[4,73] Χαλεπῆς δὲ καὶ δυσκρίτου τῆς αἱρέσεως ἅπασι φαινομένης διὰ τὰς παρακολουθούσας ἑκάστῃ τῶν πολιτειῶν κακίας τελευταῖος παραλαβὼν τὸν λόγον ὁ Βροῦτος εἶπεν· Ἐγὼ δ´, ὦ Λουκρήτιε καὶ Κολλατῖνε καὶ πάντες ὑμεῖς οἱ παρόντες ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἐξ ἀγαθῶν, καινὴν μὲν οὐδεμίαν οἴομαι δεῖν ἡμᾶς καθίστασθαι πολιτείαν κατὰ τὸ παρόν· ὅ τε γὰρ καιρός, εἰς ὃν συνήγμεθα ὑπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων, βραχύς, ἐν ᾧ μεθαρμόσασθαι πόλεως κόσμον οὐ ῥᾴδιον, ἥ τε πεῖρα τῆς μεταβολῆς, κἂν τὰ κράτιστα τύχωμεν περὶ αὐτῆς βουλευσάμενοι, σφαλερὰ καὶ οὐκ ἀκίνδυνος, ἐξέσται θ´ ἡμῖν ὕστερον, ὅταν ἀπαλλαγῶμεν τῆς τυραννίδος μετὰ πλείονος ἐξουσίας καὶ κατὰ σχολὴν βουλευομένοις τὴν κρείττονα πολιτείαν ἀντὶ τῆς χείρονος ἑλέσθαι, εἰ δή τις ἄρα ἔστι κρείττων, ἧς Ῥωμύλος τε καὶ Πομπίλιος καὶ πάντες οἱ μετ´ ἐκείνους βασιλεῖς καταστησάμενοι παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν, ἐξ ἧς μεγάλη καὶ εὐδαίμων καὶ πολλῶν ἄρχουσα ἀνθρώπων ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν διετέλεσεν. ἃ δὲ παρακολουθεῖν εἴωθε ταῖς μοναρχίαις χαλεπά, ἐξ ὧν εἰς τυραννικὴν ὠμότητα περιίστανται καὶ δι´ ἃ δυσχεραίνουσιν ἅπαντες αὐτάς, ταῦθ´ ὑμῖν ἐπανορθώσασθαί τε καὶ νῦν καὶ ἵνα μηδ´ ἐξ ὑστέρου γένηταί ποτε φυλάξασθαι παραινῶ. τίνα δ´ ἐστὶ ταῦτα; πρῶτον μὲν ἐπειδὴ τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν πραγμάτων οἱ πολλοὶ σκοποῦσι καὶ ἀπὸ τούτων ἢ προσίενταί τινα τῶν βλαβερῶν ἢ φεύγουσι τῶν ὠφελίμων, ἐν οἷς καὶ τὴν μοναρχίαν εἶναι συμβέβηκε, μεταθέσθαι τοὔνομα τῆς πολιτείας ὑμῖν παραινῶ καὶ τοὺς μέλλοντας ἕξειν τὴν ἁπάντων ἐξουσίαν μήτε βασιλεῖς ἔτι μήτε μονάρχους καλεῖν, ἀλλὰ μετριωτέραν τινὰ καὶ φιλανθρωποτέραν ἐπ´ αὐτοῖς θέσθαι προσηγορίαν. ἔπειτα μὴ ποιεῖν μίαν γνώμην ἁπάντων κυρίαν, ἀλλὰ δυσὶν ἐπιτρέπειν ἀνδράσι τὴν βασιλικὴν ἀρχήν, ὡς Λακεδαιμονίους πυνθάνομαι ποιεῖν ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἤδη γενεάς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ πολιτεύματος ἁπάντων μάλιστα τῶν Ἑλλήνων εὐνομεῖσθαί τε καὶ εὐδαιμονεῖν· ἧττον γὰρ ὑβρισταὶ καὶ βαρεῖς ἔσονται διαιρεθείσης τῆς ἐξουσίας διχῇ καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντος ἰσχὺν ἑκατέρου· αἰδώς τ´ ἀλλήλων καὶ κώλυσις τοῦ καθ´ ἡδονὴν ζῆν φιλοτιμία τε πρὸς ἀρετῆς δόκησιν ἐκ ταύτης γένοιτ´ ἂν ἑκάστῳ τῆς ἰσοτίμου δυναστείας μάλιστα.

[4,73] The choice appearing to all of them difficult and hard to decide upon by reason of the (p495) evils attendant upon each form of government, Brutus took up the discussion as the final speaker and said: "It is my opinion, Lucretius, Collatinus, and all of you here present, good men yourselves and descended from good men, that we ought not in the present situation to establish any new form of government. For the time to which we are limited by the circumstances is short, so that it is not easy to reform the constitution of the state, and the very attempt to change it, even though we should happen to be guided by the very best counsels, is precarious and not without danger. And besides, it will be possible later, when we are rid of the tyranny, to deliberate with greater freedom and at leisure and thus choose a better form of government in place of a poorer one — if, indeed, there is any constitution better than the one which Romulus, Pompilius and all the succeeding kings instituted and handed down to us, by means of which our commonwealth has continued to be great and prosperous and to rule over many subjects. But as for the evils which generally attend monarchies and because of which they degenerate into a tyrannical cruelty and are abhorred by all mankind, I advise you to correct these now and at the same time to take precautions that they shall never again occur hereafter. And what are these evils? In the first place, since most people look at the names of things and, influenced by them, either admit some that are hurtful or shrink from others that are useful, of which monarchy happens to be one, I advise you to change the name of the government and no longer to call those who shall have the supreme power either kings or monarchs, but to give them a (p497) more modest and humane title. In the next place, I advise you not to make one man's judgment the supreme authority over all, but to entrust the royal power to two men, as I am informed the Lacedaemonians have been doing now for many generations, in consequence of which form of government they are said to be the best governed and the most prosperous people among the Greeks. For the rulers will be less arrogant and vexatious when the power is divided between two and each has the same authority; moreover, mutual respect, the ability of each to prevent the other from living as suits his pleasure, and a rivalry between them for the attainment of a reputation for virtue would be most likely to result from such equality of power and honour.