[20]
Some one will ask what was his purpose in such injustice and such impudence. He was not
without an object. But good faith towards the Roman people, just feelings towards you and
your liberty, he was utterly without. For he orders the man who has passed the law to hold
the comitia for the creation of the decemvirs. I will state the case more plainly. Rullus, as
a man far from being covetous or ambitious, orders Rullus to hold the comitia. I do not find
fault yet. I see that others have done the same thing. Now see what is the object of this,
which no one else ever did, with respect to the smaller half of the people. He will hold the
comitia; he wishes to have the appointment of those officers for whom kingly power is sought
to be procured by this law. He himself will not entrust it to the entire people, nor do those
who were the original instigators of these designs think it ought to be entrusted to them.
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
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