τότε μὲν οὖν διέλυσε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν αἰσθανόμενος δὲ τῶν πολιτευμάτων τὸ περὶ τὸν Ὀκτάβιον οὐ τοῖς δυνατοῖς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐκπαθέστερον μέγα γάρ τι καὶ καλὸν ἐδόκει τὸ τῶν δημάρχων ἀξίωμα μέχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης διατετηρημένον ἀνῃρῆσθαι καὶ καθυβρίσθαι, λόγον ἐν τῷ δήμῳ διεξῆλθεν, οὗ μικρὰ παραθέσθαι τῶν ἐπιχειρημάτων οὐκ ἄτοπον ἦν, ὥστε ὑπονοηθῆναι τὴν πιθανότητα καὶ πυκνότητα τοῦ ἀνδρός.
For the present, then, he dissolved the assembly; but perceiving that the course he had taken with regard to Octavius was very displeasing, not only to the nobles, but also to the multitude (for it was thought that the high and honourable dignity of the tribunate, so carefully guarded up to that time, had been insulted and destroyed), he made a lengthy speech before the people, a few of the arguments of which it will not be out of place to lay before the reader, that he may get a conception of the man’s subtlety and persuasiveness.
ἔφη γὰρ ἱερὸν τὸν δήμαρχον εἶναι καὶ ἄσυλον, ὅτι τῷ δήμῳ καθωσίωται καὶ τοῦ δήμου προέστηκεν. ἂν οὖν μεταβαλόμενος τὸν δῆμον ἀδικῇ καὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν κολούῃ καὶ παραιρῆται τὴν ψῆφον, αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀπεστέρηκε τῆς τιμῆς ἐφʼ οἷς ἔλαβεν οὐ ποιῶν·
A tribune, he said, was sacred and inviolable, because he was consecrated to the people and was a champion of the people. If, then, said Tiberius, he should change about, wrong the people, maim its power, and rob it of the privilege of voting, he has by his own acts deprived himself of his honourable office by not fulfilling the conditions on which he received it;
ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ Καπετώλιον κατασκάπτοντα καὶ τὸ νεώριον ἐμπιπράντα δήμαρχον ἐὰν δεήσει, καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ποιῶν δήμαρχός ἐστι πονηρός· ἐὰν δὲ καταλύῃ τὸν δῆμον, οὐ δήμαρχός ἐστι. πῶς οὖν οὐ δεινόν εἰ τὸν μὲν ὕπατον ὁ δήμαρχός ἄξει, τὸν δὲ δήμαρχον οὐκ ἀφαιρήσεται τὴν ἐξουσίαν ὁ δῆμος ὅταν αὐτῇ κατὰ τοῦ δεδωκότος χρῆται; καὶ γὰρ ὕπατον καὶ δήμαρχον ὁμοίως ὁ δῆμος αἱρεῖται.
for otherwise there would be no interference with a tribune even though he should try to demolish the Capitol or set fire to the naval arsenal. If a tribune does these things, he is a bad tribune; but if he annuls the power of the people, he is no tribune at all. Is it not, then, a monstrous thing that a tribune should have power to hale a consul to prison, while the people cannot deprive a tribune of his power when he employs it against the very ones who bestowed it? For consul and tribune alike are elected by the people.
καὶ μὴν ἥ γε βασιλεία πρὸς τῷ πᾶσαν ἀρχήν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῇ συλλαβοῦσα καὶ ταῖς μεγίσταις ἱερουργίαις καθωσίωται πρὸς τὸ θεῖον ἀλλὰ Ταρκύνιον ἐξέβαλεν ἡ πόλις ἀδικοῦντα, καὶ διʼ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ὕβριν ἡ πάτριος ἀρχὴ καὶ κτίσασα τὴν Ῥώμην κατελύθη. τί δὲ οὕτως ἅγιον ἐν Ῥώμῃ καὶ σεμνόν ὡς αἱ περιέπουσαι παρθένοι καὶ φυλάττουσαι τὸ ἄφθιτον πῦρ; ἀλλʼ εἴ τις ἂν ἁμάρτῃ αὑτῶν, ζῶσα κατορύσσεται· τὸ γὰρ ἄσυλον οὐ φυλάττουσιν ἀσεβοῦσαι εἰς τοὺς θεούς, ὃ διὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ἔχουσιν.
And surely the kingly office, besides comprehending in itself every civil function, is also consecrated to the Deity by the performance of the most solemn religious rites; and yet Tarquin was expelled by the city for his wrong-doing, and because of one man’s insolence the power which had founded Rome and descended from father to son was overthrown. Again, what institution at Rome is so holy and venerable as that of the virgins who tend and watch the undying fire? And yet if one of these breaks her vows, she is buried alive; for when they sin against the gods, they do not preserve that inviolable character which is given them for their service to the gods.
οὔκουν οὐδὲ δήμαρχός ἀδικῶν τὸν δῆμον ἔχειν τὴν διὰ τὸν δῆμον ἀσυλίαν δίκαιός ἐστιν ᾗ γὰρ ἰσχύει δυνάμει, ταύτην ἀναιρεῖ, καὶ μὴν εἰ δικαίως ἔλαβε τὴν δημαρχίαν, τῶν πλείστων φυλῶν ψηφισαμένων, πῶς οὐχὶ κἂν ἀφαιρεθείη δικαιότερον πασῶν ἀποψηφισαμένων;
Therefore it is not just that a tribune who wrongs the people should retain that inviolable character which is given him for service to the people, since he is destroying the very power which is the source of his own power. And surely, if it is right for him to be made tribune by a majority of the votes of the tribes, it must be even more right for him to be deprived of his tribuneship by a unanimous vote.
ἱερὸν δὲ καὶ ἄσυλον οὐδὲν οὕτως ἐστίν ὡς τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀναθήματα· χρῆσθαι δὲ τούτοις καὶ κινεῖν καὶ μεταφέρειν ὡς βούλεται, τὸν δῆμον οὐδεὶς κεκώλυκεν. ἐξῆν οὖν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν δημαρχίαν ὡς ἀνάθημα μετενεγκεῖν εἰς ἕτερον, ὅτι δὲ οὐκ ἄσυλον οὐδὲ ἀναφαίρετον ἡ ἀρχή, δῆλόν ἐστι τῷ πολλάκις ἔχοντας ἀρχήν τινας ἐξόμνυσθαι καὶ παραιτεῖσθαι διʼ αὑτῶν.
And again, nothing is so sacred and inviolate as objects consecrated to the gods; and yet no one has hindered the people from using such objects, or moving them, or changing their position in such manner as may be desired. It is therefore permissible for the people to transfer the tribunate also, as a consecrated thing, from one man to another. And that the office is not inviolable or irremovable is plain from the fact that many times men holding it resign it under oath of disability, and of their own accord beg to be relieved of it.
τοιαῦτα μὲν ἦν τὰ κεφάλαια τῆς τοῦ Τιβερίου δικαιολογίας, Ἐπεὶ δὲ συνορῶντες οἱ φίλοι τὰς ἀπειλὰς καὶ τὴν σύστασιν ᾤοντο δεῖν ἑτέρας περιέχεσθαι δημαρχίας εἰς τὸ μέλλον αὖθις ἄλλοις νόμοις ἀνελάμβανε τὸ πλῆθος, τοῦ τε χρόνου τῶν στρατειῶν ἀφαιρῶν, καὶ διδοὺς ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸν δῆμον ἀπὸ τῶν δικαστῶν, καὶ τοῖς κρίνουσι τότε, συγκλητικοῖς οὖσι, καταμιγνὺς ἐκ τῶν ἱππέων τὸν ἴσον ἀριθμόν,
Such were the chief points in the justification of his course which Tiberius made. And now his friends, observing the threats and the hostile combination against him, thought that he ought to be made tribune again for the following year. Once more, therefore, Tiberius sought to win the favour of the multitude by fresh laws, reducing the time of military service, granting appeal to the people from the verdicts of the judges, adding to the judges, who at that time were composed of senators only, an equal number from the equestrian order,
καὶ πάντα τρόπον ἤδη τῆς βουλῆς τὴν ἰσχὺν κολούων πρὸς ὀργὴν καὶ φιλονεικίαν μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν τοῦ δικαίου καὶ συμφέροντος λογισμόν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς ψήφου φερομένης ᾔσθοντο τοὺς ἐναντίους κρατοῦντας οὐ γὰρ παρῆν ἅπας ὁ δῆμος, πρῶτον μὲν εἰς βλασφημίας τραπόμενοι τῶν συναρχόντων εἷλκον τὸν χρόνον ἔπειτα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀφῆκαν, εἰς τὴν ὑστεραίαν ἀπαντᾶν κελεύσαντες.
and in every way at length trying to maim the power of the senate from motives of anger and contentiousness rather than from calculations of justice and the public good. And when, as the voting was going on, the friends of Tiberius perceived that their opponents were getting the better of the contest, since all the people were not present, in the first place they resorted to abuse of his fellow tribunes, and so protracted the time; next, they dismissed the assembly, and ordered that it should convene on the following day.
καὶ πρῶτον μὲν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν καταβὰς ὁ Τιβέριος ἱκέτευε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ταπεινὸς καὶ δεδακρυμένος, ἔπειτα δεδοικέναι φήσας μὴ νυκτὸς ἐκκόψωσι τὴν οἰκίαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ καὶ διαφθείρωσιν αὐτόν, οὕτω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διέθηκεν ὥστε περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦ παμπόλλους τινὰς αὐλίσασθαι καὶ διανυκτερεῦσαι παραφυλάττοντας.
Then Tiberius, going down into the forum, at first supplicated the citizens in a humble manner and with tears in his eyes; next, he declared he was afraid that his enemies would break into his house by night and kill him, and thereby so wrought upon his hearers that great numbers of them took up their station about his house and spent the night there on guard.
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