[4,81] Τὰς μὲν οὖν ἡμετέρας τῶν πατρικίων συμφοράς, ἃς καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἄν τις μαθὼν δακρύσειε, σιωπῶ, εἴ γ´ ὀλίγοι μὲν ἐκ πολλῶν λελείμμεθα, ταπεινοὶ δ´ ἐκ μεγάλων γεγόναμεν, εἰς πενίαν δὲ καὶ δεινὴν ἀπορίαν ἥκομεν ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ μακαρίων ἐκπεσόντες ἀγαθῶν. οἱ λαμπροὶ δ´ ἐκεῖνοι καὶ δεινοὶ καὶ μεγάλοι, δι´ οὓς ἐπιφανὴς ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν ποτε ἦν, οἱ μὲν ἀπολώλασιν, οἱ δὲ φεύγουσι τὴν πατρίδα. ἀλλὰ τὰ ὑμέτερα πράγματα, ὦ δημόται, πῶς ἔχει; οὐκ ἀφῄρηται μὲν ὑμῶν τοὺς νόμους, ἀφῄρηται δὲ τὰς ἐφ´ ἱερὰ καὶ θυσίας συνόδους, πέπαυκε δὲ τοὺς ἀρχαιρεσιάζοντας καὶ ψηφοφοροῦντας καὶ περὶ τῶν κοινῶν ἐκκλησιάζοντας, ἀναγκάζει δ´ ὅσα δούλους ἀργυρωνήτους {αἰσχύνης ἄξια} ταλαιπωρεῖν λατομοῦντας ὑλοτομοῦντας ἀχθοφοροῦντας, ἐν ταρτάροις καὶ βαράθροις δαπανωμένους, ἀνάπαυσιν τῶν κακῶν οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην λαμβάνοντας; τίς οὖν ὅρος ἔσται τῶν συμφορῶν, καὶ μέχρι τίνος χρόνου ταῦτα πάσχοντες ὑπομενοῦμεν, καὶ πότε τὴν πάτριον ἐλευθερίαν ἀνακτησόμεθα; ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ Ταρκύνιος; νὴ Δία. καὶ τί πλέον ἡμῖν ἔσται τότε, τί δ´ οὐ χεῖρον; τρεῖς γὰρ ἐξ ἑνὸς Ταρκυνίους ἕξομεν πολλῷ μιαρωτέρους τοῦ πατρός. ὅπου γὰρ ὁ γενόμενος ἐξ ἰδιώτου τύραννος καὶ ὀψὲ ἀρξάμενος πονηρὸς εἶναι, πᾶσαν ἀκριβοῖ τὴν τυραννικὴν κακίαν, ποδαποὺς χρὴ νομίζειν ἔσεσθαι τοὺς ἐξ ἐκείνου φύντας, οἷς πονηρὸν μὲν γένος, πονηραὶ δὲ τροφαί, πολιτικὸν δὲ καὶ μέτριον οὐδὲν οὔτ´ ἰδεῖν ἐξεγένετο πώποτε πραττόμενον οὔτε μαθεῖν; ἵνα δὲ μὴ μαντεύησθε τὰς καταράτους αὐτῶν φύσεις, ἀλλ´ ἀκριβῶς μάθητε, οἵους σκύλακας ὑμῖν ἡ Ταρκυνίου τυραννὶς ὑποτρέφει, θεάσασθε ἔργον ἑνὸς αὐτῶν τοῦ πρεσβυτάτου.

[4,81] "I shall say nothing of the calamities we who are patricians have suffered, of which no one even of our enemies could hear without tears, since we are left but few out of many, have been brought low from having been exalted, and have come to poverty and dire want after being stripped of many enviable possessions. Of all those illustrious men, those great and able leaders because of whom our city was once distinguished, some have been put to death and others banished. But what is your condition, plebeians? Has not Tarquinius taken away your laws? Has he not abolished your assemblages for (p515) the performance of religious rites and sacrifices? Has he not put an end to your electing of magistrates, to your voting, and to your meeting in assembly to discuss public affairs? Does he not force you, like slaves purchased with money, to endure shameful hardships in quarrying stone, hewing timber, carrying burdens, and wasting your strength in deep pits and caverns, without allowing you the least respite from your miseries? What, then, will be the limit of our calamities? And when shall we recover the liberty our fathers enjoyed? When Tarquinius dies? To be sure! And how shall we be in a better condition then? Why should it not be a worse? For we shall have three Tarquinii sprung from the one, all far more abominable than their sire. For when one who from a private station has become a tyrant and has begun late to be wicked, is an expert in all tyrannical mischief, what kind of men may we expect those to be who are sprung from him, whose parentage has been depraved, whose nurture has been depraved, and who never had an opportunity of seeing or hearing of anything done with the moderation befitting free citizens? In order, therefore, that you may not merely guess at their accursed natures, but may know with certainty what kind of whelps the tyranny of Tarquinius is secretly rearing up for your destruction, behold the deed of one of them, the eldest of the three.