[11,10] Βούλεσθε οὖν ἀκοῦσαι, τίνες εἰσὶν αἱ βιαζόμεναι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καταλιπεῖν αἰτίαι ἱερὰ καὶ τάφους προγόνων καὶ ἐξερημοῦν ἐφέστια καὶ κτήσεις πατέρων καὶ πᾶσαν ἡγεῖσθαι γῆν ἀναγκαιοτέραν τῆς πατρίδος; οὐ γὰρ ἄτερ αἰτίας ταῦθ´ οὕτως ἔχει. ἐγὼ δὴ φράσω πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ οὐκ ἀποκρύψομαι. κατηγορίαι γίνονται τῆς ἀρχῆς ὑμῶν, Ἄππιε, πολλαὶ καὶ παρὰ πολλῶν· εἰ μὲν ἀληθεῖς ἢ ψευδεῖς οὐδὲν δέομαι ζητεῖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι, γίνονται δ´ οὖν ὅμως. οὐδεὶς δ´, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἔξω τῶν ὑμετέρων ἑταίρων οἰκείως τοῖς παροῦσιν ἔχει πράγμασιν. οἱ μέν γ´ ἀγαθοὶ καὶ ἐξ ἀγαθῶν, οἷς προσῆκεν ἱερᾶσθαί τε καὶ ἄρχειν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας καρποῦσθαι τιμάς, ἃς οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν ἐκαρποῦντο, ἄχθονται τούτων ἀπελαυνόμενοι δι´ ὑμᾶς τὰς προγονικὰς ἀξιώσεις ἀπολωλεκότες. οἱ δὲ τὴν διὰ μέσου τάξιν ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ τὴν ἀπράγμονα διώκοντες ἡσυχίαν, χρημάτων τ´ ἀδίκους ἁρπαγὰς ἐγκαλοῦσιν ὑμῖν καὶ προπηλακισμοὺς εἰς γαμετὰς ὀδύρονται γυναῖκας καὶ παροινίας εἰς θυγατέρας ἐπιγάμους καὶ ἄλλας ὕβρεις πολλὰς καὶ χαλεπάς. τὸ δὲ πενέστατον τοῦ δημοτικοῦ μέρος οὔτ´ ἀρχαιρεσιῶν ἔτι κύριον γινόμενον οὔτε ψηφοφοριῶν οὔτ´ εἰς ἐκκλησίας καλούμενον οὔτ´ ἄλλης πολιτικῆς φιλανθρωπίας μεταλαμβάνον οὐδεμιᾶς, διὰ ταῦτα πάνθ´ ὑμᾶς μισεῖ καὶ τυραννίδα καλεῖ τὴν ἀρχήν.

[11,10] "Do you wish, then, to hear the reasons that are compelling these men to abandon temples and sepulchres of their ancestors, to desert hearths and possessions of their fathers, and to look upon every land as dearer to them than their own? For these things are not taking place without reason. Well, then, I will inform you and conceal nothing.Many charges are being brought against the magistracy (p37) of you decemvirs, Appius, and by many people. Whether they are true or false I do not care to inquire at present, but at any rate they are being brought. And not a man, I say, outside of your own partisans is well disposed toward the present state of affairs. For the men of worth, descended from men of worth, who ought to hold the priesthoods and the magistracies and to enjoy the other honours which were enjoyed by their fathers, are indignant when they are excluded from these by you and thus have lost the dignities of their ancestors. The men of middle rank in the state, who pursue a life of tranquillity free from public duties, accuse you of snatching away their property unjustly and lament the insults you offer to their wedded wives, your drunken licentiousness toward their marriageable daughters, and many other grievous abuses. And the poorest part of the populace, who have no longer the power either of choosing magistrates or of giving their votes upon other occasions, who are not summoned to assemblies and do not share in any other political courtesy, hate you upon all these accounts and call your government a tyranny.