§3.37.1circumspectare tum patriciorum vultus plebei et inde libertatis captare auram, unde servitutem timendo in eum statum rem publicam adduxerant.
At that time, the plebeians began to watch the faces of the patricians and to try to catch the breeze of liberty from the very quarter whence, by fearing servitude, they had brought the state into its present condition.
§3.37.2primores patrum odisse decemviros, odisse plebem; nec probare, quae fierent, et credere haud indignis accidere;
The leading men of the patricians hated the decemvirs and hated the plebs; they did not approve of what was being done, and believed that these things were happening to those who well deserved them.
avide ruendo ad libertatem in servitutem elapsos iuvare nolle, cumulari quoque iniurias, §3.37.3ut taedio praesentium consules duo tandem et status pristinus rerum in desiderium veniant.
They had no wish to help those who, by rushing greedily after liberty, had fallen into servitude, and [wished] that injuries should even accumulate, so that through disgust with the present state of affairs, two consuls and the former condition of things might at last be longed for.
§3.37.4iam et processerat pars maior anni, et duae tabulae legum ad prioris anni decem tabulas erant adiectae, nec quicquam iam supererat, si eae quoque leges centuriatis comitiis perlatae essent, cur eo magistratu rei publicae opus esset.
The greater part of the year had already passed, and two tables of laws had been added to the ten tables of the previous year; nor did any reason now remain why the state should need that office, if those laws also should be passed in the centuriate assembly.
§3.37.5expectabant, quam mox consulibus creandis comitia edicerentur.
They were waiting to see how soon the assembly for electing consuls would be announced.
id modo plebes agitabat, quonam modo tribuniciam potestatem, munimentum libertati, remintermissam repararent, cum interim mentio comitiorum nulla fieri.
The plebs were only discussing how they might restore the tribunician power—the bulwark of their liberty—a thing that had been suspended; meanwhile, however, no mention of the assembly was made.
§3.37.6et decemviri, qui primo tribunicios homines, quia id populare habebatur, circum se ostentaverant plebei, patriciis iuvenibus saepserant latera.
And the decemvirs, who at first had displayed former tribunes around themselves to the plebs because that was considered popular, had surrounded their flanks with young patricians.
eorum catervae tribunalia obsederant.
Crowds of these occupied the tribunals.
§3.37.7hi ferre agere plebem plebisque res, cum fortuna, quidquid cupitum foret, potentioris esset.
These plundered the plebeians and their property, since whatever was coveted became the spoil of the stronger.
§3.37.8et iam ne tergo quidem abstinebatur: virgis caedi, alii securi subici, et, ne gratuita crudelitas esset, bonorum donatio sequi domini supplicium.
And now they did not even spare their backs: some were beaten with rods, others subjected to the axe, and, so that cruelty might not be unpaid, the confiscation of property followed the execution of the owner.
hac mercede iuventus nobilis corrupta non modo non ire obviam iniuriae, sed propalam licentiam suam malle quam omnium libertatem.
Corrupted by this reward, the noble youth not only did not oppose the wrongdoing, but openly preferred their own license to the liberty of all.