[5] Next, Marcus Geganius Macerinus and Gaius Julius became consuls, and assuaged the strife of the tribunes with the young nobles, without censuring those magistrates or sacrificing the dignity of the patricians. [6] They withheld the plebs from sedition by suspending a levy which had been decreed with a view to making war on the Volsci and the Aequi, averring that so long as the City was quiet their foreign relations were likewise entirely peaceful; that it was discord in Rome which made other nations take heart. [7] The pains they were at to maintain peace were also productive of internal harmony. But the one order was always taking advantage of the moderation of the other; the plebs were tranquil, but the younger patricians began to insult them. [8] When the tribunes attempted to assist the lowly, at first their services were of little effect; and later they did not even escape violence themselves, especially in the last months of their term, since not only were wrongs committed through cabals of the more powerful, but the effectiveness of every magistrate rather languished, as a rule, in the latter part of the year. [9] By this time the plebs had ceased to count upon [p. 223]the tribunate, unless they could have tribunes like5 Icilius; for two years they had had mere names. [10] The elder patricians, for their part, though they thought their young men too headstrong, yet preferred, if moderation must be left behind, that the excess of spirits should be on their side rather than with their adversaries. [11] So difficult is it to be moderate in the defence of liberty, since everyone, while pretending to seek fair-play, so raises himself as to press another down; while insuring themselves against fear, men actually render themselves fearful to others; and having defended ourselves from an injury, we proceed —as though it were necessary either to do or suffer wrong —to inflict injury upon our neighbour.
