[9,32] Περὶ δὲ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τῶν πατρικίων, ἐπειδὴ τὸ κοινὸν ὑμῶν μῖσος, ὃ διὰ τὴν κωλυθεῖσαν κληρουχίαν ἔχετε, καὶ ἐμὲ λυπεῖ, καὶ οὐδὲ ὁ κατήγορος αὐτὸ ἀπεκρύψατο, ἀλλὰ μέρος οὐκ ἐλάχιστον ἐποιήσατο τῆς ἐμῆς κατηγορίας, βούλομαι βραχέα εἰπεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. ἔσται δὲ μετὰ παρρησίας ὁ λόγος· ἄλλως γὰρ οὔτ´ ἂν ἐγὼ δυναίμην λέγειν οὔθ´ ὑμῖν ἀκούειν συμφέρει. οὐ δίκαια ποιεῖτε οὐδ´ ὅσια, ὦ δημόται, τῶν μὲν εὐεργεσιῶν, ἃς εὕρεσθε παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς, πολλῶν οὐσῶν καὶ μεγάλων οὐκ εἰδότες αὐτῇ χάριν· εἰ δέ τι δεομένοις ὑμῖν, ἐξ οὗ συγχωρηθέντος μεγάλα βλάπτοιτ´ ἂν τὸ κοινόν, οὐ φθονοῦσα ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ συμφέρον τῆς πόλεως ὁρῶσα, ἠναντιώθη, τοῦτο δι´ ὀργῆς λαμβάνοντες. ἔδει δ´ ὑμᾶς μάλιστα μὲν ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατίστου τὰ βουλεύματα αὐτῆς γενόμενα καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πάντων ἀγαθῷ δεχομένους ἀποστῆναι τῆς σπουδῆς· εἰ δ´ ἀδύνατοι ἦτε κατασχεῖν ἀσύμφορον ἐπιθυμίαν λογισμῷ σώφρονι, μετὰ τοῦ πείθειν τῶν αὐτῶν ἀξιοῦν τυγχάνειν, ἀλλὰ μὴ μετὰ τοῦ βιάζεσθαι. αἱ γὰρ ἑκούσιοι δωρεαὶ τοῖς τε προεμένοις ἡδίους τῶν ἠναγκασμένων εἰσί, καὶ τοῖς λαμβάνουσι βεβαιότεραι τῶν μὴ τοιούτων. ὃ μὴ τοὺς θεοὺς οὐ λογίζεσθε ὑμεῖς, ἀλλ´ ὑπὸ τῶν δημαγωγῶν, ὥσπερ θάλαττα ὑπ´ ἀνέμων ἄλλων ἐπ´ ἄλλοις ἐπανισταμένων, ἀνακινούμενοί τε καὶ ἀγριαινόμενοι οὐδὲ τὸν ἐλάχιστον χρόνον ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καὶ γαλήνῃ διακεῖσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἐᾶτε. τοιγάρτοι παρέστη ἡμῖν κρείττονα ἡγεῖσθαι τῆς εἰρήνης τὸν πόλεμον· ὅταν μέν γε πολεμῶμεν, τοὺς ἐχθροὺς κακῶς ποιοῦμεν, ὅταν δ´ εἰρήνην ἄγωμεν, τοὺς φίλους. καίτοι, ὦ δημόται, εἰ μὲν ἅπαντα τὰ βουλεύματα τοῦ συνεδρίου καλὰ καὶ συμφέροντα ἡγεῖσθ´ εἶναι, ὥσπερ ἐστί, τί οὐχὶ καὶ τοῦθ´ ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑπολαμβάνετ´ εἶναι; εἰ δὲ μηδὲν ἁπλῶς τὴν βουλὴν τῶν δεόντων οἴεσθε φρονεῖν, ἀλλ´ αἰσχρῶς καὶ κακῶς τὴν πόλιν ἐπιτροπεύειν, τί δή ποτ´ οὐχὶ μεταστησάμενοι αὐτὴν ἀθρόαν, αὐτοὶ ἄρχετε καὶ βουλεύετε καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡγεμονίας πολέμους ἐκφέρετε, ἀλλὰ περικνίζετε αὐτὴν καὶ κατὰ μικρὰ διαλύετε τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους ἀναρπάζοντες ἐν ταῖς δίκαις; ἄμεινον γὰρ ἦν ἅπασιν ἡμῖν κοινῇ πολεμεῖσθαι, ἢ καθ´ ἕνα ἕκαστον ἰδίᾳ συκοφαντεῖσθαι. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐχ ὑμεῖς αἴτιοι τούτων, ὥσπερ ἔφην, ἀλλ´ οἱ συνταράττοντες ὑμᾶς δημαγωγοὶ οὔτ´ ἄρχεσθαι ὑπομένοντες οὔτ´ ἄρχειν εἰδότες. καὶ ὅσον μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων ἀφροσύνῃ τε καὶ ἀπειρίᾳ πολλάκις ἂν ὑμῖν τόδε τὸ σκάφος ἀνετράπη, νῦν δ´ ἡ τὰ τούτων σφάλματα ἐπανορθοῦσα καὶ ἐν ὀρθῇ παρέχουσα ὑμῖν τῇ πόλει πλεῖν, ἡ πλεῖστα δεινὰ ὑπ´ αὐτῶν ἀκούουσά ἐστι βουλή. ταῦτ´ εἴθ´ ἡδέα ἐστὶν ὑμῖν ἀκούειν εἴτ´ ἀνιαρά, μετὰ πάσης ἀληθείας εἴρηταί μοι καὶ τετόλμηται· καὶ μᾶλλον αἱροίμην ἂν παρρησίᾳ συμφερούσῃ τῷ κοινῷ χρώμενος ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ τὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ὑμῖν λέγων σεσῶσθαι.

[9,32] "But concerning the senate and the patricians I wish to say a few words to you, since the general hatred you plebeians bear toward them because they prevented the allotment of land hurts me also, and since my accuser too did not conceal this hatred, but made it no small part of his accusation against me. And I shall prospect with frankness; for I could not speak in any other fashion, nor would it be to your interest to hear me if I did. You are not doing right in the eyes of men or the gods, plebeians, if, on the one hand, you show no gratitude for the many great benefits you have received from the senate, but, on the other hand, because, when you demanded a measure the concession of which would bring great harm to the public, the senate, not in any spirit of animosity toward you, but having in view the welfare of the commonwealth, opposed it, you angrily resent its action.But what you ought to have done was, preferably, to accept the senate's decisions as having been made with the best of motives and for the good of all and then to have desisted from your selfish striving; but if you were unable to restrain your inexpedient desire by means of sober reason, you should have sought to obtain these same ends by persuasion and not by violence. For voluntary gifts are not only more pleasing to those who grant them than such as are extorted by force, but are also more lasting to those who receive them than those which are not freely given. Of this truth you, however, as Heaven is my witness, take no account, but you are continually stirred up by your demagogues and roused to fury (p31) even as is the sea by winds that spring up one after another, and you do not permit the commonwealth to remain calm and serene for even the briefest space of time. The result, therefore, is that we prefer war to peace; at any rate, when we Romans are at war, we hurt our enemies, but when at peace, our friends. And yet, plebeians, if you regard all the resolutions of the senate as excellent and advantageous, as they really are, why do you not assume this also to be one of them? If, however, you believe that the senate takes no thought at all for the things it should, but governs the commonwealth dishonourably and basely, why in the world do you not abolish it bag and baggage and yourselves govern and deliberate and wage wars in defence of our empire, rather than pare it down and destroy it by degrees by making away with its most important members in your trials? For it would be better for all of us to be attacked together in war than for each one separately to be the victim of false accusations.However, it is not you, as I said, who are the authors of these disorders, but rather the demagogues, who keep you stirred up and who are neither willing to be ruled nor capable of ruling. Indeed, so far as their imprudence and inexperience could accomplish it, this ship of yours would have foundered many times over; but as it is, the power which corrects their errors and enables your commonwealth to sail on an even keel is the senate, so greatly maligned by them. These remarks, whether they are pleasant for you to hear or vexatious, have been uttered and hazarded by me in all sincerity; and I (p33) had rather lose my life by using a freedom of speech that is advantageous for the commonwealth than save it by flattering you."