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Contents (added by transcriber)Cicero: FIRST ORATION (linked to notes) FIRST ORATION (free-standing) |
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, by THE COPP CLARK COMPANY, Limited, Toronto, Ontario, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.
It has been the aim of the Editor to explain what seemed to him difficulties in the text. There are many points which might have been noted, but which a judicious teacher will supply in the ordinary class work.
References are made to the standard grammars of Zumpt, Madvig, Harkness, Allen and Greenough.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, the greatest name in Roman literature, was born near Arpinum, a town of Latium, January 3rd, B.C. 106. His father, a man of large views and liberal culture, belonged to the equites, and possessed an hereditary estate in the neighbourhood of the town. To give his sons, Marcus and Quintus, that education which could not be obtained at a provincial school, Removes to Rome, B.C. 92. he removed to Rome, where the young Ciceros were placed under the best teachers of the day. Early teachers. From Aelius they learned philosophy; from Archias, the mechanism of verse, though not the inspiration of poetry. Early works. A translation of the Phaenomena and Prognostics of Aratus, and a mythological poem on the fable of Pontius Glaucus were the first fruits of Cicero’s genius. Assumes the toga virilis B.C. 89. On assuming the toga virilis, B.C. 89, Cicero attached himself to the jurist Scaevola, who was then in the zenith of his fame. Serves his first campaign, B.C. 88. In the following year he served a brief campaign in the Social War under Cn. Pompeius Strabo, the father of Pompey the Great. Studies philosophy. Philosophical studies had, however, more attractions for him than arms. Under Philo, the Academic, and Diodotus, the Stoic, he laid the foundation of that Eclecticism which is so observable in his philosophical works. Pleads his first cause pro Quinct. At the age of 25 he pleaded his first cause, and in the following year he defended Sextus Roscius of Ameria, who had been accused of parricide by Chrysogonus, one of Sulla’s favourites. In this cause he acquired the acquittal of his client, but incurred the enmity of the dictator. Goes to Athens, Asia, and Rhodes. With the ostensible object of regaining his health he went to Athens, where he studied philosophy under Antiochus, the Academic, and under Zeno and Phaedrus, both Epicureans. From Athens he travelled through Asia Minor and finally settled for a short time at Rhodes, attending there the lectures of Molo, the rhetorician. Returns home. Returning home, he at once entered on that political career to which his commanding ability destined him, Elected quaestor of Sicily. and was elected quaestor of Sicily. During his term of office he so endeared himself to the inhabitants of the island by his integrity that they selected him as their patron at Rome. Indicts Verres, B.C. 70. In their behalf he subsequently conducted the prosecution against Verres, who was charged with extortion. Elected aedile, 69 B.C. His success in this cause, and his consequent popularity, procured him the office of curule aedile. Praetor, 66 B.C. After the usual interval he was chosen praetor, and, while holding this office, His first political speech. delivered the first of his political harangues, Pro lege Manilia, 65 B.C. in defence of the bill proposed by C. Manilius to invest Pompey with supreme command in the Mithradatic War. Consul, 63 B.C. Two years afterwards he gained the consulship, the goal of his ambition. His consulate is memorable for the bold attempt of Catiline to subvert the government—an attempt which was frustrated by the patriotic zeal of the consul. Unpopularity of Cicero. Cicero had quickly soared to the pinnacle of fame: as quickly did he fall. In crushing the conspiracy of Catiline questionable means had been employed. Causes of Exile. Clodius, his implacable enemy, revived a law exiling all who had been guilty of putting to death Roman citizens without a formal trial before the people. Deserted by the Triumvirs. The Triumvirs, too, were disgusted with the vanity of the man who was constantly reminding the people that he was the “Saviour of Italy” and the “Father of His Country.” Deserted by his friends, and exposed to the hatred of his foes, Goes into exile, 58 B.C. Cicero went to Thessalonica into voluntary exile. The wanton destruction of his villas and the insults offered to his wife and children soon, however, produced a feeling of sympathy for the exiled orator. Recall, 51 B.C. His return to Rome was attended with all the pomp and circumstance of a triumphant general. Henceforth his voice was little heard in the Senate. Elected Augur, 53 B.C. After his return he was appointed to a seat in the College of Augurs. In obtaining this office he had placed himself under obligations to both Pompey and Caesar, and this may account for his neutrality in the civil struggles of the time. Proconsul, 52 B.C. He was subsequently appointed, much against his will, proconsul of Cilicia, where his administration was marked by the same integrity as he had displayed in Sicily. Cicero arrived in Italy from Cilicia on the 4th of January, B.C. 49, just after the breaking out of the civil war between Pompey and Caesar. Sides with Pompey. After some hesitation he decided to take the part of Pompey, but his support was never cordial: it was a source of weakness rather than of strength. Pharsalia, B.C. 48. When the battle of Pharsalia decided the fate of the Roman world, he returned to Brundisium to await the arrival of the victorious Caesar, Pardoned by Caesar. who generously extended a full and frank pardon to the vacillating orator. Cicero from this time withdrew from active public life and devoted himself to philosophy, except during the period immediately preceding his death. Gloom. The loss of his daughter Tullia, the divorce of his wife Terentia, and the unhappy marriage with Publilia darkened the gloom which settled on his declining years. His high exultation on the assassination of Caesar was of only momentary duration, and was succeeded by dark forebodings of Marc Antony’s designs. As soon as the plans of the scheming triumvir were evident, His Philippic Orations. Cicero attacked Antony’s character with all the powers of invective. Again he was the idol of the people and the champion of senatorial rights, but his popularity was only the last gasp of the dying liberties of Rome. Antony, Octavianus, and Lepidus form the second triumvirate. The second triumvirate was formed, and each member of it sacrificed his friends to glut the vengeance of his colleagues; and to appease the brutal Antony, Cicero was sacrificed by Octavianus. Refusing to seek refuge in exile, he determined to die in the land he had saved, Killed at Caieta, B.C. 43. and was slain at Caieta by the emissaries of the bloodthirsty triumvir.
Works.The works of Cicero are:—
(1) Orations: Of the eighty speeches composed by him we possess, either entire or in part, fifty-nine. (See list).
(2) Philosophical works.
(3) Correspondence: Comprising thirty-six books, sixteen of which are addressed to Athens, three to his brother Quintus, one to Brutus, and sixteen to his different friends.
(4) Poems: Consisting of the heroic poems, Alcyones, Marcus, Elegy of Tamelastis, and Translations of Homer and Aratus.
L. Sergius Catilina was a Roman patrician, born about 108 B.C. From his father he inherited nothing but a noble name. In the turbulent scenes of the Sullan rule, Catiline played a conspicuous part, to which his undoubted ability, his undaunted courage, his iron constitution, his depraved morals, and excessive cruelty notoriously fitted him. His crimes. He commenced his career by slaying, with his own hand, Q. Caecilius, his own brother-in-law, and by torturing to death M. Marius Gratidianus, a kinsman of Cicero. Though his youth was spent in open debauchery, and reckless extravagance, though he made away with his first wife and his son to marry the worthless and profligate Aurelia Orestilla, the guilty crimes of Catiline do not seem to have been any barrier to his advancement to political honors. Offices held. He obtained the praetorship B.C. 68, and in the following year was propraetor of Africa. He returned to Rome B.C. 66 to press his suit for the consulship. The two consuls who had the highest votes were P. Autronius Paetus and P. Cornelius Sulla, both of whom were convicted of bribery, and their election was declared void. Their places were filled by L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus. Catiline was prevented from being a candidate in consequence of an impeachment brought against him for mal-administration of his province of Africa by P. Clodius Pulcher, afterwards the implacable enemy of Cicero. First Conspiracy. Autronius and Catiline, exasperated by their disappointment, formed a league with Cn. Calpurnius Piso to murder the consuls on the first of January, to seize the fasces, and to occupy Spain. The plan leaked out, and was postponed till the fifth of February. The scheme, however, failed in consequence of Catiline giving the signal too soon. Resolutions were passed by the Senate condemning the conspiracy, but these were quashed by the intercession of a tribune. Some say that both Caesar and Crassus were involved in this First Conspiracy of Catiline. About this time, Catiline was acquitted of extortion (res repetundae), but the trial rendered him penniless. About the beginning of June, 64 B.C., he began to plot more systematically to carry out his plans for a general revolution. A meeting was called for all those interested in the conspiracy. To this convention, eleven senators, four knights, and many of the noted men from the provincial towns assembled to hear the bold designs of the conspirator. Catiline’s Proposals. Catiline proposed that all debts should be cancelled (novae tabulae), that the wealthy citizens should be proscribed, that offices of honor and emolument should be divided among his friends, and that the leaders of the conspiracy should raise armies in Spain and in Mauretania. Again he was a candidate for the consulship, and again he was doomed to disappointment. Cicero and Antonius were chosen, the latter, however, by only a few centuries over Catiline. This defeat embittered the animosity between the two parties. The conspirator raised large sums of money on his own security and on the credit of his friends, sent arms to various parts of Italy, levied troops in Etruria, and sent Manlius a veteran of Sulla to take command of the newly raised forces. The slaves were to be armed, the buildings of the city set on fire, the citizens indiscriminately massacred, and a reign of terror and bloodshed was to be inaugurated. In the midst of all these schemes, Catiline stood again for the consulship (63 B.C.), and was thwarted by the wariness and exertions of Cicero, who checkmated his schemes at every turn. One of the conspirators was Q. Curius, a man weak and vacillating. The Conspiracy divulged. This man had a mistress, Fulvia, who was the repository of all his secrets. Alarmed at the audacious designs of the conspirators, she imparted her secrets to some of her acquaintances, and through her confidants the matter was betrayed to Cicero. After securing his personal safety, and withdrawing Antonius from the side of Catiline, the consul deferred the consular elections to lay before the Senate the whole conspiracy. First Speech against Catiline. At a meeting of the Senate, October 21st, 63, he told the Senators the danger that threatened the state. Many of those complicated in the conspiracy fled. By virtue of a decretum ultimum, which formula (consules videant, ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat) gave the consuls absolute civil and military power, Catiline was in danger of losing his life. Catiline, who was again a candidate for the consulship for 62 B.C., was rejected. An impeachment of sedition was also brought against him by L. Aemilius Paulus. On the 6th November, Catiline summoned the conspirators to the house of M. Porcius Laeca, and after accusing them of inactivity, he laid before him his plans. Cicero was to be removed, and L. Vargunteius, a senator, and C. Cornelius, a knight, were despatched to carry out the scheme, but were frustrated. Cicero called the Senate on November 8th, and delivered his first speech against Catiline, who, though overwhelmed with guilt, had still the audacity to appear among the senators.
Altogether four speeches were delivered against Catiline. In the final debate as to the sentence, it was decided to put the apprehended conspirators to death. This sentence was carried out against some. Catiline and most fell, however, in the field at Pistoria (62 B.C.), fighting with a valour worthy of a better cause.
This speech may be divided into three parts:
I. In the introduction Cicero in impassioned language expresses astonishment that Catiline should be so audacious as to come into the Senate while plotting the destruction of his country. The orator reminds Catiline that men less guilty have been slain in the earlier days of the republic, and gives reasons why the penalty of death should be meted out to the arch conspirator (I., II.).
II. In the next part, Cicero gives reasons why Catiline should leave Rome and go to the camp of Manlius:
(a) That his nefarious plot was well known, that his personal character was stained with many crimes, that his public life was abhorred by all, that his native land, though silent, eloquently pleads with Catiline to withdraw (III.-IX.).
(b) That Catiline should depart to the troops raised in Etruria, whither he had sent Manlius to carry on the war, that the great delight of Catiline was to make war on his native land, and to mingle in the society of the conspirators.
(c) That such withdrawal would be more advantageous to the State than the execution of the conspirators, that in the former case his abandoned followers would accompany Catiline, and thus the seeds of the rebellion would be extirpated.
III. The orator promises the co-operation of all patriotic citizens in suppressing the conspiracy after Catiline and his associates had withdrawn. Then beseeching Catiline and the other conspirators to remove from Rome, the orator invokes the aid of Juppiter Stator to save Rome from the nefarious schemes of abandoned men.
I.— 1. 1Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu 2etiam 3furor iste tuus 4eludet? 5Quem ad finem sese effrenata 6jactabit audacia? 7Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palatii, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora vultusque moverunt. Patere tua consilia non sentis? 8Constrictam omnium horum scientia teneri conjurationem tuam non vides? Quid 9proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem 10nostrum ignorare arbitraris? 2. O tempora, O mores! senatus haec intellegit, consul videt; hic tamen vivit.1 Vivit? immo vero etiam 2in senatum venit, fit publici consilii particeps, 3notat et designat oculis ad caedem unum quemque nostrum. Nos autem, 4viri fortes, satis facere rei publicae 5videmur, si istius furorem ac tela 6vitemus. 7Ad mortem te, Catilina, duci jussu consulis jam pridem oportebat, 8in te conferri pestem istam, quam tu in nos machinaris. 3. 1An vero vir amplissimus, P. Scipio, pontifex maximus, Ti. Gracchum, mediocriter labefactantem statum rei publicae, privatus interfecit: Catilinam orbem terrae caede atque incendiis vastare cupientem, nos consules perferemus? Nam 2illa nimis antiqua praetereo, quod C. 3Servilius Ahala Sp. Maelium, 4novis rebus studentem, manu sua occidit. 5Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac re publica virtus, 6ut viri fortes acerbioribus suppliciis civem perniciosum quam acerbissimum hostem coercerent. Habemus 7senatus consultum in te, Catilina, 8vehemens et grave: non deest 9rei publicae consilium neque auctoritas hujus ordinis: 10nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus.
II.— 4. Decrevit 1quondam senatus ut L. Opimius consul videret ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet; nox nulla 2intercessit; interfectus est 3propter quasdam seditionum suspiciones C. Gracchus, clarissimo 4patre, avo, majoribus: occisus est cum liberis5 M. Fulvius consularis. 6Simili senatus consulto C. Mario et L. Valerio consulibus est permissa res publica: 7num unum diem postea L. Saturninum tribunum plebis et C. Servilium praetorem mors ac rei publicae poena remorata est? At vero nos 8vicesimum jam diem patimur hebescere 9aciei horum auctoritatis. Habemus enim hujus modi senatus consultum, verum 10inclusum in tabulis tamquam in vagina reconditum,11 quo ex senatus consulto confestim interfectum te esse, Catilina, convenit. Vivis, 12et vivis non ad deponendam sed ad confirmandam audaciam. Cupio, patres conscripti, me esse clementem, cupio in tantis rei publicae periculis me non 13dissolutum videri, sed jam me ipse 14inertiae nequitiaeque condemno. 5. 1Castra sunt in Italia contra populum Romanum in Etruriae faucibus collocata, crescit 2in dies singulos hostium numerus, eorum autem castrorum imperatorem ducemque hostium intra moenia atque 3adeo in senatu videmus intestinam aliquam cotidie perniciem rei publicae molientem. Si te 4jam, Catilina, comprehendi, si interfici jussero, 5credo, erit 6verendum mihi, ne non potius hoc omnes boni serius a me quam quisquam crudelius factum se dicat. Verum ego hoc, quod jam pridem factum esse oportuit, 7certa de causa nondum adducor, ut faciam. Tum denique 8interficiere, cum jam nemo tam improbus, tam perditus, tam 9tui similis inveniri poterit, 10qui id non jure factum esse fateatur. 6. Quam diu 1quisquam erit qui te defendere audeat, vives, sed vives ita, ut 2vivis, multis meis et firmis praesidiis oppressus, ne 3commovere te contra rem publicam possis. Multorum te etiam oculi et aures non sentientem, sicut adhuc 4fecerunt, speculabuntur atque custodient.
III.—5Etenim quid est, Catilina, quod jam amplius 6exspectes, si neque nox tenebris obscurare 7coeptus nefarios neque 8privata domus 9parietibus continere 10voces conjurationis tuae potest? Si 11inlustrantur, si erumpunt omnia? Muta jam 12istam mentem, 13mihi crede! obliviscere caedis atque incendiorum. 14Teneris undique: luce sunt clariora nobis tua consilia omnia; quae jam mecum licet 15recognoscas. 7. 1Meministine me 2ante diem duodecimum Kalendas Novembres dicere in senatu, fore in armis 3certo die, qui dies futurus esset ante diem sextum Kalendas Novembres, C. Manlium, 4audaciae satellitem atque administrum tuae? 5Num me fefellit, Catilina, non modo res tanta, tam atrox, tamque incredibilis, verum id quod multo magis admirandum, dies? Dixi ego idem in senatu, 6caedem te 7optimatium contulisse in ante diem quintum Kalendas Novembres, tum cum multi principes civitatis Roma non tam 8sui conservandi quam tuorum consiliorum 9reprimendorum causa profugerunt. Num infitiari potes te illo die meis praesidiis, mea diligentia circumclusum commovere te contra rem publicam non potuisse, cum te discessu ceterorum nostra tamen, qui remansissemus, caede contentum esse dicebas? 8. 1Quid? cum tu 2te Praeneste Kalendis ipsis Novembribus occupaturum nocturno impetu esse confideres, 3sensistine illam coloniam meo jussu meis 4praesidiis, custodiis vigiliisque esse munitam? 5Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas, quod non ego non modo audiam, sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.
IV.—Recognosce mecum 6tandem 7noctem illam superiorem: 8jam intelliges multo me vigilare acrius ad salutem quam te ad perniciem rei publicae. 9Dico te 10priore nocte venisse 11inter falcarios—non agam obscure 12in M. Laecae domum: convenisse eodem 13complures ejusdem 14amentiae scelerisque socios. Num negare audes? quid taces? 15convincam, si negas: video enim esse hic in senatu quosdam, qui tecum una fuerunt. 9. O di immortales! 1ubinam gentium sumus! quam rem publicam habemus? in qua urbe vivimus? 2Hic, hic sunt in nostro numero, 3patres conscripti, 4in hoc orbis terrae sanctissimo gravissimoque consilio, 5qui de nostro omnium interitu, qui de hujus urbis atque adeo de orbis terrarum exitio cogitent. Hosce ego video et de re publica 6sententiam rogo, et quos ferro trucidari oportebat, eos nondum voce 7vulnero. Fuisti 8igitur apud Laecam illa nocte, Catilina; 9distribuisti partes Italiae; 10statuisti quo quemque proficisci placeret, 11delegisti quos Romae relinqueres, quos tecum educeres, 12discripsisti urbis partes ad incendia, confirmasti te ipsum jam esse exiturum, dixisti 13paullulum tibi esse 14etiam tum morae, quod ego viverem. Reperti sunt 15duo equites Romani, 16qui te ista cura liberarent et sese illa ipsa nocte paulo ante lucem me in meo 17lectulo interfecturos esse pollicerentur. 10. Haec ego omnia, 1vixdum etiam coetu vestro dimisso, comperi, domum meam majoribus praesidiis munivi atque firmavi, exclusi eos, quos tu ad me 2salutatum 3mane miseras, cum illi ipsi venissent, quos ego jam multis ac summis viris ad me 4id temporis venturos praedixeram.
V.— 11. 1Quae cum ita sint, Catilina, 2perge quo coepisti, egredere aliquando ex urbe: patent portae: proficiscere. Nimium diu te imperatorem tua illa Manliana castra desiderant. Educ tecum etiam omnes tuos, 3si minus, quam plurimos: purga urbem. Magno me metu liberabis, 4dum modo inter me atque te murus intersit. Nobiscum versari jam diutius non potes: 5non feram, non patiar, non sinam. 6Magna dis immortalibus habenda est atque huic ipsi Jovi Statori, antiquissimo custodi hujus urbis, gratia, 7quod hanc tam taetram, tam horribilem tamque infestam rei publicae pestem totiens jam effugimus. 8Non est saepius in uno homine summa salus periclitanda re, publicae. Quam diu mihi, 9consuli designato, Catilinai insidiatus es, non publico me praesidio, sed privata diligentia defendi. Cum proximis comitiis consularibus me consulem 10in campo et 11competitores tuos interficere voluisti, 12compressi conatus tuos nefarios amicorum praesidio et copiis, nullo tumultu publice concitato: denique, 13quotienscumque me petisti, per me tibi obstiti, 14quamquam videbam 15perniciem meam cum magna calamitate rei publicae esse conjunctam. 12. 1Nunc jam aperte rem publicam universam petis: templa deorum immortalium, tecta urbis, vitam omnium civium, Italiam 2denique totam ad exitium ac vastitatem vocas. 3Quare quoniam id, quod est primum et quod hujus imperii disciplinaeque majorum proprium est, facere nondum audeo, faciam id, quod est 4ad severitatem lenius et ad communem salutem utilius. Nam si te interfici jussero, residebit in re publica 5reliqua conjuratorum manus: 6sin tu, quod te jam dudum hortor, exieris, 7exhaurietur ex urbe tuorum comitum magna et perniciosa sentina rei publicae. 13. Quid est, Catilina? num dubitas id 1imperante me facere, quod jam tua sponte 2faciebas? Exire ex urbe jubet 3consul hostem. Interrogas me: 4num in exilium? non jubeo, sed, si 5me consulis, suadeo.
VI.—Quid est enim, Catilina, 6quod te jam in hac urbe delectare possit? In qua nemo est 7extra ista conjurationem perditorum hominum qui te non metuat, nemo qui non oderit. 8Quae nota domesticae turpitudinis non inusta vitae tuae est? 9Quod privatarum rerum dedecus non haeret in fama? 10Quae libido ab oculis, quod facinus a manibus unquam tuis, quod flagitium a toto corpore abfuit? 11Cui tu adulescentulo, quem corruptelarum illecebris irretisses, non aut ad audaciam ferrum aut ad libidinem facem praetulisti? 14. 1Quid vero? 2Nuper, cum morte superioris uxoris novis nuptiis domum vacuefecisses, nonne etiam alio incredibili scelere hoc scelus cumulasti? Quod ego praetermitto et facile 3patior sileri, ne in hac civitate 4tanti facinoris immanitas, aut exstitisse aut non vindicata esse videatur. Praetermitto ruinas fortunarum tuarum, 5quas omnes impendere tibi proximis Idibus senties: ad illa venio, quae non ad privatam ignominiam vitiorum tuorum, non ad domesticam tuam difficultatem ac turpitudinem, sed ad summam rem publicam atque 6ad omnium nostrum vitam salutemque pertinent. 15. Potestne tibi haec lux, Catilina, aut hujus caeli spiritus esse jucundus, 1cum scias esse horum 2neminem qui nesciat, te 3pridie Kalendas Januarias 4Lepido et Tullo Consulibus stetisse in 5comitio cum telo? Manum consulum et principum civitatis interficiendorum causa paravisse 6sceleri ac furori tuo non mentem aliquam aut timorem tuum, sed fortunam populi Romani obstitisse? Ac jam illa omitto—7neque enim sunt aut obscura aut non multa commissa postea:—quotiens tu me 8designatum, quotiens consulem interficere voluisti! quot ego tuas 9petitiones 10ita conjectas, ut vitari posse non viderentur, parva quadam declinatione et, ut aiunt, corpore effugi! nihil adsequeris, neque tamen conari ac velle desistis. 16. Quotiens 1tibi jam extorta est sica ista de manibus! quotiens 2excidit aliquo casu et elapsa est! 3quae quidem quibus abs te initiata sacris ac devota sit, nescio, quod eam necesse putas esse in consulis corpore defigere.
VII.—Nunc vero quae 4tua est ista vita? Sic enim jam tecum loquar, non ut odio permotus esse videar, quo debeo, 5sed ut misericordia, quae tibi 6nulla debetur. Venisti 7paulo ante in senatum. Quis te ex hac tanta 8frequentia, tot ex tuis amicis ac necessariis salutavit? Si hoc 9post hominum memoriam contigit nemini, 10vocis exspectas contumeliam, cum sis gravissimo judicio taciturnitatis oppressus? 11Quid? Quod 12adventu tuo 13ista subsellia vacuefacta sunt, quod omnes consulares, 14qui tibi persaepe ad caedem constituti fuerunt, simul atque adsedisti, partem istam subselliorum 15nudam atque inanem reliquerunt, quo 16tandem animo hoc tibi ferendum putas? 17. 1Servi 2mehercule mei si me 3isto pacto metuerent, ut te metuunt omnes cives tui, domum meam relinquendam putarem: tu tibi 4urbem nom arbitraris? Etsi me meis civibus 5injuria suspectum tam graviter atque 6offensum viderem, carere me aspectu civium quam 7infestis oculis omnium conspici mallem: tu cum conscientia scelerum tuorum 8agnoscas odium omnium justum et jam diu tibi debitum, 9dubitas, quorum 10mentes sensusque vulneras, eorum aspectum praesentiamque vitare? Si te parentes timerent atque odissent tui nec eos ulla ratione placare posses, ut opinor, ab eorum oculis 11aliquo concederes: 12nunc te patria 13quae communis est parens omnium nostrum, odit ac metuit et jam diu nihil te judicat nisi de parricidio suo cogitare: hujus tu neque auctoritatem 14verebere nec judicium sequere nec vim pertimesces? 18. 1Quae tecum, Catilina, sic agit et quodam modo tacita loquitur: 2‘Nullum jam aliquot annis facinus exstitit nisi per te, nullum flagitium sine te: tibi uni multorum civium 3neces, tibi vexatio direptioque 4sociorum impunita fuit ac libera: 5tu non solum ad negligendas leges et quaestiones, verum etiam ad evertendas perfringendasque valuisti. Superiora illa, quamquam ferenda non fuerunt, tamen ut potui, tuli: nunc vero me totam esse in metu propter unum te, quidquid increpuerit Catilinam timeri, nullum videri contra me consilium iniri posse, quod a tuo scelere abhorreat, 6non est ferendum. Quamobrem discede atque hunc mihi timorem eripe, si est verus, 7ne opprimar, sin falsus, ut tandem aliquando timere desinam.’
VIII.— 19. Haec si tecum, ut dixi, patria loquatur, nonne 1impetrare debeat, etiam si vim adhibere non possit? 2Quid? Quod tu te ipse 3in custodiam dedisti? Quod vitandae suspicionis causa 4apud M’. Lepidum te habitare velle dixisti? A quo non receptus etiam ad me venire ausus es, atque ut domi meae te adservarem rogasti. Cum a me quoque id responsum tulisses, me nullo modo posse 5isdem parietibus tuto esse tecum, qui magno in periculo essem quod isdem moenibus contineremur, ad 6Q. Metellum praetorem venisti: a quo repudiatus ad sodalem tuum, 7virum optimum, M. Metellum demigrasti, quem tu 8videlicet et ad custodiendum diligentissimum et ad suspicandum sagacissimum et 9ad vindicandum fortissimum fore putasti. Sed quam longe videtur a carcere atque vinculis abesse debere, 10qui se ipse jam dignum custodia judicarit? 20. 1Quae cum ita sint, dubitas, si 2emori aequo animo non potes, abire in aliquas terras et vitam istam, multis suppliciis justis debitisque ereptam, fugae solitudinique mandare? 3Refer, inquis, ad senatum; id enim postulas, et, si hic ordo 4sibi placere decreverit te ire in exilium, obtemperaturum te esse dicis. Non referam, id quod 5abhorret a meis moribus, et tamen faciam ut intelligas, quid hi de te sentiant. Egredere ex urbe, Catilina, libera rem publicam metu in exilium, 6si hunc vocem exspectas, proficiscere. Quid est, Catilina? Ecquid attendis, ecquid animadvertis horum silentium? 7Patiuntur, tacent. 8Quid exspectas auctoritatem loquentium, quorum voluntatem tacitorum perspicis? 21. At si hoc idem 1huic adulescenti optimo, P. Sestio, si fortissimo vero M. Marcello dixissem, jam mihi consuli hoc ipso in templo jure optimo senatus 2vim et manus intulisset. De te autem, Catilina, cum 3quiescunt, probant, cum patiuntur, decernunt, cum tacent, clamant: neque hi solum, quorum auctoritas est videlicet cara, vita vilissima, sed etiam equites Romani honestissimi atque optimi viri, ceterique fortissimi 4cives, qui stant circum senatum, quorum tu et frequentiam videre et studia perspicere et voces paulo ante exaudire potuisti. Quorum ego vix abs te jam diu manus ac tela contineo, eosdem facile adducam ut te haec, quae jam pridem vastare studes, relinquentem usque ad portas 5prosequantur.
IX.— 22. 1Quamquam quid loquor? 2Te ut ulla res frangat? Tu ut te unquam corrigas? Tu ut ullam fugam meditere? Tu ut exilium cogites? Utinam tibi istam mentem di immortales 3duint! Etsi video, si mea voce perterritus ire in exilium 4animum induxeris, 5quanta tempestas invidiae nobis, si minus in praesens tempus, recenti memoria scelerum tuorum, at in posteritatem impendeat. 6Sed est tanti, dum modo ista sit privata calamitas, et a rei publicae periculis sejungatur. Sed tu 7ut vitiis commoveare, ut legum poenas pertimescas, ut temporibus rei publicae cedas, non est postulandum. Neque enim is es, Catilina, ut te aut pudor unquam a turpitudine aut metus a periculo aut ratio a furore revocaverit. 23. Quam ob rem, ut saepe jam dixi, proficiscere, ac, si mihi inimico, ut praedicas, tuo 1conflare vis invidiam, 2recta perge in exilium; 3vix feram sermones hominum, si id feceris, vix molem istius invidiae, si in exilium jussu consulis ieris, sustinebo. 4Sin autem servire meae laudi et gloriae mavis, egredere cum importuna sceleratorum manu. Confer te ad Manlium, concita perditos cives, secerne te a bonis, infer patriae bellum, 5exsulta impio latrocinio, ut a me non ejectus ad alienos, sed invitatus ad tuos esse videaris. 24. 1Quamquam quid ego te invitem, a quo jam sciam esse praemissos, 2qui tibi ad Forum Aurelium praestolarentur armati? Cui sciam 3pactam et constitutam cum Manlio diem. A quo etiam 4aquilam illam argenteam, quam tibi ac tuis omnibus perniciosam esse confido ac funestam futuram, 5cui domi tuae sacrarium scelerum tuorum constitutum fuit, sciam esse praemissam? 6Tu ut illa diutius carere possis, quam venerari ad caedem proficisens solebas, a cujus 7altaribus saepe istam impiam dexteram ad necem civium transtulisti.
X.— 25. Ibis tandem aliquando, quo te jam pridem ista 1cupiditas effrenata ac furiosa rapiebat. Neque enim tibi haec res adfert dolorem, sed 2quandam incredibilem voluptatem. 3Ad hanc te amentiam natura peperit, voluntas exercuit, fortuna servavit. Nunquam tu 4non modo 5otium, sed ne bellum quidem, nisi 6nefarium concupisti. 7Nanctus es ex perditis atque ab omni non modo fortuna, verum etiam spe derelictis 8conflatam, improborum manum. 26. 1Hic tu qua laetitia perfruere! quibus gaudiis exsultabis! quanta in voluptate bacchabere, cum in tanto numero tuorum neque audies virum bonum quemquam neque videbis. 2Ad hujus vitae studium meditati illi sunt qui feruntur labores tui, jacere humi, non solum 3ad obsidendum stuprum, verum etiam 4ad facinus obeundum, vigilare non solum insidiantem somno maritorum, verum etiam bonis 5otiosorum. 6Habes, ubi ostentes, illam tuam praeclaram patientiam famis, frigoris, inopiae verum omnium, 7quibus te brevi tempore conectum senties. 27. 1Tantum profeci tum, 2cum te a consulatu reppuli, ut 3exsul potius tentare quam consul vexare rem publicam posses atque ut id, quod est abs te scelerate susceptum, latrocinium potius quam bellum nominaretur.
XI.—Nunc ut a me, patres conscripti, quandam prope justam patriae querimoniam 4detester ac deprecer, percipite, 5quaeso, diligenter quae dicam, et ea penitus animis vestris mentibusque mandate. Etenim si mecum patria, quae mihi vita mea multo carior est, si cuncta Italia, si omnis res publica sic 6loquatur; ‘M. Tulli, quid agis? 7Tune eum, quem esse hostem comperisti, quem ducem belli futurum vides, quem exspectari imperatorem in castris hostium sentis, auctorem sceleris, principem conjurationis, 8evocatorem servorum et civium perditorum, exire patiere, ut abs te non 9emissus ex urbe, sed immisus in urbem videatur? Nonne 10hunc in vincula duci, non ad mortem rapi, non summo supplicio 11mactari imperabis? 28. Quid 1tandem te impedit? Mosne majorum? 2At persaepe etiam privati in hac re publica perniciosos cives morte multarunt. 3An leges, quae de civium Romanorum supplicio 4rogatae sunt? At nunquam in hac urbe, qui a re publica defecerunt, civium jura tenuerunt. An invidiam posteritatis times? 5Praeclaram vero populo Romano refers gratiam, qui te, 6hominem per te cognitum, nulla commendatione majorum tam mature ad summum imperium per omnes honorum gradus extulit, si 7propter invidiam aut alicujus periculi metum salutem civium tuorum neglegis. 29. Sed si quis est invidiae metus, 1num est vehementius severitatis ac fortitudinis invidia quam inertiae ac nequitiae pertimescenda? An cum bello vastabitur Italia, vexabuntur urbes, tecta ardebunt, tum te non existimas invidiae incendio conflagraturum?’
XII.—His ego sanctissimis rei publicae vocibus et eorum hominum, qui hoc idem sentiunt, mentibus pauca respondebo. Ego, si hoc optimum 2factu 3judicarem, patres conscripti, Catilinam morte multari, 4unius usuram horae 5gladiatori isti, ad vivendum non dedissem. 6Etenim si 7summi viri et clarissimi cives Saturnini et Gracchorum et Flacci et superiorum complurium sanguine non modo se non contaminarunt, sed etiam 8honestarunt, certe verendum mihi non erat, ne quid hoc parricida civium interfecto invidiae mihi in posteritatem redundaret. Quodsi ea mihi maxime impenderet, tamen hoc animo fui semper, ut invidiam virtute partam gloriam, non invidiam putarem. 30. 1Quamquam nonnulli sunt in hoc ordine, 2qui aut ea quae imminent non videant, aut quae vident dissimulent: 3qui spem Catilinae mollibus sententiis aluerunt conjurationemque nascentem non credendo corroboraverunt; quorum auctoritatem secuti multi, non solum improbi, verum etiam imperiti, 4si in hunc animadvertissem, crudeliter et regie factum esse dicerent. Nunc intellego, si iste, quo intendit, in Manliana castra 5pervenerit, neminem tam stultum fore qui non videat conjurationem esse factam, neminem tam improbum qui non fateatur. Hoc autem uno interfecto intellego hanc rei publicae pestem 6paulisper reprimi, non in perpetuum comprimi posse. Quodsi 7se ejecerit secumque suos eduxerit et eodem 8ceteros undique collectos naufragos adgregaverit, exstinguetur atque delebitur non modo haec 9tam adulta rei publicae pestis, verum etiam stirps ac semen malorum omnium.
XIII.— 31. Etenim 1jam diu, patres conscripti, in his periculis conjurationis insidiisque versamur, sed nescio quo pacto 2omnium scelerum ac veteris furoris et audaciae maturitas in nostri consulatus tempus erupit. Quodsi 3ex tanto latrocinio iste unus tolletur, videbimur fortasse ad breve quoddam tempus cura et metu esse relevati, periculum autem residebit et erit inclusum penitus in venis atque 4in visceribus rei publicae. Ut saepe homines aegri morbo gravi, 5cum aestu febrique jactantur, si aquam gelidam 6biberunt, primo relevari videntur, deinde multo gravius vehementiusque adflictantur, sic hic morbus, 7qui est in re publica, relevatus istius poena, 8vehementius vivis reliquis ingravescet. 32. Quare secedant improbi, secernant se a bonis, unum in locum congregentur, muro denique, id quod saepe jam dixi, discernantur a nobis: desinant insidiari domi suae consuli, circumstare tribunal 1praetoris urbani, 2obsidere cum gladiis curiam, 3malleolos et faces ad inflammandam urbem comparare: sit denique inscriptum in fronte unius cujusque, 4quid de re publica sentiat. Polliceor vobis hoc, patres conscripti, tantam in nobis consulibus fore diligentiam, tantam in vobis auctoritatem, tantam in equitibus Romanis virtutem, tantam in omnibus bonis consensionem, ut Catilinae profectione 5omnia patefacta, inlustrata, oppressa vindicata esse videatis. 33. 1Hisce ominibus, Catilina, 2cum summa rei publicae salute, cum tua peste ac pernicie cumque eorum exitio, qui se tecum omni scelere parricidioque junxerunt, proficiscere ad impium bellum ac nefarium. Tum, 3tu, Juppiter, qui isdem quibus haec urbs 4auspiciis a Romulo es constitutus, quem 5Statorem hujus urbis atque imperii vere nominamus, hunc et hujus socios a tuis aris ceterisque templis, a tectis urbis ac moenibus a vita fortunisque civium 6arcebis, et homines bonorum inimicos, hostes patriae, latrones Italiae, scelerum foedere inter se ac nefaria societate conjunctos, aeternis suppliciis vivos mortuosque mactabis.
§ 1.— 1: quosque—nostra? “How far, then, Catiline, will you trample upon our patience?” The abrupt opening of the speech shows the feelings of the orator whose indignation was naturally aroused when the conspirator dared to appear in the Senate after being declared a public enemy (hostis patriae). —tandem: “pray:” cp. δῆτα. —abutere: a future, as shown by eludet, jactabit. Cicero prefers the more poetic termination -re to -ris in the imperf. and fut. indic. and in the pres. and impf. subj. pass. In the pres. indic. he rarely uses it. Madvig. § 114.6. —nostra: Cicero includes the Senators and Consuls.
2: etiam: “still,” belongs to quamdiu.
3: furor iste: note the energy imparted by personifying furor and audacia. —iste is strictly a pronoun demonstrative of the second person: iste locus, “the place where you are standing:” ista verba: “the words you utter.” It often had a contemptuous meaning in Cicero’s orations.
4: eludet: “will turn us into mockery:” a gladiatorial term of avoiding a thrust by the rapid movement of the body: hence, to baffle, deceive, and, as here, to mock. Nos is omitted by some editors.
5: quem—audacia: “to what length will your unbridled audacity proceed?” —quem ad finem = quousque or quamdiu. According to Schultz quousque puts the more general question of time and degree: quamdiu, the more special question, of time only: quem ad finem: of degree only.
6: jactabit = insolenter se efferet: se jactare, “to toss the head contemptuously,” “to walk with a conceited swing.”
7: nihilne—moverunt? “Have the guards nightly stationed on the Palatine nothing daunted you? Nothing, the sentinels of the city; nothing, the trepidation of the people; nothing, the thronging together of all patriotic (citizens); nothing, this most impregnable place for convening the Senate; nothing, the countenances and looks of these?” Observe the emphatic position of nihil in the beginning of successive clauses (anaphora). —Palatii: the Palatine hill was adjacent to the Forum. It was here that Augustus built a splendid mansion: hence our word palace from the residence of the emperor built on the Palatium. In times of danger the Palatium, one of the most important military posts of the city, was occupied by a guard. Originally the word meant the “feeding place:” root pal, pascere: cp. Pales, Palilia. Varro derives it from pal, “to wander:” cp. palor. It may have been the “common” for cattle in early days. Vigiliae: under the republic, on emergencies, the triumviri capitales, aediles or tribuni plebis acting as a kind of police appointed night watches to keep order. —timor populi: cp. Sallust. Cat.: C. 31: immutata urbis facies erat: ex summa laetitia atque lascivia ... repente omnes tristitia invasit. —bonorum omnium: with bonus: cp. ἀγαθός, often used in the sense of “patriotic,” opposed to malus civis, κακός: “unpatriotic.” —locus: the Senate was usually convened on the Kalends, Nones and Ides of each month, and the meeting usually held in the Curia Hostilia. Extraordinary meetings (senatus indictus) as the present one were convened in some temple, or other place consecrated by the augurs. The present meeting was held in the temple of Juppiter Stator, near the via sacra, at the foot of the Palatine, which might be said to be munitissimus from the special guard there as well as from its position. —ora vultusque: the former denotes the natural and habitual state, as expressed by the mouth and the lower part of the face: while the latter indicates the temporary and changing state, as expressed by the motion of the eye and brow.
8: constrictam—vides: “do you not see that your conspiracy has already come within the privity of all these?” literally, “is held bound by.” Orelli distinguishes between non and nonne in direct questions. Where non is used, the speaker, sure of his opinion, does not heed the answer of the opponent; where nonne is used, the speaker expects and wishes that the person questioned will agree with him. —constrictam teneri: the metaphor is taken from chaining a wild beast to which he here compares the conspiracy.
9: proxima: this speech was delivered November 8th: so nox proxima would be the night of 7th: nox superior, the night of the 6th, also called nox prior, § 8. On this occasion they were at the house of M. Porcius Laeca. What they did on the nox proxima we are not informed. —egeris, fueris, convocaveris, ceperis: subjunctive of dependent question: H. 529, I.
10: nostrûm: distinguish nostrum used partitively and nostri used possessively.
§ 2.— 1: vivit? immo vero: Cicero often connects a word by putting that word in the form of a question with or without dicam and answering it by immo. According to Madvig, (§ 454) immo corrects a former statement as being quite inaccurate, or too weak, though true as far as it goes. —immo vero: “nay, indeed.”
2: in senatum venit: as vir praetorius Catiline had a right to enter the Senate.
3: notat et designat: a metaphor from the marking of the animals appointed for sacrifice. Cicero often uses synonymous words to impress the idea more strongly: “he marks and stamps each one of us for slaughter:” cp. Leg. Man. 3, 7. Cives Romanes necandos trucidandosque denotavit.
4: viri fortes: ironical.
5: videmur, scil. nobis: “we fancy that we are doing our duty to the state.”
6: si—vitemus: for the subj. in protasis, and indic. in apodosis, see H. 511.
7: ad mortem—opportebat: “to death long ago, O Catiline, ought you to have been dragged by the order of the consul?” Note the emphatic position of ad mortem. —duci: for the present inf: see. H., 537, I. —jussu consulis: the Senate had entrusted the safety of the State by the decretum ultimum (videant consules, ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat). By the power vested in the consuls in consequence of this decree they had the power to put Catiline to death.
8: in te—machinaris: “On you should that ruin long since have been hurled which you for a long time have been plotting against us all.” Join jampridem from the previous clause with conferri. The present tense in Latin with jamdiu includes past tense: cf. πάλαι λέγω, jamdiu dico: “I have long ago told you and do so still.” —machinari; μηχανᾶσθαι, to plan by artful and secret means: moliri, to plan by strong effort.
§ 3.— 1: An vero: the original force of an is “or,” and when used interrogatively the sentence is elliptical. Here we may supply: “Am I right in my conjecture or, in fact, did that illustrious man, P. Scipio, chief pontiff, though filling no magistracy, slay Tiberius Gracchus when slightly disturbing the settled order of the State.” We may conveniently translate here an vero by: “while, in fact.” The argument here is a minore ad majus. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica consul with D. Junius Brutus 138 B.C. Cicero probably adds pontifex maximus to remind his hearers of the high dignity and prudence which a man gifted with this office would possess. He also uses privatus because in contrast to consules, the office of pontifex maximus not being a magistratus. Tiberium Gracchum: see Proper Names —mediocriter labefactantem: Cicero designedly extenuates the guilt of Gracchus to heighten the crimes of Catiline. In fact, the orator represents the guilt of Gracchus in different lights according to the exigencies of his cause: cp. De Leg. Ag., 2, 5, 10: De Off. II., 12, 43. Catilinam: emphatic position: “Catiline, desiring to devastate the world with sword and fire shall we consuls tolerate?” —orbis terrae: there is little difference between orbis terrae and orbis terrarum. —caede atque incendiis: also ferro et igni.
2: illa: “the following instance:” though only the case of Ahala is mentioned, the plural is probably used to intimate that other cases might be adduced.
3: C. Servilius Ahala: see Proper Names.
4: novis—studentem: “aiming to overturn the government:” cp. νεωτερίζειν.
5: fuit-fuit: note the emphatic repetition of the word (epizeuxis). —ista virtus: here ista = illa: “that well-known public spirit:” We may take virtus = amor patriae: “patriotism.”
6: ut—coercerent: “that brave men inflicted severer punishment on a factious citizen then on the bitterest foe” —suppliciis: abl. means.
7: senatus consultum: the decree arming the consuls with civil and military power. The formula was videant consules ne quid respublica detrimenti capiat.
8: vehemens et grave: “full of force and severity.”
9: rei publicae: generally taken as a dative after deest: others take it as a genitive depending on consilium, i.e., there is no lack of precedents of the state, i.e., the state have many instances of wicked citizens being punished. The state, according to Cicero, has enough of wisdom (consilium) and determining authority (auctoritas), but the executive power is weak.
10: nos, nos, dico: There is no note corresponding to these words.
§ 4.— 1: quondam: B.C. 121: see C. Gracchus, in Proper Names. In a decree of this kind both consuls were named. The other, Q. Fabius, was at that time in that part of Gaul known afterwards as Provincia, and his absence from Rome may account for the omission of his name from the decree.
2: intercessit: i.e., between the passing of the decree and the death of Gracchus.
3: propter—suspiciones: another case of extenuation to bring out more vividly the guilt of Catiline. Distinguish suspĭcĭo, suspīcĭo.
4: patre-majoribus, scil. ortus: abl. of origin. The father of C. Sempronius Gracchus was Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, who twice held the consulship (B.C. 177, and B.C. 163), the censorship (169 B.C.), twice enjoyed a triumph, once over the Celtiberians, 178 B.C., and once over the Sardinians, 175 B.C. The mother of the Gracchi was Cornelia, daughter of P. Scipio Africanus Major, who defeated Hannibal at Zama B.C. 202. Thus Gracchus united in himself two of the noblest families in Rome.
5: M. Fulvius: one of the commissioners appointed to carry out the lex agraria of C. Gracchus. He was killed with his eldest son in the fray in which Gracchus was slain. The youngest son was killed after the conflict.
6: simili-publica: some omit the commas after senatusconsulto and consulibus and thus make Mario, Valerio datives; others retain the commas and make these words ablative absolute. The event happened in the sixth consulship of Marius, B.C. 102. Lucius Saturninus and C. Servilius Glaucia were guilty of killing C. Memmius who was seeking the consulship. Both Saturninus and Glaucia were driven into the Capitol and put to death.
7: num—est? “Did the punishment of death inflicted by the state cause L. Saturninus, the tribune of the people, and C. Servilius, the praetor, to wait for a single day?” —mors ac rei publicae poena = mortis poena a re publica inflicta. —at vero: “but we assuredly.”
8: vicesimum diem: the 18th day since the senatus consultum was passed. The decree was passed Oct. 21st and this oration was delivered Nov. 8th. The Romans, however, reckoned both days.
9: aciei: “the edge:” root ac: “sharp.”
10: inclusum in tabulis: “shut up among our records” i.e. a useless decree unless carried into effect.
11: quo—convenit: “and in accordance with this decree, you, O Catiline, should be at once put to death:” with confestim: cp. festino.
12: et vivis: rhetorical for et vivis quidem or idque. —cupio—cupio: “I desire, on the one hand,—I am anxious, on the other.” —The acc. of pronouns gives more prominence to the circumstance wished by disconnecting it from the cupio.
13: dissolutus: “remiss,” “forgetful of duty.” Synonymous with neglegens.
14: inertiae nequitiaeque: “of sloth and irresolution.”
§ 5.— 1: castra—collocata: “a camp is pitched,” at Faesulae (now Fiesole), which lies on a spur of the western slope of the Appenines, not far from Florence. At this place Manlius had collected a number of soldiers who had served under Sulla.
The term fauces, literally “jaws,” is often used for a mountain pass: cp. Scott: Lady of the Lake: “Led slowly through the pass’s jaws.”
2: in dies singulos: “daily,” always joined to some word of comparative force and expressing daily increase or diminution: cottidie, simply daily repetition. —imperatorem ducemque: imperator, a military leader deriving his authority from the Senate: dux, simply a leader.
3: adeo in Senatu: “in the very Senate,” or as Zumpt (§ 737) takes it, “nay more,” “nay even in the Senate.”
4: jam: “now at once.” —jussero: the fut. pf. often represents the speedy accomplishment of a fut. action.
5: credo: used ironically: cp. οἴομαι. Here the word may be equivalent to non erit verendum.
6: verendum mihi, etc.: “I shall have to fear (i.e. I am convinced) that all patriots will regard your death as occuring too late, rather than as too severe and cruel,” or as Wilkins translates: “Certainly it is more likely that all patriots will consider this action too late, than that anyone should consider it too cruel.” Explain quisquam.
7: certe—adducor: “for a certain reason, I am not yet led to do:” i.e. the fear of punishing Catiline before his guilt was fully ascertained lest he might pass for an injured man with his sympathizers. Cicero’s object was to cause Catiline and his associates to leave Rome.
8: interficiere: i.e. “you will be ordered to be put to death.” Others read interficiam te.
9: tui similis: similis in Cicero generally takes genitive or dative of persons: dative of things.
10: qui = ut is: “as not to confess that it was justly inflicted.” —id, i.e. te interficiam from interficiere before.
§ 6.— 1: quisquam: for use, see H. 457.
2: multis—oppressus: “beset by many powerful guards placed by me:” note the idiom. Cicero had guards placed not only in the capital, but also throughout Italy.
3: te commovere: “to make any farther movement:” a metaphor taken from the gladiatorial contests.
4: fecerunt = speculati sunt et custodiverunt: the verb facio in Latin, and ποιέω in Greek, and do in English, are often used as substitutes for other verbs.
5: Etenim—potest? This gives a reason for the clause sed vives—possis.
6: exspectes: H. 503, I.
7: coeptus nefarios: “your traitorous attempts:” another reading is coetus.
8: privata domus: the house of M. Porcius Laeca.
9: parietibus: abl. means. Distinguish moenia (root mun, to defend: cp. ἀμύνειν), the walls of a city for defensive purposes: murus (= mun-rus), any kind of wall: paries (root par, to separate): the partition walls of a house: maceria, a garden wall.
10: voces conjurationis = voces conjuratorum: “the voices of the conspirators:” Cicero often uses abstract for concrete terms.
11: inlustrantur opposed to obscurare as erumpunt to domus ... continet.
12: istam mentem: “that resolve of thine,” i.e. of remaining in the city to murder the people.
13: mihi crede = me sequere: “follow my advice:” mihi crede is the common order in Cicero: crede mihi in other writers.
14: teneris undique: “you are hemmed in (i.e. convicted) on every hand.”
15: quae—recognoscas: “and these plans you may now review with me:” Construe: quae (= et haec, scil. consilia) licit (tibi ut) recognoscas jam mecum.
§ 7.— 1: meministine = nonne meministi: the particle -ne added to a verb has sometimes in Cicero the force of nonne. Cp. Cat. Major, C. 10. videtisne = nonne videtis. So frequently in Terence, Plautus, and in colloquial Latin: H. 396, II. i.
2: ante-Novembres: “on the 12th day before the Kalends of November,” i.e. on October 21st. This anomolous mode of expression probably arose from the transposition of ante. Having one written ante die duodecimo Kalendas, they would easily be led to infer that ante governed die and so would write ante diem duodecimum Kalendas. For the method of computation of time among the Romans, see H. 642.
3: certo die, qui dies: the repetition of the subst. after the relation may be explained on the ground of clearness.
4: audaciae—tuae: “the partisan and agent of your audacious schemes.” The words satelles and administer are synonymous, the former being more poetical and explained by the latter, which is the more common.
5: num—dies? “was I, O Catiline, ignorant not merely of an attempt so enormous, so wicked, so surpassing belief, but, a thing which is more to be wondered at, of the day?” —me fallit: cf. latet me, λανθάνει με.
6: caedem—Novembres: “that you had fixed the 28th October for the slaughter of the nobles.” The construction is in diem quintum ante Kalendas Novembres. Predetermination of future time is often expressed by in with acc.: as in diem posterum senatum convocavit, not “he summoned the Senate on the next day,” but “for the next day.”
7: optimatium: is the only word, not a proper name, in -at, that makes the gen. pl. in -ium. Roma: Give rules for the construction of the names of towns.
8: sui conservandi: sui like nostri, vestri is not a gen. pl. but a gen. sing. of an adj. used collectively and abstractly: “not for self-preservation:” Madvig, 297, b. c.: 417.
9: reprimendorum: here used in the sense of impediendorum: “of preventing your plans being carried out.” This is probably a rhetorical flourish on the part of Cicero, as no such fact is mentioned by Sallust. Among those who fled, according to Plutarch, was M. Crassus. num—dicebas! “Can you deny that on that very day, beset by the guards I had placed, by my watchfulness, you could take not one step against the state, when on the departure of the others you, nevertheless, expressed yourself satisfied with the murder of us who remained?” —discessu ceterorum: the ablative here supplies the place of a participial abl. absol. —nostra—caede—qui: the relative is made to refer to an antecedent implied in nostra: H. 445, 6. —quum: is often used by Cicero in the impf. indic. when the bare notion of time or of continuance is to be expressed. —remansissemus: virtual oblique narrative: hence the subjunctive.
§ 8.— 1: quid: “further”: lit. “what shall I say?” scil. dicam.
2: te—occupaturum: “that you would anticipate us in seizing Praeneste in an attack by night on the first of November.” With occupare: cp. φθάνειν: no other writer mentions this fact. —ipsis: ipse denotes exactness in temporal expressions: triginta ipsi dies, “exactly thirty days.”
3: sensistisne = nonne sensistis: see note 1, § 7, above.
4: praesidium, a guard in a general sense: custodiae, watches on the wall: vigiliae, night watches.
5: nihil—nihil, nihil: see note 7, § 1. “There is nothing you do, nothing you plan, nothing you think which I do not hear only, but also see or clearly perceive.” Some read non modo for non modo non, which the senses requires.
6: tandem: see note 1, § 1. The orator implies by this particle the fulness of his knowledge.
7: noctem illam superiorem: “the events on the night preceding the last:” i.e., the events on the night of the 6th November, when the meeting was held at the house of M. Porcius Laeca. —illam here does duty for the definite article in English.
8: jam—reipublicae: “You shall presently perceive that I am much more actively watchful for the safety of the state than you are for its destruction” —intelliges: what compounds of -lego have lexi in the perfect? —acrius?
9: dico: this passage is executed with fine skill. At first the orator states the fact clearly and briefly. He notes the effect on the conspirator and calls for an answer: after no reply is given, Cicero goes into details.
10: priore nocte: “on the night preceding (the last)”: a change for superiore nocte. Others say it means initio noctis.
11: inter falcarios, scil. opifices: “through the scythe makers’ street:” a street in Rome deriving its name from the occupation of its inhabitants. Cp. Isocr. Areopag. § 48: ἐν ταῖς αὐλητρίσιν: Livy, 35, 43: inter lignarios “in the woodcutters’ street.”
12: in—domum: is the preposition necessary?
13: complures: Sallust (Cat. 17) gives the names of eleven senators who were present on this occasion.
14: amentiae: distinguish amentia and dementia.
15: convincam: “I will prove it.”
§ 9.— 1: ubinam gentium sumus! This phrase is very much the same as ours, “where in the world are we?” It is often used in rhetorical writings and in the comic poets. For the partitive genitive, see H. 397, 4.
2: hic, hic: Epizeuxis: note the emphatic repetition.
3: patres conscripti: said to be for patres et conscripti. The senators were called patres. In the wars of the early republic many were killed. To fill the place of those slain some were summoned (conscripti.) Hence the original senators—those summoned—were addressed as patres et conscripti: afterwards the et was omitted.
4: in—consilio: “in this most venerable and respectable assembly of the whole world.” The term sanctus applied to the senate may refer to the building in which it was convened. The usual distinction between consilium and concilium, that the former means advice, plans, while the latter means an assemblage, with regard to those who compose it, does not hold good. The roots of these words are different, consilium: from con, sed, to sit: cp. sedes, solium, ἕδος; for the change of d to l: cp. δάκρυ, lacrima; olere, odere. —concilium: con, cal, to summon: cp. Kalendae, calare, καλεῖν.
5: qui—cogitent: “(are men so nefarious) as to plan the destruction of every one of us, and the ruin of this city and further of the whole world.” —qui = tales ut. —adeo: literally, “up to this point:” then, “in fact.”
6: sententiam rogo: supply hos from the preceding. Sententiam rogo is said of the presiding magistrate who, in proposing a senatus consultum, asked individually the will of the senators.
7: vulnero: by mentioning their names publicly.
8: igitur: resumes (analeptic) the argument referring to the question, num rogare audes? Catiline had left this unanswered. Having been interrupted by the outbreak of his indignation, the orator now returns to the doings of the conspirators at the house of Laeca.
9: distribuisti: Sallust (C. 27) informs us that C. Manlius was sent to Faesulae, and the adjoining territory of Etruria: Septimius, into the Picene territory: C. Julius, into Apulia.
10: statuisti—placeret: scil: locum: “you appointed the place to which it was agreed on that each should set out:” For subjunctive in placeret, see H. 529, I.
11: delegisti—educeres: “you picked out those whom you were to leave at Rome, whom you were to take with you.” Sallust (Cat. C. 43) says that Statilius and Gabinius were to set fire to the city, and Cethegus was to assassinate Cicero, and Lentulus to superintend the general massacre.
12: discripsisti: discribo is used where the fundamental notion is to map out, plan, arrange, put in order, as distribuere, dividere, disponere: describo is to write down, to compose. Sallust (Cat. C. 43) says that the conspirators were to fire twelve (Plutarch says a hundred) parts of the city at one and the same time. For discripsisti: cf. Cic. Pro Sulla, 8: Tam Catilina dies exurendi tum caeteris manendi conditio, tum discriptio totam per orbem caedis atque incendiorum constituta est.
13: paullulum—morae: “that you still had even now a slight cause of delay.” Paullulus is a dual diminutive for paurululus = paullulus: u being omitted before the first l and the r assimilated: cp. sterula = stella. —viverem: subj.: giving the opinion of Catiline.
14: etiam tum: is used to express the words of Catilina, not those of Cicero.
15: duo equites: according to Cic. (Pro Sulla, 18, 52) one was C. Cornelius: Sallust (Cat. C. 18) mentions the Senator L. Vargunteius as the other.
16: qui—liberarent: “to free you from the fear you had:” qui = tales ut.
illa ipsa nocte: these knights were to pay their intended visit in the morning, where the Roman magistrates and distinguished men held their audiences and received their clients.
17: lectulo: the diminutive here has scarcely any force. There may be a slight reference to its comfort: “my dear bed.”
§ 10.— 1: vixdum—dimisso: “when your meeting was hardly as yet broken up.”
Comperi: Cicero gained his knowledge from Curius and Fulvia (Sall. Cat. C. 28). According to Merivale, Cicero used comperio when he was wont to indicate his knowledge of facts, though afraid of revealing the sources of his information. The word does not always have this force.
2: salutatum: supine after a verb of motion. What different ways of expressing a purpose in Latin?
3: mane: another form is mani: cp. luci, heri, locatives.
4: id temporis: for partitive genitive: H. 397, note 5.
§ 11.— 1: quae—sint: “since these facts are so:” often used to sum up a chain of facts founded on evidence.
2: perge quo coepisti, scil. pergere: “proceed as you have begun.” Conjugate pergere.
desiderant: “feel the loss of.” desiderare, to feel the loss of an object of love or sympathy: hence “to yearn after;” requirere: to feel the loss of a thing, as an act of the understanding.
3: si minus = si non. Construe: si minus (educis omnes, educ) quam plurimos (educere potes).
4: dummodo—intersit: cp. Plutarch (Cicero 16): “and Cicero arising ordered him to leave the city; for while he himself carried on his political contest by words and Catiline by arms, there must needs be a city wall between them.”
5: non—sinam: note the anaphora. Cicero uses three synonymous verbs to express the thought that he will not endure the conduct of Catiline under any circumstances. We may translate: “I cannot, will not, shall not endure it.”
6: magna—urbis: “much gratitude is due to the immortal gods and especially (atque) to this Juppiter Stator, the most ancient guardian of our city.” Distinguish gratiam habere, to feel thankful: gratias agere, to return thanks in words: gratiam referre, to show oneself thankful by deeds. Juppiter obtained the name Stator because he is said to have stayed the flight of the Romans when they were hard pressed by the Sabines. The place where the flight was arrested was marked by a temple vowed by Romulus at the foot of the Palatine (Livy I. 12).
7: quod—effugimus: “because we have already escaped so often a pest so cruel, so dreadful, so dangerous to the state” —toties: referring to the earlier conspiracy of Catiline which failed.
8: non—reipublicae: “it must not again and again depend on one man that the existence of the state should be in peril:” or, “the safety of the state must not be often exposed to danger by one man.” A similar expression is found: Cic. Pro. Rosc. Amer. 51. 148: summa res publica in hujus periculo tentatur.
9: consuli designato: in the days of Cicero the consuls were elected on the 22nd October, but did not formally enter upon their office till January 1st. Between the time of their election and entering upon office they were called consules designati. proximis comitiis consularibus: referring to Oct. 22nd.
10: in campo, scil. Martio: the consular elections were held in the Campus Martius, a plain between the city and the Tiber.
11: competitores: D. Junius Silanus and L. Licinius Murena.
12: compressi—copiis: on the day of the consular elections, we are told by Plutarch, Cicero put on a coat of mail and was attended by the chief men of Rome and a great number of youths to the Campus Martius. He there threw off his toga and displayed his coat of mail to show the danger to which he was exposed. The people were so angry with Catiline that they chose Murena and Silanus as consuls.
13: quotiescumque—obstiti: “as often as you aimed at my life, by my own resources did I oppose you:” petere is a gladiatorial term, “to aim a blow at an opponent.”
14: quamquam videbam: distinguish quamquam, introducing a conceded fact and in good authors used with the indicative from quamvis introducing a purely hypothetical case and used with the subjunctive. H., 516, I. and II.
15: perniciem—conjunctum: “that my destruction was linked with the signal downfall of the state” —pernicies: from per- root nec: cp. nex, noceo, hence utter destruction —calamitas: another form is cadamitas: from cado, to fall: for the interchange of d and l: cp. odere, olere: dingua, lingua.
§ 12.— 1: nunc jam: emphatically, “now” —jam nunc: is “even now” (i.e., before the regular time), or “now at last.”
2: denique: “in a word.”
3: quare—audeo: “wherefore since I do not yet dare to pursue that course which first presents itself and which is in accordance with the power (I hold) and the principles of our ancestors” —imperii genitive after proprium. What cases may proprius govern? —imperii refers to the extraordinary power which he had by the decree videant consules ne quid detrimenti respublica capiat. This decree (decretum ultimum) armed the consuls with civil and military authority. Others say imperii proprium means, “in accordance with this government.”
4: ad—lenius: “milder as regards severity,” or “in point of severity.” Ad = quoad, quoad attinet ad, si spectes. He uses ad communem salutem utilius to balance ad severitatem lenius.
5: reliqua—manus: “a remnant of the conspirators.” Ernesti reads aliqua for reliqua.
6: sin: “if, on the other hand.”
7: exhaurietur—reipublicae: “there shall be drained off from the city a great and destructive refuse of the state composed of your comrades.” Exhaurio: cp. ἀντλέω properly to drain the bilge water (ἄντλος sentina) out of the hold of a vessel. —tuorum comitum: this secondary genitive is one of explanation (expexegetical).
§ 13.— 1: imperante me: abl. absolute.
2: faciebas = facere volebas: Madvig, § 337, obs. I.
3: consul hostem: note the emphatic juxtaposition of these words.
4: num—exilium, scil. jubes me exire: “You do not order me to go into exile, do you?” Distinguish exilium, deportatio, and relegatio: see Antiquities.
5: me consulis: distinguish me consulit, mihi consulit, in me consulit.
6: quod—possit: H., 503, I.
7: extra—hominum: “unconnected with that band of conspirators composed of worthless men” —conjuratio: used in a concrete sense: cp. advocatio, servitium. For subjunctive: H., 500, I.
8: quae—est? “what stain of domestic infamy has not been branded on your life?” Distinguish: nŏtă, nōtă, nŏtā. The expression nota domesticae turpitudinis differs in meaning from privatarum rerum dedecus: the former relates to moral or immoral domestic life, the latter to all private actions as opposed to those that affect a man’s public character. Nota is applied (1) to the brand on cattle; Virg. Georg. 3, 158: (2) to the mark placed on a fugitive slave when retaken: (3) to the mark placed by the censor (nota censoria) on revising the list of citizens, opposite the name of the person degraded. According to Plutarch, Catiline had slain his own brother and murdered his own son that there might be no obstacle to his marrying Aurelia Orestilla.
9: quod—fama: “what scandal in private life does not cling to your notorious acts?” Some read infamiae, a dat, after haeret, which is sometimes found. Give the different constructions of haerere.
10: quae—afuit: “what act of impurity ever was strange to your eyes, what enormity to your hands, what pollution to your whole body?” —libido; licentiousness, in a general sense; facinus, a bold, daring deed, in a bad sense, unless justified by some favourable epithet: flagitium, a disgraceful, lustful excess.
11: cui—praetulisti? “to what youth, after you had once entangled him by the allurements of vice, did you not hand either a dagger to commit some daring deed, or a torch to inflame his passion?” —adulescentulo: the diminutive is used in a depreciatory sense, since many a weak youth was misled by Catiline (Sallust Cat., c. 14). —facem: the figure refers to the nightly revels and debauches of Catiline. Slaves carried torches before their masters at night to show the way. The torch of Catiline not merely showed the way to crimes, but served to inflame the passions of lust.
§ 14.— 1: quid vero? scil. dicam; “further:” lit. “what, indeed, shall I say?”
2: nuper—cumulasti? “When lately by the death of your first wife you had rendered your home empty to contract a new marriage, did you not aggravate this crime by committing another incredible act of guilt?” It is said that Catiline poisoned his first wife and murdered his own son, to marry Aurelia Orestilla.
3: patior: “I suffer myself:” a kind of middle form: cp. glorior, vescor, vertor, lavor.
4: tanti—immanitas: “so enormous a crime.”
5: quas—senties: “which you will find wholly threaten you on the next Ides.” On the ides it was usual to pay interest on borrowed money, cp. Hor. Ep. 2. The ides (idus, from iduare, to divide) were on the 13th of each month, except in March, May, July, October, when they fell on the 15th. As this oration was delivered on the 8th, Catiline had only five days to prepare against bankruptcy. Decline idus? What words are fem. of 4th decl.?
6: ad—pertinent: “to these I come, which concern not the personal disgrace which attaches to your vices, (which concern) not the embarassment and scandal of your home, but (which concern) the welfare of the state and the life and safety of us all.” —ignominiam: referring to his personal crimes. —difficultatem: his financial difficulties.
§ 15.— 1: cum scias: for subjunctive: H. 522, II. 2.
2: neminem: decline this word.
3: pridie—Januarias: scil ante: “on the day before the Kalends of January,” i.e. December 31st, Sallust gives an account of this earlier conspiracy. The plan was to murder the consuls in the capitol, then Catiline and Autronius were to seize the consular power. Suetonius says that both Crassus and Caesar were partners in guilt, and that the scheme failed because Crassus did not appear at the proper time. A second time (5th February) an attempt was made, but this also failed in consequence of Catiline having given the signal too soon before a sufficient number of followers had arrived.
4: Lepido et Tullo consulibus: M. Aemilius Lepidus and L. Volcatius Tullus were consuls 66 B.C. The consules designati were P. Autronius Paetus and P. Cornelius Sulla: but these were disqualified for bribery and L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatius (their accusers) obtained the consulship.
5: comitio: distinguish comitium and comitia. Where was the comitium? manum—paravisse? scil. potestne—scias: “that you collected a gang to slay the consuls and leading men of the state?”
6: sceleri—obstitisse? “that no reflection or fear of yours, but the good luck of the state thwarted your wicked and frenzied attempt!” Is aliquis commonly used in negative clauses?
7: neque—postea: i.e., nam quae post a te commissa sunt, ea neque obscura sunt, neque panca.
8: Consulem designatum: see note 9, § 11.
9: petitiones: see note 7, § 11.
10: ita—effugi: “aimed in such a way that they seemed impossible to be parried have I avoided by a slight side movement, and, as they term it, by (a deflection of) the body.” —petitio, declinatio, corpus, effugio, are terms of the fencing school purposely used by Cicero to show that Catiline was no better than a gladiator: cp. Cic. Cat. II. 2. —ut aiunt: cp. ὡς ϕασί: “as the saying is.”
§ 16.— 1: tibi: ethical dative: H. 389. —jam: “ere now.” —de manibus is explanatory (epexegetical) to tibi.
2: excidit, distinguish excīdit, excĭdit.
3: quae—defigere: the position of the relative and the indirect interrogation is foreign to our idiom, and must be avoided in translation: quae = et haec, scil. sica: “and I know not by what (unhallowed) rites it has been consecrated and devoted to its purpose by you that you deem it necessary to plunge it in the body of the consul.” Cicero here refers to the fact that a human sacrifice took place at the house of Catiline, and that the dagger used on that occasion was dedicated to the purpose of slaying the consuls: cp. Sallust, Cat. C. 23.
4: tua—ista vita: “that life that you lead.”
5: sed ut: construe sed (tecum loquar) ut misericordia (permotus esse videar).
6: nulla: stronger than non: “not at all,” “not a particle.”
7: paullo ante: “a moment ago.”
8: frequentia: “throng,”: cp. frequens senatus: “a crowded senate,”: —necessarii: cp. ἀναγκαῖοι. —salutavit: among the Romans it was customary when they saw their friends or eminent men approaching to rise up, and salute or courteously address them.
9: post—memoriam: “within the memory of men”: cp. Thucy. I. 7: ἀϕ᾽ οὗ Ἕλληνες μέμνηνται.
contigit: generally means, “it befalls” of fortunate occurences, but not always.
10: vocis—contumeliam ... judicio taciturnitatis: Chiasmus. —vocis—taciturnitatis = loquentium—tacitorum: “are you waiting for reproofs from those speaking, when you are overpowered by the most solemn sentence of those, though they are silent.” The reference is to the fact that the Senate had declared Catiline patriae hostis, and had received him with silence on entering the Senate.
11: quid? scil. dicam. We often find quid? quod used by Cicero in rapid rhetorical questions: Madvig., 479, d. obs. 1.
12: adventu tuo: see note 9, § 7: abl. time.
13: ista subsellia: “the benches near you.” The seats of the senators (subsellia) were beneath that of the consul (sella curulis), which was on a platform.
14: qui fuerunt: “who have been often destined for slaughter by you.” —tibi: dat. for abl. with abs = abs te. Distinguish constituti sunt and constituti fuerunt.
15: nudam atque inanem: “completely bare:” Cicero often uses two epithets of nearly the same meaning to emphasize the idea to be conveyed.
16: tandem: see note 1, § 1.
§ 17.— 1: servi—arbitraris: a fine example of the argument a fortiori. The Latins call this amplificatio (Quint. 8, 4, 9), the Greeks ἐνθύμημα, a rhetorical conclusion, drawn from opposites.
2: me hercule: either (1) me, Hercules juvet, or (2) me, Hercules, juves. We also find me hercules, mehercle, mercule, varieties of the same oath. For the tendency to drop s final: cp. Peile (Greek and Latin Etymology, p. 355).
3: isto pacto: “in the way.” —isto here does duty for the article or may be = eodem.
omnes: the fellow-conspirators are no longer regarded as citizens by Cicero.
4: urbem: scil., relinquendam.
5: injuria: “without any just cause.”
6: offensum = invisum, odiosum.
7: infestis: another form is infensis: “menacing.”
8: agnoscas: distinguish agnosco, ignosco, cognosco, recognosco, in meaning.
9: dubitas—vitare: when dubito means “to doubt:” non dubito is properly construed with quin and the subjunctive, rarely with the infinitive. But when dubito means “to scruple,” “to hesitate,” and the sentence following contained the same subject, non dubito is generally construed with the infinitive.
10: mentes sensusque: “souls and senses.”
11: aliquo: “to some place or other.”
12: nunc = νῦν δέ, “but now, as it is,” used to contrast actual and imagined condition.
13: jamdiu—cogitare: “and for a long time has it come to the conclusion that you have been planning nothing but her ruin.” —nihil = de nulla re. —parricidio = interitu, because patria is regarded communis parens. According to Roman law parricidium included the murder of intimate friends as well as of parents.
14: verebere: vereor, a religious reverence due to a superior: pertimesco, an excessive dread of impending calamity.
§ 18.— 1: quae—loquitur: a fine personification. Note the oxymoron in tacita—loquitur.
2: nullum: note the emphatic positions of nullum—nullum.
3: neces: alluding to the murders which Catiline perpetrated as a partisan of Sulla, during the dictatorship of the latter.
4: sociorum: in 67 B.C. Catiline was propraetor of Africa. In 65 B.C. he was accused by P. Clodius Pulcher, the inveterate enemy of Cicero, for cruel oppression of the provincials, but he succeeded in buying off the accuser, and the persecution came to nothing.
5: tu—valuisti: “you had power enough not only to disregard the judicial trials, but also to subvert them and weaken their power.” Distinguish jus, what the law ordains, or the obligations it imposes, from lex, a written statute or ordinance. —quaestiones: the praetor urbanus and praetor peregrinus dispensed justice in private and less important cases. In case of any magnitude the people acted as jury themselves, or appointed one or more to preside at the trial. Those appointed were called quaesitores or quaestores. In 150 B.C. four permanent praetors were appointed to aid the praetor urbanus and praetor peregrinus. One had charge of all cases of extortion; another, of bribery; another, of treason; another, of frauds against the public treasury. These four classes of trials were called quaestiones perpetuae.
superiora: “former acts of yours.”
6: nunc—ferendum: “but now that I should be wholly on your account the slave of fear, that in every, even the least rumour, Catiline should be dreaded, that no plot seems possible to be entered into, in which your villany has no share (these things, I say), are not to be endured.” —totam: fem: referring to patriam.
7: ne—opprimar: scil. discede, atque hunc mihi timorem eripe.
§ 19.— 1: Impetrare: “to obtain its request:” i.e. ut ex urbe exeas.
2: quid? quod: see note 11, § 16.
3: custodiam: when a person of rank was suspected of any treasonable act, he generally surrendered himself into the hands of some responsible person, to be guarded until his guilt or innocence was established. This was called custodia libera.
4: apud M’: another reading is ad M. The person was Manius (not Marcus) Lepidus who held the office of consulship with Volcatius Tullus B.C. 68.
domi meae: would domi with other adjectives be allowable?
5: isdem parietibus: here the idea of means is combined with that of place: H. 425, II., 1.1.
qui—essem=quippe qui—essem: “inasmuch as I was in great danger.”
quod—contineremur: when does quod take the indicative and when the subjunctive: H. 516, I., II.?
6: sodalem: “your boon companion:” distinguish socius (root sec, to follow, hence sequor), a follower: consors, a partner in lot: comes, a companion on a journey: sodalis, a boon companion.
7: virum optimum: probably ironical: nothing is known of him, except that he was weak and simple.
8: videlicet and scilicet: “no doubt”: both introduce an explanation with the difference, that the former generally indicates the true, the latter, the wrong explanation, though sometimes, as in the present passage, the meanings are reversed. Z. 345.
9: ad vindicandum: “in bringing you to punishment.”
a vinculis: the state prison which was used to detain prisoners, not for penal imprisonment in opposition to (custodia libera) private custody.
10: qui = quippe qui: H., 517.
§ 20.— 1: quae cum ita sint: see note.
2: emori: another reading is morari, antithetical to abire.
3: refer ad senatum: “bring up (the matter scil. rem) before the Senate.” —referre is the technical term to express the laying of the subject for debate before the Senate, which was done by the consul or presiding magistrate: deferre, denotes the simple announcement of anything: placere, is the usual term to express the decision of the Senate. The aristocratic party had advised Catiline to go into exile, preferring that he should take this course rather than that they should have an open conflict with him.
4: sibi—decreverit: “shall decree by their vote.” The senators voted “yea” or “nay” by saying placet or non placet.
5: abhorret—moribus: “is inconsistent with my character.” The fact is the Senate could not pass a sentence of exile.
6: si—expectas: “if it is this word (exile) you are waiting for.”
7: patiuntur—tacent: i.e., they suffer me to use this bold language to you and still they raise no word on your behalf.
8: quid—perspicis? “why do you wait for the sentence of these in words, where will you perceive, though they are silent?”
§ 21.— 1: huic: “who is present.” P. Sestius Gallus was quaestor to the consul Antonius who as tribunus plebis in 57 B.C. was active for Cicero’s recall from banishment. Cicero defended him in 56 B.C. in an action de vi.
2: vim—intulisset: “would have laid violent hands on me:” a species of hendiadys. Even his dignity as consul, and the sacred shrine of Juppiter Stator would not have shielded him.
3: quiescunt probant: patiuntur, decernunt: tacent, clamant: note these examples of oxymoron.
4: cives, scil. idem faciunt i.e. silentio probant. The equites formed the second or middle order of the Roman State.
5: prosequantur: those who went into voluntary exile were often accompanied to the gates by their friends. An escort is promised Catiline to express the delight in getting rid of him.
§ 22.— 1: quamquam: cp. καίτοι; “and yet,” used here as a corrective particle.
2: te; scil. sperandumne sit fore ut: “is it to be expected that anything will break your resolve?” Note the emphatic positions of te, tu, tu, tu. What feelings do these interrogations express?
3: duint = dent: often used in religious formulas. Give the construction of utinam: H., 483, I.
4: animum induxeris: Cicero uses the form animum inducere (except in Pro Sulla, 30, 83) and Livy always in animum in pucere.
5: quanta—impendeat: “what a storm of unpopularity threatens me, if not at present, on account of the memory of your crimes being fresh, still in the future time.” recenti = memoria: abl. of cause. in posteritatem = in posterum tempus. impendeat: indirect question.
6: sed—sejungatur: “but (the unpopularity you threaten) willingly will I undergo (literally, pays me well) provided the loss which you forbode is confined to myself and does not involve danger to the State.” tanti: genitive of price. The subject of est is invidiam istam mihi impendere.
7: ut—ut—ut: these three clauses are explained by the three beginning with aut, aut, aut. pudor = αἰδώς; “a sense of shame, or modesty.”
§ 23.— 1: conflare: a metaphor taken from metals: literally, “to smelt together:” hence “to heap upon.”
2: recta, scil. via: “straightway.”
3: vix—vix: note the emphatic positions: “hard will it be for me to bear the weight of the unpopularity caused by you, if you go into exile by the order of the consul,” —sermones: “the censure:” cp. our expression “to be the talk of the town.” feceris: see note 4, § 6.
4: sui—mavis: “but if, however, you prefer to consult my praise and glory.” laus—gloria are originally derived from the same root CLU, “to hear:” laus = (c)lau(d)s: gloria = clu-oria.
5: exsulta—latrocinio: “triumph in your impious bandit war.” latro: properly a mercenary soldier who serves for pay (λατρεία): afterwards, “a brigand.” impio: as being against his native land: cp. pietas erga patriam, “patriotism.”
§ 24.— 1: quamquam: see note 1, § 22. invitem: rhetorical question: H. 529.
2: qui—armati? “to wait for you arms near Forum Amelium.” ad before the name of towns denotes (1) direction; (2) proximity, as in this passage. Towns were called Fora, by the Romans, where the praetor held his circuits for administering justice and where markets were established. The town mentioned here was in Etruria between the Armenta (Fiora) and Marta, not from the sea. It is now called Monte Alto. It derived its name from one Aurelius, who built the Via Aurelia from Rome to Pisa.
praestolarentur: the word praestolari, is “to wait for” said of a subordinate who performs some services for a superior.
3: pactam—diem: from what verb is pactam? —dies, in the sense of a “fixed day” is usually feminine.
4: aquilam: the same that Marius carried in his Cimbric war. Catiline fell beside it at Pistoria (Gall. Cat. C. 59). A silver eagle with extended wings, and on the top of a spear was the ensign of the whole legion. The signa were the standards of the manipuli and the vexillum is the standard of the cavalry.
5: cui—fuit: “for which the secret place where you concocted your crimes was prepared in your house.” The eagle was usually kept in a part of the praetorium which was consecrated (sacrarium).
6: tu—solebas: scil. credendumne sil fore: “is it to be believed that you could any longer be without this, to which you when setting out to slaughter were wont to pay your vows?”
7: altaribus: only plural in classical Latin.
§ 25.— 1: haec res: i.e. hoc bellum contra patriam, haec civium caedes.
2: quandam—voluptatem: “a kind of delight, (really) inconceivable.”
3: ad—servavit: “it was for this mad career that nature gave you being, inclination trained you, fate reserved you:” distinguish amentia, and dementia.
4: non modo, for the omission of non after non modo, see Madvig., § 461, C. When the sentence is negative, non modo = non modo non, the second non being omitted, if both sentences have the same verb, and if the verb is contained in the second sentence, for the negative is thus considered to belong conjointly to both sentences. Z. 724., b.
5: otium: “peace,” opposed to bellum.
6: nefarium: “unhallowed,” as involving impietas contra patriam.
7: nanctus es: “you have got together.” —The orator is atque (ex) derelictis ab non modo omni fortuna, verum etiam (a) spe.
8: conflatam: a metaphor taken from metals, “smelted together,” hence “collected.”
§ 26.— 1: hic: i.e. inter ejusmodi hominum gregem. —qua—perfruere: “what gratification will you experience.” Notice the climax in this sentence.
2: ad—tui: “it was for the earnest prosecution of this life that these feats of endurance, which are made so much of, were practised.” —meditari: is used passively: as abominatus, amplexus, confessus, detestatus, dimensus, exsecratus, moderatus, suetus. M. 153. With meditari: cp. μελετᾶν.
3: ad—stuprum: “to watch for an opportunity to commit an act of debauchery.” = ad tempus stupro opportunum observandum. The infinitive clauses jacere, vigilare, are in opposition with labores.
4: ad—obeundum: “to execute some daring deed.”
5: otiosorum: “the peaceable citizens.” Another reading is occisorum.
6: habes—omnium: “you have (now) an opportunity of showing the renowned endurance you have for withstanding hunger, cold, (and) a need of all things:” cp. Sallust, Cat. C., 5: corpus potiens inediae, vigiliae, algoris, supra quam unquam credibile est.
7: quibus: to be referred to famis, frigoris, inopiae, not to omnium rerum.
§ 27.— 1: tantum confeci: “this much, I gained.”
2: quum—reppuli: at the last election, Cicero adopted these measures especially aimed at Catiline: a bill to increase the penalty against bribery (ambitus); by disarranging the plans of Catiline in putting off the elections, and appearing in the Campus Martius in armour.
3: exul—consul: latrocinium—bellum: note the paronomasia.
4: detester ac deprecer: both these words mean “to seek to remove anything from one, such as blame, &c., by calling the gods to witness (testari deos) and by imploring (precari) their aid.” Note the middle force of these deponents.
5: quaeso: conjugate this verb.
6: loquatur: see § 18.
7: tune: join with exire patiere.
8: evoratorum servorum: Catiline, however, refused the help of slaves (Sallust, Cat. C., 56), though Lentulus urged him to use these.
9: emissus—immissus: paronomasia.
10: hunc—duci: what is the usual construction of imperari? H. 498, I. The infinitive with imperare is always passive.
11: mactari: the official word of sacrifice, “to slay a victim.” It is connected with old verb magere: probably “to strike:” cp. μάχη, hence “to kill.”
§ 28.— 1: tandem: cp. note 1, § 1. Cicero shews that neither precedent, nor laws, nor the judgment of future generations deter Catiline.
2: At: introduces the objection of an opponent: “Yes, but.” Cicero refers here to the case of P. Scipio Nasica who headed the nobility against Tib. Gracchus.
3: an leges? Principally the leges Valeriae, and leges Porciae. The former were proposed by (1) P. Valerius Poplicola 509 B.C. which enacted that no Roman magistrate should put to death or flog a Roman citizen if he had appealed to the people: (2) in 449 B.C. L. Valerius Potitus enacted that no magistracy should be held with an exemption from appeal: (3) in 300 B.C. M. Valerius Corvus brought in a bill sanctioning the other laws on the subject of appeal. The leges Porciae were proposed by three of the Porcii, and exempted from stripes the persons of Roman citizens, and imposed heavy fines on any one who should scourge or kill a Roman citizen.
4: rogatae sunt: “have been passed.” The people at the comitia were asked to pass a law by the presiding magistrate in the words “velitis, jubeatis, Quirites.” Hence rogare legem, “to pass a bill.” When the people voted two ballots were usually given them, one marked with the letters U R (i.e. uti rogas or “yea”), and the other with A (i.e. antiquo, antiqua probo, “I annul”).
5: praeclaram gratiam: “a fine return:” strongly ironical.
6: hominem—cognitum: i.e. hominem novum: the Romans applied the term (novus homo) to the first of a family who had raised himself to a consul office, tam mature: the lex annalis enacted that no one could obtain the quaetorship till he was 31; the aedileship till 37; the praetorship till 41; and the consulship till 43. Cicero means that he obtained these offices as soon as he was eligible to hold them.
7: propter invidiam: “because of too disquieting fear of unpopularity.”
§ 29.— 1: num—pertimescenda? “Is the ill-will arising from a strict and a firm discharge of duty to be feared rather than that arising from indolence and indifference.”
2: factu: give rules for the use of the supines: H. 547.
3: judicarem: this tense in the protasis with the plupf. in the apodosis, denotes that the action is going on simultaneously.
4: unius—horae: “the enjoyment of a single hour.” Usura: properly “interest” paid for the use of capital.
5: gladiatori isti: contemptuously.
6: etenim: “and (well may I make this assertion), for:” cp. καὶ γάρ.
7: summi viri: referred to the magistratus; clarissimi cives, to the viri privati.
8: honestarunt=decoraverunt: “graced.”
§ 30.— 1: quamquam = καίτοι, corrective: “and yet.”
2: qui—dissimulent: “of such a character that they either are blind to those evils which threaten us, or profess blindness in regard to the things they see.” Qui = tales ut: H. 501: this explains this subjunctive.
3: qui—aluerunt = hi—aluerunt: not to be connected with nonnulli sunt, as this would require aluerint.
4: si—animadvertissem: “if I had punished him,”: with such a meaning understand supplicio: the preposition in is necessary when the meaning is “to punish with an authoritative and steady hand.” regie: “in a tyrannical manner.”
5: pervenerit: fut. perf.
6: paulisper—posse: “may for a season be repressed, but cannot for ever be suppressed”; reprimo: to hold in check merely for a short time; comprimo: to completely check.
7: se ejecerit scil. ex urbe.
8: ceteros naufragos: “the rest of his shipwrecked band of followers”: i.e., shipwrecked in character and fortune by reason of their excesses.
9: tam adulta pestis: “this fully developed plague-poison”: adulta: from root ul, ol, al, “high.”
§ 31.— 1: jamdiu: for the space of three years from the consulate of Lepidus and Tullus, 66 B.C.; nescio quo pacto: “in some way or other”: literally, “I know not on what terms”: cp. οὐκ οἶδα ὅντινα τρόπον, nescio quo modo.
2: omnium—erupit: a pregnant construction as if he had meant: “all these crimes have been a-ripening up to, and the continued career of frenzy and boldness have burst forth in, the time of my consulship.” The metaphor is probably borrowed from an ulcer, bursting when ripe.
3: ex tanto latrocinio = ex tot latronum numero, latrocinium = latrones, cp. servitium = servi: conjuratio = conjurati—residebit: the metaphor is taken from a subtle poison in the system. The state is looked upon by the orator as the body, the conspiracy as the fever, and the execution of Catiline as the draught of cool water which momentarily refreshes.
4: visceribus: viscera were the upper vitals, including the heart, lungs, liver, &c: intestina, were the liver vitals. Observe the force of atque and the repetition of the preposition.
5: cum—jactantur: there is no hendiadys here, but merely an accumulation of synonymous terms. Observe the middle force of jactantur: “toss themselves about.”
6: biberint: Madvig reads biberunt.
7: qui est: “which exists.” —relevatus: “mitigated.”
8: vehementius—ingravescet: “shall become more chronic if the others are allowed to live”: vivis reliquis: abl. abs.
§ 32.— 1: praetoris urbani: L. Valerius Flaccus was Praetor Urbanus at this time, and the partisans of Catiline thronged around his tribunal to intimidate him when delivering judgment in cases of debt.
2: obsīdĕre—curiam: “to beset the senate house in arms.” Romulus divided the people into three tribes (tribus) and each tribe was divided into ten wards (curiae). Each curia had a temple for the performance of its religious rites and for holding political meetings: the root is cur: “to be powerful;” cp. Quirites, hence, “the powerful men”: κύριος, κοίρανος —cum gladiis = armati.
3: malleolos: properly malleolus, is “a hammer,” the tranverse head of which was formed for holding pitch and tow. These latter were set on fire and thrown slowly that they might not be extinguished, to ignite houses and other buildings. Translate “fire-darts.”
4: quid—sentiat: “what his sentiments are respecting the state:” dep. quest. —polliceor—fore: what verbs are construed with the future infinitive?
5: patefacta—oppressa: note the balancing of these words, and the asyndeton.
§ 33.— 1: hisce ominibus: “with these prophetic words”: a kind of abl. absolute.
2: cum—exitio: “with the best interests of the republic (fully established), and with your own calamity and ruin (fully assured) and with the destruction of these”: cum here denotes an accompanying circumstance as a result or consequence of an action: z, 472.
3: tu: addressing the statue of Juppiter in the temple of Juppiter Stator.
4: auspiciis: not only temples but also statues were consecrated, by taking auspices.
5: statorem: “the flight staying”: see note 6, § 11. A kind of rhetorical exaggeration, as the temple was only viewed by Romulus and built much later; Livy x. 37.
6: arcebis: with a softened imperative force: so also mactabis.