[35] And when such was the state of all things, O judges,—when the senate had no leaders or traitors, or I should rather say open enemies, in the place of leaders,—when the equestrian order was being put on its trial by the consuls,—when the authority of all Italy was trampled on,—when some men were banished by name others frightened away by terror and danger,—when the temples were full of arms and the forum of armed men; and when those facts were not concealed by the silence of the consuls, but were openly approved of by them by their speeches and their formal decision,—when we all of us saw the city not yet perhaps razed and destroyed, but at all events already stormed and in the power of the enemy,—nevertheless relying on the exceeding zeal of the virtuous part of the citizens, we would have resisted, O judges, even these enormous evils. [cap.16] [36]