[5,63] Παρασκευαζόμενοι δὲ τὰ εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἐπιτήδεια καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἀρξάμενοι καταγράφειν, εἰς πολλὴν ἐνέπιπτον ἀμηχανίαν, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἁπάντων προθυμίαν εἰς τὰ ἔργα παρεχομένων. οἱ γὰρ ἐνδεεῖς βίου καὶ μάλιστα οἱ τὰ χρέα τοῖς συμβαλοῦσι διαλῦσαι οὐ δυνάμενοι πολλοὶ σφόδρα ὄντες οὐχ ὑπήκουον ἐπὶ τὰ ὅπλα καλούμενοι οὐδ´ ἐβούλοντο κοινωνεῖν οὐδενὸς ἔργου τοῖς πατρικίοις, εἰ μὴ ψηφίσαιντο αὐτοῖς χρεῶν ἄφεσιν· ἀλλὰ καὶ καταλείψειν τινὲς αὐτῶν τὴν πόλιν ἔλεγον καὶ παρεκελεύοντο ἀλλήλοις μὴ φιλοχωρεῖν πόλει μηδενὸς αὐτοῖς ἀγαθοῦ μεταδιδούσῃ. τέως μὲν οὖν παρακαλεῖν αὐτοὺς οἱ πατρίκιοι καὶ μεταπείθειν ἐπειρῶντο, ἐπεὶ δ´ οὐθὲν ἐγίνοντο μετριώτεροι πρὸς τὰς παρακλήσεις, οὕτω δὴ συνελθόντες εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον ἐσκόπουν, τίς εὐπρεπεστέρα λύσις ἔσται τῆς κατεχούσης τὴν πόλιν ταραχῆς. ὅσοι μὲν οὖν ἐπιεικεῖς τὴν φύσιν καὶ μέτριοι τοῖς τιμήμασι τῶν βίων ἦσαν, παρῄνουν ἀφεῖναι τὰ χρέα τοῖς πένησι καὶ πρίασθαι πολιτικὴν εὔνοιαν ὀλίγου διαφόρου, μεγάλα μέλλοντας ἐξ αὐτῆς κερδανεῖν ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ.

[5,63] While they were preparing everything that was necessary for the war and beginning to enrol their troops, they fell into great perplexity when they found that all the citizens did not show the same eagerness for the service. For the needy, and particularly those who were unable to discharge their debts to their creditors — and there were many such — when called to arms refused to obey and were unwilling to join with the patricians in any undertaking unless they passed a vote for the remission (p191) of their debts. On the contrary, some of them threatened even to leave the city and exhorted one another to give up their fondness for living in a city that allowed them no share in any thing that was good. At first the patricians endeavoured by entreaties to prevail upon them to change their purpose, but finding that in response to their entreaties they showed no greater moderation, they then assembled in the senate-house to consider what would be the most seemly method of putting an end to the disturbance that was troubling the state. Those senators, therefore, who were fair-minded and of moderate fortunes advised them to remit the debts of the poor and to purchase for a small price the goodwill of their fellow-citizens, from which they were sure to derive great advantages both private and public.