Arretino,[183] dum vicinitatem antea sollicitatam armis exornat, cum
fascibus atque aliis imperii insignibus in castra ad Manlium contendit.
Haec ubi Romae comperta sunt, senatus Catilinam et Manlium hostes
judicat; ceterae multitudini diem statuit, ante quam sine fraude[184]
liceret ab armis discedere praeter[185] rerum capitalium condemnatis.
Praeterea decernit, uti consules delectum habeant, Antonius cum exercitu
Catilinam persequi maturet, Cicero urbi praesidio sit. Ea tempestate mihi
imperium populi Romani multo maxime miserabile visum est, cui quum ad
occasum ab ortu solis omnia domita armis parerent, domi otium atque
divitiae, quae prima mortales putant, affluerent, fuere tamen cives, qui
seque remque publicam obstinatis animis perditum irent.[186] Namque
duobus senati decretis ex tanta multitudine neque praemio inductus
conjurationem patefecerat neque ex castris Catilinae quisquam omnium
discesserat; tanta vis morbi uti tabes plerosque civium animos invaserat.
[183] _In agro Arretino_, 'in the territory of Arretium,' in the heart
of Etruria, near the lake Trasimenus.
[184] _Sine fraude_, 'without injury'--that is, without the fact that
hitherto they had been with Manlius, drawing any punishment upon
them.
[185] _Praeter_, adverbially for _praeterquam_; but he might also have
used _praeter_ as a preposition: _praeter--condemnatas_.
[186] _Perditum irent_. See Zumpt, S 669.
37. Neque solum illis aliena[187] mens erat, qui conscii conjurationis
fuerant, sed omnino cuncta plebes novarum rerum studio Catilinae incepta
probabat. Id adeo[188] more suo videbatur facere. Nam semper in civitate,
quibus opes nullae sunt, bonis[189] invident, malos extollunt, vetera
odere, nova exoptant, odio suarum rerum mutari omnia student, turba
atque seditionibus sine cura aluntur; quoniam egestas facile habetur[190]
sine damno. Sed urbana plebes, ea vero[191] praeceps ierat multis de
causis. Primum omnium, qui ubique probro atque petulantia maxime
praestabant, item alii per dedecora patrimoniis amissis, postremo
omnes, quos flagitium aut facinus domo expulerat, ii Romam sicut in
sentinam[192] confluxerant. Deinde multi memores Sullanae victoriae, quod
ex gregariis militibus alios senatores videbant, alios ita divites, ut
regio victu atque cultu aetatem agerent, sibi quisque, si in armis foret,
ex victoria talia sperabat. Praeterea juventus, quae in agris manuum
mercede inopiam toleraverat, privatis atque publicis largitionibus
excita[193] urbanum otium ingrato labori praetulerat; eos atque alios
omnes malum publicum alebat. Quo minus mirandum est homines egentes,
malis moribus, maxima spe, rei publicae juxta ac sibi consuluisse.[194]
Praeterea quorum,[195] victoria Sullae parentes proscripti, bona erepta,
jus libertatis imminutum erat, haud sane alio animo belli eventum
expectabant. Ad hoc quicunque aliarum atque senatus partium erant,
conturbari rem publicam quam minus valere ipsi malebant. Id adeo malum
multos post annos in civitatem reverterat.
[187] _Aliena_; supply _a republica_.
[188] _Adeo_ renders the sentence emphatic, 'nay, the common people
seemed to do this even according to their custom.' _Adeo_ in this
sense is always preceded by a demonstrative pronoun. See Zumpt,
S 281.
[189] _Boni_. In the political signification of this word, the ideas of
quiet conduct, aversion to innovations, and acquiescence in the
actual state of things, are combined with solid wealth. The reason
of this is easily perceptible; for he who possesses property, dreads
every change, and supports the existing state of things. A still
more decided political meaning is implied in the term _optimates_,
which denotes the party in the state which we now call Conservative,
but at Rome it implied at the same time the idea of 'faction,' and of
a tendency to occasional violence.
[190] 'Poverty (that is, poor people) maintains itself, or continues in
all disturbances without suffering any loss;' for he who has nothing,
cannot sustain any loss.
[191] _Ea vero_, 'this in particular. _Vero_ indicates the transition to
that circumstance, which in the present case is of the greatest
importance. Compare Zumpt, S 348, note.
[192] _Sentina_ properly signifies the sediment which, in a vessel filled
with water, sinks to the bottom. Hence 'the residue,' or the place
where all that is bad or impure is collected.
[193] The largesses in money and provisions with which the state
supported the needy population of the capital, and by which private
persons, anxious to gain partisans, catered numbers of clients,
attracted to Rome many people from the country: the city plebs was
thus constantly increasing.
[194] 'They were as much concerned about the good of the state as about
their own good'--that is, just as little.
[195] Connect _quorum_ with _parentes_ and the following words, _bona_
and _jus_. Sulla had excluded the sons of those whom he proscribed
from all public offices, and thus curtailed their rights of free
citizens.
38. Nam postquam Gn. Pompeio et M. Crasso consulibus[196] tribunicia
potestas restituta est, homines adolescentes summam potestatem nacti,
quibus aetas animusque ferox erat, coepere senatum criminando plebem
exagitare, dein largiundo atque pollicitando magis incendere; ita ipsi
clari potentesque fieri. Contra eos summa ope nitebatur pleraque
nobilitas senatus specie[197] pro sua magnitudine. Namque uti paucis
verum absolvam, post illa tempora quicunque rem publicam agitavere,
honestis nominibus, alii sicuti populi jura defenderent, pars quo[198]
senatus auctoritas maxima foret, bonum publicum simulantes, pro sua
quisque potentia certabant; neque illis modestia neque modus contentionis
erat; utrique victoriam crudeliter exercebant.
[196] In B. C. 70, these consuls restored the power of the tribunes in
its full extent, after it had been greatly reduced by Sulla in
B. C. 81. The Roman people received this restoration of the tribunian
power with the greatest joy; but Sallust does not seem to approve of
it.
[197] _Senatus specie_; under the pretence of supporting the senate, the
_nobiles_ formed opposition to the tribunes, but in reality it was
for their own aggrandisement.
[198] _Quo_ for _ut eo_, 'that the authority of the senate might be the
highest in the state.'
39. Sed postquam Gn. Pompeius ad bellum maritimum atque Mithridaticum
missus est, plebis opes imminutae, paucorum potentia crevit. Hi
magistratus, provincias, aliaque omnia tenere, ipsi innoxii,[199]
florentes, sine metu aetatem agere, ceteros judiciis terrere, quo plebem
in magistratu placidius tractarent.[200] Sed ubi primum dubiis rebus[201]
novandi spes oblata est, vetus certamen animos eorum arrexit. Quodsi
primo proelio Catilina superior aut aequa manu discessisset, profecto
magna clades atque calamitas rem publicam oppressisset; neque illis, qui
victoriam adepti forent, diutius ea uti licuisset, quin defessis et
exsanguibus qui plus posset imperium atque libertatem extorqueret.[202]
Fuere tamen extra conjurationem complures, qui ad Catilinam initio
profecti sunt; in his erat A. Fulvius, senatoris filius, quem retractum
ex itinere parens necari jussit. Iisdem temporibus Romae Lentulus, sicuti
Catilina praeceperat, quoscunque moribus aut fortuna novis rebus idoneos
credebat, aut per se aut per alios sollicitabat, neque solum cives, sed
cujusque modi genus hominum, quod modo bello usui foret.
[199] _Innoxius_ has a twofold meaning, one active, 'one who does no
harm' (_noxa_), and a passive, 'one who is not injured,' 'one to
whom no harm is done,' _qui non afficitur noxa_, and in this latter
sense it is used in this passage.
[200] 'In order that, when in office, they themselves might guide the
populace more gently,' since those who excited the multitude would
be kept in awe by the terror of the law. _Placidius_, 'without
harshness,' 'without severity,' harshness and severity being applied
only against the popular leaders.
[201] _Dubiis rebus_, the ablative absolute; _cum res dubiae essent_,
'the state of affairs being dangerous.'
[202] 'A more powerful man would even have wrested their freedom from
them.' About _quin_, see Zumpt, S 542; and about the imperfect in the
sense of a pluperfect, S 525.
40. Igitur P. Umbreno cuidam negotium dat, uti legatos Allobrogum[203]
requirat eosque, si possit, impellat ad societatem belli, existimans
publice privatimque aere alieno oppressos, praeterea, quod natura gens
Gallica bellicosa esset, facile eos ad tale consilium adduci posse.
Umbrenus, quod in Gallia negotiatus erat, plerisque principibus
civitatium notus erat atque eos noverat; itaque sine mora, ubi primum
legatos in foro conspexit, percontatus pauca de statu civitatis, et quasi
dolens ejus casum, requirere coepit, quem exitum tantis malis sperarent.
Postquam illos videt queri de avaritia magistratuum, accusare senatum,
quod in eo auxilii nihil esset, miseriis suis remedium mortem expectare:
'At ego, inquit, vobis, si modo viri esse vultis, rationem ostendam, qua
tanta ista mala effugiatis.' Haec ubi dixit, Allobroges in maximam spem
adducti Umbrenum orare, ut sui misereretur; nihil tam asperum neque tam
difficile esse, quod non cupidissime facturi essent, dum ea res civitatem
aere alieno liberaret. Ille eos in domum, D. Bruti perducit, quod foro
propinqua erat neque aliena consilii[204] propter Semproniam; nam tum
Brutus ab Roma aberat. Praeterea Gabinium accersit,[205] quo major
auctoritas sermoni inesset. Eo praesente conjurationem aperit, nominat
socios, praeterea multos cujusque generis innoxios, quo legatis animus
amplior[206] esset; deinde eos pollicitos operam suam domum dimittit.
[203] The Allobroges inhabited the country from Lacus Lemannus and the
Rhone as far south as the Isara. They were subject to Rome, but, with
a certain degree of independence, they governed themselves within
their own country. Their chief towns were Vienna and Geneva.
[204] _Aliena consilii_. See Zumpt, S 470.
[205] Respecting the orthography of _accersit_, see Zumpt, S 202.
[206] _Magnus animus_ is the usual Latin expression for 'courage,' and
_amplior_ is the same as _major_.
41. Sed Allobroges diu in incerto habuere, quidnam consilii caperent. In
altera parte erat aes alienum, studium belli, magna merces in spe
victoriae, at in altera majores opes, tuta consilia, pro incerta spe
certa praemia. Haec illis volventibus, tandem vicit fortuna rei publicae.
Itaque Q. Fabio Sangae, cujus patrocinio civitas plurimum utebatur, rem
omnem, uti cognoverant, aperiunt. Cicero, per Sangam consilio cognito,
legatis praecepit, ut studium conjurationis vehementer simulent, ceteros
adeant, bene polliceantur, dentque operam, uti eos quam maxime manifestos
habeant.[207]
[207] Manifestum habeo aliquem, 'I catch a person in the act,' so that he
can be convicted of his crime by unexceptionable evidence.
42. Iisdem fere temporibus in Gallia citeriore atque ulteriore,[208] item
in agro Piceno, Bruttio,[209] Apulia motus erat. Namque illi, quos ante
Catilina dimiserat, inconsulte ac veluti per dementiam cuncta simul
agebant; nocturnis consiliis, armorum atque telorum portationibus,
festinando, agitando omnia, plus timoris quam periculi effecerant. Ex eo
numero complures Q. Metellus Celer praetor ex senati consulto, causa
cognita, in vincula conjecerat; item in ulteriore Gallia G. Murena, qui
ei provinciae legatus[210] praeerat.
[208] _Gallia citerior_ is Gaul south of the Alps, or the province of
Cisalpine Gaul. _Gallia ulterior_ is Gaul north of the Alps, as
far as the Cebenna mountains. The part of modern France beyond those
mountains was not yet subject to Rome, but became a Roman province by
the conquests of Caesar.
[209] _Bruttium_ is the peninsula of Italy, which extends towards Sicily.
It was a mountainous country with many forests.
[210] He was legate to his brother L. Murena, who had then already left
the province of Gaul, being a candidate for the consulship for the
year B.C. 62, which he obtained.
43. At Romae Lentulus cum ceteris, qui principes conjurationis erant,
paratis, ut videbatur, magnis copiis, constituerant, uti quum Catilina in
agrum Faesulanum cum exercitu venisset. L. Bestia tribunus plebis
contione habita quereretur de actionibus Ciceronis, bellique gravissimi
invidiam optimo consuli imponeret; eo signo[211] proxima nocte cetera
multitudo conjurationis suum quisque negotium exequeretur. Sed[212] ea
divisa hoc modo dicebantur: Statilius et Gabinius uti cum magna manu
duodecim simul opportuna loca urbis incenderent, quo tumultu facilior
aditus ad consulem ceterosque, quibus insidiae parabantur, fieret;
Cethegus Ciceronis januam obsideret eumque vi aggrederetur, alius autem
alium; sed filii[213] familiarum, quorum ex nobilitate maxima pars erat,
parentes interficerent, simul caede et incendio perculsis omnibus, ad
Catilinam erumperent. Inter haec parata atque decreta[214] Cethegus
semper querebatur de ignavia sociorum; illos dubitando et dies prolatando
magnas opportunitates corrumpere, facto, non consulto, in tali periculo
opus esse, seque, si pauci adjuvarent, languentibus aliis, impetum in
curiam facturum. Natura ferox, vehemens, manu promptus erat; maximum
bonum in celeritate putabat.
[211] _Signum,_ in military phraseology, is the visible or audible signal
for a movement which the army is to execute. The attack of the
tribune of the people on Cicero during his address to the people was
to be the signal. 'After this signal had been given' (_eo signo_),
_dato_ being understood. _Conjurationis_ for _conjuratorum_.
[212] _Sed_. According to ordinary Latinity, the sentence ought to have
been introduced by _autem_; see Zumpt, S 348, note. But it must be
observed that in the historical style of Sallust _sed_ very
frequently expresses not only opposition, but also mere transition
from one thing to another, which seems to be an affectation of
simplicity.
[213] The idea expressed by _filius familias_ is 'a son who is not yet
independent, who has not yet a household of his own.'
[214] _Inter haec_, &c.; that is, _dum haec parantur atque decernuntur_.
44. Sed Allobroges ex praecepto Ciceronis per Gabinium ceteros
conveniunt;[215] ab Lentulo, Cethego, Statilio, item Cassio postulant
jusjurandum, quod signatum ad cives perferant; aliter haud facile eos ad
tantum negotium impelli posse. Ceteri nihil suspicantes dant; Cassius
semet eo brevi venturum pollicetur ac paulo ante legates ex urbe
proficiscitur. Lentulus cum his T. Volturcium quendam Crotoniensem
mittit, ut Allobroges prins quam domum pergerent, cum Catilina data atque
accepta fide societatem confirmarent. Ipse Volturcio litteras ad
Catilinam dat, quarum exemplum infra scriptum est: 'Qui[216] sim ex eo,
quem ad te misi, cognosces. Fac cogites, in quanta calamitate sis, et
memineris te virum esse; consideres, quid tuae rationes postulent;
auxilium petas ab omnibus, etiam ab infimis.'[217] Ad hoc mandata verbis
dat: 'Quum ab senatu hostis judicatus sit, quo consilio servitia
repudiet? in urbe parata esse, quae jusserit; ne cunctetur ipse propius
accedere.'
[215] _Conveniunt_, with the accusative. See Zumpt, S 387.
[216] _Qui_ for _quis_. See Zumpt, S 134, note.
[217] He means to say, 'even from the slaves, who, as is now seen, have
not been received by Catiline into his army.'
45. His rebus ita actis, constituta nocte, qua proficiscerentur, Cicero
per legates cuncta edoctus,[218] L. Valerio Flacco et G. Pomptinio
praetoribus imperat, ut in ponte Mulvio[219] per insidias Allobrogum
comitatus deprehendant; rem omnem aperit, cujus gratia mittebantur,
cetera, uti facto opus sit, ita agant, permittit. Illi, homines
militares, sine tumultu praesidiis collocatis, sicuti praeceptum erat,
occulte pontem obsidunt.[220] Postquam ad id loci[221] legati cum
Volturcio venerunt et simul utrimque clamor exortus est, Galli, cito
cognito consilio, sine mora praetoribus se tradunt. Volturcius primo,
cohortatus ceteros, gladio se a multitudine defendit, deinde ubi a
legatis desertus est, multa prius de salute sua Pomptinium obtestatus,
quod ei notus erat, postremo timidus ac vitae diffidens velut
hostibus[222] sese praetoribus dedit.
[218] _Cuncta_. Respecting this accusative, see Zumpt, S 391, note 1.
[219] _Pons Mulvius_, a bridge across the Tiber, about one mile from
the city, outside the porta Flaminia. It still exists under the name
of ponte Molle, and is passed by all travellers who go from Rome to
the north.
[220] _Obsidunt_. For this verb, see Zumpt, S 189, under _sido_.
[221] _Ad id loci_; that is, _ad eum locum_.
[222] He betrayed his treasonable designs even by surrendering to the
public authorities, as if they were a foreign and hostile power, and
by praying them to spare his life.
46. Quibus rebus confectis, omnia propere per nuntios consuli
declarantur. At ilium ingens cura atque laetitia simul occupavere; nam
laetabatur intellegens conjuratione patefacta civitatem periculis ereptam
esse, porro autem anxius erat, dubitans, in maximo scelere tantis civibus
deprehensis, quid facto opus esset; poenam illorum sibi oneri,
impunitatem perdundae rei publicae[223] fore credebat. Igitur confirmato
animo vocari ad sese jubet Lentulum, Cethegum, Statilium, Gabinium, item
quendam Caeparium Tarracinensem, qui in Apuliam ad concitanda servitia
proficisci parabat. Ceteri sine mora veniunt: Caeparius paulo ante domo
egressus cognito indicio ex urbe profugerat. Consul Lentulum, quod
praetor erat, ipse manu tenens in senatum[224] perducit; reliquos cum
custodibus in aedem Concordiae venire jubet. Eo senatum advocat, magnaque
frequentia ejus ordinis, Volturcium cum legatis introducit, Flaccum
praetorem scrinium cum litteris, quas a legatis acceperat, eodem afferre
jubet.
[223] See Zumpt, S 662.
[224] The meeting of the senate was held in the Temple of Concord,
close by the Forum. Temples were often used instead of the Curia
Hostilia, which was the regular place for the senate to assemble in.
Lentulus was taken to the senate by the consul himself; the others
were conducted thither by guards, to be brought before the assembly
after the business had been opened.
47. Volturcius interrogatus de itinere, de litteris, postremo quid aut
qua de causa consilii habuisset, primo fingere alia, dissimulare de
conjuratione; post, ubi fide publica dicere jussus est,[225] omnia, uti
gesta erant, aperit docetque se paucis ante diebus a Gabinio et Caepario
socium ascitum nihil amplius scire quam legatos; tantummodo audire
solitum ex Gabinio, P. Autronium, Ser. Sullam, L. Vargunteium, multos
praeterea in ea conjuratione esse. Eadem Galli fatentur ac Lentulum
dissimulantem coarguunt praeter litteras sermonibus, quos ille habere
solitus erat; ex libris Sibyllinis[226] regnum Romae tribus Corneliis
portendi; Cinnam atque Sullam antea, se tertium esse, cui fatum foret
urbis potiri;[227] praeterea ab incenso Capitolio illum esse vigesimum
annum, quem saepe ex prodigiis haruspices[228] respondissent bello civili
cruentum fore. Igitur perlectis litteris, quum prius omnes signa sua
cognovissent, senatus decernit, uti abdicato magistratu Lentulus, itemque
ceteri in liberis custodiis[229] habeantur. Itaque Lentulus P. Lentulo
Spintheri, qui tum aedilis erat, Cethegus Q. Cornificio, Statilius G.
Caesari, Gabinius M. Crasso, Caeparius (nam is paulo ante ex fuga
retractus erat) Gn. Terentio senatori traduntur.
[225] 'He was ordered to make his statement on the ground of the promise
made to him, on behalf of the state, that he should not be punished.'
Sallust might have used the more complete expression, _fide publica
data_ or _accepta_; but such expressions are to be completed by the
sense rather than by any grammatical ellipsis.
[226] _Sibylla_ is the ancient Greek name for a prophetic woman; and at
Rome prophecies and counsels (_libri Sibyllini_) were kept in the
Capitol which were believed to have been given as early as the time
of the kings by a Sibyl of Cumae. They contained information about
festivals, sacrifices, and other religious observances, and the
means by which calamities which threatened the state might be
averted. They were under the superintendence of a special college
of priests, by whom alone they were consulted, on the command of
the senate, in cases of public distress or apprehension. This college
was called at different times, according to the number of its
members, _duoviri_, _decemviri_, or _quindecemviri sacrorum_.
[227] The _gens_ Cornelia comprised a large number of families, such
as the Scipios, Dolabellas, Merulas, Sullas, Cinnas, Cethegi, and
Lentuli. L. Cinna, by repeated consulships, and as the leader of
the Marian party, obtained the highest power at Rome after the
death of C. Marius, but was slain in B.C. 84 by his own soldiers,
whom he intended to lead against L. Sulla. Sulla, after having
been consul as early as the year B.C. 88, became dictator in B.C. 82.
Respecting the expression _urbis potiri_, see Zumpt, S 466.
[228] _Haruspices_ were the interpreters of the signs which were
believed to be contained in the entrails of victims sacrificed to the
gods, as well as of the phenomena in the atmosphere (_monstra_), and
other occurrences in nature, which seemed to be contrary to the
ordinary course of things. The system of this kind of superstition
had been principally developed by the ancient Etruscans, and the
haruspices engaged in the state religion of the Romans were generally
natives of Etruria; and the Romans, owing to the uncertainty of their
knowledge of things divine, dreaded this kind of superstition rather
than practised it.
[229] _Libera custodia_ is opposed to the _carcer publicus_, in which
the prisoners were treated like slaves, and kept in chains. There
were at Rome no prisons for those persons whose guilt was not yet
established, or whose punishment consisted merely in confinement; but
private persons, or the relatives of the accused, were obliged to
keep the person of a criminal in their own houses, until the final
decision upon his offence was given by the ordinary courts of
justice.
48. Interea plebes, conjuratione patefacta, quae primo cupida rerum
novarum nimis bello favebat, mutata mente Catilinae consilia execrari,
Ciceronem ad coelum tollere; veluti ex servitute erepta gaudium atque
laetitiam agitabat.[230] Namque alia belli facinora praedae magis quam
detrimento fore, incendium vero crudele, immoderatum ac sibi maxime
calamitosum putabat, quippe cui omnes copiae in usu cotidiano et cultu
corporis erant.[231] Post eum diem quidam L. Tarquinius ad senatum
adductus erat, quem ad Catilinam proficiscentem ex itinere retractum
ajebant. Is, quum se diceret indicaturum de conjuratione, si fides
publica data esset, jussus a consule quae sciret edicere, eadem fere quae
Volturcius, de paratis incendiis, de caede bonorum, de itinere hostium
senatum docet; praeterea se missum a M. Crasso, qui Catilinae nuntiaret,
ne eum Lentulus et Cethegus aliique ex conjuratione deprehensi[232]
terrerent, eoque magis properaret ad urbem accedere, quo et ceterorum
animos reficeret et illi facilius e periculo eriperentur. Sed ubi
Tarquinius Crassum nominavit, hominem nobilem, maximis divitiis, summa
potentia, alii rem incredibilem rati, pars tametsi verum existimabant,
tamen quia in tali tempore[233] tanta vis hominis magis leniunda quam
exagitanda videbatur, plerique Crasso ex negotiis privatis obnoxii
conclamant indicem falsum esse, deque ea re postulant uti referatur.[234]
Itaque consulente Cicerone frequens senatus decernit, Tarquinii indicium
falsum videri, eumque in vinculis retinendum, neque amplius
potestatem[235] faciundam, nisi de eo indicaret, cujus consilio tantam
rem esset mentitus. Erant eo tempore, qui aestimarent, indicium illud a
P. Autronio machinatum, quo facilius appellato Crasso per societatem
periculi reliquos illius potentia tegeret. Alii Tarquinium a Cicerone
immissum ajebant, ne Crassus more suo suscepto malorum patrocinio rem
publicam conturbaret. Ipsum Crassum ego postea praedicantem [236] audivi,
tantam illam contumeliam sibi a Cicerone impositam.
[230] Such transitions from the historical infinitive to the present or
imperfect, and _vice versa_, are not uncommon in Sallust. See
chapters 18, 23, 56, 58.
[231] _Erant_; according to the style of Cicero, it would be _essent_.
See Zumpt, S 565.
[232] For _deprehensio Lentuli et aliorum_, which would be more in
accordance with the usage of modern languages.
[233] _In tali tempore_. See Zumpt, S 475, note.
[234] They demanded that the consul should bring forward the matter, as
to whether the statement of Tarquinius was to be believed, in order
that the votes might be taken upon it. For without a special
_relatio_ by the magistrate authorised to make it (commonly the
presiding consul, but sometimes also a tribune of the people), no
senatus consultum could be made.
[235] _Potestatem_; supply from the context _indicandi_.
[236] _Praedicantem_. See Zumpt, S 636.
49. Sed iisdem temporibus Q. Catulus et C. Piso[237] neque precibus neque
gratia neque pretio Ciceronem impellere potuere, uti per Allobroges aut
alium indicem C. Caesar falso nominaretur. Nam uterque cum illo graves
inimicitias exercebat: Piso oppugnatus in judicio pecuniarum repetundarum
propter cujusdam Transpadani supplicium injustum; Catulus ex petitione
pontificatus odio incensus, quod extrema aetate, maximis honoribus usus,
ab adolescentulo Caesare victus[238] discesserat. Res autem opportuna
videbatur, quod is privatim egregia liberalitate, publice maximis
muneribus[239] grandem pecuniam debebat. Sed ubi consulem ad tantum
facinus impellere nequeunt, ipsi singulatim circumeundo atque ementiundo,
quae se ex Volturcio aut Allobrogibus audisse dicerent,[240] magnam illi
invidiam conflaverant, usque adeo, ut nonnulli equites Romani, qui
praesidii causa eum telis erant circum aedem Concordiae, seu periculi
magnitudine seu animi mobilitate[241] impulsi, quo studium suum in rem
publicam clarius esset, egredienti ex senatu Caesari gladio minitarentur.
[237] These two leaders of the party of the optimates had been consuls,
Catulus in the year B.C. 78, and C. Piso in B.C. 67; and Catulus had
also been censor in B.C. 65. Both were enemies of Caesar, who had
defeated Catulus in his canvas for the office of pontifex maximus,
and had caused a judicial inquiry to be instituted against Piso,
about the manner in which he had conducted the proconsular
administration of Gaul. Caesar was even then considered as the leader
of the popular party, and as an opponent of the senate and its
influence in the constitution.
[238] It was at that time that Caesar, on going from home to the
elective assembly, said to his mother, 'To-day you shall see your
son either as pontifex, or you shall never see him again.' Caesar,
however, is here called an _adolescentulus_ only in comparison
with the aged Catulus, for he was at that time thirty-six years old.
[239] 'In public life by the greatest exhibitions;' for _munera_ are
exhibitions by means of which a private person, and still oftener a
magistrate, endeavoured to win the favour of the people. As regards
Caesar, that which is said here refers to the brilliant exhibitions
in his aedileship, and the games which he gave while invested with
that office. But he had thereby got so deeply into debt, that when,
after his praetorship--with which he was invested in B. C. 62, the
year after the Catilinarian conspiracy--he wanted to leave Rome to go
to his province of Spain, he was kept back by his creditors; and
he was not allowed to depart until M. Crassus had given security
for him.
[240] _Dicerent_. Respecting this subjunctive, see Zumpt, S 551.
[241] _Mobilitas animi_, 'irritability,' or that state of mind which is
easily excited, or upon which it is easy to make an impression.
_Clarius esset_ is an explanation of _gladio minitarentur_.
50. Dum haec in senatu aguntur et dum legatis Allobrogum et T. Volturcio,
comprobato eorum indicio, praemia decernuntur, liberti et pauci ex
clientibus Lentuli diversis itineribus opifices atque servitia in
vicis ad eum eripiundum sollicitabant, partim exquirebant duces
multitudinum,[242] qui pretio rem publicam vexare soliti erant. Cethegus
autem per nuntios familiam atque libertos suos, lectos et exercitatos in
audaciam, orabat, ut grege facto cum telis ad sese irrumperent. Consul,
ubi ea parari cognovit, dispositis praesidiis, ut res atque tempus
monebat, convocato senatu refert, quid de his fieri placeat, qui in
custodiam traditi erant. Sed eos paulo ante frequens senatus judicaverat
contra rem publicam fecisse.[243] Tum D. Junius Silanus, primus
sententiam rogatus,[244] quod eo tempore consul designatus erat, de
his, qui in custodiis tenebantur, praeterea de L. Cassio, P. Furio,
P. Umbreno, Q. Annio, si deprehensi forent, supplicium sumendum
decreverat; isque postea, permotus oratione C. Caesaris, pedibus in
sententiam Tib. Neronis iturum[245] se dixerat, quod de ea re praesidiis
additis referundum censuerat.[246] Sed Caesar, ubi ad eum ventum est,
rogatus sententiam a consule, hujuscemodi verba locutus est:
[242] _Multitudines_; that is, _catervae, factiones_, crowds or bands of
men united for the purpose of creating disturbances among the people.
[243] This is the customary form of condemnation in a decree of the
senate, whereby it is declared that a wrong has actually been done
to the state, or that an attempt has been made upon the constitution.
The verdict of 'guilty,' therefore, had been pronounced by the
senate itself.
[244] _Sententiam rogatus_. See Zumpt, S 393, note 1.
[245] He had declared that at the voting, which took place after the
members of the senate had expressed their opinions, he would vote
for the opinion of Tib. Nero; for the voting took place by a division
(_discessio_), only one proposal being voted upon at a time, so
that those who supported it separated from those who did not support
it, but intended to vote for any other opinion (_alia omnia_).
[246] This opinion then aimed only at an adjournment of the matter.
Its issue was to be waited for; but in the meantime, the posts of
guards were to be strengthened, and a fresh proposal was to be made
respecting the punishment of the prisoners. The Tib. Nero here
mentioned is the grandfather of the Emperor Tiberius, who was raised
to the imperial throne in A. D. 14, in the fifty-sixth year of his
age.
51. 'Omnes homines, patres conscripti, qui de rebus dubiis consultant, ab
odio, amicitia, ira atque misericordia vacuos esse decet. Haud facile
animus verum providet, ubi illa officiunt, neque quisquam omnium libidini
simul et usui paruit. Ubi intenderis ingenium, valet; si libido possidet,
ea dominatur, animus nihil valet. Magna mihi copia est memorandi,
P. C., quae reges atque populi ira aut misericordia impulsi male
consuluerint;[247] sed ea malo dicere, quae majores nostri contra
libidinem animi sui recte atque ordine fecere. Bello Macedonico, quod cum
rege Perse[248] gessimus, Rhodiorum civitas, magna atque magnifica, quae
populi Romani opibus creverat, infida atque adversa nobis fuit; sed
postquam bello confecto de Rhodiis consultum est, majores nostri, ne quis
divitiarum magis quam injuriae causa bellum inceptum diceret, impunitos
eos dimisere. Item bellis Punicis omnibus, quum saepe Karthaginienses et
in pace et per inducias multa nefaria facinora fecissent, nunquam ipsi
per occasionem talia fecere; magis, quid se dignum foret, quam quid in
illos jure fieri posset, quaerebant. Hoc item vobis providendum est,
P. C., ne plus apud vos valeat P. Lentuli et ceterorum scelus quam vestra
dignitas; neu magis irae vestrae quam famae consulatis. Nam si digna
poena pro factis eorum reperitur, novum consilium approbo; sin magnitude
sceleris omnium ingenia exuperat, his utendum censeo, quae legibus
comparata sunt. Plerique eorum, qui ante me sententiam dixerunt,
composite atque magnifice casum rei publicae miserati sunt; quae belli
saevitia esset, quae victis acciderent, enumeravere; rapi virgines,
pueros, divelli liberos a parentum complexu, matres familiarum pati, quae
victoribus collibuissent, fana atque domos spoliari, caedem, incendia
fieri, postremo armis, cadaveribus, cruore atque luctu omnia compleri.
Sed, per deos immortales, quo illa oratio pertinuit? an[249] uti vos
infestos conjurationi faceret? Scilicet[250] quem res tanta et tam,
atrox non permovit, eum oratio accendet. Non ita est; neque cuiquam
mortalium injuriae suae[251] parvae videntur: multi eas gravius aequo
habuere.[252] Sed alia aliis licentia est, P. C. Qui demissi in obscuro
vitam habent,[253] si quid iracundia deliquere, pauci sciunt; fama atque
fortuna eorum pares sunt: qui magno imperio praediti in excelso aetatem
agunt, eorum facta cuncti mortales novere. Ita in maxima fortuna minima
licentia est; neque studere, neque odisse, sed minime irasci decet; quae
apud alios iracundia dicitur, ea in imperio superbia atque crudelitas
appellatur. Equidem ego[254] sic existimo, P. C., omnes cruciatus minores
quam facinora illorum esse; sed plerique mortales postrema meminere, et
in hominibus impiis sceleris eorum obliti de poena disserunt, si ea paulo
severior fuit. D. Silanum, virum fortem atque strenuum, certo scio, quae
dixerit, studio rei publicae dixisse, neque illum in tanta re gratiam aut
inimicitias[255] exercere; eos mores eamque modestiam viri cognovi.[256]
Verum sententia ejus mihi non crudelis,--quid enim in tales homines
crudele fieri potest?--sed aliena a re publica nostra videtur. Nam
profecto aut metus aut injuria te subegit,[257] Silane, consulem
designatum, genus poenae novum decernere. De timore supervacaneum est
disserere, quum praesertim diligentia clarissimi viri, consulis, tanta
praesidia sint in armis. De poena possumus equidem dicere id quod res
habet;[258] in luctu atque miseriis mortem aerumnarum requiem, non
cruciatum esse, eam cuncta mortalium mala dissolvere, ultra neque
curae neque gaudio locum esse. Sed, per deos immortales, quamobrem
in sententiam non addidisti, uti prius verberibus in eos
animadverteretur?[259] An quia lex Porcia[260] vetat? At aliae leges item
condemnatis civibus non animam eripi, sed exilium permitti jubent.[261]
An, quia gravius est verberari quam necari? Quid autem acerbum aut nimis
grave est in homines tanti facinoris convictos? Sin, quia levius est; qui
convenit[262] in minore negotio legem timere, quum eam in majore
neglexeris? At enim[263] quis reprehendet, quod in parricidas rei
publicae decretum erit? Tempus, dies, fortuna, cujus libido gentibus
moderatur. Illis merito accidet, quidquid evenerit; ceterum vos, P. C.,
quid in alios statuatis, considerate. Omnia mala exempla ex bonis orta
sunt; sed ubi imperium ad ignaros aut minus bonos pervenit, novum
illud exemplum ab dignis et idoneis ad indignos et non idoneos
transfertur.[264] Lacedaemonii devictis Atheniensibus triginta viros[265]
imposuere, qui rem publicam eorum tractarent. Hi primo coepere pessimum
quemque et omnibus invisum indemnatum necare; ea[266] populus laetari et
merito dicere fieri. Post ubi paulatim licentia crevit, juxta bonos et
malos libidinose interficere, ceteros metu terrere. Ita civitas servitute
oppressa stultae laetitiae graves poenas dedit. Nostra memoria victor
Sulla quum Damasippum[267] et alios hujusmodi, qui malo rei publicae
creverant, jugulare jussit, quis non factum ejus laudabat? Homines
scelestos et factiosos, qui seditionibus rem publicam exagitaverant,
merito necatos ajebant. Sed ea res magnae initium cladis fuit. Nam uti
quisque domum aut villam, postremo vas aut vestimentum alicujus
concupiverat, dabat operam, ut is in proscriptorum[268] numero esset. Ita
illi, quibus Damasippi mors laetitiae fuerat, paulo post ipsi
trahebantur; neque prius finis jugulandi fuit quam Sulla omnes suos
divitiis explevit. Atque ego haec non in M. Tullio neque his temporibus
vereor, sed in magna civitate multa et varia ingenia sunt. Potest alio
tempore, alio consule, cui item exercitus in manu sit, falsum aliquid pro
vero credi; ubi hoc exemplo per senati decretum consul gladium eduxerit,
quis illi finem statuet aut quis moderabitur? Majores nostri, P. C.,
neque consilii neque audaciae unquam eguere, neque illis superbia
obstabat, quo minus aliena instituta, si modo proba erant, imitarentur.
Arma atque tela militaria ab Samnitibus, insignia magistratuum ab Tuscis
pleraque[269] sumpserunt: postremo quod ubique apud socios aut hostes
idoneum videbatur, cum summo studio domi exequebantur, imitari quam
invidere bonis malebant. Sed eodem illo tempore, Graeciae morem imitati,
verberibus animadvertebant in cives, de condemnatis summum supplicium
sumebant. Postquam res publica adolevit et multitudine civium factiones
valuere, circumvenire innocentes, alia hujuscemodi fieri coepere, tum lex
Porcia aliaeque leges paratae sunt, quibus legibus[270] exilium damnatis
permissum est. Ego hanc causam, P. C., quominus[271] novum consilium
capiamus, in primis magnam puto. Profecto virtus atque sapientia major in
illis fuit, qui ex parvis opibus tantum imperium fecere quam in nobis,
qui ea bene parta vix retinemus. Placet igitur eos dimitti et augere
exercitum Catilinae? Minime, sed ita censeo; publicandas eorum pecunias,
ipsos in vinculis habendos per municipia,[272] quae maxime opibus valent;
neu quis de his postea ad senatum referat neve cum populo agat; qui
aliter fecerit, senatum existimare eum contra rem publicam et salutem
omnium facturum.'
[247] _Male consulere_, 'to form bad' or 'injurious resolutions.'
[248] _Perse_. Respecting the forms of this name, see Zumpt, SS 52, 54.
[249] _An_ must be explained by supplying another interrogation before
it, such as _alione?_ 'had that speech any other object, or had it
this one?' for _an_ is used only in the second part of a double
question.
[250] 'To be sure words will fire him on, whom the thing itself did not
move'--that is, words are sure not to rouse him whom the thing
itself did not move; for _scilicet_ has an ironical force.
[251] _Injuriae suae_, 'the injuries done to him.'
[252] 'Many have taken them more seriously to heart than was necessary.'
It is more common to say _gravius tulerunt_. The perfect, _habuere_,
in expressing a general truth, has the sense of a present, or rather
of a Greek aorist, denoting that which once happened, and still
continues to happen. Compare p.22, note 2 [note 68].
[253] _Vitam habent_ for _vitam agunt_, which is more common. Sallust is
very fond of the verb _habere_ in certain phrases. See _Jug_. 10.
[254] _Equidem ego_ for _ego quidem_. See Zumpt, S 278.
[255] _Inimicitiae_. About this plural, see Zumpt, S 94. The singular
_inimicitia_ is not used at all.
[256] 'Such I know to be the character of the man.'
[257] _Subigere_ here, as in many other passages of Sallust, has the
meaning of _cogere, invitum impellere_ ('to force a person to
something'), followed by an infinitive instead of a clause with _ut_.
[258] _Id quod res habet_, 'that which is in the nature of the thing.'
Caesar hereby means to represent his opinion as philosophically
correct, and in accordance with nature. _Id quod_ belong together.
[259] Such had indeed been the custom in former times. The condemned
person, previous to being beheaded with the axe, was bound to a post
and scourged. This barbarous punishment continued to be inflicted
sometimes even at a later period, when it was expressly mentioned in
the verdict that the criminal should be punished _more majorum_.
_Animadvertere_ is the proper expression for the infliction of
bodily punishment by a lictor, who _has to pay attention to his
orders_; but it is also used of the person who gives the order,
and causes it to be carried into effect, just as _interficere_
is said both of the executioner and the person who orders a man to be
put to death.
[260] This law, proposed by one Porcius, and passed by the people,
forbade the scourging of Roman citizens on the naked body; so that,
after the passing of that law, an execution consisted simply in
beheading a criminal with the sword; and if he was a soldier,
flogging took the place of scourging. The celebrated M. Porcius Cato,
about B. C. 160, recommended this bill to the people; but it was not
he who proposed it, but an unknown person of the name of Porcius,
probably a tribune of the people.
[261] There were no Roman laws forbidding capital punishment, or
substituting exile in its place, and for this reason Caesar does not
refer to any such law. He supports his view only by the circumstance
that, in all the more recent laws, especially in the criminal law of
Sulla, exile (_interdictio aquae et ignis_) was fixed upon as the
extreme penalty; and that according to the usual indulgence (not
sanctioned by any law), accused persons, if they denied being guilty,
and were defended by some one, remained in the enjoyment of their
freedom until the sentence was passed. Thus it happened that a
person, foreseeing his condemnation, might quit the Roman territory,
and take up his abode within the territory of some town or city where
the Roman law was not in force, and where the Roman state placed no
obstacles in his way.
[262] 'How is it consistent?' Respecting _qui_ for _quomodo_ or _quo
pacto_, see Zumpt, S 133, note. The _minus negotium_ is the
scourging, and the _majus negotium_ the execution.
[263] _At enim_ introduces an objection raised by the orator himself.
_At_ represents the objection, and _enim_ introduces an explanation
of it. See Zumpt, S 349.
[264] Caesar means to say that the present senate, which, as he
flatteringly says, consists of worthy men, will not abuse the power
of putting Roman citizens to death; but that a subsequent senate,
taking such an example as a precedent, might abuse its power. It
must be observed that the Roman senate possessed the power over the
life and death of citizens, not by virtue of legal enactments, but
only by ancient custom. This power legally belonged only to the
people assembled in the Comitia Centuriata, or to those to whom the
people expressly intrusted it--namely, the ordinary and extraordinary
courts of justice. It may seem surprising that Caesar does not
express himself more energetically against the right claimed by the
senate; but he would certainly have spoken in vain, for it was
every senator's interest that the power of the senate should be
recognised in its greatest extent, even though it should not be
exercised in every particular case.
[265] That is, the so-called thirty tyrants in the year B. C. 404.
[266] _Ea_; for this accusative, see Zumpt, S 385.
[267] _Damasippus_ was only a surname of the praetor M. Junius Brutus,
who in the year B. C. 82 put to death a great many Roman nobles of
the party of Sulla.
[268] Namely, by Sulla, after he had been made dictator.
[269] _Pleraque_; most of the ensigns and distinctions by which the
magistrates were distinguished from private persons, especially the
_toga praetexta_, _sella curulis_, _fasces_ (which were carried
by the lictors), and, above all, the splendid procession of the
_triumphatores_.
[270] _Legibus_ is here a pleonasm, and might have been omitted. We
must here repeat that Caesar makes an artful application of the
circumstance that, in all the late criminal laws, the _interdictio
aquae et ignis_ was fixed as the severest punishment, as if
thereby a person had been simply permitted to withdraw from the
republic. The _interdictio_ was a much more severe punishment,
inasmuch as the person on whom it was inflicted lost all his rights
as a citizen, and as every one was forbidden to receive him into his
house, so that he was a complete outcast. Wherever these regulations
were not carried into effect, and even in case a criminal made his
escape before the sentence was pronounced, we can see nothing but an
abuse of clemency.
[271] _Quominus_ is here used because the leading clause conveys the
idea of a hindrance; but _ne_ also might have been written.
[272] _Per municipia_, 'among the municipia.' See Zumpt, S 301.
52. Postquam Caesar dicendi finem fecit, ceteri verbo alius alii varie
assentiebantur: at M. Porcius Cato, rogatus sententiam, hujuscemodi
orationem habuit: 'Longe mihi alia mens est, P. C., quum res atque
pericula nostra considero, et quum sententias nonnullorum mecum ipse
reputo.[273] Illi mihi disseruisse videntur de poena eorum, qui patriae,
parentibus, aris atque focis suis bellum paravere; res autem monet cavere
ab illis magis quam, quid in illos statuamus, consultare. Nam cetera
maleficia tum persequare, ubi facta sunt; hoc nisi provideris ne accidat,
ubi evenit, frustra judicia implores; capta urbe nihil fit reliqui
victis. Sed, per deos immortales, vos ego appello, qui semper domos,
villas, signa, tabulas vestras pluris quam rem publicam fecistis,[274] si
ista, cujuscunque modi sunt quae amplexamini, retinere, si voluptatibus
vestris otium praebere vultis, expergiscimini aliquando et capessite rem
publicam.[275] Non agitur de vectigalibus neque de sociorum injuriis:
libertas et anima nostra in dubio est. Saepenumero, P. C., multa verba in
hoc ordine feci,[276] saepe de luxuria atque avaritia nostrorum civium
questus sum, multosque mortales ea causa adversos habeo; qui mihi atque
animo meo nullius unquam delicti gratiam fecissem,[277] haud facile
alterius libidini male facta condonabam. Sed ea tametsi vos parvi
pendebatis, tamen res publica firma erat; opulentia neglegentiam
tolerabat.[278] Nunc vero non id agitur, bonisne an malis moribus
vivamus, neque quantum aut quam magnificum imperium, populi Romani sit,
sed haec cujuscunque modi videntur, nostra an nobiscum una hostium futura
sint. Hic mihi quisquam mansuetudinem et misericordiam nominat.[279]
Jampridem equidem[280] nos vera vocabula rerum amisimus, quia bona aliena
largiri liberalitas, malarum rerum audacia fortitudo vocatur, eo[281] res
publica in extremo sita est. Sint sane, quoniam ita se mores habent,
liberales ex sociorum fortunis, sint misericordes in furibus aerarii; ne
illi sanguinem nostrum largiantur, et[282] dum paucis sceleratis parcunt,
bonos omnes perditum eant. Bene et composite G. Caesar paulo ante in hoc
ordine de vita et morte disseruit, credo falsa existimans ea, quae de
inferis memorantur, diverso itinere malos a bonis loca taetra, inculta,
foeda atque formidolosa habere. Itaque censuit pecunias eorum
publicandas, ipsos per municipia in custodiis habendos; videlicet timens,
ne, si Romae sint, aut a popularibus conjurationis aut a multitudine
conducta per vim eripiantur. Quasi vero mali atque scelesti tantummodo in
urbe et non[283] per totam Italiam sint, aut non ibi plus possit audacia,
ubi ad defendendum opes minores sunt. Quare vanum equidem hoc consilium
est, si periculum ex illis metuit; sin in tanto omnium metu solus non
timet, eo magis refert[284] me mihi atque vobis timere. Quare quum de P.
Lentulo ceterisque statuetis, pro certo habetote,[285] vos simul de
exercitu Catilinae et de omnibus conjuratis decernere. Quanto vos
attentius ea agetis, tanto illis animus infirmior erit; si paululum modo
vos languere viderint, jam omnes feroces aderunt.[286] Nolite existimare,
majores nostros armis rem publicam ex parva magnam fecisse.[287] Si ita
res esset, multo pulcherrimam eam nos haberemus; quippe sociorum atque
civium, praeterea armorum atque equorum major nobis copia quam illis est.
Sed alia fuere, quae illos magnos fecere, quae nobis nulla sunt, domi
industria, foris justum imperium, animus in consulendo liber, neque
delicto neque libidini obnoxius.[288] Pro his nos habemus luxuriam atque
avaritiam, publice egestatem, privatim opulentiam; laudamus divitias,
sequimur inertiam; inter bonos et malos discrimen nullum est; omnia
virtutis praemia ambitio possidet. Neque mirum: ubi vos separatim sibi
quisque consilium capitis, ubi domi voluptatibus, hic[289] pecuniae aut
gratiae servitis, eo fit, ut impetus fiat in vacuam[290] rem publicam.
Sed ego haec omitto. Conjuravere nobilissimi cives patriam
incendere,[291] Gallorum gentem infestissimam nomini Romano ad bellum
accersunt; dux hostium cum exercitu supra caput est: vos cunctamini
etiamnunc, quid intra moenia deprensis hostibus faciatis?[292]
Misereamini censeo[293],--deliquere homines adolescentuli per
ambitionem,--atque etiam armatos dimittatis. Nae ista vobis mansuetudo et
misericordia, si illi arma ceperint in miseriam onvertet.[294] Scilicet
res ipsa aspera est, sed vos non timetis eam.[295] Immo vero[296] maxime;
sed inertia et mollitia animi alius alium expectantes cunctamini,
videlicet dis immortalibus confisi, qui hanc rem publicam saepe in
maximis periculis servavere. Non votis neque suppliciis muliebribus
auxilia deorum parantur; vigilando, agendo, bene consulendo prospera
omnia cedunt; ubi socordiae te atque ignaviae tradideris, nequidquam deos
implores;[297] irati infestique sunt. Apud majores nostros A. Manlius
Torquatus bello Gallico filium suum, quod is contra imperium in hostem
pugnaverat, necare jussit,[298] atque ille egregius adolescens
immoderatae fortitudinis morte poenas dedit: vos de crudelissimis
parricidis quid statuatis cunctamini? Videlicet cetera vita eorum huic
sceleri obstat. Verum parcite dignitati Lentuli, si ipse pudicitiae, si
famae suae, si dis aut hominibus unquam ullis pepercit; ignoscite Cethegi
adolescentiae, nisi iterum jam patriae bellum fecit. Nam quid ego de
Gabinio, Statilio, Caepario loquar? quibus si quidquam[299] unquam pensi
fuisset, non ea consilia de re publica habuissent. Postremo, P. C., si
mehercule peccato locus esset,[300] facile paterer vos ipsa re corrigi,
quoniam verba contemnitis; sed undique circumventi sumus. Catilina cum
exercitu faucibus urguet:[301] alii intra moenia atque in sinu urbis sunt
hostes: neque parari neque consuli quidquam potest occulte; quo magis
properandum est. Quare ita ego censeo: quum nefario consilio sceleratorum
civium res publica in maxima pericula venerit, iique indicio T. Volturcii
et legatorum Allobrogum convicti confessique sint caedem, incendia
aliaque se foeda atque crudelia facinora in cives patriamque paravisse,
de confessis sicuti de manifestis rerum capitalium more majorum
supplicium sumendum.'
[273] Cato says, '_When I consider the danger of our situation, I form
quite a different view_ from what I do when I reflect upon the
opinions expressed by some about the punishment of the criminals; for
the present danger demands energetic measures of defence, while some
of you are speaking only about the punishment of a crime already
committed. But such a view is incorrect, for we are still surrounded
by the greatest dangers.'
[274] _Pluris facere_, 'to esteem higher.'
[275] _Capessere rem publicam_, 'to take part in the administration of
the state,' or 'to devote one's self to its service.'
[276] _Verba facere_, 'to speak,' or 'to make a speech.'
[277] 'I who had never connived at any of my bad acts'--that is, I who
had never given way to my own weaknesses. About this subjunctive
expressing the reason why the orator does not allow the faults of
others to pass unnoticed, see Zumpt, SS 555, 558.
[278] 'The strength of the state bore the negligence' in restraining the
arbitrary proceedings in which individuals indulged.
[279] 'And here any one will speak to me of clemency and mercy!' alluding
to Caesar. The negative pronoun _quisquam_ is used because the
meaning implied is, that no one ought to have done so. See
Zumpt, S 709.
[280] _Equidem_ for _quidem_, as often in Sallust, but never in
Cicero. The meaning is: 'We have indeed (_quidem_) long since lost
the habit of calling things by their true names, but this erroneous
application of the word _mercy_ is not to be borne.'
[281] _Eo_; Cicero would have said _ea re_.
[282] Instead of _et_, the author might have used _neve_ (_neu_), since
from the preceding clause we have to supply _ne_ to _et_. This is not
a very common mode of speaking; but it occurs most frequently when,
after a negative clause, _et_ introduces a kind of antithesis, and
thus acquires the power of _sed_.
[283] _Et non_ corrects the untrue supposition, that there were no rebels
except at Rome. In such a case we can neither use _non_ without _et_,
nor _neque_. See Zumpt, S 334.
[284] 'If Caesar alone is unconcerned, it is more requisite (necessary
or important) that I should be concerned for me and for you.' About
_refert_, see Zumpt, SS 23, 449, note.
[285] _Habetote_; this future imperative denotes that something is to be
done when something else shall take place. Zumpt, S 583.
[286] The meaning is: 'All will be there immediately'--that is, they will
rise to make the attack.
[287] Cato means to say, 'It is a wrong opinion that our state has
become great by arms; for if this were true, it would now be in the
most flourishing condition, as our military power is now greater
than it ever was. The republic has become great much more by the
activity of the citizens, and by the justice of the government, and
it is this activity and stern justice that must be restored.'
[288] _Obnoxius_, 'subject to a punishment,' or 'to be injured (_noxa_);'
hence, figuratively, 'bound,' 'dependent.' Our ancestors, says Cato,
could deliberate and judge without bias, for their minds were not
crippled either by crimes they had committed, nor by immoderate
desires and passions--a hint intimating that those who were in favour
of lenient measures were conscious of their own guilt, and not free
from bad intentions.
[289] _Hic_--that is, in the senate, in discussing matters of public
importance, you allow yourselves to be guided only by your desire to
gain money and popularity, being anxious not to offend any one who
may be in your way.
[290] _Vacuam_--namely, _a defensoribus_, 'defenceless,' 'helpless.'
[291] _Incendere_, a free use of the infinitive for _ad patriam
incendendam_.
[292] A question expressive of wonder, in which the interrogative
particles are commonly not used. See Zumpt, S 351, note.
[293] Ironically: 'I am of opinion that you should have mercy, and
dismiss the criminals.' The subjunctive without _ut_ depends upon the
verb _censeo_; it is not a subjunctive for an imperative.
[294] 'Assuredly this clemency of yours will end in misery.' Respecting
_nae_, see Zumpt, S 360; and on the transitive sense of _vertere_,
S 145.
[295] The sentence beginning with _scilicet_ is again ironical. The
sense, without the irony, is: 'Nor can it be supposed that you
consider the matter indeed difficult, but that you are without fear.
You are, on the contrary, full of fear, but you hesitate.'
[296] _Immo vero_, 'oh no; on the contrary.' See Zumpt, S 277.
[297] Respecting this form of hypothetical sentences, see Zumpt, S 524,
note 1. The verb in the apodosis might be _implorabis_, without
altering the meaning.
[298] This statement differs in two points from the current tradition
of history. First, the praenomen of this Manlius is commonly _Titus_,
and so we must no doubt correct here, even though the manuscripts
have _Aulus_. Secondly, he did not show his severe military
discipline towards his son in the Gallic war, but in the great Latin
war, which ended, in B.C. 340, with the subjugation of Latium.
Manlius ordered his son to be executed in presence of the army; and
to characterise that harsh severity, the orator uses the word
_necare_ instead of _interficere_ or _occidere_.
[299] _Quidquam_ is stronger than _siquid_--that is, the expression of
the negative is more strongly marked in the protasis.
[300] 'If there were room for a mistake'--namely, in the resolution to be
come to. The meaning is: 'No time is to be lost, since, if you come
to a wrong determination, you will be ruined before you have time to
correct your decision.'
[301] 'Is upon our necks,' a figurative expression, properly applied to
a wrestler who seizes another by the throat.
53. Postquam Cato assedit, consulares omnes itemque senatus magna pars
sententiam ejus laudant, virtutem animi ad coelum ferunt, alii alios
increpantes timidos vocant, Cato clarus atque magnus habetur, senati
decretum fit, sicuti ille censuerat. Sed mihi multa legenti, multa
audienti, quae populus Romanus domi militiaeque, mari atque terra
praeclara facinora fecit, forte libuit attendere, quae res maxime tanta
negotia sustinuisset.[302] Sciebam saepenumero parva manu cum magnis
legionibus hostium contendisse; cognoveram parvis copiis bella gesta cum
opulentis regibus, ad hoc saepe fortunae violentiam toleravisse, facundia
Graecos, gloria belli Gallos ante Romanos fuisse. Ac mihi multa agitanti
constabat, paucorum civium egregiam virtutem cuncta patravisse,[303]
eoque factum, uti divitias paupertas, multitudinem paucitas superaret.
Sed postquam luxu atque desidia civitas corrupta est, rursus res publica
magnitudine sua imperatorum atque magistratuum vitia sustentabat, ac,
sicuti effeta parentum,[304] multis tempestatibus haud sane quisquam
Romae virtute magnus fuit. Sed memoria mea ingenti virtute, diversis
moribus fuere viri duo, M. Cato et G. Caesar; quos quoniam res obtulerat,
silentio praeterire non fuit consilium, quin[305] utriusque naturam et
mores, quantum ingenio possem, aperirem.
[302] 'What has chiefly helped in carrying out such great undertakings.'
_Negotium sustinere_, 'to be able to carry out a business,'
representing the _negotium_ as a burden.
[303] Sallust states that, after mature consideration of all the
circumstances, he has come to the conviction that the merit of
individual citizens had raised Rome to its supremacy over the world,
but that afterwards there were no men of importance, or excelling
others by mental superiority, and that the state, as a whole, alone
made the faults of individuals bearable. We must honour the judgment
of Sallust, but cannot agree with it; we must rather believe that the
unvarying ability of the whole Roman people, notwithstanding the not
very prominent minds of individuals, was the cause of the rapid
progress of the Roman dominion. In the later times, on the other
hand, we meet a Scipio the younger, a Marius, a Sulla, a Pompey, and
a Caesar, all of whom were men or generals of eminent talent, while
all those who served under them were persons of inferior abilities.
[304] _Effeta parentum_, the same as _effeta parens_, 'a mother who has
had children, but can have no more.' Respecting the partitive
genitive (as in _aliqui militum_ for _aliqui milites_), see
Zumpt, S 430. The author in the progress of his sentence abandons the
construction with which he began, and which ought to have been
continued thus: _Roma haud sane quemquam virtute magnum protulit_,
for which he says, _Romae haud sane quisquam virtute magnus fuit_.
This deviation from the construction may be explained still more
easily, if in our mind we add _facit_ to the words _sicuti effeta
parentum_, 'as is the case with an aged mother.' _Multis
tempestatibus_, 'during a long time.' The singular _tempestas_ in the
sense of 'time' is not uncommon, but the plural _tempestates_ in the
sense of 'periods of time' occurs only in Sallust in this passage,
and _Jug_. 73, 96, and 108.
[305] _Quin_ is used regularly for _ut non_ after a negative clause:
'I would not pass them over in silence, without unfolding their
characters.'
54. Igitur his genus, aetas, eloquentia prope aequalia fuere; magnitudo
animi par, item gloria, sed alia alii.[306] Caesar beneficiis ac
munificentia magnus habebatur, integritate vitae Cato. Ille mansuetudine
et misericordia clarus factus, huic severitas dignitatem addiderat.
Caesar dando, sublevando, ignoscendo, Cato nihil largiundo gloriam
adeptus est. In altero miseris perfugium erat, in altero malis pernicies;
illius facilitas, hujus constantia laudabatur. Postremo Caesar in animum
induxerat laborare, vigilare; negotiis amicorum intentus sua neglegere,
nihil denegare, quod dono dignum esset; sibi magnum imperium, exercitum,
bellum novum exoptabat, ubi virtus enitescere posset. At Catoni studium
modestiae, decoris, sed maxime severitatis erat. Non divitiis cum divite,
neque factione cum factioso, sed cum strenuo virtute, cum modesto pudore,
cum innocente abstinentia certabat, esse quam videri bonus malebat; ita
quo minus petebat gloriam, eo magis ilium sequebatur.[307]
[306] 'But the one a different one from the other.' The Latin custom of
repeating the same word obliges the author, having once said _alia_,
to use _alii_, which, strictly speaking, should be _alteri_, as he is
speaking of only two persons.
[307] 'The less he strove after fame, the more it followed him of
itself,' so that _gloria_ must be supplied.
55. Postquam, ut dixi, senatus in Catonis sententiam discessit,[308]
consul optimum factu ratus, noctem, quae instabat, antecapere, ne quid eo
spatio novaretur, III. viros[309] quae supplicium postulabat parare
jubet; ipse, praesidiis dispositis, Lentulum in carcerem deducit;[310]
idem fit ceteris per praetores. Est in carcere locus, quod[311] Tullianum
appellatur, ubi paululum descenderis ad laevam, circiter duodecim pedes
humi depressus.[312] Eum muniunt undique parietes atque insuper camera
lapideis fornicibus vineta,[313] sed incultu,[314] tenebris, odore foeda
atque terribilis ejus facies est. In eum locum postquam demissus est
Lentulus, viridices rerum capitalium,[315] quibus praeceptum erat, laqueo
gulam fregere. Ila ille patricius ex gente clarissima Corneliorum, qui
consulare imperium Romae habuerat,[316] dignum moribus factisque suis
exitium vitae invenit. De Cethego, Statilio, Gabinio, Caepario eodem modo
supplicium sumptum est.[317]
[308] _Dicessit_; that is, after the senate, a division having taken
place, had decided in favour of Cato's opinion. Compare p. 50, note 2
[note 245].
[309] Read _tresviros_; each one by himself was called _triumvir_ 'one of
the college of the three.' These officers belonging to the
magistratus minores, had the superintendence of the public prison,
and the carrying of the sentence into execution; whence their
complete title was _tresviri capitales_. The singular, _triumvir_,
does not justify the plural _triumviri_, since the ordinary
grammatical laws require _tres viri_. In manuscripts, we usually had
_III. viri_. Compare Zumpt, S 124.
[310] The preposition _de_ in this compound adds to the idea of the
simple verb _ducere_, that of the place to which a person is led,
and in which he is to remain; hence it is frequently used in the
expression _domum deducere_, 'to take' or 'lead a person home.'
[311] _Locus, quod_. Respecting the gender of the relative pronoun,
see Zumpt, S 372.
[312] The whole structure was called _carcer Mamertinus_, and its main
parts still exist, being changed into a Christian church, _San Pietro
in carcere_. It is situated not far from the ancient _forum Romanum_,
to the north-east, at the foot of the Capitoline hill. According to
Sallust's description, persons on entering had to go down a few
steps leading to the entrance of the _Tullianum_, a subterraneous
apartment cut into the rock, and covered over with a roof; and this
was the place where prisoners were executed. Their corpses were
afterwards publicly exhibited in the adjoining _Scalae Gemoniae_.
The name Tullianum is derived by the Romans from their king, Tullius
Hostilius.
[313] 'The roof is bound together by arches of stone,' to make it strong,
for otherwise, wooden beams were used for such purposes.
[314] _Incultus_, a substantive of rare occurrence, denoting 'want of
cleanliness,' 'the absence of care.'
[315] 'Punishers of capital offences' is only a paraphrase for
_carnifices_, 'executioners.'
[316] _Cornelius Lentulus_ had been consul as early as B.C. 71, but the
year after, he had been ejected from the senate by the censors, on
account of his base conduct. In order to be able to re-enter the
senate, he caused himself to become praetor a second time in this
year, B.C. 63, in which he ended his life so disgracefully. It is
mentioned that he was of a manly and handsome appearance; but the
baseness of his character is attested also by other authors.
[317] The only one among the others who was a member of the senate was
Cornelius Cethegus; Gabinius and Statilius were men of equestrian
rank, and Caeparius was a native of the municipium of Terracina.
56. Dum ea Romae geruntur, Catilina ex omni copia,[318] quam et ipse
adduxerat et Manlius habuerat, duas legiones instituit, cohortes pro
numero militum complet,[319] deinde, ut quisque voluntarius aut ex sociis
in castra venerat, aequaliter distribuerat, ac brevi spatio legiones
numero hominum expleverat, quum initio non amplius duobus milibus[320]
habuisset. Sed ex omni copia circiter pars quarta erat militaribus armis
instructa; ceteri, ut quemque casus armaverat, sparos aut lanceas,[321]
alii praeacutas sudes portabant. Sed postquam Antonius[322] cum exercitu
adventabat, Catilina per montes iter facere, modo ad urbem, modo in
Galliam versus castra movere, hostibus occasionem pugnandi non dare;
sperabat propediem magnas copias sese habiturum, si Romae socii incepta
patravissent. Interea servitia repudiabat, cujus[323] initio ad eum
magnae copiae concurrebant, opibus conjurationis fretus, simul alienum
suis rationibus existimans, videri[324] causam civium cum servis
fugitivis communicavisse.
[318] A regular military force is more commonly called _copiae_, but
the singular, _copia_, also occurs in the sense of 'army,' especially
when it consists of an irregular mass of troops.
[319] _Cohortes complet_ cannot mean in this passage, 'he makes the
cohorts complete,' for such a completeness (consisting of at least
420 men) is incompatible with the addition _pro numero militum_,
'according to the number of his soldiers' in each cohort was not the
usual number of a complete cohort. _Complet_ refers to the number
of cohorts, ten of which made a legion. Translate therefore, 'he
makes the full number of cohorts.'
[320] _Duobus milibus_, Sallust might have said _duo milia_, with the
ellipsis of _quam_ so customary with _plus_, _amplius_, and _minus_.
See Zumpt, S 485.
[321] _Sparus_ is said to be a wooden kind of weapon, resembling a
shepherd's staff, turned at the top; and _lancea_ a spear with
a handle in the middle. Both these weapons were not used by Roman
soldiers, for the latter, besides the short and broad _gladius_,
used the _pilum_, as long as a man is high, and as thick as a
fist, the upper end of which was strongly provided with iron, and
sometimes the _hasta_, which was still longer, and had an
iron point.
[322] _L. Antonius_, the colleague of Cicero in the consulship, B.C. 63.
[323] _Servitia, cujus magnae copiae_; a singular construction, which
cannot be explained otherwise than by taking _cujus_ as a neuter,
'slaves, _of which_ large numbers flocked to him.' This explanation,
however, is supported by the consideration that slaves were regarded
as things, and were designated by names of the neuter gender, as
_servitia_, _mancipia_. In ordinary language, we should say _cujus
generis_, 'of which class of men.'
[324] _Videri_ for _se videri_, 'he thought it contrary to his interest
to appear to have maintained the cause of citizens with the aid of
runaway slaves.' Respecting the omission of the subject of the
infinitive when it is a personal pronoun, see Zumpt, S 605.
57. Sed postquam in castra nuntius pervenit Romae conjurationem
patefactam, de Lentulo et Cethego ceterisque, quos supra memoravi,
supplicium sumptum; plerique, quos ad bellum spes rapinarum aut novarum
rerum studium illexerat, dilabuntur; reliquos Catilina per montes asperos
magnis itineribus in agrum Pistoriensem[325] abducit, eo consilio, uti
per tramites occulte perfugeret in Galliam Transalpinam. At Q. Metellus
Celer cum tribus legionibus in agro Piceno praesidebat, ex difficultate
rerum eadem illa existimans, quae supra diximus, Catilinam agitare.
Igitur, ubi iter ejus ex perfugis cognovit, castra propere movet ac sub
ipsis radicibus montium consedit, qua illi descensus erat in Galliam
properanti. Neque tamen Antonius procul aberat, utpote qui magno exercitu
locis aequioribus expeditos in fuga sequeretur.[326] Sed Catilina
postquam videt montibus atque copiis hostium sese clausum, in urbe res
adversas, neque fugae neque praesidii ullam spem, optimum factu ratus, in
tali re fortunam belli temptare, statuit cum Antonio quam primum
confligere. Itaque contione advocata hujuscemodi orationem habuit:
[325] The territory of Pistoria, in the north of Etruria, not far from
Faesulae, and to the north of Florentia, is in the Apennines. The
regular road from Pisae to Genoa, and thence across the Alps into
Transalpine Gaul, ran along the sea-coast. Cisalpine Gaul was
likewise protected against Catiline by Metellus, so that he could
reach his goal (Transalpine Gaul) only by mountain passes.
[326] Antonius followed the bands of Catiline, which were not
inconvenienced by baggage, as they were fleeing (_in fuga_; that is,
_fugientes_). Antonius's army marched on smoother roads, but had
to carry heavier baggage. From all this, we see why Antonius, though
not far from the enemy, yet could not reach him. Respecting the
adverb _utpote_, see Zumpt, S 271. _Utpote qui_, 'the which,' is
used as a conjunction for _quippe qui_, generally with the
subjunctive, and indicates the cause of the preceding statement.
58. 'Compertum ego habeo, milites, verba virtutem non addere, neque ex
ignavo strenuum neque fortem ex timido exercitum oratione imperatoris
fieri. Quanta cujusque animo audacia natura aut moribus inest, tanta in
bello patere solet. Quem neque gloria neque pericula excitant, nequidquam
hortere; timor animi auribus officit.[327] Sed ego vos, quo pauca
monerem, advocavi; simul uti causam mei consilii aperirem. Scitis
equidem, milites, socordia atque ignavia Lentuli quantam ipsi nobisque
cladem attulerit; quoque modo, dum ex urbe praesidia opperior, in Galliam
proficisci nequiverim.[328] Nunc vero quo in loco[329] res nostrae sint,
juxta mecum omnes intellegitis. Exercitus hostium duo, unus ab urbe,
alter a Gallia obstant; diutius in his locis esse, si maxime animus
ferat, frumenti atque aliarum rerum egestas[330] prohibet. Quocunque ire
placet, ferro iter aperiundum est. Quapropter vos moneo; uti forti atque
parato animo sitis et, quum proelium inibitis, memineritis vos divitias,
decus, gloriam, praeterea libertatem atque patriam in dexteris vestris
portare. Si vincimus, omnia nobis tuta erunt, commeatus abunde, municipia
atque coloniae patebunt; sin metu cesserimus, eadem illa adversa fient:
neque locus neque amicus quisquam teget, quem arma non texerint.
Praeterea, milites, non eadem nobis et illis necessitudo impendet; nos
pro patria, pro libertate, pro vita certamus: illis supervacaneum est pro
potentia paucorum pugnare. Quo audacius aggredimini, memores pristinae
virtutis. Licuit vobis cum summa turpitudine in exilio aetatem agere;
potuistis nonnulli Romae amissis bonis alienas opes expectare: quia illa
foeda atque intoleranda viris videbantur, haec[331] sequi decrevistis. Si
haec relinquere vultis, audacia opus est; nemo nisi victor pace bellum
mutavit.[332] Nam in fuga salutem sperare, quum arma, quis[333] corpus
tegitur, ab hostibus averteris, ea vero dementia est. Semper in proelio
iis maximum est periculum, qui maxime timent; audacia pro muro habetur.
Quum vos considero, milites, et quum facta vestra aestimo, magna me spes
victoriae tenet. Animus, aetas, virtus vestra me hortantur;[334]
praeterea necessitudo, quae etiam timidos fortes facit. Nam multitudo
hostium ne circumvenire queat, prohibent angustiae loci. Quodsi virtuti
vestrae fortuna inviderit, cavete,[335] inulti animam amittatis, neu
capti potius sicuti pecora trucidemini, quam virorum more pugnantes
cruentam atque luctuosam victoriam hostibus relinquatis.'
[327] _Officere_ is properly 'to oppose,' 'obstruct,' _aliquid alicui
rei_; then omitting the object (_aliquid_) with the dative alone, 'to
be an obstacle to,' or 'to hinder,' therefore, _officia famae tuae_,
'I oppose something to your fame.' 'Internal fear is a hindrance to
the ear,' so that admonitions are either not heard at all, or do not
penetrate into the mind.
[328] Catiline assigns the circumstance that he had expected aid and
succours from Rome itself, as the cause of his not having set out for
Gaul earlier, when he might have accomplished his end. _Opperior_,
'I wait for,' or _expecto dum aliquis veniat_.
[329] _Quo in loco_, 'in which situation.' The preposition _in_ might
have been omitted. See Zumpt, S 481.
[330] _Egestas_, 'want,' with the genitive of the thing wanted, is of
rare occurrence for _inopia_ or _penuria_. _Egestas_ is commonly used
absolutely in the sense of 'poverty,' 'neediness.'
[331] _Haec_ is here used in the general sense of 'these circumstances;'
that is, this honourable but difficult war. This we must infer from
the _haec_ following.
[332] For the construction of _mutare_, see Zumpt, S 456.
[333] _Quis_ for _quibus_. _Ea_, not _id_. Zumpt, S 372.
[334] 'Give me courage,' or 'give me hope,' for _hortari_ is applied to
persons doing good things, and _admonere_ to persons doing bad ones:
_hortamur properantem, admonemus cunctantem_.
[335] _Cavete--amittatis, neu trucidemeni_ for _cavete, ne amittatis,
neve (neu) trucidemini_. See Zumpt, S 586.
59. Haec ubi dixit, paululum commoratus, signa canere jubet,[336] atque
instructos ordines in locum aequum deducit. Dein, remotis omnium equis,
quo militibus exaequato periculo animus amplior esset, ipse pedes
exercitum pro loco atque copiis instruit. Nam, uti planities erat inter
sinistros montes et ab dextera rupe aspera,[337] octo cohortes in fronte
constituit, reliquarum signa[338] in subsidio artius collocat. Ab his
centuriones omnes, lectos et evocatos, praeterea ex gregariis militibus
optimum quemque armatum in primam aciem subducit.[339] G. Manlium in
dextera, Faesulanum quendam in sinistra parte curare[340] jubet; ipse cum
libertis et colonis propter aquilam assistit,[341] quam bello Cimbrico G.
Marius in exercitu habuisse dicebatur. At ex altera parte G. Antonius,
pedibus aeger,[342] quod proelio adesse nequibat, M. Petreio legato[343]
exercitum permittit. Ille cohortes veteranas, quas tumulti[344] causa
conscripserat, in fronte post eas ceterum exercitum in subsidiis locat.
Ipse equo circumiens, unum quemque nominans appellat, hortatur, rogat, ut
meminerint, se contra latrones inermes, pro patria, pro liberis, pro aris
atque focis suis certare. Homo militaris, quod amplius annos triginta
tribunus aut praefectus aut legatus aut praetor cum magna gloria in
exercitu fuerat, plerosque ipsos factaque eorum fortia noverat; ea
commemorando militum animos accendebat.
[336] _Canere_ is used in different ways: _tubicen canit signum_, 'the
trumpeter blows the signal;' _tubicen canit_, 'the trumpeter blows
(his instrument);' _signa canuntur_, 'signals are blown' or 'given;'
and lastly, _signa canunt_, 'the signals sound.' The last expression
is the one used in our passage.
[337] _Rupe aspera_, &c. 'For in accordance with the nature of the plain
between hills on the left-hand side, and on the right a rugged rock,
he drew up (only) eight cohorts in front.' A simpler construction
would have been _et rupem asperam a dextra_, but the manuscripts are
decidedly in favour of the ablative, which must be considered as an
ablative absolute, and as forming a distinct clause. Other editions
have the correction _rupis aspera_, 'the rough part of a rock'
(_aspera_ being the neut. plur.), but this is a poetical expression.
See Zumpt, S 435.
[338] Literally, 'The signals (_vexilla_) of the other cohorts he places
in the rear as a reserve, more closely together.' _Signa_ here
denotes the separate divisions of the troops; that is, the cohorts
and the three maniples in each cohort, which are distinguished from
one another by their flags or banners (_vexilla_). When an army was
drawn up in a spacious plain, a space was left between the several
divisions, but in this case, the plain being too narrow, there were
no such spaces.
[339] 'From among these who were drawn up as a reserve, he draws, for the
purpose of strengthening the van, all centurions, picked men (in
apposition), and the volunteers who had not been enlisted, as well as
the ablest of the common soldiers who were provided with arms.' The
word _lectos_ belonging to _centuriones_, shows that Catiline had
appointed to the office of centurions only chosen men who were
personally known to him as able soldiers. _Evocati_ were those
soldiers in a Roman army who did not serve in the ranks of the other
common soldiers, but as a separate corps, and were exempt from
the ordinary military duties of standing as sentinels, making
fortifications, foraging, and the like. They derived their name from
the fact that they were invited (_evocare_) by the general to serve
in the army as volunteers; they, moreover, were generally more
advanced in years than the regular troops.
[340] _Curare_, 'to command.'
[341] Catiline himself stood nearest the standard (eagle) with his most
faithful followers, whose personal fate depended upon him; that is,
the freedmen of his family and the tenant farmers of his estates.
The Roman nobles, as early as that time, used to parcel out their
estates in small farms, which were tenanted especially by their
freedmen, who were thus patronised by their former masters.
[342] _Pedibus aeger_. He had the gout. Dion Cassius, a later historian
of Rome, who wrote in Greek, states that Antonius only pretended to
be ill, in order not to have to fight against his friend Catiline.
[343] A _legatus_, in this sense (for it also means 'ambassador'),
supplied, in a Roman army, the place of a commander possessing the
_imperium_. Accordingly, consuls and praetors, when intrusted with
the command of an army, had one or more legates, according to the
number of legions which they had under their command. The office of
legate was given by the senate to such men as had held a magistracy,
generally the praetorship, or at least the quaestorship, and the
senate appointed them on the proposal of the commander-in-chief.
When there were several legates, the commander-in-chief might
intrust one of them with the command of the whole army; but the
commander-in-chief was answerable for all the acts of his legate.
[344] _Tumulti_ for _tumultus_, as _senati_ for _senatus_.
60. Sed ubi, omnibus rebus exploratis, Petreius tuba signum dat, cohortes
paulatim incedere jubet, idem facit hostium exercitus. Postquam eo ventum
est, unde a ferentariis[345] proelium committi posset, maximo clamore cum
infestis signis[346] concurrunt; pila omittunt, gladiis res geritur.
Veterani, pristinae virtutis memores, comminus acriter instare; illi haud
timidi resistunt; maxima vi certatur. Interea Catilina cum expeditis in
prima acie versari, laborantibus succurrere; integros pro sauciis
accersere, omnia providere, multum ipse pugnare saepe, hostem ferire;
strenui militis et boni imperatoris officia simul exequebatur. Petreius,
ubi videt Catilinam, contra ac ratus erat, magna vi tendere, cohortem
praetoriam[347] in medios hostes inducit, eosque perturbatos atque alios
alibi resistentes interficit; deinde utrimque ex lateribus ceteros
aggreditur. Manlius et Faesulanus in primis pugnantes cadunt. Postquam
fusas copias seque cum paucis relictum videt Catilina, memor generis
atque pristinae suae dignitatis, in confertissimos hostes incurrit ibique
pugnans confoditur.
[345] _Ferentarii_ are light-armed troops fighting at a distance with
javelins.
[346] The banners being turned hostilely against one another. Respecting
_cum_, see Zumpt, S 473; for we also find _infestis signis
concurrere_, without _cum_, as an ablative of the instrument.
[347] The _cohors praetoria_ was a battalion which, in forming an army,
was composed of the ablest and most tried soldiers, as the bodyguard
of the commander-in-chief. They had to protect him, and assist him in
contriving to bring any engagement to the point where he wished it
to be. Under the emperors, the _cohortes praetoriae_, nine or
ten in number--the emperors having several armies under their
command--formed the body-guard of the emperor and the garrison of
Rome.
61. Sed confecto proelio, tum vero cerneres,[348] quanta audacia
quantaque vis animi fuisset in exercitu Catilinae. Nam fere, quem quisque
vivus pugnando locum ceperat, eum amissa anima corpore tegebat. Pauci
autem, quos medios[349] cohors praetoria disjecerat, paulo diversius, sed
omnes tamen adversis vulneribus[350] conciderant. Catilina vero longe a
suis inter hostium cadavera repertus est, paululum etiam spirans
ferociamque animi, quam habuerat vivus, in vultu retinens. Postremo ex
omni copia neque in proelio neque in fuga quisquam[351] civis ingenuus
captus est: ita cuncti suae hostiumque vitae juxta[352] pepercerant.
Neque tamen exercitus populi Romani laetam aut incruentam victoriam
adeptus erat; nam strenuissimus quisque aut occiderat in proelio aut
graviter vulneratus discesserat. Multi autem, qui de castris visundi aut
spoliandi gratia processerant, volventes hostilia cadavera, amicum alii,
pars hospitem aut cognatum reperiebant; fuere item, qui inimicos suos
cognoscerent. Ita varie per omnem exercitum laetitia, moeror, luctus
atque gaudia[353] agitabantur.
[348] 'There you might indeed have seen.' See Zumpt, S 528, note 2.
[349] In the centre of the army where they were drawn up.
[350] _Adversa vulnera_, 'wounds in the breast,' or 'in the front part
of the body' generally. _Aversa vulnera_, on the other hand, are
'wounds in the back,' such as are inflicted on cowards that run away.
[351] _Quisquam_ for ullus_. See Zumpt, S 676.
[352] _Juxta_, 'equally little.' They had spared the life of their
enemy as little as their own. Compare p. 41, note 3 [note 194].
[353] These four substantives form contrasts, though intentionally not
in the regular way, for _gaudium_ and _moeror_ denote a joyous and
sad state of mind, 'joy' and 'sadness;' _laetitia_ and _luctus_ at
the same time express the audible expressions of joy and grief.
Accordingly, _laetitia_ contrasts with _luctus_, and _gaudia_ with
_moeror_. Respecting the omission of the conjunction in describing
contrasts of this nature, see Zumpt, S 783.
* * * * *