§Macr.14"Quid censes igitur?"
aliquis vostrum subiecerit.
'"What do you propose then?" some one of you may interpose.
primum omnium omittundum morem hunc quem agitis inpigrae linguae, animi ignavi, non ultra contionis locum memores libertatis.
First of all, you must discard this habit which you practice of an active tongue but a cowardly mind, remembering liberty no further than the place of assembly.
§Macr.15deinde — ne vos ad virilia illa vocem, quo tribunos plebei modo, patricium magistratum, libera ab auctoribus patriciis suffragia maiores vostri paravere — quom vis omnis, Quirites, in vobis sit et quae iussa nunc pro aliis toleratis, pro vobis agere aut non agere certe possitis, Iovem aut alium quem deum consultorem expectatis?
Next — not that I would call you to those manly deeds by which your ancestors, in the same manner, obtained the tribunes of the plebs, a patrician magistracy, and votes free from patrician approval — since all power, Quirites, is in your hands, and you are certainly able either to do or at least not to do for yourselves what orders you now endure for others, do you expect Jupiter or some other god to be your adviser?
§Macr.16magna illa consulum imperia et patrum decreta vos exequendo rata efficitis, Quirites, ultroque licentiam in vos auctum atque adiutum properatis.
Those great commands of the consuls and decrees of the senate you make valid by executing them, Quirites, and you hasten of your own accord to increase and abet their license against yourselves.
§Macr.17neque ego vos ultum iniurias hortor, magis uti requiem cupiatis, neque discordias, uti illi criminantur, sed earum finem volens iure gentium res repeto et, si pertinaciter retinebunt, §Macr.18non arma neque secessionem, tantummodo ne amplius sanguinem vostrum praebeatis, censebo.
Nor do I urge you to avenge your wrongs, but rather that you should desire peace; nor do I wish for discord, as they falsely charge, but, desiring an end to it, I demand our property back by the law of nations; and if they obstinately retain it, I shall not propose arms or secession, but only that you should no longer offer your blood.
gerant habeantque suo modo imperia, quaerant triumphos, Mithridatem, Sertorium et reliquias exulum persequantur cum imaginibus suis: absit periculum et labos, §Macr.19quibus nulla pars fructus est; nisi forte repentina ista frumentaria lege munia vostra pensantur.
Let them exercise and hold their commands in their own way, let them seek triumphs, and pursue Mithridates, Sertorius, and the remnants of the exiles with the portraits of their ancestors; let danger and toil be far from us, in which you have no share of the reward; unless indeed your duties are compensated by that sudden grain law of theirs.
qua tamen quinis modiis libertatem omnium aestumavere, qui profecto non amplius possunt alimentis carceris.
By which, however, they valued the liberty of all at five modii each, which indeed can do no more than the rations of a prison.
namque ut illis exiguitate mors prohibetur, senescunt vires, sic neque absolvit cura familiari tam parva res et ignavi quoiusque tenuissumas spes frustratur.
For just as by the scantiness of those rations death is averted from the prisoners, while their strength decays, so such a tiny amount neither relieves household care and disappoints the very slimmest hopes of every idle man.
§Macr.20quae tamen quamvis ampla quoniam serviti pretium ostentaretur, quoius torpedinis erat decipi et vostrarum rerum ultro iniuriae gratiam debere? cavendus dolus est.
Yet however ample this might be, since it was offered as the price of slavery, what a sign of stupidity it was to be deceived and actually to owe gratitude for the injury done to your property! Guile must be guarded against.
§Macr.21namque alio modo neque valent in univorsos neque conabuntur.
For in no other way are they strong against you as a whole, nor will they attempt to be.
itaque simul conparant delenimenta et differunt vos in adventum Cn. Pompei, quem ipsum, ubi pertimuere, sublatum in cervices suas, mox dempto metu lacerant.
Therefore, they prepare allurements at the same time and put you off until the arrival of Gnaeus Pompeius, whom they themselves, when they feared him, carried on their shoulders, but soon, their fear being removed, they tear to pieces.
§Macr.22neque eos pudet, vindices uti se ferunt libertatis, tot viros sine uno aut remittere iniuriam non audere aut ius non posse defendere.
Nor are they ashamed, though they style themselves champions of liberty, that so many men do not dare to cease from wrongdoing or are unable to defend the right without one single man.
§Macr.23mihi quidem satis spectatum est Pompeium, tantae gloriae adulescentem, malle principem volentibus vobis esse quam illis dominationis socium auctoremque in primis fore tribuniciae potestatis.
To me indeed it is sufficiently clear that Pompeius, a young man of such great glory, prefers to be your leader with your consent rather than to be their partner in domination, and that he will be foremost in promoting the tribunician power.
§Macr.24verum, Quirites, antea singuli cives in pluribus, non in uno cuncti praesidia habebatis.
But, Quirites, formerly individual citizens had their protection in many, not all in one man.
neque mortalium quisquam dare aut eripere talia unus poterat.
Nor could any single mortal give or take away such things.
§Macr.25Itaque verborum satis dictum est, neque enim ignorantia res claudit.
Therefore, enough of words has been spoken, for it is not through ignorance that our cause halts.
§Macr.26verum occupavit nescio quae vos torpedo, qua non gloria movemini neque flagitio, cunctaque praesenti ignavia mutavistis, abunde libertatem rati, scilicet quia tergis abstinetur et huc ire licet atque illuc, munera ditium dominorum.
But some sort of stupor has seized you, by which you are moved neither by glory nor by disgrace, and you have bartered everything for your present sluggishness, thinking you have abundant liberty, forsooth, because your backs are spared and you are allowed to go hither and thither, which are but the gifts of wealthy masters.
§Macr.27atque haec eadem non sunt agrestibus, sed caeduntur inter potentium inimicitias donoque dantur in provincias magistratibus.
And yet even these same privileges do not belong to the country folk, but they are slaughtered in the feuds of the powerful and are given as presents to magistrates in the provinces.
§Macr.28ita pugnatur et vincitur paucis: plebes, quodcumque accidit, pro victis est et in dies magis erit, si quidem maiore cura dominationem illi retinuerint, quam vos repetiveritis libertatem. '
Thus the fighting is done and the victory won for a few; the plebs, whatever happens, is regarded as vanquished, and will be more so day by day, if indeed they retain their domination with greater care than you seek to recover your liberty.'