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.