§7.22.1ὅτι μὲν οὐχ ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης τε καὶ ἀπορίας βιασθεὶς ὁ δῆμος ἐποιήσατο τὴν ἀπόστασιν, ὦ πατέρες, ἀλλὰ πονηρᾷ ἐλπίδι ἐπαρθεὶς ὡς καταλύσων τὴν ἀριστοκρατίαν ὑμῶν καὶ πάντων αὐτὸς ἐσόμενος τῶν κοινῶν κύριος, σχεδὸν οἶμαι πάντας ὑμᾶς ᾐσθῆσθαι τὰ περὶ τὰς διαλλαγὰς αὐτοῦ πλεονεκτήματα ὁρῶντας·
I think, fathers, that almost all of you have perceived that the people did not make their secession forced by necessity and want, but elated by a wicked hope that they would destroy your aristocracy and become themselves masters of all public affairs, when you see their grasping demands regarding the reconciliation.
ᾧ γʼ οὐκ ἀπέχρησε διαφθείραντι τὴν περὶ τὰ συμβόλαια πίστιν καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ ταύτῃ κειμένους ἀνελόντι νόμους μηθὲν ἄλλο πολυπραγμονεῖν, καινὴν δὲ καταστησάμενος ἀρχὴν ἐπὶ τῷ καθελεῖν τὴν τῶν ὑπάτων ἱερὰν καὶ ἄσυλον ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν νόμῳ, καὶ νῦν τυραννικὴν ἐξουσίαν περιβαλλόμενος, ὦ βουλή, τῷ νεωστὶ κυρωθέντι νόμῳ λέληθεν ὑμᾶς.
For it was not enough for them, after ruining the good faith concerning contracts and abolishing the laws established for it, to mind no other business, but having established a new magistracy for the purpose of overthrowing that of the consuls, they made it sacred and inviolable by law; and now, senators, they have secretly clothed themselves with a tyrannical power by the recently enacted law, without your realizing it.
§7.22.2ὅταν γὰρ ἐπʼ ἐξουσίας πολλῆς οἱ προεστηκότες αὐτοῦ πρόφασιν εὐπρεπῆ προβαλλόμενοι τὸ δὴ τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις τῶν δημοτῶν βοηθεῖν διὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας ταύτης ἄγωσι καὶ φέρωσιν, ὅσʼ ἂν αὐτοῖς δοκῇ, καὶ μηθεὶς ὁ κωλύσων τὰς παρανομίας αὐτῶν ᾖ, μήτʼ ἰδιώτης μήτʼ ἄρχων δεδοικὼς τὸν νόμον, ὃς ἀφαιρεῖται καὶ τὸν λόγον ἡμῶν ἅμα τοῖς ἔργοις θάνατον ἐπιτιθεὶς ζημίαν τοῖς ἐλευθέραν φωνὴν ἀφιεῖσι, τί προσῆκεν ὄνομα θέσθαι τῇ δυναστείᾳ ταύτῃ τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας ἕτερον, ἢ τοῦθʼ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀληθὴς καὶ πάντες ἂν ὁμολογήσετε, τυραννίδα;
For when, under great authority, their leaders, putting forward a plausible pretext—namely, to assist those of the plebeians who are wronged—by means of this authority plunder and carry off whatever they please, and there is no one to prevent their illegal acts, neither a private citizen nor a magistrate, through fear of the law which deprives us of our speech along with our actions by imposing the penalty of death on those who utter free speech, what other name would those of understanding fittingly give to this domination than this, which is true and you would all agree upon: tyranny?
εἰ δʼ οὐχ ὑφʼ ἑνὸς ἀνδρός, ἀλλʼ ὑφʼ ὅλου τυραννούμεθα δήμου, τί τοῦτο διαφέρει;
And if we are tyrannized over not by one man, but by a whole people, what difference does it make?
τὸ γὰρ ἔργον ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ταὐτό.
For the effect from both is the same.
§7.22.3κράτιστον μὲν οὖν ἦν μηδὲ τὸ σπέρμα τῆς ἐξουσίας ταύτης ἐᾶσαι καταβαλλόμενον, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὑπομεῖναι πρότερον, ὡς Ἄππιος ὁ βέλτιστος ἐκ πολλοῦ τὰ δεινὰ προορώμενος ἠξίου, εἰ δὲ μή, νῦν γʼ ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἅπαντας ἐξορύξαντας αὐτὴν πρόρριζον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐκβαλεῖν, ἕως §7.22.4ἀσθενής ἐστι καὶ προσπολεμηθῆναι ῥᾳδία.
It would indeed have been best not even to permit the seed of this power to be cast, but to endure anything before that, as the excellent Appius, long since foreseeing the dangers, urged; but if not, at least now we must all with one mind dig it up by the roots and cast it out of the city, while it is still weak and easy to be warred against.
καὶ τοῦτʼ οὐ πρώτοις ἡμῖν, ὦ βουλή, οὐδὲ μόνοις ἐξεγένετο παθεῖν, πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ πολλάκις ἤδη τοῖς εἰς ἀβουλήτους ἀνάγκας καταστᾶσι γνώμης ἁμαρτοῦσι τῆς ἀρίστης περὶ τὰ μέγιστα, ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἀρχὰς οὐκ ἐκώλυσαν τοῦ κακοῦ, τὰς αὐξήσεις πειρᾶσθαι καθαιρεῖν· καὶ ἡ μετάνοια τῶν ὀψὲ ἀρχομένων σωφρονεῖν ἥττων οὖσα τῆς προνοίας, καθʼ ἕτερον αὖ τρόπον οὐ χείρων οὖσα ἀναφαίνεται τῇ κωλύσει τοῦ τέλους ἀφανίζουσα τὸ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ ἀγνοηθέν.
And to suffer this, senators, has not happened to us first nor alone, but to many already and often, who, having fallen into unwanted necessities and missed the best judgment on the most important matters, since they did not prevent the beginnings of the evil, attempt to demolish its growth; and the repentance of those who begin to be wise late, though inferior to foresight, appears in another way to be no worse, blotting out by the prevention of the end what was ignored in the beginning.