§7.46.1ἐῶ τἆλλα, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ σοῦ καὶ τῆς σῆς θεοβλαβείας τίνας οὐκ ἐποιήσαντο δεήσεις ἁπάντων κοινῇ τε καὶ καθʼ ἕκαστον τῶν δημοτικῶν παραιτούμενοί σε τῆς τιμωρίας;
I pass over other matters; but on behalf of you yourself and your god-inflicted madness, what entreaties did they not make, both collectively and individually, among the plebeians, begging that you be spared from punishment?
ἔπειτα τοῖς μὲν ὑπάτοις καὶ τῇ βουλῇ τοσαύτην πόλιν ἐπιτροπευούσῃ καλῶς εἶχεν, ὦ Μάρκιε, δικαστὴν τὸν δῆμον ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐνεκαλοῦντο ὑπομένειν, σοὶ δʼ ἆρʼ οὐχὶ καλῶς ἔχει;
Furthermore, Marcius, if it was well for the consuls and the senate, who govern so great a city, to submit to the people as judge regarding the charges against them, is it then not well for you?
§7.46.2καὶ δεῖσθαί γε τῶν δημοτῶν ὑπὲρ ἀφέσεως τῆς σῆς οὗτοι μὲν ἅπαντες οὐδὲν αἰσχρὸν εἶναι νομίζουσι, σὺ δὲ διʼ αἰσχύνης λαμβάνεις τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο;
And while all these men think it is not at all shameful to entreat the plebeians for your acquittal, do you consider this very same thing a matter of shame?
καὶ οὐκ ἀπόχρη σοι ταῦτʼ, ὦ γενναῖε, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τι καλὸν ἐξειργασμένος ὑψαυχενῶν καὶ μεγαληγορῶν περιέρχῃ καὶ μηδὲν ὑφεῖναι τοῦ φρονήματος ἀπομαχόμενος·
And are these things not enough for you, noble sir, but as if you had performed some glorious deed, you go about with head held high and speaking boastfully, fighting to abate nothing of your pride?
ἐῶ γάρ, ὅτι καὶ λοιδορούμενος τῷ δήμῳ καὶ προσεγκαλῶν καὶ ἀπειλῶν.
For I pass over the fact that you also insult the people, bring additional charges, and threaten them.
§7.46.3ἔπειτʼ οὐ νεμεσᾶτε αὐτῷ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας, ὦ πατέρες, εἰ τηλικούτων αὑτὸν ἀξιοῖ μόνος, ἡλίκων οὐδʼ ἅπαντες ὑμεῖς ἑαυτούς;
Then, O fathers, are you not indignant at his pride, if he alone deems himself worthy of such great privileges as not even all of you together claim for yourselves?
ὃν ἐχρῆν, εἰ καὶ πάντες ὑμεῖς ἀνεδέχεσθε τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πόλεμον ψηφίσασθαι, τὸ μὲν εὔνουν καὶ πρόθυμον ὑμῶν ἀγαπᾶν, μὴ δέχεσθαι δὲ χάριν ἰδίαν ἐπὶ κοινῇ βλάβῃ, ἀλλʼ ὑπομένειν ἀπολογούμενον καὶ δίκην ὑπέχοντα εἰ δέοι καὶ πάντα §7.46.4πάσχοντα.
He who, even if all of you were accepting to vote for war on his behalf, ought to have been grateful for your goodwill and eagerness, and not to have accepted a private favor at the expense of common harm, but to have submitted to making a defense and standing trial, and if necessary, suffering all things.
ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν ἔργα ἀγαθοῦ πολίτου καὶ τὸ καλὸν ἔργοις ἀσκοῦντος, οὐ λόγοις.
For these were the deeds of a good citizen and one who practices what is honorable in deeds, not in words.
ἃ δὲ νῦν οὗτος βιάζεται, τίνος ἐστὶ σημεῖα βίου;
But what this man now attempts by force, of what kind of life are they signs?
ποίων μηνύματα προαιρέσεων, ὅρκους παραβαίνειν, δεξιὰς παρασπονδεῖν, ὁμολογίας ἀναιρεῖν, δήμῳ πολεμεῖν, εἰς ἀρχόντων σώματα ὑβρίζειν, καὶ μηδʼ ἐφʼ ἑνὶ τούτων τὸ σῶμα ὑπεύθυνον ποιεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἄκριτον ἀναπολόγητον μηδενὸς δεηθέντα μηθένα φοβηθέντα μηθενὶ τῶν τοσούτων πολιτῶν ἴσον γενόμενον ἀδεῶς περινοστεῖν;
What kind of purposes do they reveal—breaking oaths, violating treaties, destroying agreements, making war on the people, insulting the persons of magistrates, and not rendering his person accountable for any of these things, but going about without fear, untried, undefended, having entreated no one, feared no one, and made himself equal to none of so many citizens?
ἆρʼ οὐ τυραννικοῦ §7.46.5τρόπου σημεῖα ταῦτʼ ἐστίν;
Are these not signs of a tyrannical character?
ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ.
To me at least, they seem to be.
καὶ τοῦτον ὅμως εἰσί τινες οἱ παραψύχοντες καὶ παρακροτοῦντες ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν, οἷς ἐντέτηκε τὸ πρὸς τοὺς δημοτικοὺς μῖσος ἀδιάλλακτον, καὶ οὐ δύνανται συνιδεῖν, ὅτι οὐθὲν μᾶλλον κατὰ τοῦ ταπεινοτέρου μέρους τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει φύεται τουτὶ τὸ κακὸν ὡς καὶ κατὰ τοῦ σεμνοτέρου· ἀλλʼ οἴονται τοῦ διαφόρου φύσει καταδουλωθέντος καὶ δὴ τὸ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἕξειν ἀσφαλῶς.
And yet, even among yourselves, there are some who comfort and applaud him, in whom an irreconcilable hatred against the plebeians is deeply ingrained, and they cannot understand that this evil grows no more against the humble part of those in the city than against the more noble part; but they think that if their natural adversary is once enslaved, their own position will indeed be secure.
§7.46.6οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει τἀληθές, ὦ γνώμης ἁμαρτάνοντες τῆς ἀρίστης·
The truth is not so, O you who err from the best judgment!
διδάσκαλον δὲ τὴν πεῖραν ἣν ὁ Μάρκιος παρέχεται καὶ τὸν χρόνον λαβόντες, ὀθνείοις θʼ ἅμα καὶ οἰκείοις σωφρονισθέντες παραδείγμασι γνοίητʼ ἄν, ὅτι μοσχευομένη κατὰ τοὺ δήμου τυραννὶς καθʼ ὅλης τῆς πόλεως μοσχεύεται, καὶ νῦν μὲν ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ἄρχεται, κρατήσασα δʼ οὐδʼ ὑμῶν φείσεται.
But taking as your teacher the experience which Marcius provides and time, and being disciplined by both foreign and domestic examples, you would realize that a tyranny planted against the people is being planted against the whole city, and though now it begins with us, once it has conquered, it will not spare even you.