[9,38] Ταῦτ´ εἰπὼν καὶ παρακαλέσας ἅπαντας ἥκειν ἐπὶ τὴν δίκην, καθ´ ἱερῶν τ´ ὀμόσας ἦ μὴν ἐμμένειν τοῖς ἐγνωσμένοις καὶ πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ τῶν ἀνδρῶν κατηγορεῖν, ἡμέραν προεῖπεν, ἐν ᾗ τὴν δίκην ἔμελλεν ἐπιτελέσειν. τοὺς δὲ πατρικίους, ὡς ἔμαθον ταῦτα, πολὺ δέος εἰσέρχεται καὶ φροντίς, ὅτῳ χρὴ τρόπῳ τούς τ´ ἄνδρας ἐκλύσασθαι τῆς αἰτίας καὶ τοῦ δημαγωγοῦ τὸ θράσος ἐπισχεῖν. καὶ δὴ ἐδέδοκτο αὐτοῖς, εἴ τι ψηφίσαιτο κατὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν ὑπάτων ὁ δῆμος, μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν αὐτῷ κατὰ τὸ καρτερὸν ἐνισταμένους καὶ εἰ δέοι καὶ εἰς ὅπλα χωροῦντας. οὐ μὴν ἐδέησέ γε τῶν βιαίων οὐδενὸς αὐτοῖς ταχεῖαν λαβόντος τοῦ κινδύνου καὶ παράδοξον τὴν λύσιν· μιᾶς γὰρ ἡμέρας οὔσης ἔτι λοιπῆς τῇ δίκῃ νεκρὸς Γενύκιος ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ κοίτης εὑρέθη, σημεῖον οὐδὲν ἔχων οὔτε σφαγῆς οὔτ´ ἀγχόνης οὔτε φαρμάκου οὔτ´ ἄλλου τῶν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς θανάτων οὐδενός. ὡς δ´ ἐγνώσθη τὸ πάθος, καὶ προηνέχθη τὸ σῶμα εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν, δαιμόνιόν τι κωλύσεως συγκύρημα ἔδοξεν εἶναι, καὶ αὐτίκα ἡ δίκη διελέλυτο. τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων οὐδεὶς ἐτόλμα δημάρχων ἀνακαλεῖν τὴν στάσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ Γενυκίου κατεγίνωσκον πολλὴν μανίαν. εἰ μὲν οὖν μηδὲν ἔτι πολυπραγμονοῦντες οἱ ὕπατοι διετέλεσαν, ἀλλ´ ἀφῆκαν ὡς ὁ δαίμων ἐκοίμησε τὴν στάσιν, οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτοὺς ἔτι κατέλαβε κίνδυνος, νῦν δ´ εἰς αὐθάδειαν καὶ καταφρόνησιν τοῦ δημοτικοῦ τραπόμενοι καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς κράτος, ὅσον ἐστίν, ἐπιδεῖξαι βουλόμενοι, κακὰ ἐξειργάσαντο μεγάλα. προθέντες γὰρ στρατολογίαν καὶ τοὺς οὐχ ὑπακούοντας ταῖς τ´ ἄλλαις ζημίαις καὶ πληγαῖς ῥάβδων προσαναγκάζοντες εἰς ἀπόνοιαν ἐποίησαν τραπέσθαι τοῦ δημοτικοῦ τὸ πλέον, ἀπὸ τοιαύτης μάλιστ´ αἰτίας.

[9,38] After he had said this and exhorted p49 them all to be present at the trial and had solemnly sworn over the victims that he would persist in his resolution and prosecute the men with all possible vigour, he appointed a day for holding the trail. The patricians, upon learning of this, felt great fear and concern, wondering what course they ought to take to secure the men's acquittal of the charge and also to put a stop to the boldness of the demagogue. And they resolved, in case the populace should pass any vote to the prejudice of the consular power, to prevent them from carrying it out, by opposing them with all their power and even resorting to arms if that should be necessary. But they had no need to use any violent means, as the danger was dispelled in a sudden and unexpected manner. For when only one day remained till the trial, Genucius was found dead on his bed without the least sign of stabbing, strangling, poisoning, or any of the other means of killing as the result of a plot. As soon as this unhappy occurrence was known and the body had been brought into the Forum, the event was looked upon as a kind of providential obstacle to the trial, which was straightway dismissed. For none of the other tribunes dared to revive the sedition, but they even looked upon Genucius as having been guilty of great madness. Now if the consuls had not committed any further act of officiousness, but had let the dissension, as Heaven had put it to sleep, remain so, no further danger would have beset them; but as it was, by turning to arrogance and contempt for the plebeians and by desiring to display the extent of their power, they brought about great mischiefs. For, having appointed a day for levying troops and endeavouring (p51) to coerce the disobedient by various punishments, including even scourging with rods, they drove the greater part of the plebeians to desperation. This was caused particularly by the incident I shall now relate.