conspirators to death; C. Caesar would imprison them in some municipium for life; a plan difficult to carry out, and perhaps really more severe than the other._ =4.= Video adhuc duas esse sententias, unam D. Silani, qui censet 7 eos, qui haec delere conati sunt, morte esse multandos, alteram C. Caesaris, qui mortis poenam removet, ceterorum suppliciorum omnes acerbitates amplectitur. Uterque et pro sua dignitate et pro rerum magnitudine in summa severitate versatur. Alter eos, qui nos omnes vita privare conati sunt, qui delere imperium, qui populi Romani nomen exstinguere, punctum temporis frui vita et hoc communi spiritu non putat oportere, atque hoc genus poenae saepe in improbos cives in hac re publica esse usurpatum recordatur. Alter intellegit mortem ab dis immortalibus non esse supplicii causa constitutam, sed aut necessitatem naturae aut laborum ac miseriarum quietem. Itaque eam sapientes numquam inviti, fortes saepe etiam lubenter oppetiverunt. Vincula vero et ea sempiterna certe ad singularem poenam nefarii sceleris inventa sunt.
Municipiis dispertiri iubet. Habere videtur ista res iniquitatem, si imperare velis, difficultatem, si rogare: decernatur tamen, si placet.
Ego enim suscipiam, et, ut spero, reperiam, qui id, quod salutis 8 omnium causa statueritis, non putent esse suae dignitatis recusare. Adiungit gravem poenam municipiis, si quis eorum vincula ruperit: horribiles custodias circumdat et dignas scelere hominum perditorum. Sancit, ne quis eorum poenam, quos condemnat, aut per senatum aut per populum possit levare: eripit etiam spem, quae sola homines in miseriis consolari solet. Bona praeterea publicari iubet: vitam solam relinquit nefariis hominibus, quam si eripuisset, multas uno dolore animi atque corporis aerumnas et omnes scelerum poenas ademisset.
Itaque ut aliqua in vita formido improbis esset posita, apud inferos eius modi quaedam illi antiqui supplicia impiis constituta esse voluerunt, quod videlicet intelligebant iis remotis non esse mortem ipsam pertimescendam.
_My personal interest is clear. As Caesar is a popular leader, I shall not, if you adopt his proposal, have to fear so much the attacks of that party. Some of its members I see are absent, as though they questioned our jurisdiction in this matter. Caesar has shown that he has no such scruples._ =5.= Nunc ego, patres conscripti, mea video quid intersit. Si 9 eritis secuti sententiam C. Caesaris, quoniam hanc is in re publica viam, quae popularis habetur, secutus est, fortasse minus erunt, hoc auctore et cognitore huiusce sententiae, mihi populares impetus pertimescendi: sin illam alteram, nescio an amplius mihi negotii contrahatur. Sed tamen meorum periculorum rationes utilitas rei publicae vincat. Habemus enim a Caesare, sicut ipsius dignitas et maiorum eius amplitudo postulabat, sententiam tamquam obsidem perpetuae in rem publicam voluntatis. Intellectum est, quid interesset inter levitatem contionatorum et animum vere popularem, saluti populi consulentem. Video de istis, qui se populares haberi volunt, 10 abesse non neminem, ne de capite videlicet civium Romanorum sententiam ferat. Is et nudius tertius in custodiam cives Romanos dedit et supplicationem mihi decrevit et indices hesterno die maximis praemiis adfecit. Iam hoc nemini dubium est, qui reo custodiam, quaesitori gratulationem, indici praemium decrerit, quid de tota re et causa iudicarit. At vero C. Caesar intellegit, legem Semproniam esse de civibus Romanis constitutam, qui autem rei publicae sit hostis, eum civem nullo modo esse posse; denique ipsum latorem Semproniae legis iniussu populi poenas rei publicae dependisse. Idem ipsum Lentulum, largitorem et prodigum, non putat, cum de pernicie populi Romani, exitio huius urbis, tam acerbe, tam crudeliter cogitarit, etiam appellari posse popularem. Itaque homo mitissimus atque lenissimus non dubitat P.
Lentulum aeternis tenebris vinculisque mandare et sancit in posterum, ne quis huius supplicio levando se iactare et in perniciem populi Romani posthac popularis esse possit: adiungit etiam publicationem bonorum, ut omnes animi cruciatus et corporis etiam egestas ac mendicitas consequatur.
_In any case we need not fear the charge of cruelty. In punishing crimes like these, severity is the truest humanity.
Remember what L. Caesar said yesterday; yet the offences of C.
Gracchus cannot be compared to Catilina's._ =6.= Quam ob rem sive hoc statueritis, dederitis mihi comitem ad 11 contionem populo carum atque iucundum, sive Silani sententiam sequi malueritis, facile me atque vos crudelitatis vituperatione populus Romanus exsolvet, atque obtinebo eam multo leniorem fuisse. Quamquam, patres conscripti, quae potest esse in tanti sceleris immanitate punienda crudelitas? Ego enim de meo sensu iudico. Nam ita mihi salva re publica vobiscum perfrui liceat, ut ego, quod in hac causa vehementior sum, non atrocitate animi moveor--quis est enim me mitior?--sed singulari quadam humanitate et misericordia. Videor enim mihi videre hanc urbem, lucem orbis terrarum atque arcem omnium gentium, subito uno incendio concidentem; cerno animo sepulta in patria miseros atque insepultos acervos civium; versatur mihi ante oculos aspectus Cethegi et furor in vestra caede bacchantis. Cum vero mihi proposui 12 regnantem Lentulum, sicut ipse se sperasse ex fatis confessus est, purpuratum esse huic Gabinium, cum exercitu venisse Catilinam, tum lamentationem matrum familias, tum fugam virginum atque puerorum ac vexationem [virginum] Vestalium perhorresco, et quia mihi vehementer haec videntur misera atque miseranda, idcirco in eos, qui ea perficere voluerunt, me severum vehementemque praebeo. Etenim quaero, si quis pater familias, liberis suis a servo interfectis, uxore occisa, incensa domo, supplicium de servo non quam acerbissimum sumpserit, utrum is clemens ac misericors an inhumanissimus et crudelissimus esse videatur?
Mihi vero importunus ac ferreus, qui non dolore et cruciatu nocentis suum dolorem cruciatumque lenierit. Sic nos in his hominibus, qui nos, qui coniuges, qui liberos nostros trucidare voluerunt, qui singulas unius cuiusque nostrum domos et hoc universum rei publicae domicilium delere conati sunt, qui id egerunt, ut gentem Allobrogum in vestigiis huius urbis atque in cinere deflagrati imperii conlocarent, si vehementissimi fuerimus, misericordes habebimur: sin remissiores esse voluerimus, summae nobis crudelitatis in patriae civiumque pernicie fama subeunda est. Nisi vero cuipiam L. Caesar, vir fortissimus et 13 amantissimus rei publicae, crudelior nudius tertius visus est, cum sororis suae, feminae lectissimae, virum praesentem et audientem vita privandum esse dixit, cum avum suum iussu consulis interfectum filiumque eius impuberem, legatum a patre missum, in carcere necatum esse dixit.
Quorum quod simile factum? quod initum delendae rei publicae consilium?
Largitionis voluntas tum in re publica versata est et partium quaedam contentio. Atque eo tempore huius avus Lentuli, vir clarissimus, armatus Gracchum est persecutus; ille etiam grave tum vulnus accepit, ne quid de summa re publica deminueretur: hic ad evertenda fundamenta rei publicae Gallos arcessit, servitia concitat, Catilinam vocat, attribuit nos trucidandos Cethego et ceteros cives interficiendos Gabinio, urbem inflammandam Cassio, Italiam totam vastandam diripiendamque Catilinae.
Vereamini censeo, ne in hoc scelere tam immani ac tam nefando nimis aliquid severe statuisse videamini: multo magis est verendum, ne remissione poenae crudeliores in patriam, quam ne severitate animadversionis nimis vehementes in acerbissimos hostes fuisse videamini.
_You need not fear that we shall lack strength to carry out our decision. Every class in the State is with us: the knights, the civil servants, the freedmen, even the slaves. It is true that the shopkeepers have been solicited by Lentulus, but in vain._ =7.= Sed ea, quae exaudio, patres conscripti, dissimulare non 14 possum. Iaciuntur enim voces, quae perveniunt ad aures meas, eorum qui vereri videntur, ut habeam satis praesidii ad ea, quae vos statueritis hodierno die, transigunda. Omnia et provisa et parata et constituta sunt, patres conscripti, cum mea summa cura atque diligentia tum etiam multo maiore populi Romani ad summum imperium retinendum et ad communes fortunas conservandas voluntate. Omnes adsunt omnium ordinum homines, omnium generum, omnium denique aetatum; plenum est forum, plena templa circum forum, pleni omnes aditus huius loci ac templi. Causa est enim post urbem conditam haec inventa sola, in qua omnes sentirent unum atque idem, praeter eos, qui cum sibi viderent esse pereundum, cum omnibus potius quam soli perire voluerunt. Hosce ego homines excipio et 15 secerno lubenter; neque enim in improborum civium, sed in acerbissimorum hostium numero habendos puto. Ceteri vero, di immortales, qua frequentia, quo studio, qua virtute ad communem salutem dignitatemque consentiunt! Quid ego equites Romanos commemorem? qui vobis ita summam ordinis consiliique concedunt, ut vobiscum de amore rei publicae certent; quos ex multorum annorum dissensione huius ordinis ad societatem concordiamque revocatos hodiernus dies vobiscum atque haec causa coniungit: quam si coniunctionem, confirmatam in consulatu meo, perpetuam in re publica tenuerimus, confirmo vobis nullum posthac malum civile ac domesticum ad ullam rei publicae partem esse venturum. Pari studio defendundae rei publicae convenisse video tribunos aerarios, fortissimos viros; scribas item universos, quos cum casu hic dies ad aerarium frequentasset, video ab exspectatione sortis ad salutem communem esse conversos. Omnis ingenuorum adest multitudo, etiam 16 tenuissimorum. Quis enim est, cui non haec templa, aspectus urbis, possessio libertatis, lux denique haec ipsa et hoc commune patriae solum cum sit carum, tum vero dulce atque iucundum? =8.= Operae pretium est, patres conscripti, libertinorum hominum studia cognoscere, qui sua virtute fortunam huius civitatis consecuti hanc suam patriam iudicant, quam quidam hic nati et summo loco nati non patriam suam, sed urbem hostium esse iudicaverunt. Sed quid ego hosce homines ordinesque commemoro, quos privatae fortunae, quos communis res publica, quos denique libertas, ea quae dulcissima est, ad salutem patriae defendendam excitavit? Servus est nemo, qui modo tolerabili condicione sit servitutis, qui non audaciam civium perhorrescat, qui non haec stare cupiat, qui non tantum, quantum audet et quantum potest, conferat ad communem salutem voluntatis. Quare si quem vestrum forte 17 commovet hoc, quod auditum est, lenonem quendam Lentuli concursare circum tabernas, pretio sperare posse sollicitari animos egentium atque imperitorum, est id quidem coeptum atque tentatum, sed nulli sunt inventi tam aut fortuna miseri aut voluntate perditi, qui non illum ipsum sellae atque operis et quaestus cotidiani locum, qui non cubile atque lectulum suum, qui denique non cursum hunc otiosum vitae suae salvum esse velint. Multo vero maxima pars eorum, qui in tabernis sunt, immo vero--id enim potius est dicendum--genus hoc universum amantissimum est otii. Etenim omne instrumentum, omnis opera atque quaestus frequentia civium sustentatur, alitur otio: quorum si quaestus occlusis tabernis minui solet, quid tandem incensis futurum fuit?
_The people will not fail you; do not fail them. Take advantage of their unanimity, and think of the gravity of the crisis._ =9.= Quae cum ita sint, patres conscripti, vobis populi Romani 18 praesidia non desunt: vos ne populo Romano deesse videamini providete.
Habetis consulem ex plurimis periculis et insidiis atque ex media morte non ad vitam suam, sed ad salutem vestram reservatum; omnes ordines ad conservandam rem publicam mente, voluntate, studio, virtute, voce consentiunt; obsessa facibus et telis impiae coniurationis vobis supplex manus tendit patria communis, vobis se, vobis vitam omnium civium, vobis arcem et Capitolium, vobis aras Penatium, vobis ignem illum Vestae sempiternum, vobis omnium deorum templa atque delubra, vobis muros atque urbis tecta commendat. Praeterea de vestra vita, de coniugum vestrarum atque liberorum anima, de fortunis omnium, de sedibus, de focis vestris hodierno die vobis iudicandum est. Habetis ducem memorem vestri, 19 oblitum sui, quae non semper facultas datur; habetis omnes ordines, omnes homines, universum populum Romanum, id quod in civili causa hodierno die primum videmus, unum atque idem sentientem. Cogitate, quantis laboribus fundatum imperium, quanta virtute stabilitam libertatem, quanta deorum benignitate auctas exaggeratasque fortunas una nox paene delerit. Id ne umquam posthac non modo confici, sed ne cogitari quidem possit a civibus, hodierno die providendum est. Atque haec, non ut vos, qui mihi studio paene praecurritis, excitarem, locutus sum, sed ut mea vox, quae debet esse in re publica princeps, officio functa consulari videretur.
_I know the danger I incur; but whatever comes I shall never repent of what I have done. My achievements will find a place with those of our national heroes. My domestic enemies will wage eternal war upon me; but I trust in the protection of all good citizens._ =10.= Nunc antequam ad sententiam redeo, de me pauca dicam. Ego, 20 quanta manus est coniuratorum, quam videtis esse permagnam, tantam me inimicorum multitudinem suscepisse video, sed eam iudico esse turpem et infirmam et contemptam et abiectam. Quodsi aliquando alicuius furore et scelere concitata manus ista plus valuerit quam vestra ac rei publicae dignitas, me tamen meorum factorum atque consiliorum numquam, patres conscripti, paenitebit. Etenim mors, quam illi mihi fortasse minitantur, omnibus est parata: vitae tantam laudem, quanta vos me vestris decretis honestastis, nemo est adsecutus; ceteris enim bene gestae, mihi uni conservatae rei publicae gratulationem decrevistis. Sit Scipio 21 clarus ille, cuius consilio atque virtute Hannibal in Africam redire atque ex Italia decedere coactus est; ornetur alter eximia laude Africanus, qui duas urbes huic imperio infestissimas, Karthaginem Numantiamque, delevit; habeatur vir egregius Paullus ille, cuius currum rex potentissimus quondam et nobilissimus Perses honestavit; sit aeterna gloria Marius, qui bis Italiam obsidione et metu servitutis liberavit; anteponatur omnibus Pompeius, cuius res gestae atque virtutes eisdem quibus solis cursus regionibus ac terminis continentur: erit profecto inter horum laudes aliquid loci nostrae gloriae, nisi forte maius est patefacere nobis provincias, quo exire possimus, quam curare ut etiam illi, qui absunt, habeant quo victores revertantur. Quamquam est 22 uno loco condicio melior externae victoriae quam domesticae, quia hostes alienigenae aut oppressi serviunt aut recepti in amicitiam beneficio se obligatos putant; qui autem ex numero civium, dementia aliqua depravati, hostes patriae semel esse coeperunt, eos cum a pernicie rei publicae reppuleris, nec vi coërcere nec beneficio placare possis. Quare mihi cum perditis civibus aeternum bellum susceptum esse video. Id ego vestro bonorumque omnium auxilio memoriaque tantorum periculorum, quae non modo in hoc populo, qui servatus est, sed in omnium gentium sermonibus ac mentibus semper haerebit, a me atque a meis facile propulsari posse confido. Neque ulla profecto tanta vis reperietur, quae coniunctionem vestram equitumque Romanorum et tantam conspirationem bonorum omnium confringere et labefactare possit.
_One reward I ask for my sacrifices and exertions--your recollection of my services, and your protection of my son.
Vote then bravely, remembering the interests at stake, and I will carry out your decision._ =11.= Quae cum ita sint, pro imperio, pro exercitu, pro 23 provincia, quam neglexi, pro triumpho ceterisque laudis insignibus, quae sunt a me propter urbis vestraeque salutis custodiam repudiata, pro clientelis hospitiisque provincialibus, quae tamen urbanis opibus non minore labore tueor quam comparo, pro his igitur omnibus rebus et pro meis in vos singularibus studiis et pro hac, quam perspicitis, ad conservandam rem publicam diligentia nihil a vobis nisi huius temporis totiusque mei consulatus memoriam postulo: quae dum erit in vestris fixa mentibus, tutissimo me muro saeptum esse arbitrabor. Quodsi meam spem vis improborum fefellerit atque superaverit, commendo vobis meum parvum filium, cui profecto satis erit praesidii non solum ad salutem, verum etiam ad dignitatem, si eius, qui haec omnia suo solius periculo conservaverit, illum filium esse memineritis. Quapropter de 24 summa salute vestra populique Romani, de vestris coniugibus ac liberis, de aris ac focis, de fanis ac templis, de totius urbis tectis ac sedibus, de imperio ac libertate, de salute Italiae, de universa re publica decernite diligenter, ut instituistis, ac fortiter. Habetis eum consulem, qui et parere vestris decretis non dubitet et ea, quae statueritis, quoad vivet, defendere et per se ipsum praestare.
CICERO SPEECHES AGAINST CATILINA _WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES_ BY E. A. UPCOTT, M.A.
LATE SCHOLAR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD ASSISTANT MASTER IN WELLINGTON COLLEGE PART II.--NOTES OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1900 NOTES.
[N.B.--_The references are to the sections._] ORATION I.
§1.
=tandem= often strengthens interrogatives. 'How long, pray?' or 'How long, I ask?' Cf. 1. 16 'quo tandem animo hoc tibi ferendum putas?' and 2. 2 'quanto tandem maerore?' So also with imperatives, as in 1. 8 'Recognosce tandem.'
=abutere=, future, as is shown by 'eludet,' 'iactabit.'
=quam diu=, etc. 'How long will your madness yet have full play?'
Connect 'etiam' with 'quamdiu,' as in Sall. Cat. 61 'Catilina repertus est paullulum etiam spirans.' For 'eludet' used absolutely cf. Livy 2.
45 'adeo superbe insolenterque hostis eludebat.' But some editors read '_nos_ eludet' ('make sport of us').
=nocturnum praesidium Palatii=. The Palatium, or 'Mons Palatinus,' was one of the seven hills, occupying a central position S. E. of the Capitoline. It was now protected at night by a guard against any sudden attempt of the conspirators to seize it. Augustus and his successors had their residence there; hence, in later times, 'palatium' came to mean 'a palace.'
=urbis vigiliae=, 'the patrols of the city.'
=bonorum=, perhaps in a general sense 'respectable citizens,' but with special reference to the senatorial party at Rome, who called themselves _boni cives_ or _optimates_; just as the aristocratic party at Athens called themselves 'kalokagathoi'.
=hic munitissimus=, etc. They were assembled in the temple of Iuppiter Stator on the Palatine, which was protected by the Equites in arms. The ordinary place of meeting was the Curia Hostilia, on the north side of the Forum.
=horum=, the senators.
=constrictam...coniurationem tuam=, 'that your conspiracy is fast held and bound in the knowledge of all here present,' (i.e. it is powerless, because everybody knows of it).
=Quid proxima...arbitraris?= 'Quem' is the direct interrogative; 'quid egeris,' 'ubi fueris,' etc., indirect questions depending upon 'ignorare'; they are put first in the sentence for the sake of emphasis.
=proxima nocte=, 'last night,' on which the attempt on Cicero's life was made, superiore, 'the night before last,' when the meeting in the house of Laeca was held. See Introduction, pp. 11, 12, and note.
§2.
=immo vero= is used when the speaker wishes to correct, either by addition or qualification, something that has been said, like the Greek 'men oun'. 'Lives, did I say? Nay, he actually comes into the senate.'
Cf. 4. 17 'maxima pars...immo vero genus universum.'
Hence, as here, 'the deliberating body,' a sense which more properly belongs to _concilium_. Any state-constituted assemblage of persons for deliberation was called 'consilium publicum' (e.g. a board of _iudices_ assembled to try a case at law).
=unum quemque nostrum=, not 'each one of us,' but 'us, one by one,' 'individually.'
=si vitemus=. The subj. is used in the protasis, because the idea of contingency is contained in 'satisfacere videmur,' which is substituted for the more regular 'satisfaciamus.' Cf. 4. 7 'habere videtur ista res iniquitatem, si imperare velis,' and 2. 25 'si contendere velimus, intelligere possumus.'
=iussu consulis=. The Lex Valeria (see note on 1. 28) secured to every citizen the right of appeal to the people against the sentence of a magistrate. On the question whether Cicero was on this occasion legally entitled to put Catilina to death on his own authority, see Intr. Note B.
§3.
=An vero, etc=. Tiberius Gracchus was tribune 133 B.C. His law for the distribution of the public land roused against him the hatred of the aristocratic party. On the day of the tribunician election for the next year he was attacked and killed with 300 of his adherents by a body of senators headed by P. Scipio Nasica. _Privatus_ is strongly opposed to _consules_ in the next clause. It appears that Nasica was not actually Pontifex Maximus at the time, but in any case the office was not regarded as a magistracy.
=mediocriter labefactantem= is similarly contrasted with the more serious designs of Catilina. Cicero here mentions the violent proceedings against the Gracchi and their successors with approval, because he wished to plead for similar measures against Catilina. In another speech delivered during this year (de Lege Agraria 2. 5. 10) he calls them 'amantissimi plebis Romanae viri,' and says, 'Non sum autem is consul, qui, ut plerique, nefas esse arbitrer Gracchos laudare.'
=C. Servilius, etc=. Spurius Maelius, a rich plebeian, sold corn to the populace at low rates during a famine in 440 B.C. He was accused of aiming at the supreme power. Cincinnatus was appointed dictator, with C.
Servilius Ahala as his master of the horse; the latter killed Sp.
Maelius with his own hand.
=quod...occidit=, 'the fact that,' in apposition to illa, which, as often, refers to what follows, like 'ekeinos' in Greek.
=non deest=, etc. The senate, as the deliberative and authorizing body, have done their part; the consuls, as the executive, fail.
§4.
=Decrevit quondam=, etc. This was in 121 B.C. Gaius Gracchus (tribune 123, 122) had carried a series of measures tending to overthrow the authority of the senate. They took the opportunity of a tumult to pass the _ultimum decretum_, whereupon L. Opimius the consul, with an armed force, attacked the Aventine, where the adherents of Gracchus were assembled. Gracchus himself and his supporter M. Fulvius were killed.
=propter quasdam=, etc., a mild expression, intended once more to point the contrast between the Gracchi and Catilina.
=patre=. Ti. Sempronius Gracchus, who was twice consul and twice triumphed.
=avo=. His mother was Cornelia, daughter of P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the conqueror of Hannibal.
=Simili senatus consulto=, etc. In 100 B.C. revolutionary measures were proposed by L. Appuleius Saturninus and C. Servilius Glaucia. In their fear of violence, the senate passed the _ultimum decretum_ and called upon the consul Marius to protect them, though he had been a supporter of Saturninus. In the tumult which followed, the latter and his adherents were shut up in the senate house, where their opponents, taking off the tiles, stoned them to death.
=mors ac reipublicae poena=. 'Ac' is explanatory, 'death, (which was) the penalty inflicted by the state.'
=remorata est=, literally, 'Did death keep them waiting a day longer?'
i.e. 'Had they to wait a single day longer for their death?' He means that they were put to death on the same day as that on which the _ultimum decretum_ was passed.
=vicesimum diem=. He speaks in round numbers. The exact time since Oct.
21 (by the Roman reckoning) was eighteen or nineteen days, according as we fix the date of this speech to Nov. 7 or Nov. 8. See Introduction, p.
12, note.
=interfectum te esse convenit=, 'you might well have been put to death.'
=patres conscripti=. The regular title used in addressing the senate.
The traditional explanation of it is as follows. The original senators were called _patres_ (patricians); after the expulsion of the kings 160 new senators were enrolled (partly plebeians); these were called _conscripti_. Hence the whole body were addressed as _patres et conscripti_ and by abbreviation _patres conscripti_. But this would seem to require _adscripti_ rather than _conscripti_, and 'it is possible the senators were originally called _patres conscripti_ to distinguish them from those _patres_ who were not senators.' [Gow's Companion to School Classics, p. 192.]
§5.
=in Etruriae faucibus=, at Faesulae (now Fiesole), on the south-west slope of the Apennines, commanding one of the passes into Cisalpine Gaul.
=adeo=, 'even,' 'actually.' Cf. 1. 9 'atque adeo de orbis terrarum exitio.'
=si te iam=, etc. 'Credo,' as usual, marks the sentence as ironical. He might conceivably fear two opposite criticisms on his conduct-- (_a_) 'ne omnes boni serius factum esse dicant,' (_b_) 'ne quisquam crudelius factum esse dicat.'
He really fears (_a_); hence speaking ironically he reverses the case, and says, I shall have to fear, I suppose, not rather (_a_) than (_b_) (i.e. not so much (_a_) as (_b_)). Translate the whole--'I shall have to fear I suppose--not that all good citizens may call my action tardy--but that some one may say it was excessively cruel.'
§6.
=quisquam=, besides its regular use in negative sentences and questions implying a negative, is used in affirmative sentences, in the sense of '_any one at all_,' where it is implied that there can be none, or at most but one or two.
=mihi crede=, 'trust to me,' 'take my advice.'
§7.
=me...dicere=. The pres. inf. is often used after _memini_ when the speaker refers to his own experience. The past event is for the moment actually present to his mind. So in English 'do you remember my saying?'
Cf. Virg. Ecl. 1. 17 'de caelo tactas memini praedicere quercus.'
=a. d. xii Kal. Nov.= Oct. 21. See Intr. page 11.
=futurus esset=, subj. as part of what Cicero said in the senate.
=a. d. vi Kal. Nov.= Oct. 27. The reading is not certain, the MSS.
varying between vi and ix.
=audaciae satellitem=, etc., 'servant and helper.' 'Satelles' implies a lower, less free relation than 'administer.' Cf. in Verr. 3. 21 'ministri ac satellites cupiditatum.'
=Num me fefellit=, 'Was I not right, not only as to the gravity of the design, savage and incredible as it was, but--what is more remarkable--in the date?'
=optimatium=. See note on 'bonorum' 1. 1.
=sui=, neut. gen. sing. from 'suus,' used to supply the place of gen.
pl. of 'se.' Cf. the similar use of 'nostri,' 'vestri.'
=cum...profugerunt=. When _cum_ simply means 'at the time when' (quo tempore) and does not contain any idea of consequence or cause, it is usually (though by no means invariably) followed by the indicative; especially when, as here, the time is fixed by the preceding demonstrative _tum_. Cf. below 'cum...dicebas,' and 1. 21 'cum quiescunt, probant,' 2. 1 'loco ille motus est, cum ex urbe est expulsus.' Nothing is known of this exodus.
=qui remansissemus=. The antecedent to 'qui' must be understood from 'nostra.' Subj. because part of the Oratio Obliqua. Catilina said, 'caede illorum qui remanserunt contentus sum.'
§8.
=Quid?= a particle of transition, frequent in rhetorical passages.
'Again.' 'Nay more.' Cf. 'Quid vero?' 1. 14.
=cum=, 'although.'
=Praeneste=, twenty miles S. E. of Rome, occupying a strong position in the Hernican mountains. It had been the last stronghold of the younger Marius in 82 B.C.; on its capitulation Sulla put most of the citizens to death, and subsequently established one of his colonies on the site.
Catilina hoped to use it as a fortified post.
=quod non ego=, etc. 'Quod' is consecutive, = 'tale ut.' 'Non' negatives the whole clause 'ego...sentiam.' Others for 'quod non' read 'quin' [= 'qui-ne,' lit. 'in such a way that not'], i.e. 'you can do nothing without my hearing it.'
=noctem illam superiorem=, 'the night before last'; 'last night' would be 'hanc noctem' or 'proximam noctem.' Below he says 'priore nocte,' to avoid repeating the same word. See Introduction, p. 12, note.
=ad=, 'with a view to.' Cf. 1. 26 'ad hoc studium meditati.'
=inter falcarios=, 'in the street of the scythemakers.' Cf. 'inter lignarios,' 'in the street of the carpenters.' Livy 35. 441.
§9.
=ubinam gentium=, 'Where _in the world_?' A genitive is sometimes joined to an adverb of place or time to define it more exactly. Cf. 'ibidem loci' = 'in the same place'; 'nusquam gentium' = 'nowhere in the world;' 'postea loci' (Sallust, Jug. 102. 1), 'afterwards,' and the Greek 'pou gês'; =de re publica sententiam rogo=. The consul collected the opinion of the senate by asking each senator successively for his vote (_sententia_) on the question before the house. The senator might either give it without comment or make a speech in support of his views.
=illa ipsa nocte=. See Introduction, p. 12, note.
=duo equites Romani=. On _equites_ see Introduction, p. 9, note. Their names were C. Cornelius and L. Vargunteius (Sallust, Cat. 28).
§10.
=salutatum=, supine. The early morning was the usual time for complimentary calls. Cf. Martial 4. 8. 1 'Prima salutantes atque altera conterit hora.'
=id temporis=, adverbial phrase, 'at that particular time.' Cf. Cic. Pro Roscio Amerino 97 'ut id temporis Roma proficisceretur'; Tac. Ann. 5. 9 'oblisis faucibus id aetatis corpora in Gemonias abjecta.' For this use of the accusative, cf. phrases like 'ceterum,' 'suam vicem,' etc.
=aliquando= often strengthens imperatives, implying that now at length the time has come for doing what is requested. Cf. Cic. Phil. 2. 46. 118 'Respice, quaeso, aliquando'; and in Verrem 2. 1. 28 'audite, quaeso, et aliquando miseremini sociorum.' So in Greek 'methes pote' (Soph. Phil.
§11.
=Iovi Statori=. The senate were assembled in the temple of Iuppiter Stator on the Palatine. See on 1.33.
=in uno homine=, 'in the person of a single man.'
=consuli designato=. He was 'designatus' during the latter part of 64.
We do not know that Catilina then made any attempt on his life.
=proximis comitiis consularibus=, 'at the late assembly for the election of the consuls.'
=campo=. The Comitia Centuriata, which elected the consuls, met in the Campus Martius; the Comitia Tributa in the Forum.
=nullo tumultu publice concitato=, 'without any official summons to arms.'
=per me=, 'by myself,' i.e. by my own exertions without calling in other help. Cf. 1. 28 'hominem per te cognitum,' 4. 24 'per se ipsum praestare.'
§12.
=quod est primum=, etc. 'Since I cannot yet venture to take the course which is the most obvious, and the most suited to the authority I hold and the strict traditions of our ancestors.' _Imperium_ is the consular authority (not 'empire'). Cf. 2. 3 'huius imperii severitas.'
=ad=. Greek 'pros'. 'With respect to.' Cf. 2. 18 'adquirere ad fidem.'
=sentina rei publicae=, ('the refuse of the state'), forms a single expression upon which the explanatory genitive 'tuorum comitum' ('consisting of your comrades') depends.
§13.
=faciebas=, 'were just doing,' 'ready to do.'
=exilium=. See on §20 below.
=domesticae turpitudinis= refers especially to family scandals, such as the story of his wife and son (§14). =privatarum rerum dedecus=, to offences extending beyond the family, but still confined to private life, i.e. having no political object.
=inretisses=. Subjunctive, because the antecedent to 'quem' does not refer to any particular individual, but stands for a class.
=ad audaciam=, etc. The sword and the torch are the instruments by which 'audacia' and 'libido' attain their objects; the former to strike the blow, the latter to show the way in the darkness.
§14.
=alio incredibili scelere=. Sallust (Cat. 15) says that Catilina, wishing to marry the profligate Orestilla, poisoned his son because she objected to his presence. The further charge, that he had killed his first wife, is mentioned by Cicero alone.
=aut non vindicata esse=, understand 'si exstiterit.'
=proximis Idibus=. The Kalends, Nones, and Ides were the 'settling-days' at Rome. Cicero means that Catilina will realize his failure on the next settling-day, when his creditors will demand their money. Cf. Hor. Sat.
1. 3. 87 'Cum misero tristes venere Kalendae,' and Epodes 2. 69 'Omnem redegit Idibus pecuniam, Curat Kalendis ponere,' where the money-lender calls in his money on the Ides of one month, and on the Kalends of the next lends it out again.
§15.
=te pridie Kalendas=, etc., i.e. December 31, 66 B.C. This refers to the so-called 'first conspiracy,' on which see Introduction, page 8.
=comitio=. The singular _comitium_ denotes the place of assembly; the plural _comitia_ the assembly itself.
=mentem=, 'reflection.'
=fortunam=, because the plot only failed through his accidentally giving the signal too soon.
=neque enim=, etc. 'Neque' negatives the whole sentence, and 'non' goes closely with 'multa'; 'for they are no secret, nor have your later offences been few.'
=parva quadam declinatione et, ut aiunt, corpore=. Hendiadys, 'by a mere turn of the body, so to speak.' The metaphor is taken from fencing, ('ut aiunt' being introduced, like the Greek 'hôs eipein', to soften the abruptness). Cf. Virg. Aen. 5. 437 (of boxing) 'Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem Corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.'
§16.
=initiata ac devota=. 'Consecrated and vowed'; alluding to the common practice of assassins, of dedicating the weapon to some patron deity, in case of the attempt being successful. 'Quae' is the connecting relative, and 'quibus...sit,' an indirect question depending on 'nescio.'
=nulla=, adverbial, 'which you do not deserve _at all_.'
=tibi persaepe=. In prose (except after the gerundive) the dative of the agent is only used with personal pronouns, and when the thing is done for the interest of as well as by the person. In poetry there is no such restriction. Other instances are 1. 24 '_cui_ sciam pactam cum Manlio diem,' 2.13 'quem ad modum esset _ei_ ratio belli descripta,' 2. 26 '_mihi_ consultum ac provisum est.'
§17.
=pacto=, used adverbially like 'modo.' Cf. 'quo pacto' = 'how?'
=metuerent=. See on 'loquatur' 1. 19 below.
=urbem=. Sc. 'relinquendam esse.'
=iniuria=, 'undeservedly.'
=aliquo=, 'to some spot or other,' 'somewhither'; cf. 'in aliquas terras' 1. 20. Cf. Ter. And. 339 'dum proficiscor aliquo.'
=nunc=, 'as it is.' So 'nun' in Greek.
§18.
=tacita loquitur=. Oxymoron, lit. 'speaks without voice,' 'silently appeals to you.'
=multorum civium neces=, alluding to his share in carrying out the proscriptions of Sulla.
=vexatio direptioque sociorum=. He had been propraetor of Africa 67