Texte grec :
| [6,38] Ἀεὶ μέν, ὦ βουλή, ὁσάκις ὑπὲρ τούτων
προὐτέθη λόγος, ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς εἰμὶ γνώμης, μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν
τῷ δήμῳ μηδὲν τῶν ἀξιουμένων, ὅ τι μὴ
νόμιμον μηδὲ καλόν, μήτε τὸ φρόνημα τῆς πόλεως
ἐλαττοῦν, καὶ οὐδὲ νῦν μεταγινώσκω τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς
μοι φανέντων οὐδέν· ἢ πάντων ἂν εἴην ἀνθρώπων
ἀφρονέστατος, εἰ πέρυσι μὲν ὕπατος ὢν ἀντιπράττοντός
μοι τοῦ συνυπάτου καὶ τὸν δῆμον ἐπισείοντος ἀντέσχον
καὶ διέμεινα ἐπὶ τῶν ἐγνωσμένων οὔτε φόβῳ
ἀποτραπεὶς οὔτε δεήσει οὔτε χάρισιν εἴξας, νῦν δ´
ἰδιώτης ὢν ῥίψαιμι ἐμαυτὸν καὶ τὴν παρρησίαν
καταπροδοίην· εἴτε μου τὸ ἐλεύθερον τῆς ψυχῆς ὑμῶν
ἕκαστος βούλεται ἀποκαλεῖν εὐγενὲς εἴτε αὔθαδες, ὅσον
ἂν ζῶ χρόνον οὐκ ἀποστήσομαι τοῦ ἤδη καλῶς
δεδογμένου, καὶ οὐδέποτε εἰσάξω χαριζόμενος τοῖς
κακοῖς χρεῶν ἀποκοπάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς εἰσάγοντας
αὐτὰς ἁπάσῃ προθυμίᾳ χρώμενος ὁμόσε χωρήσω,
λογιζόμενος, ὅτι πᾶσα κακία καὶ διαφθορὰ καὶ συλλήβδην
ἀνατροπὴ πόλεως ἀπὸ χρεοκοπίας ἄρχεται. καὶ
εἴτε τις ἀπὸ τοῦ φρονίμου εἴτε διὰ μανίας τινός,
ἐπειδὴ οὐ τὸ ἴδιον ἀσφαλές, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀξιῶ
σκοπεῖν, εἴτε ὁπωσδήποτε οἰήσεται τάδε λέγεσθαι,
συγχωρῶ αὐτῷ νομίζειν, ὅπως βούλεται, μέχρι δὲ παντὸς
ἐναντιώσομαι τοῖς μὴ τὰ πάτρια πολιτεύματα
εἰσηγησομένοις. ἐπειδὴ δ´ οὐ τὰ χρέα ἀπαιτοῦσιν οἱ καιροί,
μεγάλην δὲ βοήθειαν, ὃ μόνον ἔσται τῆς διχοστασίας
φάρμακον ἐν τῷ παρόντι φράσω· δικτάτορα ἕλεσθε
κατὰ τάχος, ὃς ἀνευθύνῳ χρώμενος ἐξουσίᾳ καὶ βουλὴν καὶ
δῆμον ἀναγκάσει τὰ κράτιστα τῷ κοινῷ φρονεῖν· ἄλλη γὰρ
οὐκ ἔσται τηλικούτου κακοῦ λύσις.
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Traduction française :
| [6,38] "Every time these matters have been up for debate, senators, I have always been
of the same opinion, never to yield to the people any one of their demands that is not
lawful and honourable, nor to lower the dignity of the commonwealth; nor do I even
now change the opinion which I entertained from the beginning. For I should be the
most foolish of all men, if last year, when I was consul and my colleague opposed me
and stirred up the people against me, I resisted and adhered to my (p353) resolutions,
undeterred by fear and yielding neither to entreaties nor to favour, only to demean
myself now, when I am a private citizen, and to prove utterly false to the principle of
free speech. You may cal this independence of mind on my part nobility or
arrogance, as each of you prefers; but, as long as I live, I will never propose an
abolition of debts as a favour to wicked men, but will go so far as to resist with all the
earnestness of which I am capable those who do propose it, reasoning as I do that
every evil and corruption and, in a word, the overthrow of the state, begins with the
abolition of debts. And whether anyone shall think that what I say proceeds from
prudence, or from a kind of madness (since I see fit to consider, not my own security,
but that of the commonwealth), or from any other motive, I give him leave to think as
he pleases; but to the very last I will oppose those who shall introduce measures that
are not in accord with our ancestral traditions. And since the times require, not an
abolition of debts, but relief on a large scale, I will state the only remedy for the
sedition at the present time: choose speedily a dictator, who, subject to no accounting
for the use he shall make of his authority, will force both the senate and the people to
entertain such sentiments as are most advantageous to the commonwealth. For there
will be of other deliverance from so great an evil."
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