ἀλλὰ τοῦ γε Μαρκίου πολλὰς ὑποφαίνοντος ὠτειλὰς ἀπὸ πολλῶν ἀγώνων, ἐν οἷς ἐπρώτευσεν ἑπτακαίδεκα ἔτη συνεχῶς στρατευόμενος, ἐδυσωποῦντο τὴν ἀρετὴν, καὶ λόγον ἀλλήλοις ἐδίδοσαν ὡς ἐκεῖνον ἀποδείξοντες. ἐπεὶ δέ, τῆς ἡμέρας ἐν ᾗ τὴν ψῆφον ἔδει φέρειν ἐνστάσης, ὁ Μάρκιος εἰς ἀγορὰν ἐνέβαλε σοβαρῶς ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς προπεμπόμενος, καὶ πάντες οἱ πατρίκιοι περὶ αὐτὸν ἐγένοντο φανεροὶ πρὸς μηδένʼ οὕτω μηδέποτε σπουδάσαντες,
So when Marcius disclosed his many scars from many contests, wherein he had been a foremost soldier for seventeen years together, the people were put out of countenance by his valour, and agreed with one another to elect him. But when the day for casting their votes came, and Marcius made a pompous entry into the forum escorted by the senate, and all the patricians about him were clearly more bent on success than ever before,
ἐξέπεσον αὖθις οἱ πολλοὶ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοίας, εἰς τὸ νεμεσᾶν καὶ φθονεῖν ὑποφερόμενοι. προσῆν δὲ τῷ πάθει τούτῳ καὶ δέος, εἰ γένοιτο τῆς ἀρχῆς κύριος ἀνὴρ ἀριστοκρατικὸς καὶ τοσοῦτον ἔχων ἐν τοῖς πατρικίοις ἀξίωμα, μὴ παντάπασιν ἀφέλοιτο τοῦ δήμου τὴν ἐλευθερίαν.
the multitude fell away again from their good will towards him, and drifted into feelings of resentment and envy. These feelings were reinforced by their fear that if an aristocrat, who had such weight with the patricians, should become supreme in the government, he might altogether deprive the people of their liberties.
οὕτω δὴ φρονήσαντες ἀπεψηφίσαντο τὸν Μάρκιον, ὡς δʼ ἀνηγορεύθησαν ἕτεροι, βαρέως μὲν ἤνεγκεν ἡ βουλή δοκοῦσα προπεπηλακίσθαι μᾶλλον ἑαυτὴν ἢ τὸν Μάρκιον, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκεῖνος οὐ μετρίως ἔσχεν οὐδʼ ἐπιεικῶς πρὸς τὸ συμβεβηκός, ἅτε δὴ πλεῖστα τῷ θυμοειδεῖ καὶ φιλονείκῳ μέρει τῆς ψυχῆς, ὡς ἔχοντι μέγεθος καὶ φρόνημα, κεχρημένος, τὸ δʼ ἐμβριθὲς καὶ τὸ πρᾷον, οὗ τὸ πλεῖστον ἀρετῇ πολιτικῇ μέτεστιν, ἐγκεκραμένον οὐκ ἔχων ὑπὸ λόγου καὶ παιδείας,
So, being in such a state of mind, they rejected Marcius and others were proclaimed elected. The senators were indignant, thinking the insult directed rather at them than at Marcius, and he himself could not treat the occurrence with restraint or forbearance. He had indulged the passionate and contentious side of his nature, with the idea that there was something great and exalted in this, and had not been imbued, under the influence of reason and discipline, with that gravity and mildness which are the chief virtues of a statesman.
οὐδὲ τὴν ἐρημίᾳ ξύνοικον, ὡς Πλάτων ἔλεγεν, αὐθάδειαν εἰδὼς ὅτι δεῖ μάλιστα διαφεύγειν ἐπιχειροῦντα πράγμασι κοινοῖς καὶ ἀνθρώποις ὁμιλεῖν, καὶ γενέσθαι τῆς πολλὰ γελωμένης ὑπʼ ἐνίων ἀνεξικακίας ἐραστήν. ἀλλʼ ἁπλοῦς τις ὢν ἀεὶ καὶ ἀτενής, καὶ τὸ νικᾶν καὶ κρατεῖν ἁπάντων πάντως ἀνδρείας ἔργον ἡγούμενος, οὐκ ἀσθενείας καὶ μαλακίας, ἐκ τοῦ πονοῦντος καὶ πεπονθότος μάλιστα τῆς ψυχῆς, ὥσπερ οἴδημα, τὸν θυμὸν ἀναδιδούσης, ἀπῄει ταραχῆς μεστὸς ὢν καὶ πικρίας πρὸς τὸν δῆμον.
Nor did he know that one who undertakes public business must avoid above all things that self-will which, as Plato says, is the companion of solitude; must mingle with men, and be a lover of that submissiveness to injury which some people ridicule so much. But since he was ever a straightforward man and obstinate, and since he thought that conquest and mastery in all things and at all times was the prerogative of bravery, rather than of effeminate weakness (which breaks out in anger, like a swelling sore, from the troubled and wounded spirit), he event away full of indignation and bitterness towards the people.
οἱ δʼ ἐν ἡλικίᾳ τῶν πατρικίων, ὅ τι περ ἦν ἐν τῇ πόλει μάλιστα γαυρούμενον εὐγενείᾳ καὶ ἀνθοῦν, ἀεί τε θαυμαστῶς ἐσπουδάκεσαν περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ τότε προσκείμενοι καὶ παρόντες οὐκ ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τὸν θυμὸν ἐξερρίπιζον αὐτοῦ τῷ συναγανακτεῖν καὶ συναλγεῖν. ἦν γὰρ ἡγεμὼν αὐτοῖς καὶ διδάσκαλος εὐμενὴς τῶν πολεμικῶν ἐν ταῖς στρατείαις, καὶ ζῆλον ἀρετῆς ἄνευ φθόνου πρὸς ἀλλήλους γαυρῶσαι τοὺς κατορθοῦντας.
The younger patricians, too, that element in the city which made most vaunt of noble birth and was most showy, had always been amazingly devoted to the man, and, adhering to him now, when their presence did him no good, fanned his anger by their sympathetic vexation and sorrow. For he was their leader and willing teacher of the art of war in their campaigns, and inspired them in their victories with a zeal for valour, which had no tinge of mutual jealousy.
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ σῖτος ἧκεν εἰς Ῥώμην, πολὺς μέν ὠνητὸς ἐξ Ἰταλίας, οὐκ ἐλάττων δὲ δωρητὸς ἐκ Συρακουσῶν, Γέλωνος τοῦ τυράννου πέμψαντος· ὥστε τοὺς πλείστους ἐν ἐλπίσι γενέσθαι χρησταῖς, ἅμα τῆς ἀπορίας καὶ τῆς διαφορᾶς τὴν πόλιν ἀπαλλαγήσεσθαι προσδοκῶντας, εὐθὺς οὖν βουλῆς ἀθροισθείσης περιχυθεὶς ὁ δῆμος ἔξωθεν ἐκαραδόκει τό τέλος, ἐλπίζων ἀγορᾷ τε χρήσεσθαι φιλανθρώπῳ καὶ προῖκα τὰς δωρεὰς νεμήσεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ ἔνδον ἦσαν οἱ ταῦτα τὴν βουλὴν πείθοντες.
In the meantime grain came to Rome, a great part of it bought in Italy, but an equal amount sent as a present from Syracuse, where Gelo was tyrant. Most of the people were consequently in great hope, expecting that the city would be delivered both from its scarcity and its discord. The senate, accordingly, was convened at once, and the people, flocking about the senate-house, awaited the result of its deliberations. They expected that the market-price for grain would now be moderate, and that what had been sent as a present would be distributed gratis. For there were some in the senate who so advised that body.
ὁ μέντοι Μάρκιος ἀναστὰς σφόδρα καθήψατο τῶν χαριζομένων τοῖς πολλοῖς, δημαγωγοὺς καὶ προδότας ἀποκαλῶν τῆς ἀριστοκρατίας καὶ σπέρματα πονηρὰ θρασύτητος καὶ ὕβρεως εἰς ὄχλον ἀφειμένα τρέφοντας καθʼ αὑτῶν, ἃ καλῶς μέν εἶχε μὴ περιιδεῖν ἐν ἀρχῇ φυόμενα μηδʼ ἰσχυρὸν ἀρχῇ τηλικαύτῃ ποιῆσαι τὸν δῆμον, ἤδη δὲ καὶ φοβερὸν εἶναι τῷ πάντα βουλομένοις αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχειν καὶ μηδὲν ἄκοντας βιάζεσθαι, μηδὲ πείθεσθαι τοῖς ὑπάτοις, ἀλλʼ ἀναρχίας ἔχοντας ἡγεμόνας ἰδίους ἄρχοντας προσαγορεύειν.
But Marcius rose in his place and vehemently attacked those who favoured the multitude, calling them demagogues and betrayers of the aristocracy, and declaring that they were nourishing, to their own harm, the evil seeds of boldness and insolence which had been sown among the rabble; these they should have choked when they first sprang up, and not have strengthened the people by such a powerful magistracy as the tribunate. But now their body was formidable, because it got everything that it desired, allowed no constraint upon its will, and refused to obey the consuls, but had their own leaders in anarchy, whom they styled their rulers.
ἐπιδόσεις μέν οὖν καὶ διανομάς, ὥσπερ Ἑλλήνων οἱ κράτιστα δημοκρατούμενοι, καθέζεσθαι ψηφιζομένους ἔφη παντελῶς εἰς κοινὸν ὄλεθρον τὴν ἀπείθειαν αὑτῶν ἐφοδιάζειν. οὐ γὰρ χάριν γε δήπου φήσουσιν ἀπολαμβάνειν τῶν στρατειῶν ἃς ἐγκατέλιπον, καὶ τῶν ἀποστάσεων αἷς προήκαντο τὴν πατρίδα, καὶ τῶν διαβολῶν ἃς ἐδέξαντο κατὰ τῆς βουλῆς· ἀλλʼ ὑφιεμένους διὰ φόβον καὶ κολακεύοντας ὑμᾶς ταῦτα διδόναι καὶ συγχωρεῖν ἐλπίσαντες, οὐδὲν ἕξουσι πέρας ἀπειθείας, οὐδὲ παύσονται διαφερόμενοι καὶ στασιάζοντες.
To sit there, moreover, voting such a people largesses and supplies, like those Greeks where democracy is most extreme, he said was nothing more nor less than maintaining them in their disobedience, to the common destruction of all. For they surely will not say that they are getting these as a grateful return for the military services which they omitted, and the secessions by which they renounced their country, and the calumnies against the senate which they have countenanced. They will rather be confident that your fears drive you to subserviency and flattery when you make them these gifts and concessions, and will set no limit to their disobedience, nor cease from their quarrels and seditions.
ὥστε τοῦτο μέν ἐστι κομιδῇ μανικόν· εἰ δὲ σωφρονοῦμεν, ἀφαιρησόμεθα τὴν δημαρχίαν αὑτῶν, ἀναίρεσιν οὖσαν ὑπατείας καὶ διάστασιν τῆς πόλεως, οὐκέτι μιᾶς, ὡς πρότερον, οὔσης, ἀλλὰ δεδεγμένης τομήν μηδέποτε συμφῦναι μηδʼ ὁμοφρονῆσαι μηδὲ παύσασθαι νοσοῦντας ἡμᾶς καὶ ταραττομένους ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων ἐάσουσαν.
Such action on our part would therefore be sheer madness; but if we are wise, we shall take their tribunate away from them, for it makes the consulship null and void, and divides the city. This is no longer one, as before, but has been cut in two, so that we can never grow together again, or be of one mind, or cease afflicting and confounding one another.
πολλὰ τοιαῦτα λέγων ὁ Μάρκιος ὑπερφυῶς εἶχε τοὺς νέους συνενθουσιῶντας αὐτῷ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ὀλίγου δεῖν ἅπαντας, μόνον ἐκεῖνον ἄνδρα τὴν πόλιν ἔχειν ἀήττητον καὶ ἀκολάκευτον βοῶντας, ἔνιοι δὲ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἠναντιοῦντο, ὑφορώμενοι τὸ ἀποβησόμενον. ἀπέβη δὲ χρηστὸν οὐδέν. οἱ γὰρ δήμαρχοι παρόντες, ὡς ᾔσθοντο τῇ γνώμῃ κρατοῦντα τὸν Μάρκιον, ἐξέδραμον εἰς τὸν ὄχλον μετὰ βοῆς παρακελευόμενοι συνίστασθαι καὶ βοηθεῖν αὐτοῖς τοὺς πολλούς.
With many such words as these Marcius was beyond measure successful in filling the younger senators, and almost all the wealthy ones, with his own fierce enthusiasm, and they cried out that he was the only man in the city who disdained submission and flattery. But some of the older senators opposed him, suspecting the outcome. And the outcome was wholly bad. For the tribunes were present, and when they saw that the proposal of Marcius was likely to prevail, they ran out among the crowd with loud cries, calling upon the plebeians to rally to their help.
ἐκκλησίας δὲ θορυβώδους γενομένης, καὶ τῶν λόγων οὓς ὁ Μάρκιος εἶπεν ἀναγορευθέντων, ὀλίγον ἐδέησεν ἐμπεσεῖν ὑπʼ ὀργῆς φερόμενος εἰς τὴν βουλὴν ὁ δῆμος· οἱ δὲ δήμαρχοι τοῦ Μαρκίου τὴν αἰτίαν ἐποιοῦντο, καὶ πέμποντες ἐκάλουν αὐτὸν ἀπολογησόμενον. ὡς δὲ πρὸς ὕβριν τοὺς πεμφθέντας ἐξήλασεν ὑπηρέτας, αὐτοὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀγορανόμων ἧκον ἄξοντες βίᾳ τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἐπελαμβάνοντο. συστάντες δʼ οἱ πατρίκιοι τοὺς μὲν δημάρχους ἀπετρίψαντο, τοῖς δʼ ἀγορανόμοις καὶ πληγὰς ἐνέβαλον.
Then there was a stormy session of the assembly, and when the speech of Marcius was reported to it, the people were carried away with fury and almost burst in upon the senate. But the tribunes made their formal denunciation of Marcius, and summoned him by messenger to come before them and make his defence. And when he insolently drove away the officers who brought their message, they went themselves, attended by the aediles, to bring him by force, and tried to lay hands upon his person. But the patricians, banding together, drove the tribunes away, and actually beat the aediles.
τότε μὲν οὖν ἑσπέρα καταλαβοῦσα τὴν ταραχὴν διέλυσεν· ἅμα δὲʼ ἡμέρᾳ τὸν δῆμον ἐξηγριωμένον ὁρῶντες οἱ ὕπατοι καὶ συντρέχοντα πανταχόθεν εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν ἔδεισαν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τὴν βουλὴν ἀθροίσαντες ἐκέλευον σκοπεῖν ὅπως ἐπιεικέσι λόγοις καὶ δόγμασι χρηστοῖς πραΰνωσι καὶ καταστήσωσι τοὺς πολλούς, ὡς οὐ φιλοτιμίας οὖσαν ὥραν, οὐδʼ ὑπὲρ δόξης ἅμιλλαν, εἰ σωφρονοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καιρὸν ἐπισφαλῆ καὶ ὀξὺν, εὐγνώμονος πολιτείας καὶ φιλανθρώπου δεόμενον.
By this time, then, evening had fallen, which put an end to the tumult; but as soon as it was day, the exasperated people came running together from all quarters into the forum. When the consuls saw this, they were alarmed for the city, and convening the senate, urged them to consider how, by reasonable proposals and suitable resolutions, they might soothe and pacify the multitude, since it was not a time for ambitious rivalry, nor would they be wise in contending for their dignity, but the crisis was severe and critical, and demanded measures that were considerate and humane.
εἰξάντων δὲ τῶν πλείστων προελθόντες ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα τῷ δήμῳ διελέγοντο καὶ κατεπράϋνον, ἀπολυόμενοί τε τὰς διαβολὰς ἐπιεικῶς καὶ τῷ νουθετοῦντι καὶ δάκνοντι μετρίως χρώμενοι, περὶ δὲ τιμῆς ὠνίων καὶ ἀγορᾶς οὐδὲν διοίσεσθαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς φάσκοντες.
The majority of the senate acceding to these views, the consuls went out and reasoned with the people as well as they could, and tried to mollify them, answering their accusations in a reasonable manner, and making only a moderate use of admonition and rebuke; as regarded the price of provisions and market supplies, they declared there should be no difference between them.
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