[11,55] Πρὸς δὴ τὰς ἀπειλὰς ταύτας ἐσκόπουν, ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν, οἱ πρεσβύτατοί τε καὶ κορυφαιότατοι τῶν προεστηκότων τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας, συναχθέντες εἰς τὸν ἰδιωτικὸν σύλλογον ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπάτων αὐτοὶ καθ´ ἑαυτούς. Γάϊος μὲν οὖν Κλαύδιος ἥκιστα δημοτικὸς ὢν καὶ ταύτην διαδεδεγμένος ἐκ προγόνων τὴν αἵρεσιν τῆς πολιτείας αὐθαδεστέραν γνώμην εἰσέφερε, μήτε ὑπατείας μήτ´ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς τῷ δήμῳ παραχωρεῖν μηδεμιᾶς· τοὺς δὲ τἀναντία πράττειν ἐπιχειροῦντας ὅπλοις κωλύειν, ἐὰν μὴ πείθωνται τοῖς λόγοις, φειδὼ μηδεμίαν ποιουμένους μήτ´ ἰδιώτου μήτ´ ἄρχοντος. ἅπαντας γὰρ τοὺς ἐπιχειροῦντας τὰ πάτρια κινεῖν ἔθη καὶ τὸν κόσμον τοῦ πολιτεύματος τὸν ἀρχαῖον διαφθείρειν ἀλλοτρίους καὶ πολεμίους εἶναι τῆς πόλεως. Τίτος δὲ Κοίντιος οὐκ εἴα {τῇ} βίᾳ κατείργειν τὸ ἀντίπαλον, οὐδὲ δι´ ὅπλων καὶ δι´ αἵματος ἐμφυλίου χωρεῖν πρὸς τὸ δημοτικόν, ἄλλως τε καὶ δημάρχων σφίσιν ἐναντιωσομένων, οὓς ἱεροὺς εἶναι καὶ παναγεῖς ἐψηφίσαντο οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν θεοὺς καὶ δαίμονας ἐγγυητὰς ποιησάμενοι τῶν ὁμολογιῶν, καὶ τοὺς μεγίστους ὅρκους κατ´ ἐξωλείας αὐτῶν τε καὶ τῶν ἐγγόνων, ἐάν τι παραβαίνωσι τῶν συγκειμένων, κατομοσάμενοι.

[11,55] In view of these threats the oldest and most prominent of the leaders of the aristocracy were assembled by the consuls in a private meeting apart by themselves and there considered what they ought (p173)to do. Gaius Claudius, who by no means favoured the plebeians and had inherited this political creed from his ancestors, offered a rather arrogant motion not to yield to the people either the consulship or any other magistracy whatever, and, in the case of those who should attempt to do otherwise, to prevent them by force of arms, if they would not be convinced by arguments, giving no quarter to either private person or magistrate. For all who attempted to disturb the established customs and to corrupt their ancient form of government, he said, were aliens and enemies of the commonwealth.On the other hand, Titus Quintius opposed restraining their adversaries by violence or proceeding against the plebeians with arms and civil bloodshed, particularly since they would be opposed by the tribunes, "whose persons our fathers had decreed to be sacred and sacrosanct, making the gods and lesser divinities sureties for the performance of their compact and swearing the most solemn oaths in which they invoked utter destruction upon both themselves and their posterity if they transgressed a single article of that covenant."