§7.23.1εἰ δέ τισιν ὑμῶν δεινὰ μὲν τὰ τοῦ δήμου ἔργα εἶναι δοκεῖ, καὶ κωλύεσθαι αὐτὸν οἴονται δεῖν τὰ λοιπὰ ἐξαμαρτάνοντα, δέος δʼ εἰσέρχεται, μὴ δόξωσι λύειν τὰς ὁμολογίας πρότεροι καὶ παραβαίνειν τοὺς ὅρκους, γνώτωσαν, ὅτι οὐκ ἄρχοντες, ἀλλʼ ἀμυνόμενοι, οὐδʼ ἀναιροῦντες τὰς ὁμολογίας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀνῃρηκότας τιμωρούμενοι, ἀναίτιοί τε πρὸς θεοὺς ἔσονται καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ σφετέρῳ συμφέροντι τὰ δίκαια πράξουσι.
And if to some of you, on the one hand, the deeds of the people seem to be terrible, and they think that they must be prevented from committing further errors, but on the other hand a fear enters them, lest they should seem to be the first to break the agreements and violate the oaths, let them know that, not as initiators but as defending themselves, nor as annulling the agreements but as punishing those who have annulled them, they will be blameless before the gods and will act justly for their own interest.
§7.23.2μέγα δʼ ὑμῖν γενέσθω τεκμήριον, ὅτι τοῦ λύειν τὰς ὁμολογίας καὶ παρασπονδεῖν οὐχ ὑμεῖς, ἀλλὰ τὸ δημοτικὸν ἄρχει μέρος οὐκ ἀξιοῦν ἐμμένειν, ἐφʼ οἷς εὕρετο τὴν κάθοδον· οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ κακῶς δρᾶσαι τὴν βουλήν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ ὑπʼ ἐκείνης κακοῦσθαι τὴν τῶν δημάρχων ἐξουσίαν ᾐτήσατο.
And let this be a great proof to you, that not you, but the popular party is the first to break the agreements and violate the treaty, by not deigning to abide by the terms on which it obtained its return; for they did not ask for the power of the tribunes for the purpose of doing harm to the senate, but for the purpose of not being harmed by it.
χρῆται δʼ αὐτῇ οὐκέτι εἰς ἃ δεῖ οὐδʼ ἐφʼ οἷς εὕρετο, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ διαφθορᾷ §7.23.3καὶ συγχύσει τῆς πατρίου πολιτείας.
But they no longer use it for the purposes they should, nor for those on which they obtained it, but for the destruction and confusion of the ancestral constitution.
μέμνησθε γὰρ δήπου τὴν νεωστὶ γενομένην ἐκκλησίαν καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τῶν δημαγωγῶν ῥηθέντας ἐν αὐτῇ λόγους, ὅσην ἐπεδείξαντο αὐθάδειάν τε καὶ ἀκοσμίαν, καὶ νῦν, ἐφʼ οἵου εἰσὶν αὐχήματος οἱ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς φρονοῦντες, ἐπειδὴ ἔγνωσαν, ὡς ἐν τῇ ψήφῳ ἐστὶν ἅπαν τὸ τῆς πόλεως κράτος, ἧς αὐτοὶ κρατήσουσι πλείους ἡμῶν ὄντες.
For surely you remember the recently held assembly and the speeches spoken in it by the demagogues, how great an insolence and disorderliness they displayed, and now, on what a boast those who have no healthy mind are, since they realized that the entire power of the city resides in the vote, which they themselves will master, being more numerous than we.
§7.23.4τί οὖν καταλείπεται ποιεῖν ἡμῖν ἀρξάντων ἐκείνων παρασπονδεῖν καὶ παρανομεῖν, εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀμύνεσθαι τοὺς ἄρξαντας, καὶ ἃ τέως ἀδίκως ἔχουσιν ἀφελέσθαι σὺν δίκῃ, καὶ εἰς τὸ λοιπὸν παῦσαι πλειόνων ἐφιεμένους· χάριν εἰδότας τοῖς θεοῖς, ὅτι οὐκ εἴασαν αὐτοὺς τὰ πρῶτα πλεονεκτήσαντας εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ σωφρονεῖν, ἀλλὰ ταύτην ἐνέβαλον αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀναισχυντίαν τε καὶ πολυπραγμοσύνην, ὑφʼ ἧς ὑμεῖς ἀναγκασθέντες τά τʼ ἀπολωλότα πειρᾶσθε ἀναλαβεῖν, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ διʼ ἧς προσῆκε φυλακῆς λαβεῖν.
What, then, is left for us to do, when they have begun to violate the treaty and break the law, except to defend ourselves against those who began it, and to take away with justice what they hitherto unjustly hold, and to stop them from desiring more for the future; giving thanks to the gods that they did not allow them, after having gained the first advantages, to be wise regarding the rest, but instilled in them this shamelessness and meddlesomeness, forced by which you attempt both to recover what was lost and to secure the rest with the proper protection.