forte tunc eius potestatis Socrates cuius arbitrio plebei scita ordinarentur, indignum iudicans tot et tam bene meritos [et] indicta causa impetu invidiae abripi, temeritati multitudinis constantiam suam obiecit, maximoque contionis fragore et incitatissimis minis compulsus non est ut se publicae dementiae auctorem ascriberet.
As it chanced, Socrates belonged at the time to the authority in which it lay to draw up decrees of the people. Judging it unfitting that so many and so well-deserving persons should be swept away by a burst of popular ill-will without trial, he pitted his resolution against the rashness of the populace and for all the loud clamour and excited threats of the assembly could not be forced to sponsor the public insanity.
final_alignments\Valerius_Memorable_Book3.json