[2] When silence reigned, the elder of the consuls praised Menenius for his magnanimity and asked the rest to show themselves equally loyal defenders of the state, not only by expressing their opinions frankness, but also by carrying out their resolutions without fear; and then he called upon a second senator by name in the same manner to deliver his opinion. This was Manius Valerius, a brother of the Valerius who had assisted in delivering his country from the kings, a man acceptable to the people beyond any other member of the aristocratic party.
[1] ὃς ἀναστὰς πρῶτον ὑπεμίμνησκε τὴν βουλὴν τῶν ἰδίων πολιτευμάτων, καὶ ὅτι πολλάκις αὐτοῦ προλέγοντος τὰ μέλλοντα συμβήσεσθαι δεινὰ δι᾽ ὀλιγωρίας ἐποιήσαντο τοὺς λόγους: ἔπειτα ἠξίου τοὺς ἐναντιουμένους ταῖς διαλλαγαῖς μὴ περὶ τῶν μετρίων νῦν ζητεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὴν στάσιν οὐκ εἴασαν ἐξαιρεθῆναι, ἡνίκα μικρὰ ἦν ἔτι τῇ πόλει τὰ διαφέροντα, νῦν γέ τοι σκοπεῖν, ὅπως διὰ ταχέων παύσεται καὶ μὴ [p. 348] προελθοῦσα ἔτι πορρωτέρω λήσει τάχα μὲν ἀνίατος, εἰ δὲ μὴ δυσίατος καὶ πολλῶν αἰτία σφίσι γενομένη κακῶν: τήν τε ἀξίωσιν τῶν δημοτικῶν οὐκέτι τὴν αὐτὴν ἀπέφαινεν ἐσομένην τῇ προτέρᾳ, οὐδ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς εἴκαζε συμβήσεσθαι τὸν δῆμον ἀπαλλαγὴν μόνον τῶν χρεῶν αἰτούμενον, ἀλλὰ καὶ βοηθείας δεήσεσθαί τινος ἴσως, ἀφ᾽ ἧς εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἀσφαλὴς διατελέσει:
[58.1] He, rising up, first called the attention of the senate to the policies he himself had pursued and reminded them that, though he had often foretold the dangers they would incur, they had made light of his predictions. He then requested that those who opposed the accommodation should not at this time inquire into the reasonableness of the terms, but, since they had been unwilling to allow the sedition to be appeased while the disputes in the state were still unimportant, that they would now at least consider by what means it might be speedily terminated and might not, by going on still further, insensibly become perhaps incurable, or in any case hard to be cured, and the cause of great evils to them. He told them that the demands of the plebeians would no longer be the same as before, and he did not imagine that the people would enter into a compact upon the same terms, asking merely for an abolition of their debts, but that they would possibly call for some assistance also, by which they might for the future live in safety.
[2] καταλελύσθαι μὲν γὰρ ἀφ᾽ οὗ παρῆλθεν ἡ τοῦ δικτάτορος ἀρχὴ τὸν φύλακα τῆς ἐλευθερίας αὐτοῦ νόμον, ὃς οὔτε ἀποκτείνειν πολίτην ἄκριτον οὐδένα συνεχώρει τοῖς ὑπάτοις, οὐδέ γε τοὺς παρὰ τῇ κρίσει ἐλαττουμένους ὑπὸ τῶν πατρικίων δημοτικοὺς παραδίδοσθαι τοῖς καταδικασαμένοις, ἔφεσιν δὲ τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐδίδου μεταφέρειν τὰς κρίσεις ἐπὶ τὸν δῆμον ἀπὸ τῶν πατρικίων καὶ ὅ τι ἂν ὁ δῆμος γνῷ, τοῦτ᾽ εἶναι κύριον: ἀφῃρῆσθαι δὲ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἐξουσίαν τῶν δημοτικῶν ὀλίγου δεῖν πᾶσαν, ἧς ἐν τοῖς προτέροις χρόνοις ἦσαν κύριοι, ὅπου γε καὶ τὸν ἐκ τῶν πολέμων θρίαμβον οὐκ ἐξεγένετο αὐτοῖς εὑρέσθαι παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς ἀνδρὶ παρ᾽ ὁντιναοῦν ἄλλον ἐπιτηδείῳ ταύτης τυχεῖν τῆς τιμῆς, Ποπλίῳ Σερουιλίῳ
[2] For since the institution of the dictatorship, he said, the law that safeguarded their liberty had been abolished, the law which allowed no citizen to be put to death by the consuls without a trial, nor any of the plebeians who had been tried and condemned by the patricians, to be delivered up to those who had condemned them, but granted to those who desired it the right of appealing the decisions from the patricians to the people, and that the judgment of the people should be final. He added that almost all the other privileges enjoyed in former times by the plebeians had been taken away, since they had been unable to obtain from the senate even the usual military triumph for Publius Servilius Priscus, who had deserved this honour more than any other man.
[3] Πρίσκῳ. ἐφ᾽ οἷς εἰκός τι πάσχοντας τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀθυμεῖν καὶ πονηρὰς ἔχειν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἐλπίδας, ἐπειδὴ οὔτε ὑπάτῳ οὔτε δικτάτορι κήδεσθαι αὐτῶν βουλομένοις ἐξεγένετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσαπήλαυσέ τις αὐτῶν ὕβρεως καὶ ἀτιμίας διὰ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν πολλῶν [p. 349] σπουδὴν καὶ πρόνοιαν. ταῦτα δ᾽ ἀπειργάσθαι συγκύψαντας οὐ τοὺς χαριεστάτους τῶν πατρικίων, ὑβριστὰς δέ τινας καὶ πλεονέκτας περὶ χρηματισμὸν ἄδικον δεινῶς ἐσπουδακότας, οἳ πρὸς πολὺ διάφορον καὶ ἐπὶ μεγάλοις δανεισθὲν τόκοις πολλὰ καταδουλωσάμενοι πολιτῶν σώματα, τούτοις τ᾽ ὠμὰς καὶ ὑπερηφάνους ἀνάγκας προσφέροντες, ἀλλότριον ἐποίησαν γενέσθαι τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας ἅπαν τὸ δημοτικόν, ἑταιρίαν τε συστησάμενοι καὶ ταύτης ἀναδείξαντες Ἄππιον Κλαύδιον ἡγεμόνα, μισόδημον ἄνδρα καὶ ὀλιγαρχικόν, δι᾽ ἐκείνου πάντα φύρουσι τὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως. οἷς εἰ μὴ τὸ σωφρονοῦν μέρος τῆς βουλῆς ἐμποδὼν στήσεται, κινδυνεύειν ὑπὲρ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ τινος καὶ κατασκαφῆς τὴν πόλιν. τελευτῶν δ᾽ ἀπεφήνατο συνδοκεῖν τῇ Μενηνίου χρῆσθαι γνώμῃ, καὶ τὴν πρεσβείαν ἠξίου πέμπειν διὰ ταχέων: τοὺς δ᾽ ἄνδρας ἀφικομένους πειρᾶσθαι μὲν ὡς βούλονται καταλύσασθαι τὴν στάσιν, εἰ δὲ μὴ διδοίη τις αὐτοῖς, ἃ βούλονται, δέχεσθαι τὰ διδόμενα.
[3] At this, he said, most of the people were distressed, as was to be expected, and entertained slender hopes of their security, since neither a consul nor a dictator had been able, even when they wished, to take care of their interests, but the zeal and care they showed for the people had actually gained for some of them abuse and ignominy. He declared that these things had been brought about by plotting, not on the part of the more cultivated men among the patricians, but on the part of some insolent and avaricious men desperately eager for unjust gain, who, having advanced a large amount of money at a high rate of interest and made slaves of many of their fellow-citizens, had, by treating these with cruel and arrogant harshness, alienated the whole body of the plebeians from the aristocracy, and having formed a faction and place at the head of it Appius Claudius, an enemy of the people and a champion of oligarchy, were through him throwing all the affairs of the commonwealth into confusion; and he declared that if the sober part of the senate did not oppose these men, the state was in danger of being enslaved and destroyed. He ended by saying that he concurred in the opinion of Menenius, and asked that the envoys might be sent immediately, and that upon arriving they should endeavour to appease the sedition upon such terms as they desired, but if these were not grant
ed, they should accept such as were offered.
[1] μετὰ τοῦτον ἀνέστη κληθεὶς Ἄππιος Κλαύδιος ὁ τῆς ἐναντιουμένης τῷ δήμῳ στάσεως ἡγεμὼν ἀνὴρ μέγα φρονῶν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ καὶ τοῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἄνευ δικαίας πάσχων αἰτίας: ὅ τε γὰρ ἴδιος αὐτοῦ βίος ὁ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν σώφρων καὶ σεμνὸς ἦν, ἥ τε προαίρεσις τῶν πολιτευμάτων εὐγενὴς καὶ τὸ ἀξίωμα σώζουσα τῆς [p. 350] ἀριστοκρατίας: ὃς ἀφορμὴν λαβὼν τὴν Οὐαλερίου δημηγορίαν τοιούτοις ἐχρήσατο λόγοις:
[59.1] After him, Appius Claudius, who was leader of the faction that opposed the people, being called upon to express his opinion, rose up, a man who set a great value upon himself and not without just cause; for his private life was sober and dignified, while his political principles were noble and calculated to preserve the dignity of the aristocracy. He, taking as his starting point the speech of Valerius, spoke as follows:
[2] ἐν ἐλάττονι μὲν αἰτίᾳ ἂν Οὐαλέριος ἦν, εἰ τὴν αὑτοῦ γνώμην ἀπεφήνατο μόνην, τῶν δὲ τἀναντία ἐγνωκότων μὴ κατηγόρει: περιῆν γὰρ ἂν αὐτῷ μηδὲν ἀκοῦσαι τῶν προσόντων αὐτῷ κακῶν. ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οὐκ ἀπέχρησεν αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα συμβουλεύειν, ἐξ ὧν οὐδὲν ἄλλ᾽ ἢ τοῖς κακίστοις τῶν πολιτῶν δουλεύσομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐναντιουμένων αὐτῷ καθήψατο κἀμοῦ ἁψιμάχως ἐμνήσθη, πολλὴν ἀνάγκην ὁρῶ κἀμοὶ περὶ τούτων εἰπεῖν καὶ πρῶτον ἀπολύσασθαι τὰς κατ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ διαβολάς. ὠνείδισται γάρ μοι πρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐπιτήδευμα οὔτε πολιτικὸν οὔτ᾽ εὐπρεπές, ὡς ἀπὸ παντὸς χρηματίζεσθαι προῄρημαι τρόπου καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν πενήτων ἀφῄρημαι τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, καὶ ὡς ἡ ἀπόστασις τοῦ δήμου καὶ δι᾽ ἐμὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα γέγονεν: ὧν οὐδὲν ὅτι ἀληθές ἐστιν οὐδ᾽ ὑγιὲς ῥᾴδιον ὑμῖν μαθεῖν.
[2] “Valerius would have deserved less censure if he had merely expressed his own opinion, without inveighing against those who hold the opposite view, for in that case he would have had the advantage of not hearing an exposition of his own faults. However, since he has not been content with advising such a course as can end in nothing else than in making us slaves to the worst of the citizens, but has also attacked his opponents and had levelled some of his shafts at me, I find it quite necessary for me also to speak of these matters, and first to clear myself of the charges he has brought against me. For has reproached me with conduct neither seemly nor becoming to a citizen, charging that I have chosen to get money by every possible means and have deprived many of the poor of their liberty, and that the secession of the people took place chiefly because of me. Now it is an easy matter for you to learn that none of these allegations is true or well grounded.
[3] ἴθι γάρ, εἰπὲ ὦ Οὐαλέριε, τίνες εἰσὶν οὓς κατεδουλωσάμην ἐγὼ πρὸς τὰ χρέα; τίνας ἐν δεσμοῖς πολίτας ἔσχον ἢ νῦν ἔχω; τίς τῶν ἀφεστηκότων διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ὠμότητα ἢ φιλοχρηματίαν στέρεται τῆς ἑαυτοῦ πατρίδος; ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν. τοσούτου γὰρ δέω τινὰ πολιτῶν καταδεδουλῶσθαι διὰ χρέος, ὥστε πολλοῖς πάνυ τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ προέμενος οὐδένα τῶν ἀποστερησάντων με πρόσθετον ἐποιησάμην οὐδὲ ἄτιμον, ἀλλὰ πάντες εἰσὶν ἐλεύθεροι καὶ πάντες οἴδασί μοι χάριν φίλων τε καὶ [p. 351] πελατῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀναγκαιοτάτοις ἐξετάζονται. καὶ οὐ λέγω ταῦτα κατηγορῶν ἐγὼ τῶν μὴ τὰ παραπλήσια ἐμοὶ πεποιηκότων οὐδ᾽ εἴ τινες νόμῳ συγχωρούμενόν τι ἔδρασαν ἀδικεῖν αὐτοὺς οἴομαι, ἀλλὰ τὰς κατ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ διαβολὰς ἀπολύομαι.
[3] For come, tell us, Valerius: Who are the people whom I have enslaved on account of their debts? Who are the citizens I have kept, or now keep, in prison? Which of the seceders is deprived of his country through my cruelty or avarice? Why, you can name none. For I am so far from having enslaved any one of the citizens for debt that, after advancing my own money to very great numbers, I have caused none of those who defrauded me to be either handed over to me or disfranchised, but all of them are free and all are grateful to me and are numbered among my closest friends and clients. I do not say this by way of accusing those who have not acted as I have, nor do I think any men guilty of wrong-doing because they have done what was permitted by law; I am merely attempting to clear myself of the accusations brought against me.
[1] ἃ δ᾽ εἰς χαλεπότητα καὶ πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων προστασίαν ὠνείδισέ μοι, μισόδημόν τε καὶ ὀλιγαρχικὸν ἀποκαλῶν, ὅτι τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας περιέχομαι, κοινὰ πάντων ὑμῶν ἐστι κατηγορήματα, ὅσοι οὐκ ἀξιοῦτε κρείττονες ὄντες ὑπὸ χειρόνων ἄρχεσθαι, οὐδ᾽ ἣν παρελάβετε ἀπὸ τῶν προγόνων πολιτείαν ὑπὸ τῆς κακίστης τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις πολιτειῶν δημοκρατίας ἀφαιρεθῆναι.
[60.1] “As to my severity and my having acted as the patron of wicked men, with which he has reproached me, calling me an enemy of the people and a champion of oligarchy because I adhere to the aristocracy, these accusations apply equally to all those among you who, as men of superior worth, think it beneath you to be governed by your inferiors or to allow the form of government you have inherited from your ancestors to be overthrown by the worst of all constitutions, a democracy.
[2] οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὗτος ὀλιγαρχίαν ὄνομα θῆται τῇ τῶν κρατίστων ἡγεμονίᾳ, καὶ δὴ τὸ πρᾶγμα ὑπὸ τοῦ ὀνόματος διαβληθὲν ἀφανισθήσεται: ἡμεῖς δὲ πολλῷ ἂν δικαιότερον ἐπενέγκαιμεν ὄνειδος καὶ ἀληθέστερον, δημοκοπίαν καὶ τυραννικῶν ἔργων ἐπιθυμίαν. οὐδενὶ γὰρ δὴ ἄδηλον, ὅτι πᾶς τύραννος ἐκ δημοκόλακος φύεται, καὶ ταχεῖα ὁδός ἐστι τοῖς καταδουλοῦσθαι τὰς πόλεις βουλομένοις ἡ διὰ τῶν κακίστων ἄγουσα πολιτῶν ἐπὶ τὰς δυναστείας, οὓς θεραπεύων οὗτος διατετέλεκε καὶ
[2] For if this man sees fit to call the government of the best men an oligarchy, it does not therefore follow that the thing itself, because it is traduced by that appellation, will be destroyed. But we can bring a much juster and truer reproach against him, that of flattering the people and desiring tyrannical measures; for all the world knows that every tyrant springs from a flatterer of the people and that the direct road for those who wish to enslave their country is that which leads to domination through the favour of the worst citizens — the very ones whom this man has ever courted and does not cease even to this day to court.
[3] οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος παύεται. εὖ γὰρ ἴστε, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐτόλμησαν οἱ φαῦλοι καὶ ταπεινοὶ τηλικαῦτα ἐξαμαρτεῖν, εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ
τοῦ σεμνοῦ καὶ φιλοπόλιδος [p. 352] τούτου ἐξηγέρθησαν, ὡς δὴ ἀκίνδυνον αὐτοῖς τὸ ἔργον ἐσόμενον, καὶ πρὸς τῷ μηδεμίαν ὑποσχεῖν δίκην κρείττονα μοῖραν τῆς προτέρας ἕξοντες. μάθοιτε δ᾽ ἄν, ὡς ἀληθῆ ἐγὼ ταῦτα λέγω, μνησθέντες, ὅτι δεδιττόμενος ὑμᾶς ὑπὲρ πολέμου καὶ διαλλαγὰς ἀναγκαίας ἀποφαίνων ἅμα ἔφη καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἀγαπήσουσιν οἱ πένητες ἀφεθέντες τῶν χρεῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βοηθείας δεήσονταί τινος καὶ οὐκ ἀνέξονται ἔτι ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ὡς καὶ πρότερον ἀρχόμενοι: τελευτῶν δ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἠξίου στέργειν τὰ παρόντα καὶ συγχωρεῖν, ὅ τι ἂν ὁ δῆμος ἐπὶ τῇ καθόδῳ δικαιώσῃ λαβεῖν, μὴ διακρίναντας μήτ᾽ ἀπὸ καλῶν αἰσχρὰ μήτ᾽ ἀπὸ δικαίων ἄδικα.
[3] For you know full well that these vile and low wretches would not have dared to commit such offences, had they not been urged on by this high and mighty man, this lover of his country, and made to believe that the act would be attended with no danger and that not only would they go unpunished, but their lot would even be improved by it. You will be convinced of the truth of what I say if you will recall that, while he was frightening you with a war and showing the necessity of an accommodation, he we are told you at the same time also that the poor would not be contented with an abolition of their debts, but would also call for some assistance, and would no longer submit to be governed by you as before. And in closing he exhorted you to acquiesce in the present state of affairs and to grant everything the people should think fit to demand as the conditions of their return, without distinguishing whether those demands were honourable or shameful, just or unjust.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 566