Texte grec :
| [10,12] Ταῦτ´ εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ πολλή τις ἔκπληξις
κατέσχε τὸ συνέδριον καὶ ἀμηχανία· διελογίζοντό τε
καὶ συνελάλουν ἀλλήλοις, ὡς χαλεπὸν ἑκάτερον ἦν,
καὶ τὸ συγχωρεῖν τοῖς δημάρχοις ζητήσεις ἐφ´ ἑαυτῶν
ποιεῖσθαι περὶ κοινοῦ καὶ μεγάλου πράγματος, καὶ
τὸ μὴ συγχωρεῖν. ὑποπτεύσας δ´ αὐτῶν τὴν γνώμην
ἀνέστη τῶν ὑπάτων ἅτερος, Γάιος Κλαύδιος καὶ
ἔλεξε τοιάδε· Οὐ δέδοικα, Οὐεργίνιε, μή με ὑπολάβωσιν
οὗτοι κοινωνὸν εἶναι τῆς συνωμοσίας, ἣν ἐφ´
ὑμῖν καὶ τῷ δήμῳ πράττεσθαι λέγετε, ἢ τὰ ὑπὲρ
ἐμαυτοῦ δεδιότα ἢ τῶν ἐμῶν τινος ἐνόχου ταῖς αἰτίαις
ὄντος ἀνεστάναι τἀναντία ὑμῖν ἐροῦντα· ὁ γὰρ βίος
ἀπολύει με πάσης ὑποψίας τοιαύτης. ἃ δὲ νομίζω τῇ
τε βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ συμφέρειν, ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατίστου
καὶ δίχα πάσης εὐλαβείας ἐρῶ. πολλοῦ, μᾶλλον δὲ
τοῦ παντὸς ἁμαρτάνειν δοκεῖ μοι Οὐεργίνιος, εἴ τινα
ὑπείληφεν ἡμῶν ἐρεῖν, ἢ ὡς ἀνεξέταστον ἀφεῖσθαι
δεῖ πρᾶγμα οὕτως ὂν μέγα καὶ ἀναγκαῖον, ἢ ὡς οὐ
δεῖ κοινωνεῖν οὐδὲ παρεῖναι τῇ ζητήσει τοὺς ἀνειληφότας τὴν τοῦ δήμου ἀρχήν.
οὐθεὶς οὔτε ἠλίθιός
ἐστιν οὕτως οὔτε τῷ δήμῳ κακόνους, ὥστε ταῦτα
λέγειν. τί οὖν, εἴ τις ἔροιτό με, παθών, ἃ συγχωρῶ
καί φημι δίκαια εἶναι, τούτοις ἀντιλέξων ἀνέστην, καὶ
τί βούλεταί μου ὁ λόγος, ἐγὼ νὴ Δία φράσω πρὸς
ὑμᾶς. παντὸς οἴομαι δεῖν πράγματος, ὦ βουλή, τὰς
ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς πρώτας ὑποθέσεις τοὺς εὖ φρονοῦντας
ἀκριβῶς σκοπεῖν· οἷαι γὰρ ἂν αὗται τύχωσιν οὖσαι,
τοιούτους ἀνάγκη γίνεσθαι καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτῶν λόγους. φέρε δή, τίς ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ
πράγματος ὑπόθεσίς
ἐστι καὶ τί τὸ βούλευμα τῶν δημάρχων, ἀκούσατέ μου.
οὐκ ἐνῆν τούτοις οὐδέν, ὧν ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ
πράττειν ἐπιβαλλόμενοι διεκωλύθησαν, ἐπιτελέσασθαι
νῦν ὑμῶν τε ἐναντιουμένων αὐτοῖς ὡς πρότερον καὶ
τοῦ δήμου μηκέθ´ ὁμοίως συναγωνιζομένου. συνιδόντες
δὴ τοῦτο ἐσκόπουν, ὅπως ἂν ὑμεῖς τ´ ἀναγκασθείητε
παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς εἶξαι, καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἅπαντα ὅς´
ἂν ἀξιῶσι συμπράττειν. ἀληθῆ μὲν οὖν καὶ δικαίαν
ὑπόθεσιν οὐδεμίαν εὕρισκον, δι´ ἧς ἑκάτερον τούτοις
ἔσται, πολλὰ δὲ βουλεύματα πειράζοντες καὶ στρέφοντες
ἄνω καὶ κάτω τὸ πρᾶγμα τελευτῶντες ἐπὶ τοιοῦτον δή
τινα λογισμὸν ἦλθον· αἰτιασώμεθα συνίστασθαί τινας
ἐκ τῶν ἐπιφανῶν ἐπὶ καταλύσει τοῦ δήμου, καὶ σφάττειν διεγνωκέναι τοὺς
παρέχοντας αὐτῷ τὸ ἀσφαλές.
καὶ ταῦτα ἐκ πολλοῦ παρασκευάσαντες λέγεσθαι κατὰ
τὴν πόλιν, ὅταν ἤδη πιστὰ εἶναι τοῖς πολλοῖς δόξῃ -
δόξει δὲ διὰ τὸ δέος - ἐπιστολὰς μηχανησώμεθα
πολλῶν παρόντων ἡμῖν ὑπ´ ἀνδρὸς ἀγνῶτος ἀναδοθῆναι· ἔπειτ´ ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ τὸ
συνέδριον ἀγανακτῶμέν
τε καὶ σχετλιάζωμεν καὶ τοῦ ζητεῖν τὰ προσηγγελμένα
αἰτῶμεν τὴν ἐξουσίαν. ἐάν τε γὰρ ἀντιλέγωσιν ἡμῖν
οἱ πατρίκιοι, ταύτην ληψόμεθα τοῦ διαβαλεῖν αὐτοὺς
πρὸς τὸν δῆμον ἀφορμήν, καὶ οὕτως ἅπαν τὸ δημοτικὸν ἠγριωμένον αὐτοῖς ἕτοιμον
ἡμῖν εἰς ἃ βουλόμεθα
ὑπάρξει· ἐάν τε συγχωρῶσι, τοὺς γενναιοτάτους ἐξ
αὐτῶν καὶ πλεῖστα ἡμῖν ἐναντιωθέντας πρεσβυτέρους
τε καὶ νέους ἐλαύνωμεν, ὡς εὑρηκότες ταῖς αἰτίαις
ἐνόχους. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἄρα τὰς καταγνώσεις δεδιότες ἢ
συμβήσονται πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τῷ μηθὲν ἔτι ἀντιπράττειν
ἢ καταλιπεῖν ἀναγκασθήσονται τὴν πόλιν. ἐκ δὲ τούτου πολλὴν ποιήσομεν ἐρημίαν
τοῦ ἀντιπάλου.
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Traduction française :
| [10,12] When he had thus spoken, great consternation (p201) and embarrassment came
upon the senate. They discussed and talked over with one another the difficulty of
either course — either to grant or to refuse the tribunes permission to make
investigations by themselves of a matter of general concern and great importance.
And one of the consuls, Gaius Claudius, suspecting their intentions, rose up and
spoke as follows:
"I am not afraid, Verginius, that these men here will imagine that I am an
accomplice in the conspiracy which you say is being formed against you and the
populace, and that then, out of fear for myself or for some relation of mine who is
guilty of this charge, I have risen to oppose you; for the whole course of my life clears
me of any suspicion of the sort. But what I consider to be advantageous for both the
senate and the people I will say in all good faith and without reservation. Verginius
seems to me to be greatly, or rather totally, mistaken if he imagines that any of us will
same either that a matter of so great importance and necessity ought to be left
uninvestigated or that the magistrates of the populace ought not to take part in or be
present at the inquiry. No man is so foolish or so ill-disposed toward the populace as
to say that. If, then, anyone should ask me what possessed me to rise up to oppose
those measures which I agree to and admit to be just, and what my purpose is in
speaking, by Heaven I will ell you. I believe, senators, that sensible men ought to
examine minutely the beginnings and basic principles of every measure; for of
whatever nature these may be, such also must be all discussion about (p203) them.
Well then, learn from me what the basic principle of this measure is and what the
purpose of the tribunes is. These men would not be able to carry out now any of the
undertakings they were prevented from accomplishing last year if both you were to
oppose them as before and the populace were no longer to espouse their quarrel with
the same zeal. Since they were aware of these difficulties, they considered by what
means not only you might be compelled to yield to them contrary to your judgement,
but the populace also might be forced to assist them in everything they should desire.
But finding no true or just basis for gaining both these ends, after trying various
plans and turning the matter this way and that, they at last hit upon some such
reasoning as this: 'Let us accuse some prominent men of a conspiracy to overthrow
the power of the populace and of having decided to cut the throats of those who
assure the safety of the populace. And after we have contrived to have these reports
talked about for a long time throughout the city and when the multitude at last
believe them to be trustworthy — and they will do so because of their fear — let us
devise a way to have letters delivered to us in the presence of many by an unknown
person. Then let us go to the senate, express our indignation, make angry complaints
and demand authority to investigate the reports. For if the patricians oppose our
demand, we will seize this opportunity to malign them before the populace, and by
this means the whole body of the plebeians will become enraged against them and
will be ready to support us in everything we desire; and, on the other hand, if they
grant it, let us banish those (p205) of them who are of the most noble birth and have
opposed us the most, both older men and young, as persons we have discovered to be
guilty of the charge. These men, then, in their fear of being condemned, will either
come to terms with us to make no further opposition or else will be compelled to
leave the city. By this means we shall thoroughly devastate the opposition.'
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