do.
§4.11.2οἱ δανεισταὶ μὲν ὅτι τοὺς πένητας ὑμῶν οὐκ εἴασα τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀφαιρεθῆναι πρὸς τὰ χρέα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἀχθέντας· οἱ δὲ κατανοσφιζόμενοι τὰ δημόσια καὶ κατέχοντες, ἣν ὑμεῖς διʼ αἵματος ἐκτήσασθε γῆν ἐκλιπεῖν ἀναγκαζόμενοι, ὥσπερ τὰ πατρῷα ἀποστερούμενοι καὶ οὐ τἀλλότρια ἀποδιδόντες· οἱ δʼ ἀνειμένοι τῶν εἰσφορῶν τῶν εἰς τοὺς πολέμους, εἰ τιμήσασθαι τοὺς βίους ἀναγκασθήσονται καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν τιμημάτων τὰς εἰσφορὰς συνεισφέρειν· κοινῇ δὲ σύμπαντες, ὅτι κατὰ νόμους γεγραμμένους ἐθισθήσονται ζῆν τὰ δίκαια ἐξ ἴσου διδόντες ὑμῖν καὶ λαμβάνοντες, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὥσπερ ἀργυρωνήτοις παραχρήσονται τοῖς πένησιν, ὃ ποιοῦσι νῦν.
The creditors (are vexed) because I did not allow the poor among you to be deprived of their liberty, being led away by them for their debts; those who appropriate the public property and hold it (are vexed) because they are forced to leave the land which you acquired with your blood, acting as if they were being deprived of their ancestral property and not restoring what belongs to others; and those who have been exempt from the taxes for the wars (are vexed) if they shall be forced to have their property assessed and to contribute their taxes according to the assessments; and all of them in common (are vexed) because they will be accustomed to live according to written laws, giving and receiving justice on equal terms with you, and will not abuse the poor like purchased slaves, which they do now.
§4.11.3καὶ ταῦτα δὴ τὰ ἐγκλήματα συνενέγκαντες εἰς τὸ κοινὸν βεβούλευνταί τε καὶ συνομωμόκασι κατάγειν τοὺς φυγάδας καὶ τοῖς Μαρκίου παισὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἀποδιδόναι, οὓς ὑμεῖς Ταρκύνιον ἀποκτείναντας τὸν βασιλέα ὑμῶν ἄνδρα χρηστὸν καὶ φιλόπολιν καὶ τηλικοῦτο διαπραξαμένους ἄγος τάς τε δίκας ἐρήμους ἐκλιπόντας καὶ φυγῆς ἑαυτοῖς τιμησαμένους πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος εἴργειν ἐψηφίσασθε· ἔμελλόν τʼ, εἰ μὴ θᾶττον ἐμοὶ περὶ τούτων ἐγένετο μήνυσις, ξενικὴν δύναμιν ἐπαγόμενοι νυκτὸς ἔτι πολλὴν κατάγειν εἰς τὴν πόλιν
And having brought these charges together into a common stock, they have deliberated and conspired to bring back the exiles and restore the kingship to the sons of Marcius, whom you, because they killed Tarquinius your king, a good man and a lover of his country, and committed such a great pollution, and left their trial undefended and sentenced themselves to exile, voted to exclude from fire and water; and they were intending, if information concerning these things had not been brought to me more quickly, to bring a foreign force and while it was still deep night bring back the exiles into the city.
§4.11.4τοὺς φυγάδας. τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα πάντες ἴστε δήπου, κἂν ἐγὼ μὴ λέγω, ὅτι Μάρκιοι συλλαμβανόντων αὐτοῖς τῶν πατρικίων κατασχόντες τὰ πράγματα δίχα πόνου, πρῶτον μὲν ἐμὲ τὸν φύλακα τῶν βασιλέων καὶ τὰς κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐπιτελεσάμενον δίκας ἔμελλον ἀναρπάσεσθαι, ἔπειτα ταυτὶ τὰ παιδία καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συγγενεῖς τε καὶ φίλους Ταρκυνίου πάντας ἀρεῖσθαι· γυναῖκας δʼ ἡμῶν καὶ μητέρας καὶ θυγατέρας καὶ πᾶν τὸ θῆλυ γένος ἐν ἀνδραπόδων ποιήσασθαι λόγῳ, πολὺ §4.11.5τὸ θηριῶδες ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ φύσει καὶ τυραννικόν.
What followed you all surely know, even if I do not speak of it, namely that the sons of Marcius, with the patricians assisting them, having seized control of affairs without labor, were intending first to seize and make away with me, the guardian of the kings, who had executed justice against them, then to destroy these children and all the other relatives and friends of Tarquinius; and to treat our wives, mothers, daughters, and the whole female sex as slaves, since they have much of the savage and tyrannical in their nature.
εἰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ὑμῖν ταῦτα βουλομένοις ἐστίν, ὦ δημόται, τοὺς μὲν ἀνδροφόνους κατάγειν καὶ βασιλεῖς ἀποδεικνύναι, τοὺς δὲ τῶν εὐεργετῶν παῖδας ἐξελαύνειν καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ πάππου καταλειφθεῖσαν ἀρχὴν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι, στέρξομεν τὴν τύχην.
If, then, these things are also according to your wish, O citizens—to bring back the murderers and declare them kings, and to drive out the children of your benefactors and deprive them of the power left by their grandfather—we shall acquiesce in our fortune.
ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἁπάντων θεῶν τε καὶ δαιμόνων, ὅσοι τὸν ἀνθρώπινον ἐποπτεύουσι βίον, ἱκέται πάντες ὑμῶν γινόμενοι σὺν γυναιξί τε καὶ τέκνοις ἀντὶ πολλῶν μέν, ὧν Ταρκύνιος ὁ τῶν παιδίων πάππος εὖ ποιῶν ὑμᾶς διετέλεσεν, ἀντὶ πολλῶν δέ, ὧν αὐτὸς ἐγὼ κατὰ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ δύναμιν ἐγενόμην ὑμῖν χρήσιμος, ἀξιοῦμεν ὑμᾶς μίαν ἡμῖν δοῦναι ταύτην δωρεάν, φανερὰν ποιῆσαι τὴν ὑμῶν αὐτῶν γνώμην.
But by all the gods and spirits who watch over human life, becoming all of us your suppliants with our wives and children, in return for the many benefits which Tarquinius, the grandfather of these children, did not cease doing to you, and in return for the many things in which I myself, according to my own power, have been useful to you, we ask you to grant us this one favor, to make your own mind manifest.
§4.11.6εἰ γὰρ ἑτέρους τινὰς ἀξιονικοτέρους ἡμῶν ὑπειλήφατε εἶναι ταύτης τῆς τιμῆς τυγχάνειν, τὰ μὲν παιδία οἰχήσεται τὴν πόλιν ὑμῖν καταλιπόντα καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Ταρκυνίου συγγένεια·
For if you have assumed that some others are more worthy than we to obtain this honor, the children and the rest of Tarquinius' family will depart, leaving the city to you; and I shall take some other, more noble counsel for myself.
ἐγὼ δʼ ἕτερόν τι βουλεύσομαι γενναιότερον ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ· βεβίωται γὰρ ἤδη μοι καὶ πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ πρὸς εὐδοξίαν ἀποχρώντως καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἀξιώσαιμι τῆς παρʼ ὑμῶν εὐνοίας ψευσθείς, ἣν ἀντὶ παντὸς εἱλόμην ἀγαθοῦ, ζῆν αἰσχρῶς ἐν ἄλλοις τισί.
For my life has already been sufficiently lived both for virtue and for glory, and I would not think it right, if I should be deceived of your goodwill, which I chose in place of every good, to live shamefully among any others.
παραλάβετε δὴ τὰς ῥάβδους καὶ δότε, εἰ βούλεσθε, τοῖς πατρικίοις· ἐγὼ δʼ ὑμῖν οὐκ ἐνοχλήσω παρών.
Take then the rods, and give them, if you wish, to the patricians; and I, being present, will not trouble you.