[7,22] Ὅτι μὲν οὐχ ὑπ´ ἀνάγκης τε καὶ ἀπορίας βιασθεὶς ὁ δῆμος ἐποιήσατο τὴν ἀπόστασιν, ὦ πατέρες, ἀλλὰ πονηρᾷ ἐλπίδι ἐπαρθεὶς ὡς καταλύσων τὴν ἀριστοκρατίαν ὑμῶν καὶ πάντων αὐτὸς ἐσόμενος τῶν κοινῶν κύριος, σχεδὸν οἶμαι πάντας ὑμᾶς ᾐσθῆσθαι τὰ περὶ τὰς διαλλαγὰς αὐτοῦ πλεονεκτήματα ὁρῶντας· ᾧ γ´ οὐκ ἀπέχρησε διαφθείραντι τὴν περὶ τὰ συμβόλαια πίστιν καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ ταύτῃ κειμένους ἀνελόντι νόμους μηθὲν ἄλλο πολυπραγμονεῖν, καινὴν δὲ καταστησάμενος ἀρχὴν ἐπὶ τῷ καθελεῖν τὴν τῶν ὑπάτων ἱερὰν καὶ ἄσυλον ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν νόμῳ, καὶ νῦν τυραννικὴν ἐξουσίαν περιβαλλόμενος, ὦ βουλή, τῷ νεωστὶ κυρωθέντι νόμῳ λέληθεν ὑμᾶς. ὅταν γὰρ ἐπ´ ἐξουσίας πολλῆς οἱ προεστηκότες αὐτοῦ πρόφασιν εὐπρεπῆ προβαλλόμενοι τὸ δὴ τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις τῶν δημοτῶν βοηθεῖν διὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας ταύτης ἄγωσι καὶ φέρωσιν, ὅς´ ἂν αὐτοῖς δοκῇ, καὶ μηθεὶς ὁ κωλύσων τὰς παρανομίας αὐτῶν ᾖ, μήτ´ ἰδιώτης μήτ´ ἄρχων δεδοικὼς τὸν νόμον, ὃς ἀφαιρεῖται καὶ τὸν λόγον ἡμῶν ἅμα τοῖς ἔργοις θάνατον ἐπιτιθεὶς ζημίαν τοῖς ἐλευθέραν φωνὴν ἀφιεῖσι, τί προσῆκεν ὄνομα θέσθαι τῇ δυναστείᾳ ταύτῃ τοὺς νοῦν ἔχοντας ἕτερον, ἢ τοῦθ´, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀληθὴς καὶ πάντες ἂν ὁμολογήσετε, τυραννίδα; εἰ δ´ οὐχ ὑφ´ ἑνὸς ἀνδρός, ἀλλ´ ὑφ´ ὅλου τυραννούμεθα δήμου, τί τοῦτο διαφέρει; τὸ γὰρ ἔργον ἐξ ἀμφοῖν ταὐτό. κράτιστον μὲν οὖν ἦν μηδὲ τὸ σπέρμα τῆς ἐξουσίας ταύτης ἐᾶσαι καταβαλλόμενον, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὑπομεῖναι πρότερον, ὡς Ἄππιος ὁ βέλτιστος ἐκ πολλοῦ τὰ δεινὰ προορώμενος ἠξίου, εἰ δὲ μή, νῦν γ´ ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἅπαντας ἐξορύξαντας αὐτὴν πρόρριζον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐκβαλεῖν, ἕως ἀσθενής ἐστι καὶ προσπολεμηθῆναι ῥᾳδία. καὶ τοῦτ´ οὐ πρώτοις ἡμῖν, ὦ βουλή, οὐδὲ μόνοις ἐξεγένετο παθεῖν, πολλοῖς δὲ καὶ πολλάκις ἤδη τοῖς εἰς ἀβουλήτους ἀνάγκας καταστᾶσι γνώμης ἁμαρτοῦσι τῆς ἀρίστης περὶ τὰ μέγιστα, ἐπειδὴ τὰς ἀρχὰς οὐκ ἐκώλυσαν τοῦ κακοῦ, τὰς αὐξήσεις πειρᾶσθαι καθαιρεῖν· καὶ ἡ μετάνοια τῶν ὀψὲ ἀρχομένων σωφρονεῖν ἥττων οὖσα τῆς προνοίας, καθ´ ἕτερον αὖ τρόπον οὐ χείρων οὖσα ἀναφαίνεται τῇ κωλύσει τοῦ τέλους ἀφανίζουσα τὸ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ ἀγνοηθέν.

[7,22] "That the populace seceded, after hims, not because of necessity and want, but because they were elated by the mischievous hope of destroying your aristocracy and of becoming themselves masters of the commonwealth, I think has become clear to nearly all of you when you observe the advantages which they gained by the accommodation. For they were not content, after they had destroyed the good faith which gave validity to their contracts and had abolished the laws made to secure it, to carry their meddling no farther, but introducing a new magistracy designed to overthrow that of the consuls, they made it sacred and inviolable by law, and have now, unobserved by you, senators, been acquiring a tyrannical power through this newly-enacted law. For when their leaders, in their great power putting forward the specious pretence of coming to the aid of such plebeians as are wronged, sack and pillage whatever they please by virtue of that power, and when there is no man, either private citizen or magistrate, who will oppose their lawless deeds for fear of this law, which destroys even our liberty of speech as well as of action by imposing the penalty of (p213) death on all who utter a word befitting freemen, what other name ought to be given by sensible men to this domination but that which is the true one and which you would all own to be such, namely, a tyranny? And if we are under the tyranny, not of one man, but of a whole populace, what is the difference? For the effect of both is the same. It would have been best, therefore, never to have permitted even the seed of this power to be sown, but rather to have submitted to everything, as the excellent Appius, who foresaw these mischiefs from afar, advised. But if that could not be, we ought now at least with one accord to pluck it up by the roots and cast it out of the city while it is yet weak and easily combatted. And we are not the first or the only persons to whom this experience has come, senators, but oft-times in the part many who have been reduced to unenviable straits and have failed to take the best counsel in matters of the greatest consequence, since they did not check the beginnings of the evil, have endeavoured to prevent its growth. And the repentance of those who are late in beginning to be wise, though inferior to foresight, yet, when viewed in another light, is seen to be no less valuable, since it wipes out the error originally made in ignorance by preventing its consequences.