§15.

supplicatio, i.e. a period of public prayer and thanksgiving. This was accompanied by the ceremony called lectisternium, when the images of the gods were placed on couches (pulvinaria) before their temples, with banquets beside them. Here the people came to worship. Cf. 3. 23 'ad omnia pulvinaria,' and Horace, Odes 1. 37. 2

'nunc Saliaribus
Ornare pulvinar Deorum
Tempus erat dapibus, sodales.'

A supplicatio was generally a thanksgiving for victory; to the general it was an honour only inferior to a triumph, which it often preceded. More rarely, it was a period of national humiliation in time of disaster. Thus a supplicatio was decreed at the beginning of 217 b.c., and again after the defeat of Cannae. See Livy 22. 1, 23. 11.

meo nomine, 'in my name,' 'in my honour.' This was the only instance of a supplicatio decreed in honour of a citizen not holding a military command.

interest instead of 'interesse videatur,' because he means to state positively that the difference is there, whether the comparison be made or not. So we can say, 'If you compare, there is this difference,' instead of the more strictly grammatical, 'You will find that there is this difference.' Cf. de Amic. §104 'Si illis orbatus essem, tamen affert nihi aetas ipsa solatium'; where the existence of the consolation does not depend on the need for it.

se abdicavit, 'was allowed to resign.'

ut quae religio, etc. A magistrate being 'sacrosanctus,' religious scruples would forbid his punishment. Cicero says that owing to Lentulus' abdication, they will not have this scruple to stand in their way, though reminding them that it did not protect Glaucia. (See on 1. 4.) Tr. 'So that we can punish Lentulus as a private citizen without hindrance from any religious scruple; though such scruples did not prevent C. Marius,' etc.

§16.

cum pellebam. See on 1. 7.

somnum, 'the sleepiness.'

aditus, 'the means of approaching.' Cf. Virg. Aen. 4. 423

'Sola viri molles aditus et tempora noras.'

Note the striking picture of Catilina's abilities as a leader here given, and contrast it with Cicero's contemptuous expressions elsewhere, esp. 2. 9.

certos, 'particular,' 'definite.'

mandarat. The pluperf. indic. is rare after cum even when (as here) the connection is of time only.

quod constructed with 'obiret' as the nearest verb. 'occurreret' by itself would require dative.

vigilaret, laboraret do not grammatically construct with 'quod' at all. They are an amplification of 'obiret occurreret'; such amplification being more commonly expressed by an adverbial clause such as 'per vigilias et labores.' Cf. Aesch. P. V. 331

πάντων μετασχὼν καὶ τετολμηκὼς ἐμοί,

where καὶ τετολμηκώς is an amplification of μετασχών, and does not construct with ἐμοί.

§17.

tanto ante, because it was now only Dec. 3 and the Saturnalia (3. 10) did not begin till Dec. 17.

commisisset ut, etc. 'have made the mistake of allowing to be arrested.' Cf. 3. 7 'negavi me facturum esse ut non deferrem.'

§18.

cum . . . tum, 'not only ... but also.' Cf. 3. 13.

Nam ut illa, etc. Cicero must here be suiting his language to his audience; for he probably did not believe in miraculous signs. His tone in the second and third speeches, where he is addressing the people, is throughout less refined than in the first and fourth, where he is speaking to the senate.

canere, 'foretell,' often used of prophetic utterances.

§19.

Cotta et Torquato consulibus, b.c. 65.

de caelo, i.e. struck by lightning.

legum aera, the brazen tablets on which the laws were engraved.

tactus, etc. In the Capitoline Museum at Rome may be seen a bronze figure of a wolf giving suck to the twins Romulus and Remus. It is just possible that this may be the group alluded to here, as one of the legs shows an injury such as would be caused by lightning; but it is more probably a mediaeval copy of an ancient original.

Etruria, the original home of augury.

adpropinquare dixerunt nisi . . . flexissent. The soothsayers said 'adpropinquant, nisi flexerint,' the fut. perf. becoming plup. subj. in Oratio Obliqua, according to rule. Not adpropinquabunt, because futurity is sufficiently expressed by the word itself, = 'they are drawing near,' 'are upon you.'

suo numine, 'by their influence.' The gods are regarded as subject to Destiny, yet able to mitigate its decrees by their intercession. prope apologizes as it were for the boldness of the expression. Cf. 4. 3 ad fin.

§20.

ad orientem, etc. The Forum stretched S.E. from the Capitol, so that a statue on the latter facing E. would overlook it.

collocandum . . . locaverunt, 'gave a contract for its erection'; loco (lit. 'to place out') is used of the person for whom the work is done; conduco of the contractor.

superioribus consulibus, those of 64 b.c., L. Caesar and C. Figulus.

§21.

praesens, perhaps 'clear,' i.e. a visible evidence of the hand of the gods; or it may be simply 'opportune.'

ut . . . videatur is consecutive, ut . . . statueretur, substantival, explanatory of illud, 'the fact that the statue was being erected at that particular moment.'

eorum indices, 'the witnesses against them.' The Temple of Concord was on the Capitol; Cicero's house on the Palatine; so that the Forum would have to be crossed in passing from one to the other.

ducerentur follows the mood of its main verb 'statueretur.' Otherwise as 'cum' = 'quo tempore' we should probably have had the indic. on the analogy of 1. 7 (where see note) and other instances.

§22.

templis atque delubris. See on 3. 2.

mentem voluntatemque, 'disposition and purpose.'

Some editions read 'iam vero illa Allobrogum sollicitatio, iam ab Lentulo,' etc. For iam vero see on 2. 8.

ut . . . neglegerent, substantival ('the fact that') in apposition to 'id' below.

ex civitate male pacata. The limits of Transalpine Gaul were not accurately defined at this time, and disturbances on the borders were frequent. The Allobroges actually revolted two years later, and were suppressed temporarily by C. Pomptinus; they shared in the universal subjugation of Gaul by Caesar, 58-51 b.c.

ultro, 'spontaneously,' 'unsought,' because the first advances were made by Lentulus.

potuerint, 'especially as they (were men who) might have,' etc.

§23.

ad omnia pulvinaria. See on supplicatio 3. 15.

togati. See on 2. 28.

§24.

The historical allusions in this section will be best explained by the following sketch.

In 88 b.c. Sulla was consul, and had just ended the Social War. P. Sulpicius made certain proposals in the interests of the democratic party, one of which was to transfer the command against Mithridates of Pontus from Sulla to Marius. Sulla marched on Rome; Sulpicius, with a few adherents, was killed; Marius, with others, escaped with difficulty. Sulla thereupon departed for the East.

In 87 Cinna, as consul, revived the schemes of Sulpicius. His colleague Octavius drove him from the city; he collected an army, was joined by Marius, and effected his return by force. A reign of terror followed, during which many aristocrats were killed. Marius died in 86; Cinna was killed in a mutiny two years later.

In 82 Sulla came back from the East, defeated the younger Marius (in alliance with the revolted Samnites), at the Colline Gate, and was created 'dictator reipublicae constituendae.' As such he issued a proscription list, ordering the execution of most of the democratic leaders. Having reformed the constitution in the interest of the optimates, he resigned his power.

After his death M. Lepidus (consul 78) tried to reverse his acts, but was expelled by his colleague Q. Catulus. He raised an army and tried, like Cinna, to effect his return by force, but was defeated by Catulus at the Mulvian Bridge, b.c. 77; he escaped to Sardinia, where he died.

vidistis, because they had all taken place within the last twenty-five years.

custodem huius urbis, he had saved Rome by defeating the Teutones and Cimbri (102, 101 b.c.)

redundavit only suits 'sanguine,' but is applied (by zeugma) to 'acervis corporum' as well, '(was choked) with heaps of corpses and flooded with blood.'

clarissimis viris. Among these were L. Caesar (consul 90, and one of the enfranchisers of the Italians) and Q. Catulus (consul 102) the colleague of Marius in the war against the Cimbri.

ne dici quidem, etc. The victims of the Sullan proscriptions numbered from four to five thousand.

Q. Catulo, son of the Catulus mentioned above.

non tam ipsius, i.e. it was not the fate of Lepidus himself which excited sympathy, but of those who were involved in it.

§25.

The reading in this section is uncertain, owing to interpolations having been introduced into the original MS. The text given is Halm's conjectural emendation; the principal variation is as follows:—

'Atque illae tamen omnes dissensiones erant eiusmodi Quirites, quae non ad delendam, sed ad commutandam rempublicam pertinerent; non illi nullam esse rempublicam, sed in ea quae esset, se esse principes; neque hanc urbem conflagrare, sed se in hac urbe florere voluerunt. [Atque illae tamen omnes dissensiones, quarum nulla exitium reipublicae quaesivit, eiusmodi fuerunt, ut non reconciliatione concordiae, sed internecione civium diiudicatae sint.']

According to this reading, the sentence in brackets is regarded as a gloss; i.e. an explanation added in the margin by a transcriber, which afterwards found its way into the text.

diiudicatae sint. In consecutive sentences the perf. subj. is used in preference to the imperf. where the fact of the result is emphasized. It answers to ὥστε with indicative: the imperfect to ὥστε with infinitive.

tantum, 'only so much.'

infinitae caedi restitisset (resto), lit. 'had remained over to bloodshed,' i.e. as the only thing left for it to destroy. Cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 679.

'Dona ferens, pelago et flammis restantia Troiae.'

§26.

insigne honoris, 'mark of distinction,' may perhaps refer to some purely personal honour (such as the title 'pater patriae'); monimentum laudis, 'memorial of renown,' to something more external (such as a statue). But see below.

ornamenta honoris, etc. The three expressions seem to be practically synonymous, unless 'laudis insignia' be meant to include the other two. 'Every honourable decoration, every glorious memorial, every outward mark of distinction.'

alentur, 'will be cherished.'

literarum monimentis, 'in the records of literature,' i.e. history.

eandemque diem, etc. 'Diem' here = 'period.' He means that he has preserved the state for an unlimited period, and that during that period the recollection of his consulship will last; the two will go together, hence 'eandem.' Tr. 'I feel that one and the same term—a term which I trust will have no limit—has been extended to the safe existence of the state and the recollection of my consulship.'

exstitisse may either depend upon 'intellego,' or (better) upon a verb to be understood from 'memoriam'; 'and (the recollection) that there were,' etc.

alter, i.e. Pompeius, who was extending the empire by his conquests in the East, which added the province of Syria to the Roman dominions. Cicero speaks with rhetorical exaggeration.

§27.

condicio, 'circumstances,' 'position.' See on 2. 14.

recte, 'as is just.'

bonis. See on 'bonorum' 1. 1.

§28.

Quodsi, etc. Cicero's fears were realized by the motion for his banishment (for having put Roman citizens to death without trial) carried by Clodius, 58 b.c.

vitae fructum, 'the results of life.'

honore vestro, 'the honours you can bestow'; gloria virtutis, 'renown won by merit.'

§29.

Illud, explained by 'ut . . . tuear,' etc.





ORATION IV.

§1.

depulsum sit. Subj. because he is putting their thoughts into words.

vestris. Some editions add liberis.

condicio. See on 2. 14, 'if these were the terms on which I received the consulship.'

§2.

in quo omnis aequitas continetur, 'the home of all justice,' because the praetor's courts were held in the Forum and adjacent buildings.

consularibus auspiciis, 'the auspices taken at the election of the consuls.' They were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which met in the Campus Martius. For 'auspicia' see on 1. 33.

summum auxilium, etc. The control of foreign relations belonged particularly to the senate.

ad quietem datus, epithet of 'lectus' ('datus' must not be mistaken for the main verb, which is 'fuit').

sedea honoris. Some MSS. add the explanatory words 'sella curulis.'

multa tacui. He hints at the suppression of the names of certain persons suspected by him to be implicated. Crassus and Caesar may have been among these. See Sall. Cat. 48, 49.

meo quodam dolore, abl. of attendant circumstances, 'at some pain to myself.'

templa atque delubra. See on 3. 2.

fatale ad perniciem, 'destined to the destruction of,' referring to his belief that he was the third Cornelius who should rule over Rome (3. 9). In the second clause 'prope' ('I may almost say') is added because the expression might seem too arrogant without qualification. Cf. 3. 19 'nisi di immortales prope fata ipsa flexissent.'

§3.

pro eo ac mereor, 'in proportion to my deserts.' Cf. 'simul ac,' 'aeque ac,' 'aliter ac,' etc.

consulari, 'to one who has been consul,' because no higher honour remained to be won.

misera sapienti. The Stoic philosophy, of which Cicero was an adherent, taught that true happiness consisted in being independent of the external accidents of life.

ille ferreus, 'a man of such iron nature.'

fratris. Q. Cicero, now praetor designatus.

uxor, Terentia; filia, Tullia; filius, Marcus, now two years old.

gener, C. Calpurnius Piso, Tullia's first husband. Not being yet a senator he was not seated in the assembly, but standing with the crowd at the open doors of the temple.

sed in eam partem uti, etc., 'but only in the direction (of wishing) that,' etc.

§4.

Non Ti. Gracchus, etc. The negatives go closely with the proper names, and the present 'adducitur' is emphatic. Tr. 'It is no Ti. Gracchus, for proposing to become tribune a second time, no C. Gracchus, for attempting to incite the agrarian party to violence, no L. Saturninus, for the murder of C. Memmius, that is now brought to trial before the bar of your severity; you have in your hands men who,' etc. He uses the indic. ('voluit,' 'conatus est,' etc.) instead of the subj. to emphasize the fact that the persons named had actually committed the offences in question; he is not simply quoting the grounds of an accusation which might or might not have been true.

iterum, the election of the same person in successive years was illegal. Ti. Gracchus was tribune 133 b.c. In attempting to secure his re-election for the next year he fell a victim to the armed attack of the senate.

agrarios, properly those interested in the distribution of the public land. C. Gracchus carried on the agrarian schemes of his brother, but it was not the most important part of his legislation. He trusted no doubt for support to the agricultural population of Italy, but this was rather in view of his plans for admitting them all to the franchise.

C. Memmius, a popular leader at the time of the Jugurthine War; he changed sides, and was murdered by Saturninus and Glaucia on opposing the latter in the consular election for 99 b.c.

restiterunt (resto), 'have stayed behind.'

servitia, abstract for concrete.

§5.

vos multis iam, etc. 'You have affirmed by many proofs of your judgment'; i.e. the senate, by the measures they had already taken, had practically affirmed their belief in the conspirators' guilt.

in custodiam. See on 1. 19.

qui honos, etc. Cf. 3. 15 and 2. 28.

§6.

The object of referre is de facto quid iudicetis, etc.; tanquam integrum, 'as though it were an open question.'

ego magnum, etc. 'I had long seen that a dangerous madness was abroad, and that evils of an unheard-of kind were seething and stirring in the state.'

latius opinione, 'more widely than you think.' The following sentence should be noted, as showing that Cicero recognized that the importance of the decision lay in the effect it would have upon Catilina's adherents abroad.

§7.

sententias, the technical word for the senator's formal declaration of his vote. See on 1. 9. Tr. 'proposals.'

D. Silani, now consul designatus.

censet, not 'thinks,' but 'gives it as his opinion,' 'votes.'

haec, i.e. all that is around us, the houses, temples, etc.

C. Caesaris, now praetor designatus.

recordatur, 'remembers.' Cicero suggests that the recollection influenced Silanus, not that he actually mentioned the precedents.

aut necessitatem, etc. Each aut still further qualifies the idea of death. So far from being a punishment, it is the common necessity of our nature, or may even sometimes be an actual benefit.

municipiis, 'provincial towns.' See on 2. 24.

si velis. Subj. because contingency is expressed by 'habere videtur' (= 'habeat'), 'seems to have,' 'might have.' Cf. 1. 2 'satisfacere videmur si vitemus.' The sense is: it would be unfair to order any town to undertake the duty, and difficult to induce any to do so if they merely asked it as a favour.

§8.

Adiungit, sc. Caesar.

aut per senatum, etc., i.e. either by a 'senatus consultum,' or a 'lex' passed by the Comitia.

illi antiqui, the well-known writers of old time. The order of the words is 'illi antiqui voluerunt eius modi quaedam supplicia apud inferos impiis constituta esse.' voluerunt, lit. 'wished,' i.e. 'would have had us believe.' Cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 626 'Seque ortum antiqua Teucrorum ab stirpe volebat.' Contrast Cicero's language here (where he is speaking to a more intelligent audience) with that in 3. 18-22.

ipsam, 'by itself.'

§9.

mea quid intersit, 'what is for my own interest.'

quoniam hanc. 'Viam' is 'path,' 'course.' In English we may perhaps change the metaphor, and say 'since he has taken what we agree to call the popular side in politics.' The 'populares' were the opponents of the 'optimates'; they aimed at breaking down the aristocratic rule of the senate.

cognitore, properly one who acts for another in a law-suit, 'advocate.'

nescio an, lit. 'I hardly know whether'; so affirmatively = 'I am disposed to think.'

rationes, 'considerations.'

enim, used like γάρ, to introduce a narrative or discussion of a point. 'Now we have,' etc.

obsidem, 'pledge.'

intellectum est, etc. 'We understood (when we heard Caesar) how great was the contrast between the frivolity of demagogues and the true democratic spirit, which has the interest of the people at heart.'

§10.

ne de capite, i.e. because the senate had no legal right to decide questions affecting the caput (life, or civil rights) of a citizen, which ought to come before the Comitia Centuriata. On this question see Introd. Note B.

nudius tertius='nunc dies tertius,' 'the day before yesterday,' according to the Roman inclusive method of reckoning.

hoc, explained by quid iudicarit. The order is 'hoc, quid (ille) qui . . . decrerit de tota re et causa iudicarit, nemini dubium est.' Cicero argues that the absent senators, by assenting to the previous measures, have acknowledged their jurisdiction in the matter. It appears that these measures had been unanimously adopted.

quaesitori, properly of the president of a law-court: here of Cicero, as the conductor of the investigations. Cf. Virg. Aen. 6. 432 'Quaesitor Minos urnam movet.'

legem Semproniam. What this was is not quite certain; but C. Gracchus seems to have passed a law still further securing the right of citizens to appeal to the people as against the arbitrary sentence of a magistrate, though this was already provided by the Lex Valeria and the Lex Porcia (see on 1. 28). Cicero refers to the Lex Sempronia here as being the most recent legislation on the subject, and because the fact that summary measures were taken against its author strengthens his argument.

qui autem, etc. On this see Introd. Note B.

iniussu is a conjectural emendation for the MS. reading iussu, because C. Gracchus was not put to death by order of the people; he was killed by the agents of the consul Opimius, who professed to rely upon the 'ultimum decretum' previously passed by the senate (see on 1. 4). Cicero quotes it as a precedent exactly suiting the present case.

§11.

sive, 'if on the one hand,' answered by sive below. dederitis is the apodosis to the first clause, exsolvet to the second.

comitem. Cicero would be expected to address the people after the meeting, to acquaint them with the senate's decision (cf. the Third Oration), and according to usage he would be accompanied by the proposer of the successful motion. Connect populo with carum atque iucundum.

populus Romanus exsolvet. The reading of the MSS. here is unintelligible; that in the text is a conjectural emendation. Other suggestions are 'apud populum Romanum exsolvam,' 'populo Romano exsolveritis.'

obtinebo, 'I shall maintain.' eam, sc: 'sententiam.'

ita . . . ut. A common way of emphasizing a declaration, by expressing a wish that the welfare of the speaker may depend upon its truth. 'So may it be mine to enjoy with you the blessings of preservation, as I am moved,' etc. Cf. the phrase 'ita di me ament, ut,' and the formula 'So help me God' appended to oaths in English law-courts.

§12.

purpuratum. A name for ministers at Eastern courts, from the magnificence of their dress; 'with Gabinius as his grand vizier.'

qui non lenierit, causal, 'in that he did not alleviate.'

id egerunt, ut, 'have made it their object to place,' etc.

§13.

L. Caesar, consul 64 b.c., not to be confused with C. Julius Caesar. sororis suae virum, Lentulus; avum, M. Fulvius Flaccus, the friend and adherent of C. Gracchus, whose fate he shared. When the disturbance broke out he sent his young son to treat with the consul Opimius, who had him arrested and put to death.

The following table will show the relationship:

M. Fulvius Flaccus (cos. 125)
|
———————————————
||
M.F. FlaccusFulvia m. L.J. Caesar (cos. 90)
(filius) |
—————————————
| |
L.J. Caesar (cos. 64) Julia m. (1) M. Antonius Creticus.
(2) P.C. Lentulus.

nudius tertius. At the meeting of the senate described in the Third Speech.

quorum, etc. 'What had they (i.e. Flaccus and C. Gracchus) done that could compare with this' (the present conspiracy)? factum is treated as a substantive.

largitionis voluntas, etc. 'Designs of largess were then rife in the state, accompanied by some party rivalry.' C. Gracchus passed a law providing the people with corn at low rates. He also transferred the right of sitting as iudices in the law-courts from the senate to the equites, and thus stirred up strife ('partium contentio') between the two orders.

Cicero purposely makes light of those measures, which had really very important effects, in order to give point to his argument, which is—If such comparatively moderate designs as those of C. Gracchus met with so signal a punishment, what do the violent schemes of Catilina deserve? Cf. 1. 4.

avus. Cornelius Lentulus, consul 162 b.c., and princeps senatus at the time of Gracchus' death. Cf. 3. 10.

ne quid, etc., 'lest the majesty of the state should be in any degree impaired.'

Vereamini censeo, lit. 'it is my opinion that you should fear' ('ut' being omitted, as often after 'censeo'). Ironical advice, where the contrary is really intended. 'You had better be afraid, I should think.' Cf. the similar ironical passage in Sallust, Cat. 52 (Cato is speaking in favour of executing the conspirators), 'Misereamini censeo—deliquere homines adulescentuli per ambitionem—atque etiam armatos dimittatis.' multo magis verendum, etc. below gives his serious opinion.

§14.

Note the distinction between vereri ut and vereri ne.

imperium, i.e. the sovereign authority of the Comitia, for which a revolution might substitute that of a despot. Cf. 'regnantem Lentulum' §12.

loci, the Temple of Concord, on the Capitol.

in qua = 'talis, ut in ea,' followed by consec. subj. 'sentirent.'

§15.

Ceteri. He goes through all the classes in turn; first the knights (the disposition of the senate being already clear); then the official classes (the Civil Service as we might say); then the general body of freeborn citizens; lastly, the freedmen and slaves.

equites, see Introd. p. 9, note. As large holders of property, they dreaded Catilina's schemes, and supported Cicero by occupying the Capitol in arms, in order to protect the Senate.

ita . . . ut. 'Ut' has a limiting force; it shows with what reservation the main statement is to be accepted. 'Only so far ... that.' In English, 'who yield to you the first place in rank and wisdom, only to rival you in patriotism.' Cf. Cic. de Off. 1. 88 'ita probanda est mansuetudo, ut adhibeatur reipublicae causa severitas,' and Livy 23. 3 'ita vos irae indulgere oportet, ut potiorem ira salutem habeatis.'

ex, 'after.' The ground of quarrel was the right of sitting as iudices in the law-courts. Transferred from the senate to the equites by C. Gracchus, it had been restored by Sulla, and was now shared between the two and the tribuni aerarii (see below).

Cicero's great hope for the state lay in a union between the two orders (cf. §22 ad fin.), but that now existing was soon broken.

tribunos aerarios, probably revenue officers of some kind, but not much is known about them.

scribas, etc., the permanent government clerks, a certain number of whom were attached to each magistrate. On this day (Dec. 5) the quaestors for the next year entered on their office, and the scribae had to draw lots to decide which quaestor they should severally attend. This drawing took place at the treasury, which was in the Temple of Saturn at the west end of the Forum, in full view of the Temple of Concord. Hence tr.: 'the entire body of clerks also, who having been brought to-day by chance to the treasury have I see been diverted from the anticipation of the lot to thoughts of the public safety.'

§16.

ingenuorum, 'freeborn citizens,' opposed to libertini, who though citizens were not freeborn.

sit, not subj. after 'cum' (which = 'not only'), but consecutive.

operae pretium est, 'it is worth while.'

sua virtute, etc., 'who by their own exertions have won the advantages of our citizenship'; because only those would be manumitted whose industry and energy deserved it.

qui modo sit . . . qui non, etc., the first relative clause limits the subject ('servus'); the second is consecutive. 'There is no slave,—none at least whose condition of servitude is bearable—who does not,' etc. Cf. in Pisonem §45 'Nemo denique civis est, qui modo se civem esse meminerit, qui vos non oculis fugiat.'

voluntatis, gen. after 'tantum.'

§17.

aut fortuna miseri, etc., 'so poverty-stricken or so disaffected.'

immo vero corrects the preceding. 'The greater part, nay the whole'; see on 1. 2. A large part of the retail trade at Rome was in the hands of slaves.

instrumentum, 'means of trade.'

futurum fuit, 'was about to happen,' i.e. 'would have happened'; incensis represents the protasis, 'si incensae essent.' Cf. Livy 2. 1 'Quid enim futurum fuit, si illa plebs agitari coepta esset tribuniciis procellis?'

§18.

ignem illum Vestae, pointing perhaps to the Temple of Vesta in the Forum below him.

§19.

in civili causa, 'on a political question.'

cogitate, etc. A short form of expression combining two really distinct indirect questions, (1) 'cogitate quantis laboribus imperium fundatum sit,' and (2) 'cogitate ut una nox paene (imperium) delerit.' In English, 'Think by what toil was the empire established, which one night nearly destroyed.'

una nox, the night of the arrest of the Allobroges. See pro Flacco §102 'O nox illa, quae paene aeternas huic urbi tenebras attulisti, cum Galli ad bellum, Catilina ad urbem, coniurati ad ferrum et flammam vocabantur.'

non modo, understand 'non possit' after confici, and see on 1. 25.

§20.

sententiam, sc. 'rogandam,' see on 1. 9. The consul would not pronounce a formal 'sententia' himself.

Quodsi, etc. Cicero's fears were realized five years later (58 b.c.), when Clodius carried a motion for his banishment.