§4.78.1τὰ δὲ κοινά, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὑμᾶς εἰς ἐκκλησίαν συνεκάλεσα, ταῦτʼ ἐστί.
As for the public matters, on account of which I have called you to the assembly, they are these.
Ταρκύνιον οὔτε κατὰ τοὺς πατρίους ἡμῶν ἐθισμοὺς καὶ νόμους τὴν δυναστείαν κατασχόντα οὔτʼ, ἐπειδὴ κατέσχεν ὅπως δή ποτε λαβών, καλῶς αὐτῇ καὶ βασιλικῶς χρώμενον, ἀλλʼ ὑπερβεβληκότα πάντας ὕβρει τε καὶ παρανομίᾳ τοὺς ὅπου δή ποτε γενομένους τυράννους, ἀφελέσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν βεβουλεύμεθα συνελθόντες οἱ πατρίκιοι, πάλαι μὲν δέον, ἐν καιρῷ δὲ νῦν αὐτὸ ποιοῦντες ἐπιτηδείῳ, ὑμᾶς τʼ, ὦ δημόται, συνεκαλέσαμεν, ἵνα τὴν προαίρεσιν ἀποδειξάμενοι τὴν ἑαυτῶν συναγωνιστὰς ἀξιώσωμεν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι, πράττοντας ἐλευθερίαν τῇ πατρίδι, ἧς οὔτε πρότερον ἡμῖν ἐξεγένετο μεταλαβεῖν, ἐξ οὗ Ταρκύνιος τὴν ἀρχὴν κατέσχεν, οὔθʼ ὕστερον, ἐὰν νῦν μαλακισθῶμεν, ἐξέσται.
Since Tarquinius neither seized the power in accordance with our ancestral customs and laws, nor, after he had seized it, however he may have obtained it, used it honorably and like a king, but surpassed in insolence and lawlessness all the tyrants that have ever existed anywhere, we patricians, having assembled, have resolved to deprive him of his authority—an action which was necessary long ago, but which we are now performing at a suitable opportunity—and we have called you together, O plebeians, in order that, having declared our purpose, we may ask you to become our fellow-combatants, securing liberty for our fatherland, which we have not been able to enjoy previously, ever since Tarquinius seized the rule, and which will not be possible hereafter, if we now behave like cowards.
§4.78.2εἰ μὲν οὖν χρόνον εἶχον, ὅσον ἐβουλόμην, ἢ πρὸς ἀγνοοῦντας ἔμελλον λέγειν, ἁπάσας διεξῆλθον ἂν τὰς τοῦ τυράννου παρανομίας, ἐφʼ αἷς οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις ἅπασιν εἴη δίκαιος ἀπολωλέναι·
If, therefore, I had as much time as I wished, or if I were about to speak to those who were ignorant of the facts, I would have gone through all the lawless deeds of the tyrant, for which he would justly deserve to have perished, not once, but many times in the eyes of all.
ἐπειδὴ δʼ ὅ τε καιρός, ὃν τὰ πράγματά μοι δίδωσι, βραχύς, ἐν ᾧ λέγειν μὲν ὀλίγα δεῖ, πράττειν δὲ πολλά, καὶ πρὸς εἰδότας οἱ λόγοι, τὰ μέγιστα καὶ φανερώτατα τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐδʼ ἀπολογίας οὐδεμιᾶς δυνάμενα τυχεῖν, ταῦθʼ ὑμᾶς ὑπομνήσω.
But since the opportunity which the situation gives me is short, during which it is necessary to say few things but to do many, and since my words are addressed to those who already know, I shall remind you of those of his deeds which are the greatest and most manifest, and which cannot obtain any defense.