§6.57.1ταῦτʼ εἰπόντος τοῦ Μενηνίου θροῦς πολὺς ἐνέπεσε τῇ βουλῇ, καὶ διελάλουν ἕκαστοι κατὰ συμμορίας, οἱ μὲν οἰκείως διακείμενοι πρὸς τοὺς δημοτικοὺς παρακαλοῦντες ἀλλήλους πᾶσαν εἰσφέρεσθαι προθυμίαν, ὅπως κατάξουσι τὸν δῆμον εἰς τὴν πατρίδα, ἐπειδὴ προσειλήφεσαν ἡγεμόνα τῆς τότε γνώμης ἀνδρῶν ἀριστοκρατικῶν τὸν ἐπιφανέστατον· οἱ δʼ ἀριστοκρατικοὶ καὶ περὶ παντὸς θέλοντες μὴ κινεῖσθαι ἐκ τοῦ πατρίου κόσμου τὴν πολιτείαν ἀποροῦντες, ὅ τι χρήσονται τοῖς παροῦσι, μεταθέσθαι μὲν οὐκ ἀξιοῦντες τὰς προαιρέσεις, μένειν δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐγνωσμένων οὐ δυνάμενοι· οἱ δʼ ἀκέραιοί τε καὶ τῶν στάσεων οὐδετέρᾳ συμφιλονεικοῦντες εἰρήνην ἄγειν βουλόμενοι καὶ ὅπως μὴ τειχήρεις ἔσονται σκοπεῖν ἀξιοῦντες.
When Menenius had said this, a great clamor fell upon the senate, and they talked among themselves in groups: those who were friendly toward the plebeians encouraged one another to exert every eagerness in order to bring the people back to their fatherland, since they had gained as leader of their opinion at that time the most illustrious of the patricians; while the patricians, who wished above all things that the commonwealth should not be moved from its ancestral order, were at a loss how to deal with the present situation, not deigning to change their purposes, yet being unable to abide by their decisions; and those who were neutral and took part with neither of the factions wished to keep peace and thought they should see to it that they should not be besieged.
§6.57.2σιωπῆς δὲ γενομένης ὁ πρεσβύτερος τῶν ὑπάτων ἐπαινέσας τὸν Μενήνιον τῆς γενναιότητος, καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀξιώσας ὁμοίους ἐκείνῳ γενέσθαι κηδεμόνας λέγοντάς τε ὅσα φρονοῦσι μετὰ παρρησίας καὶ πράττοντας δίχα ὄκνου τὰ δόξαντα, δεύτερον ἐκάλει τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐξ ὀνόματος, ἀξιῶν γνώμην ἀποφήνασθαι, Μάνιον Οὐαλέριον ἀδελφὸν τοῦ συνελευθερώσαντος ἀπὸ τῶν βασιλέων τὴν πόλιν, ἄνδρα παρʼ ὁντιναοῦν τῶν ἀριστοκρατικῶν τῷ δήμῳ κεχαρισμένον.
When silence was restored, the elder of the consuls, having praised Menenius for his nobility, and having urged the rest to become similar guardians to him, speaking what they thought with frankness and doing what was decided without hesitation, called upon the second in the same manner by name, asking him to declare his opinion—Manius Valerius, the brother of him who had helped to deliver the city from the kings, a man more acceptable to the people than any other of the patricians.