Lexitechnia

Cicero comparing governments (Ad Atticum 2.9):

Etenim si fuit invidiosa senatus potentia, cum ea non ad populum sed ad tris homines immoderatos redacta sit, quid iam censes fore?

After all, if the power of the Senate was unpopular, then what do you think it will be like when it has passed, not to the people, but to three unprincipled men?

I’m not sure I’ve properly brought out the contrast in this line; it took a while for me to grasp the idea. The main focus is not whether the power goes to the people or to the three men in question; earlier he has stated that expects them to be hankering for his old government soon, so the idea is closer to ‘if the senate made the people unhappy, imagine how they must feel with those guys in charge (when they thought they might be getting the power back for themselves).’

Invidiosus was a hard enough word to render with a meaning that made sense in context, but immoderatus is a word that does not easily suggest a word equal in tone and sense at all. It doesn’t seem to have the strong religious component as ‘immoral’, say, and ‘immoderate’ is both too uncommon and too vague (‘moderate’ having too many meanings). The ‘unprincipled’ I have now may work, but I’m sure there’s a better option.

[For senatus potentia, not yet posted.]