[5,5] Τοιαῦτα λεξάντων αὐτῶν ἀναστὰς ὁ Βροῦτος ἔφη Περὶ μὲν εἰσόδου Ταρκυνίων εἰς τήνδε πόλιν παύσασθε, ἄνδρες Τυρρηνοί, τὰ πλείω λέγοντες. ἐπῆκται γὰρ ἤδη ψῆφος ἀίδιον κατ´ αὐτῶν ὁρίζουσα φυγήν, καὶ θεοὺς ὀμωμόκαμεν ἅπαντες μήτ´ αὐτοὶ κατάξειν τοὺς τυράννους μηδὲ τοῖς κατάγουσιν ἐπιτρέψειν· εἰ δέ τινος ἄλλου δεῖσθε τῶν μετρίων, ἃ μὴ νόμοις μηδ´ ὅρκοις κεκωλύμεθα δρᾶν, λέγετε. μετὰ τοῦτο παρελθόντες οἱ πρέσβεις λέγουσι· Παρὰ δόξαν μὲν ἡμῖν ἀπήντηται τὰ πρῶτα· πρεσβευσάμενοι γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἱκέτου λόγον ὑμῖν ὑποσχεῖν ἀξιοῦντος καὶ τὸ κοινὸν ἁπάντων δίκαιον εἰς ἰδίαν αἰτούμενοι χάριν οὐ δεδυνήμεθα τούτου τυχεῖν· ἐπεὶ δ´ οὕτως ὑμῖν δοκεῖ, περὶ μὲν εἰσόδου Ταρκυνίων οὐδὲν ἔτι λιπαροῦμεν, προκαλούμεθα δ´ ὑμᾶς εἰς ἕτερόν τι δίκαιον, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὰς ἐντολὰς ἡμῖν ἔδωκεν ἡ πατρίς, καὶ οὔτε νόμος ὁ κωλύσων αὐτὸ ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς ἐστιν οὔθ´ ὅρκος, ἀποδοῦναι τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν οὐσίαν, ἣν ὁ πάππος αὐτοῦ πρότερον ἐκέκτητο οὐθὲν τῶν ὑμετέρων οὔτε βίᾳ κατασχὼν οὔτε λάθρα, παρὰ δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς διαδεξάμενος καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς μετενέγκας. ἀπόχρη γὰρ αὐτῷ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ κομισαμένῳ ζῆν ἑτέρωθί που μακαρίως μηθὲν ἐνοχλοῦντι ὑμῖν. τοιαῦτα μὲν οἱ πρέσβεις διαλεχθέντες ἐξῆλθον· τῶν δ´ ὑπάτων Βροῦτος μὲν κατέχειν τὰ χρήματα συνεβούλευσε τιμωρίας τε χάριν ἀνθ´ ὧν οἱ τύραννοι τὸ κοινὸν ἠδίκησαν πολλῶν ὄντων καὶ μεγάλων, καὶ τοῦ συμφέροντος ἕνεκεν, ἵνα μὴ γένοιτ´ αὐτοῖς ἀφορμὴ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, διδάσκων ὡς οὐκ ἀγαπήσουσι Ταρκύνιοι τὰς οὐσίας ἀπολαβόντες οὐδ´ ὑπομενοῦσιν ἰδιώτην βίον ζῆν, ἀλλὰ πόλεμον ἐπάξουσι Ῥωμαίοις ἀλλοεθνῆ καὶ πειράσονται βίᾳ κατελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχήν. Κολλατῖνος δὲ τἀναντία παρῄνει λέγων, ὡς οὐδὲν τὰ χρήματα τῶν τυράννων ἠδίκει τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ σώματα, φυλάττεσθαί τ´ αὐτοὺς ἀξιῶν ἀμφότερα, μὴ δόξης τε πονηρᾶς παρὰ πάντων τύχωσιν ὡς διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον ἐξεληλακότες ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς Ταρκυνίους, καὶ πρόφασιν πολέμου δικαίαν παράσχωσιν αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀποστερουμένοις τῶν ἰδίων· ἄδηλον μὲν εἶναι φάσκων, εἰ κομισάμενοι τὰ χρήματα πολεμεῖν ἐπιχειρήσουσιν ἔτι πρὸς αὐτοὺς περὶ τῆς καθόδου, πρόδηλον δὲ θάτερον ὡς οὐκ ἀξιώσουσιν εἰρήνην ἄγειν τὰς οὐσίας ἀφαιρεθέντες.

[5,5] After they had done speaking, Brutus rose up and said: "Concerning a return of the Tarquinii to this city, Tyrrhenians, say no more. For a vote has already been passed condemning them to perpetual banishment, and we have all sworn by the gods neither to restore the tyrants ourselves nor to permit others to restore them. But if you desire anything else of us that is reasonable which were not prevented from doing by the laws or by our oaths, declare it." Thereupon the ambassadors came forward and said: "Our first efforts have not turned out as we (p15) expected. For, though we have come as ambassadors on behalf of a suppliant who desires to give you an account of his actions, and though we ask as a private favour the right that is common to all men, we have not been able to obtain it. Since, then, this is your decision, we plead no longer for the return of the Tarquinii, but we do call upon you to perform an act of justice of another kind, concerning which our country has given us instructions — and there is neither law nor oath to hinder you from doing it — namely, to restore to the king the property formerly possessed by his grandfather, who however got anything of yours either by force or by fraud, but inherited his wealth from his father and brought it to you. For it is enough for him to recover what belongs to him and to live happily in some other place, without causing you any annoyance." After the ambassadors had said this, they withdrew. Of the two consuls, Brutus advised retaining the fortunes of the tyrants, both as a penalty for the injuries they had done to the commonwealth, which were many and great, and for the advantage that would result from depriving them of these resources for war; for he showed that the Tarquinii would not be contented with the recovery of their possessions nor submit to leading a private life, but would bring a foreign war upon the Romans and attempt by force to get back into power. But Collatinus advised the contrary, saying that it was not the possessions of the tyrants, but the tyrants themselves, that had injured the commonwealth, and he asked them to guard against two things: first, not to incur the bad opinion of the world as having driven the Tarquinii from power for the sake of their riches, (p17) and, secondly, not to give the tyrants themselves a just cause for war as having been deprived of their private property. For it was uncertain, he said, whether, if they got back their possessions, they would any longer attempt to make war upon them in order to secure their return from exile, but it was perfectly clear, on the other hand, that they would not consent to keep the peace if they were deprived of their property.