§7.45.1καὶ οὐχὶ λέγειν μὲν ὁ Μάρκιος, ἐξ ὧν διαστήσει τὴν πόλιν, ἐπεχείρησε, πράττειν δʼ οὐχ οἷα ἔλεγεν ἐπεβάλετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ στῖφος ἀνθρώπων εἰς ἅπασαν ὑπηρεσίαν ἑτοίμων παρʼ ἑαυτῷ ἔχων, καλούμενος ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἡμῶν οὐκ ἀπαντᾷ, καὶ τοῖς ὑπηρέταις τοῖς ἡμετέροις, ὁπότε κελευσθέντες ἄγειν αὐτὸν ἐπιβάλλοιντο, πληγὰς ἐντρίβεται, καὶ οὐδὲ τῶν ἡμετέρων σωμάτων τὼ χεῖρε τελευτῶν ἀπέχεται. §7.45.2ὥστε περίεστιν ἡμῖν, τό γʼ ἐπὶ τοῦτον εἶναι μέρος, ὄνομα μὲν εὐπρεπὲς ἀσύλου ἀρχῆς ἐπὶ χλευασμῷ κείμενον ἔχειν, ἔργον δὲ τῶν ἀποδεδομένων τῇ ἀρχῇ μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν πράττειν.
And Marcius did not indeed attempt to say things by which he would divide the city, while not undertaking to act as he spoke; but on the contrary, having a band of men around him ready for any service, when summoned before our authority he does not appear, and upon our attendants, whenever they, having been ordered to bring him, made the attempt, he inflicts blows, and in the end he does not even keep his hands off our own persons. So that it remains for us, at least as far as he is concerned, to have the honorable name of an inviolable office, which is held up to ridicule, but to do none of the deeds assigned to this office.
πῶς δʼ ἂν ἑτέροις ἀδικεῖσθαι λέγουσι βοηθήσαιμεν, οἷς γε μηδʼ αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχει τἀσφαλές;
And how could we assist others who say they are wronged, when safety does not belong even to ourselves?
ταύτας μέντοι τὰς ὕβρεις οἱ πένητες ὑβριζόμενοι πρὸς ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς οὔπω τυραννοῦντος, ἀλλʼ ἔτι μέλλοντος, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἤδη πεπονθότες, ὦ βουλή, δεινά, τὰ δʼ εἰ μὴ τὸ πλεῖον ὑμῶν μέρος ἐμποδὼν ἐγένετο παρασχεδὸν ἐλθόντες παθεῖν, ἄρα εἰκότως ἀγανακτοῦμεν καὶ βοηθείας τινὸς οἰόμεθα δεῖν οὐκ ἄνευ τῆς ὑμετέρας συναγανακτήσεως τυχεῖν, ἐπὶ δίκην αὐτὸν ἴσην καὶ νόμιμον, ὦ βουλή, προσκαλούμενοι, περὶ ἣν ἅπασα ἡ πληθὺς μερισθεῖσα κατὰ φυλὰς λόγου δοθέντος τοῖς δεομένοις ἔνορκον ἐποίσει τὴν ψῆφον. §7.45.3ἴθι ἐκεῖ, Μάρκιε, καὶ ταῦθʼ, ἃ μέλλεις λέγειν ἐνθάδε, πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς πολίτας ἀθρόους ἀπολογοῦ, εἴτε ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ βελτίστου τὰ κράτιστα συνεβούλευες τούτοις καὶ συνήνεγκεν ἂν τῇ πόλει ταῦτα γενόμενα, εἴτε ὡς οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιον λόγων εὐθύνας ὑπέχειν τοὺς ἀποφαινομένους ἐνθάδε τὰς γνώμας, εἴτε ὡς οὐκ ἐκ προνοίας οὐδὲ ἐπιβουλῆς, ἀλλʼ ὀργῇ ἐπιτρέψας τὰ μιαρὰ ταῦτα παραινεῖν προήχθης, §7.45.4εἴθʼ ὁτιδήποτε ἄλλο ἀπολόγημα ἔχεις.
These insults, indeed, we the poor, being insulted by one man who is not yet playing the tyrant, but is still only aspiring to do so,—having already suffered terrible things, O senate, and having come very near to suffering others, had not the greater part of you stood in the way—do we not then reasonably show indignation, and think we ought to obtain some assistance, not without your shared indignation, by summoning him, O senate, to a fair and lawful trial, concerning which the entire multitude, divided by tribes, when a hearing is granted to those who ask for it, will cast their vote under oath? Go there, Marcius, and make your defense concerning these things, which you are about to say here, before all the citizens assembled, whether that you were advising these men of the best course from the best motives, and that these things, if they had happened, would have been beneficial to the city, or that it is not just that those who declare their opinions here should render an account of their words, or that you were led on to advise these abominable things not from forethought nor plot, but because you yielded to anger, or whatever other defense you have.
καταβίβασον ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπερηφάνων καὶ τυραννικῶν αὐχημάτων ἐκείνων σεαυτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ δημοτικώτερον, ὦ πονηρέ, καὶ ποίησον ἤδη ποτὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ὅμοιον.
Bring yourself down from those proud and tyrannical boasts to a more democratic style, you scoundrel, and make yourself at last like other men.
ἡμαρτηκότος λαβὲ καὶ παραιτουμένου σχῆμα ταπεινὸν καὶ ἐλεεινόν, οἷον ἀπαιτοῦσιν αἱ συμφοραί. μὴ βιαζόμενος τοὺς κακῶς πεπονθότας, ἀλλʼ ὑπερχόμενος ἀξίου σώζεσθαι. §7.45.5γενέσθω σοι παράδειγμα τῆς ἐπιεικείας, ᾗ χρώμενος ἂν εἴης πρὸς τοὺς ἅμα πολιτευομένους ἀνεπίληπτος, τὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τούτων ἔργα, οἳ τοσοῦτοι μὲν ὄντες τὸ πλῆθος, ὅσους νῦν αὐτὸς ὁρᾷς, τοσαύτας δʼ ἀρετὰς ἀποδεδειγμένοι καὶ πολεμικὰς καὶ πολιτικάς, ἃς οὐδʼ ἐν πολλῷ πάνυ χρόνῳ διελθεῖν ῥᾴδιον, οὐδὲν ὠμὸν οὐδʼ ὑπερήφανον ἐξήνεγκαν τέλος καθʼ ἡμῶν τῶν φαύλων καὶ ταπεινῶν οἱ σεμνοὶ καὶ μεγάλοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ λόγων ἦρξαν συμβατηρίων αὐτοὶ πρότεροι προτείνοντες διαλλαγάς, ὅτε διεῖλεν ἡμᾶς ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων ἡ τύχη, καὶ τὰς συμβάσεις οὐχ ὡς ἑαυτοῖς ὑπελάμβανον ἄριστα ἕξειν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἡμεῖς ἠξιοῦμεν συνεχώρησαν γενέσθαι, καὶ τὰ τελευταῖς ταυτὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν σιτοδοσίαν ἔναγχος τοῦ χρόνου προσκρούματα, ἐφʼ οἷς διʼ αἰτίας εἴχομεν αὐτούς, περὶ πολλοῦ ἐποιήσαντο ἀπολύσασθαι.
Take the humble and pitiable posture of one who has erred and begs for pardon, such as misfortunes demand, not doing violence to those who have suffered ill, but submissively courting them to be deemed worthy of being saved. Let the deeds of these good men be an example of moderation for you, by practicing which you would be blameless towards your fellow citizens; who, being as many in number as you yourself now see, and having demonstrated so many virtues, both warlike and civic, which it is not easy to recount even in a very long time, have brought no cruel or proud end upon us, the common and humble, but they themselves first initiated conciliatory proposals, offering reconciliation when fortune divided us from one another, and they conceded that the agreements should be made, not in the way they supposed would be best for themselves, but as we demanded they should be, and as for these recent clashes concerning the corn supply, for which we were holding them to blame, they made it a matter of great importance to clear themselves.