He, for his part, could not bear the
affront with any patience. He had always indulged his temper, and
had regarded the proud and contentious element of human nature as
a sort of nobleness and magnanimity; reason and discipline had not
imbued him with that solidity and equanimity which enter so
largely into the virtues for the statesman. He had never learned
how essential it is for any one who undertakes public business,
and desires to deal with mankind, to avoid above all things that
self-will, which, as Plato says, belongs to the family of
solitude; and to pursue, above all things, that capacity so
generally ridiculed, of submission to ill-treatment. Marcius,
straightforward and direct, stand together, and come in to their
assistance. The assembly met, and soon became tumultuous. The sum
of what Marcius had spoken, having been reported to the people,
excited them to such fury, that they were ready to break in upon
the senate. The tribunes prevented this, by laying all the blame
on Coriolanus, and they accordingly cited him to come before them,
and defend himself.
He came, therefore, as it were, to make his apology, and clear
himself; in which belief the people kept silence, and gave him a
quiet hearing.
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