[8,61] Ἐκείνῳ γ´ οὖν ταύτας ὁ δαίμων τὰς ἀρετὰς χαρισάμενος ἑτέρας οὐκ εὐτυχεῖς κῆράς τε καὶ ἄτας προσῆψε. τὸ γὰρ πρᾳὺ καὶ φαιδρὸν οὐκ ἐπῆν αὐτοῦ τοῖς τρόποις, οὐδὲ τὸ θεραπευτικὸν τῶν πέλας ἔν τ´ ἀσπασμοῖς καὶ προσαγορεύσεσιν, οὐδὲ δὴ τὸ εὐδιάλλακτον καὶ μετριοπαθές, ὁπότε δι´ ὀργῆς τῳ γένοιτο, οὐδὲ ἡ πάντα τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἐπικοσμοῦσα χάρις· ἀλλ´ ἀεὶ πικρὸς καὶ χαλεπὸς ἦν. ταῦτά τε δὴ αὐτὸν ἐν πολλοῖς ἔβλαψε, καὶ πάντων μάλιστα ἡ περὶ τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν νόμων ἄκρατός τε καὶ ἀπαράπειστος καὶ οὐθὲν τῷ ἐπιεικεῖ διδοῦσα ἀποτομία· ἔοικέ τ´ ἀληθὲς εἶναι τὸ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχαίων λεγόμενον φιλοσόφων, ὅτι μεσότητές εἰσιν, ἀλλ´ οὐκ ἀκρότητες αἱ τῶν ἠθῶν ἀρεταί, μάλιστα δ´ ἡ δικαιοσύνη. οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐλλείπουσα τοῦ μετρίου πέφυκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπερβάλλουσα αὐτοῖς τ´ οὐ λυσιτελής, ἀλλ´ ἔστιν ὅτ´ αἰτία μεγάλων συμφορῶν, καὶ εἰς θανάτους οἰκτροὺς καὶ λύμας ἀνηκέστους καταστρέφουσα. Μάρκιόν γ´ οὐδὲν ἦν ἕτερον ἄρα, ὃ τῆς πατρίδος ἐξήλασε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀγαθῶν ἀνόνητον ἐποίησεν, ἢ τὸ ἀκριβὲς καὶ ἄκρον δίκαιον. τοῖς τε γὰρ δημόταις εἴκειν τὰ μέτρια δέον καὶ ἐφιέναι τι ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ τὰ πρῶτα φέρεσθαι παρ´ αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἠβουλήθη, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἅπαντα τὰ μὴ δίκαια ἀντιλέγων μῖσος ἤγειρε καὶ ἐξηλάσθη πρὸς αὐτῶν· τῆς τε Οὐολούσκων στρατηγίας εὐθὺς ἅμα τῷ διαλῦσαι τὸν πόλεμον ἀπαλλαγῆναι παρὸν καὶ μετενέγκασθαι τὴν οἴκησιν ἑτέρωσέ ποι, τέως ἂν ἡ κάθοδος αὐτῷ δοθῇ ὑπὸ τῆς πατρίδος, καὶ μὴ παρασχεῖν αὑτὸν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλαῖς καὶ ὄχλων ἀμαθίαις σκοπόν, οὐκ ἠξίωσεν, ἀλλ´ ὑπεύθυνον οἰόμενος δεῖν τὸ σῶμα παρασχεῖν τοῖς πεπιστευκόσι τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ λόγον ἀποδοὺς ὧν ἔπραξε κατὰ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, εἴ τι φαίνοιτο ἀδικῶν τὴν κατὰ νόμους ὑποσχεῖν δίκην, τῆς ἄκρας δικαιοσύνης οὐ καλοὺς ἀπέλαβε μισθούς.

[8,61] In any case the divinity who bestowed these virtues upon him added to them unfortunate blemishes and fatal flaws. For there was no mildness or cheerfulness in his character, no affability in greeting and addressing people that would win those whom he (p179) met, nor yet any disposition to conciliate or placate others when he was angry with them, nor that charm which adorns all human actions; but he was always harsh and severe. And it was not alone these qualities that hurt him in the minds of many, but, most of all, his immoderate and inexorable sternness in the matter of justice and the observance of the laws, and a strictness which would make no concessions to reasonableness. Indeed, the dictum of the ancient philosophers seems to be true, that the moral virtues are means and not extremes, particularly in the case of justice. For by its nature it not only may fall short of the mean, but also may go beyond it, and is not profitable to its possessors, but is sometimes the cause of great calamities and leads to miserable deaths and irreparable disasters. In the case of Marcius, at any rate, it was nothing else but his passion for exact and extreme justice that drove him from his country and deprived him of the enjoyment of all his other blessings. For when he ought to have made reasonable concessions to the plebeians, and by yielding somewhat to their desires to have gained the foremost place among them, he would not do so, by opposing them in everything that was not just he incurred their hatred and was banished by them. And when it was in his power to resign the command of the Volscian army the moment he had put an end to the war, and to remove his habitation to some other place till his country had granted him leave to return, instead of offering himself as a target for the plotting of his enemies and the folly of the masses, he did not think fit to do so; but regarding it as his duty to put his (p181) person at the disposal of those who had entrusted him with the command and after giving an account of his conduct during his generalship, if he were found guilty of any misconduct, to undergo the punishment ordained by the laws, he received a sorry reward for his extreme justice.