§8.6.1ταῦθʼ ὁρῶντες οἱ πονηρότατοι τοῦ πλήθους ἐκεῖνοι προστάται πρώτους ἔγνωσαν ἡμᾶς τοὺς φανερώτατα ἐναντιουμένους σφίσιν ἐκποδὼν ποιήσασθαι, οὐχ ἅμʼ ἀμʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἐπιχειρήσαντες, ἵνα μὴ ἐπίφθονόν τε καὶ βαρὺ τὸ πρᾶγμα γένηται, ἀλλʼ ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ τοῦ νεωτέρου τε καὶ εὐμεταχειριστοτέρου ἀρξάμενοι.
"Seeing these things, those most wicked leaders of the multitude decided first of all to remove us, who most openly opposed them, not by attacking both of us at once, lest the business should become unpopular and troublesome, but beginning with me, who was younger and easier to deal with.
τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἄκριτόν με ἐπεχείρησαν ἀπολέσαι, ἔπειτʼ ἔκδοτον παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς ἠξίουν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ λαβεῖν·
First, then, they attempted to destroy me without a trial, and next they demanded to receive me from the senate to be put to death.
ἀποτυχόντες δʼ ἀμφοτέρων προὐκαλέσαντο ἐπὶ δίκην, ἣν αὐτοὶ δικάσειν ἔμελλον, τυραννίδος ἐπιβαλόντες αἰτίαν.
But failing in both, they summoned me to a trial in which they themselves were going to be judges, bringing against me a charge of tyranny.
§8.6.2καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτʼ ἔμαθον, ὅτι δήμῳ τύραννος οὐδεὶς πολεμεῖ μετὰ τῶν ἀρίστων συστάς, ἀλλὰ τἀναντία μετὰ τοῦ δήμου τὸ κράτιστον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἀναιρεῖ μέρος·
And they did not even understand this, that no tyrant makes war against the people in alliance with the best men, but on the contrary, in alliance with the people, he destroys the best part of the city.
δικαστήριόν τʼ οὐχ ὅπερ ἦν πάτριον ἀπέδωκάν μοι τὴν λοχῖτιν καλέσαντες ἐκκλησίαν, ἀλλʼ ὃ πάντες ὁμολογοῦσι πονηρότατον εἶναι καὶ ἐπʼ ἐμοῦ πρώτου καὶ μόνου γενόμενον, ἐν ᾧ πλέον ἔχειν ἔμελλον οἱ θῆτες καὶ ἀνέστιοι καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπιβουλεύοντες βίοις τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ δικαίων καὶ τὰ §8.6.3κοινὰ σώζεσθαι βουλομένων.
Nor did they grant me the trial which was ancestral, by calling the assembly of the centuries, but one which all agree is most wicked, and which was established for the first time and only in my case, in which the day-laborers, the homeless, and those who plot against the property of others were to have more influence than the good, the just, and those who wish the public welfare to be preserved.
τοσοῦτο δʼ ἄρα μοι περιῆν τοῦ μηδὲν ἀδικεῖν, ὥστʼ ἐν ὄχλῳ κρινόμενος, οὗ τὸ πλέον μισόχρηστον ἦν καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐχθρὸν ἐμοί, δυσὶ μόνον ἑάλων ψήφοις ἀποτιθεμένων τὴν ἐξουσίαν τῶν δημάρχων, εἰ μὴ καταδικασθείην ἐγώ, καὶ τὰ ἔσχατα πείσεσθαι πρὸς ἐμοῦ λεγόντων καὶ πάσῃ σπουδῇ καὶ προθυμίᾳ παρὰ τὸν ἀγῶνα κατʼ ἐμοῦ χρησαμένων.
Yet my innocence was so superabundant that, though I was tried in a crowd of which the greater part hated virtue and was for that reason hostile to me, I was convicted by only two votes, even though the tribunes declared they would lay down their office if I were not condemned, and said they would suffer the worst treatment from me, and employed every zeal and eagerness against me during the trial.
§8.6.4τοιαῦτα δὴ πεπονθὼς ἐγὼ πρὸς τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ πολιτῶν ἀβίωτον ἡγησάμην τὸν λοιπὸν ἔσεσθαί μοι βίον, εἰ μὴ λάβοιμι παρʼ αὐτῶν δίκας·
Having suffered such treatment from my own citizens, I considered that the rest of my life would not be worth living unless I should take vengeance upon them.
καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ ἐξόν μοι ζῆν ἀπραγμόνως, εἴτʼ ἐν ταῖς Λατίνων πόλεσιν ἠβουλόμην κατὰ τὸ συγγενές, εἴτʼ ἐν ταῖς νεοκτίστοις, ἅς οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀπῴκισαν, οὐκ ἠβουλήθην, ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς δὲ κατέφυγον, οὓς ἠπιστάμην πλεῖστά θʼ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων ἠδικημένους καὶ μάλιστʼ αὐτοῖς ἀπεχθομένους, ἵνα κοινῇ μεθʼ ὑμῶν τιμωρησαίμην αὐτούς, ὅση μοι δύναμις, λόγοις τʼ, ἔνθα δεῖ λόγων, καὶ ἔργοις, ὅταν ἔργων δέῃ.
And for this reason, although it was possible for me to live without trouble, either in the cities of the Latins, if I wished, according to our kinship, or in the newly founded cities which our fathers colonized, I did not wish to do so, but fled to you, whom I knew to have been most wronged by the Romans and to be most hostile to them, so that I might together with you take vengeance on them with all my power, both by words where words are needed, and by deeds when there is need of deeds.
χάριν τε τὴν μεγάλην ὑμῖν οἶδα τῆς θʼ ὑποδοχῆς μου καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον τῆς τιμῆς, ᾗ με τιμᾶτε οὐθὲν οὔτε μνησικακήσαντες οὔθʼ ὑπολογισάμενοι ὧν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ πολεμίου ποτὲ ὄντος ἐπάθετε κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους.
And I feel great gratitude to you both for my reception and still more for the honor with which you honor me, showing no resentment and taking no account of what you suffered during the wars at my hands when I was once your enemy."