quod nudi in conviviis saltare 20 didicerunt.
XI. O bellum magno opere pertimescendum, quum banc
sit habiturus Catilina scortorum 1 cohortem praetoriam ! 2 In-
struite nunc, Quirites, contra has tarn praeclaras Catilina?
11. Bene barbatos] With large
beards. For if we translate ' spruce'
there is no opposition between it and
' imberbes,' which is evidently in-
tended. Bene barbati,' are full-
grown young men ; ' imberbes'
youths, called, Att. i. 14, ' barba-
tuli.' The custom of shaving was
introduced into the city, from Sicily,
by P. Licinius Menn, a. l. 454.
12. Manicatis tunicis] ' Tunics
furnished with sleeves.' These were
held an unmanly apparel. A. Gell.
vii. 12. Virg. ix. 616. Et tunicae
manicas et habent redimicula mitral.'
13. Velis amictos] To show the
looseness and thin texture of their
gowns. Men of gravity chose gowns
of opposite qualities. Hor. Ep. i.
19. Exiguaeque togae simulet textore
Catonem.
14. Antelucanis ca:nis] Suppers
protracted till the dawn. Arch. 6.
n. 15.
15. Delicati] Mil. 10. n.21.
16. Psallere] Al. cantare ; but
Sail. (Cat. 25,) uses ' psallere et
saltare.' As to ' semin. Catilinarium,'
Orel, defends it by Cato 48. ' Po-
marium seminarium atque oleagine-
um.' The remark of Sen. then, that
this would mean 'a seminary instituted
by Catiline,' seems not well-founded.
He reads, however, Catilinarum, and
cites, Phil. xiii. 2. ' Seminarium judi-
cum tertia) decuriae.'
17. Verumtamen, fyc] Non jam
ad pueros dicit sed ad amatores ip-
sorum. Muret. Hence mulierculas.'
18. His jam noctibus] Novem-
ber was then arrived.
19. Apen. nives] Similarly Virg.
Eel. x. 47. ' Alpinas, an dura, nives,
et frigora Rheni, 6cc.'
20. lYudi saltare] Deiot. 9, n.
25 ; to which add Dem. Olyn. ii. 7.
o'Lovq fiiBvaOivraQ bp^tiaOat routura
ola iyuj vvv ukvoj 7rpoc vfiag dvofid-
aai.
Sect. XI. 1. Scortorum] This
term is sometimes applied to males.
Sext. 17. ' Cum scurrarum locuple-
tium scorto, cum, &c. quos homi-
nes.' Al. Scortatorum.
2. Cohortem praetoriam] As ' prae-
tor' is any leader, civil or military,
' praetoria cohors' is the general's
guard. Festus says that Scipio Afri-
272 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO II.
eopias vestra praesidia vestrosque exercitus : et primum gla-
diatori illi confecto 3 et saucio, consules imperatoresque ves-
tros opponite : deinde contra illam naufragorum ejectam 4
ac debilitatam manum, florem totius Italiae ac robur educite.
Jam vero urbes 5 coloniarum ac municipiorum respondebunt 7
Catilinae tumulis 8 silvestribus. Neque vero ceteras eopias,
ornamenta, 9 praesidia vestra, cum illius latronis inopia atque
egestate debeo confer re. Sed, si, omissis his rebus omni-
bus, quibus nos suppeditamus, 10 eget ille, senatu, 11 equitibus
Romanis, populo, urbe, aerario, vectigalibus, cuncta Italia,
provinciis omnibus, exteris nationibus, si, his rebus omissis,
ipsas causas, quae inter se confligunt, contendere 12 velimus :
ex eo ipso, quam valde illi jaceant, intelligere possumus. Ex
hac enim parte pudor pugnat, illinc petulantia : 13 hinc pudi-
citia, illinc stuprum : hinc fides, illinc fraudatio : hinc pie-
tas, illinc scelus : hinc constantia, illinc furor : hinc hones-
tas, illinc turpitudo : hinc continentia, illinc libido : denique
aequitas, temperantia, fortitudo, prudentia, virtutes omnes
certant cum iniquitate, cum luxuria, cum ignavia, cum teme-
ritate, cum vitiis omnibus : postremo copia cum egestate,
bona ratio cum perdita, mens sana cum amentia, bona deni-
que spes cum omnium rerum desperatione confligit. Jn
hujusmodi certamine ac proelio, nonne, etiam, si hominum
canus first formed this corps, and an ground, a mound, which, covered with
imitation of it by Augustus, gave woods, (silvestribus,) would be a fit-
rise to the famous praetorian guards, ting retreat for Catiline's adherents,
which so frequently disposed of the Al. cumulis ; but * urbes' requires
imperial diadem. ' tumulis.' Supr. n. 5.
3. Confecto] The technical word 9. Ornamenta'} By these theDelph.
for a wounded gladiator. Similarly would understand senatum, equites
I lor. Ep. ii. 2. 97. Caedimur et to- Rom., aararium, &c.' butForcel. 'ali-
tidem plagis consumimus hostem.' quis apparatus,' equipment, accou-
4. Ejectam] Properly applied to trements.
naufragi.' 10. Suppeditamus] Arch. 5. n. 4.
5. Urbes] Muret. tires. Al. arces, Supply * quibus antem' before 'eget.'
which is thought to be supported by 11. Senatu, &;c] This enumer-
Liv. xxvii. 18. ' Nee tumulos nee ation is worthy of notice as contain-
arcem ne mare quidem armis obstitis- ing Cicero's opinion concerning the
se suis, &c.' But ' coloniarum ac relative dignity of the grand consti-
municipiorum' may be put for the ruents of the empire.
people who inhabit them, to whom 12. Contendere] To compare. Hor.
' urbes' will apply. Ep. i. 10. 26 ' qui Sidonio conten-
7. Respondebunt] Similes sunt dere callidus ostro Nescit Aquinatem
cum ironia. Mannt. Hor. Ep. ii. 2. potantia vellera succum.' Rose. A.
48 non responsura lacertis. 33. Manil. 13. n. 5.
8. Tumulis] (A tumeo) a rising 13. Pudor petulantia, c] This
IN L. CATILINAM, Cap. 12.
273
studia deficiant, dii ipsi immortales cogent ab his praeclaris-
simis virtutibus tot et tanta vitia superari ?
XII. Quae quum ita sint, 1 Quirites, vos, quemadmodum
jam antea, 2 vestra tecta custodiis vigiliisque 3 defendite :
mihi, 4 ut urbi sine vestro motu ac sine ullo tumultu satis es-
set praesidii, consultum ac provisum est. Coloni omnes mu-
nicipesque vestri, certiores a me facti de hac nocturna excur-
sione Catilinae, facile urbes suas finesque defendent : gladia-
tores, quam sibi ille maximam manum et certissimam fore
putavit, quamquam meliore 5 animo sunt, quam pars patrici-
orum, potestate tamen nostra continebuntur. Q. Metellus,
quern ego, prospiciens hoc, in agrum Gallicanum Picenum-
que 7 praemisi, aut opprimet 8 hominem, aut omnes ejus motus
conatusque prohibebit. Reliquis autem de rebus constituen-
dis, maturandis, agendis, 9 jam ad senatum referemus, quern
vocari videtis.
Nunc illos, qui in urbe remanserunt, atque adeo qui con-
tra urbis salutem omniumque vestrum in urbe a Catilina
relicti sunt, quamquam sunt hostes, tamen, quia nati sunt
tives, monitos eos 11 etiam atque etiam volo. Mea lenitas
passage is valuable for determining
the precise meaning of several words.
E. g. ' scelus' is not merely a breach
of morals, but an affront to religion ;
* furor,' not only madness, but any
conduct opposite to the firm, even
tenor of the good citizen's, conduct.
Sect. Xll. 1. Qua quum ita sint]
The peroration. Introd 5.
2. Jam antea, c] Here many
MSS. and editors read ante, and in-
troduce dixi, or diximus. As Cic.
had not in fact so said, edixi has been
proposed. Cat. i. 3. Sail. 30. V. E.
3. Custodiis vigiliisque'] By day
and night. Or. i. 1. * Nocturnum
presidium.' Also n. 10, and Mil. 25.
n.7.
4. Mihi consultum est] i. e. A
me; for ' ego consului.'
5. Quamquam meliore] ' Quam-
quam' is here, as in Phil. ii. 24, a
correction: 'And yet, attached as it
may be to Catiline, it is better affected
to the state than certain patricians 1
Could name. But with all its at-
tachment, it shall be kept within
the bounds of duty.' Non, therefore,
is not required before meliore, as Ern.
thought. Sail. Cat. 17, gives a list of
senators engaged in the conspiracy.
6. Continebuntur] The gladiators
were distributed among different pro-
vincial towns. Sail. 30. V. E. Refer
' potestate nostra' to the consular au-
thority.
7. Gallican. Picen.] Supr. 3. n.
1.3.
8. Aut opprimet] To put doion the
man will be Ins first aim; if he fails
in that, he will next endeavour to
render his attempts harmless.
9. Constituend. agend.] So Sail.
Cat. 1, ' Priusquam incipias consul-
to, et, &c. mature facto opus est.'
Muret.
10. Nati cives] For the conspi-
rators, he hints, had among them en-
franchised slaves, gladiators, &c.
Those that remained in the city, how-
ever, were native citizens.
11. Monitos eos] The pronoun is
274 M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO II.
adhuc si cui solutior 12 visa est, hoc exspectavit, ut id, quod
latebat, erumperet. 13 Quod reliquum est, 14 jam non possum
oblivisci, meam hanc esse patriam, me horum esse consulem :
mihi aut cum his vivendum, aut pro his esse moriendum.
Nullus est porta? custos, nullus insidiator via? : si qui exire
volunt, consulere sibi possunt ; qui vero in urbe se commo-
verit, 15 cujusegonon modo factum, sed inceptum ullumcona-
tumve contra patriam deprehendero; sentiet 16 in hac urbe es-
se consules vigilantes, esse egregios magistratus, 17 esse fortem
senatum, esse arma, esse carcerem : 18 quern vindicem ne-
fariorum ac manifestorum scelerum majores nostri esse vo-
luerunt.
XIII. Atque haec omnia sic agentur, Quirites, ut res max-
ima minimo motu, pericula summa nullo tumultu, bellum
intestinum ac domesticum, post hominum memoriam crudel-
issimum ac maximum, me uno togato duce 1 et imperatore,
sedetur. Quod ego sic administrabo, Quirites, ut, si ullo
modo fieri poterit, ne improbus quidem quisquam in hac
urbe poenam sui sceleris sufferat. Sed si vis manifesta? au-
daciae, si impendens patriae periculum me necessario de hac
animi lenitate deduxerit: 2 illud profecto perficiam, quod i.i
tanto et tarn insidioso bello vix optandum 3 videtur, ut Deque
bonus quisquam intereat, paucorumque poena vos jam omnes
omitted by Ern. and other editors. rated. This was more than a vain
V. E. threat in Cic. Vid. Sail. Cat. 62.
12. Solutior] Opposed to ' seve- Sect. XIII. 1. Togato duce]
rior,' or the like. Mil. 13. n. 13. When the consuls set out on any mi-
13. Erumperet] Mil. 23. n. 15. litary expedition, they changed their
14. Quod reliquum est] Sc. 'quoad gowns for a military dress. This con-
quod, ficc' spiracy, Cic. promises, shall be quell-
15. Se eommoverit] Mil. 31. n. 13, ed whilst he wears the garb of peace,
where qui is, by accident, omitted be- V. E. Hence the boast which cost
fore ' aliquid.' him so dear : ' Cedant arma togae.'
16. Sentiet] Verbum usitatum in 2. Deduxerit] Where many sub-
comminando. Terent. * Sentiet qui jects are named, the last being of im-
vir siem.' Muret. portance and expressed in several
17. MagUtrat us] Tribunes. Weishe. words, the verb is often found in the
V. K. singular, as sedetur in the preceding
18. Career.] Cic. here declares sentence. Weiske. Al. deduxerit.
that the intention of the old Romans, V. E.
in building a prison, was to punish the 3. Quod vix optandum] People
evil-doer ; whereas, Ulpian says, that seldom wish impossibilities, at least
it was to deter him from committing it is useless to do so. So Manil. 9.
crimes. But it does not appear how ' Tantum victus efficere potuit, quan-
these two objects can be well sepa- turn iucolumis nunquam est ausus op-
IN L. CATILINAM, Cap. 13.
27,
salvi esse possitis. Quae quidem ego neque mea prudentia,
neque humanis consiliis fretus polliceor vobis, Quirites ; sed
multis, et non dubiis deorum immortalium significationibus, 4
quibus ego ducibus in hanc spem sententiamque sum ingres-
sus : qui jam non procul, 5 ut quondam solebant, ab externo
hoste atque longinquo ; sed hie praesentes suo numine atque
auxilio sua templa atque urbis tecta defendunt : quos vos,
Quirites, precari, venerari 6 atque implorare debetis, ut, quani
urbem pulcherrimam, florentissimam potentissimamque esse
voluerunt, bane, omnibus hostiimi copiis terra marique supe-
ratis, a perditissimorum civium nefario scelere defendant.
tare. Hence ' vix opt.' is like our
expression ' hardly to be thought of,'
applied to things unlikely to take
place. The note of Manut. is : Po-
tius enim optandum videtur ut in tan-
to, &c, multi improbi morte multa-
rentur ;' i. e. he took ' optandum' in its
ordinary sense, but referred it only to
* paucorum poena ;' which the struc-
ture of the sentence seems to forbid.
4. Significationibus'] The verb sig-
nifico was appropriate to the Arus-
pices. Tibull. ii. 1. 26. De Div. i. 1.
4 Quid sibisignificent, trepidantia con-
sult exta.' Metam. xv. 576. V. E.
A bright flame stated by Plut. Cic.
20, to have issued from the altar at
Cicero's house, while his wife and the
matrons were sacrificing to Bona Dea,
is usually given as an instance of these
omens.
5. Non jam procul] The vulgar
thought that the gods varied their dis-
tance from a place according as their
assistance was required; but still that
they acted so much the better for be-
ing near at hand. Hence he says
' praesentes.' The Delph. refers 'pro-
cul, &c.' to the occasions in which the
Romans were unsuccessful, e. g. the
Gallic and second Punic war; but
this is unnecessary.
6. Venerari] To beseech, Hor.
Sat. ii. 6. Si veneror stultus nihil
horura.
M. TULLII CICERONIS
IN
LUCIUM CATILINAM,
TERTIA*
AD QUIRITES
ORATIO.
I. Rempublicam, 1 Quirites, vitamque omnium vestrum,
bona, 2 fortunas, conjuges, liberosque vestros, atque hoc do-
micilium clarissimi imperii, fortunatissimam 3 pulcherrimam-
que urbem, hodierno die, 4 deorum immortalium summo erga
vos amore, 5 laboribus, consiliis, periculisque meis, 6 ex flamma
atque ferro, 7 ac paene ex faucibus fati 8 ereptam, et vobis con-
servatam ac restitutam videtis. Et, si 9 non minus nobis jucundi
atque illustres sunt ii dies, quibus conservamur, 10 quam illi,
* Vid. Introd. 7.
Sect. I. 1. Remp.] An amplifi-
cation ; as Or. i. 5. n. 10 ; < univer-
sam remp. petis.'
2. Bona] Td vnap\ovTa, syno-
nymous with ' fortunas.' Muret.
The Delph., however, restricts the
latter to ' pecuniae.'
3. Fortunatissimam'] Ev8aifioviara'
Tt)V.
4. Hodierno die] The third of
Deer. Introd. 6. Att. ii. 1.
5. Deorum amore] Post deos se-
ipsum ponendo, beneficium auget,
Schol.
6. Periculis meis] Cic. does not
seem to make any account of his col-
league, C. Antony.
7. Flamma ferro] Or. ii. 9. n. 7.
8. Faucibus jati] An obvious
metaphor from wild beasts ; ' fati,'
here, is merely ' death,' as Ktjp with
the Greeks. Phil. ii. 1.
9. Et, si non minus] Et si, seems
put for quod si, as in the Phormio of
Terence ' et si tibi res sit cum eo leno-
ne ;' where Donat. remarks, that et
is not only a connective but incep-
tive particle. Muret.
10. Jucundi quibus conservamur]
This is natural. So Hor. Carm. iii.
8, ' Voveram dulces epulas, et album
B B
278
M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO III.
quibus nascimur; quod salutiscertalaetitia est,nascendi incerta
conditio, 11 et quod sine sensu nascimur, cum voluptate serva-
mur : profecto, quoniam ilium, qui hanc urbem condidit, ad
deos immortales 12 benevolentia famaque sustulimus, 13 esse
apud vos posterosque vestros in honore debebit is, 14 qui ean-
dem hanc urbem conditam amplificatamque servavit. Nam
toti urbi^ 15 templis, delubris, tectis ac mcenibus subjectos
prope jam ignes circumdatosque restinximus ; iidemque gla-
dios in rempublicam destrictos retudimus, mucronesque eo-
rum a jugulis vestris dejecimus. Qua? quoniam in senatu
illustrate, patefacta, comperta sunt per me ; vobis jam ex-
ponam breviter, Quirites : ut et quanta, et quam manifesta,
et qua ratione investigata et comprehensa sint, vos, qui ig-
noratis, et exspectatis, 16 scire possitis.
Principio, 17 ut Catilina paucis 18 ante diebuserupit ex urbe,
quum sceleris sui socios, hujusce nefarii belli acerrimos
duces Roma? reliquisset: semper vigilavi 19 et providi, Qui-
rites, quemadmodum in tantis et tam absconditis insidiis
salvi esse possemus.
Libero caprum prope funeratus Arbo-
ris ictu.'
1 1 . Nascendi incerta conditio] So
the Trausi, a Thracian tribe, used to
lament over the birth, and rejoice at
the death, of a human being. Herod.
v. 4.
12. Ad deos immortales] The apo-
theosis of Romulus is told Liv. i.
16. Vid. also Aurel. Vict. c. 2.
llor. Carm. iii. 3 r Hac Quirinus
Martis equis Acheronta fugit;' and
Kp. ii. 1. ' Romulus deorum in
templa recepti.' Numa added a fla-
men, called Quirinalis, and appoint-
ed a feast called Quirinalia, which
was held on the seventeenth of Fe-
bruary.
13. Famaque sustulimus] ' Sus-
ccpit autera vita hominum consuetu-
doque communis, ut benefices excel-
lentes viros in coelum, famaac volun-
tate, tollerent.' De Nat. Deor. ii.
24. Tusc. i. 12. V. E.
14. Debebit is] Having shown that
Romulus, the founder of the city, was
deified, he hints that its preserver is
no less deserving of immortal renown.
15. Toti urbi] Al. totius vrbis ;
but it is agreeable to Cicero's manner
to proceed from the whole to its parts.
Snpr. n. 1.
16. Exspectatis] The MSS. here
vary. Al. ex actis ; from the records
of the senate's proceedings. The
latter reading Weiske adopts, but
suggests a different interpretation and
punctuation ; you, who have not the
means of knowing the facts by refer-
ence to the senate's recorded pro-
ceedings.' V. E.
17. Principio] Narratio est.
Muret.
18. Paucis] Twenty-four. On
'erupit,' vid. Mil. 23. n. 15.
19. Semper vigilavi] This modest
exposition of his own diligence is al-
lowable in an orator, where his au-
dience is to be conciliated. The
* vigils' of kings and statesmen are
long on record. Horn. U. Oit xp>l
7ravvi>xiov ^a\rjfopov avSpa xa-
Qtvdtiv, &c.
IN L. CATILINAM, Cap. 2.
279
II. Nam turn, quum ex urbe Catilinam ejiciebam, (non
enim jam vereor hujus verbi 1 invidiam, quum ilia- magis sit
timenda, quod vivus exierit,) sed turn, quum ilium extermi-
nari 3 volebam, aut reliquam conjuratorum manum simul ex-
ituram, aut eos, qui restitissent, infirmos sine illo ac debiles
fore putabam. 4 Atque 5 ego, ut vidi, quos maximo furore et
scelere esse inflammatos 6 sciebam, eos nobiscum esse, et Ro-
mae remansisse : in eo omnes dies noctesque consumpsi, ut,
quid agerent, quid molirentur, sentirem ac viderem : ut quo-
niam auribus vestris, propter incredibilem magnitudinem 7
sceleris, minorem fidem faceret oratio mea, rem ita compre-
henderem, ut turn demum animis saluti vestrae provideretis,
quum oculis 8 maleficium ipsum videretis. ltaque ut com-
peri, 9 legatos Allobrogum belli Transalpini et tumultus 1J
Sect. II. 1. Hujus verbi] Sc.
' ejiciebam.' Or. ii. 1.
2. Ilia] Sc. invidia' the odium
likely to accrue from his being per-
mitted to depart alive.
3. Exterminari] Ex terminis age-
re topi'uv to banish.
4. Nam turn putabam] In the
present sentence the remark may be
pardoned, that eighteen words, more
than a third of the whole, terminate
with the letter m. In Greek, not one
word terminating with that letter has
been discovered. V. E. [We may
conjecture that the letter m was not
nearly so marked a sound with the
Latins as with us, from the fact of its
being lost (at least in verse) before
vowels ; in which predicament are
one half of the m's in this sentence.
That the Greek v. so often represented
in Latin by m, was likewise a weak
letter, appears from its being often
lost in Greek- Latin words, as UXd-
Tuiv, Plato. The French nasals may
give us a notion how this was done.]
5. Atque] Scheller proposes Atqui.
These words are frequently confound-
ed by transcribers. V. E.
6. Furore injiammatos] Verr. v.
62. Ipse inflammatus scelere et
furore, Sec'
7. Propter magnitudinem, &;c] For
the more atrocious the acts, the great-
er the difficulty of giving them cre-
dence.
8. Oculis] Pleonastic, but empha-
tic, being opposed to ' auribus ves-
tris' preceding. So inf. 8. ' ut eos
poene oculis videre possemus.'
9. Comperi] By means of Q. Fa-
bius Sanga, the patron of the Allo-
brogian state. Sail. Cat. 41. The
Allobrogians were a people of Gal-
lia Narbonensis. Their chief town
was Vienna, on the Rhodanus
(Rhone), below Lugdunum (Lyons).
Ilor. Epod. xvi. 6. Novisque rebus
infidelis Allobrox. Their dialect
was barbarous. Hence Juv. vii. 144.
Rufum, qui toties Ciceronem Allo-
broga dixit. IntroJ. 6.
10. Tumulfus Gallici] A war in
Italy or Cisalpine Gaul was usually
called 'tumultus,' because it alarm-
ed the city. Liv. vii. 9. Cic. Phil,
viii. 1, says it was ' gravius quam
bellum ;' and accuses the senate of
ignorance, for calling the war against
M. Antony ' tumultus,' as a softer
word than ' bellum/ But Livy also
must share in this charge, who says
of an alarm created by the Sabines,
tumultus fuit verius quam bellum,'
intimating that it did not deserve tha
name of a war. Besides if it were
280
M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO III.
Gallici excitandi causa a P. Lentulo 11 esse sollicitatos, eos-
que in Galliam ad suos cives, 12 eodemque itinere 13 cum lite-
ris mandatisque ad Catilinam esse missos, comitemque iis
adjunctum T. Vulturcium, 14 atque huic datas esse ad Catili-
nam literas : facultatem mihi oblatam putavi, ut, quod erat
difficillimum, quodque ego semper optabam adiis immortali-
bus, tota res non solum a me, sed etiam a senatu et a vobis
manifesto deprehenderetur. Itaque hesterno die 15 L. Flac-
cum et C. Pomptinum, praetores, fortissimos atque amantis-
simos 16 reipublica; viros, ad me vocavi : rem omnem exposui :
quid fieri placeret, ostendi. Illi autem, qui omnia de repub-
lica praeclara atque egregia sentirent, sine recusatione ac
sine ulla mora negotium susceperunt, et, quum advesperasce-
ret, occulte ad pontem Mulvium 17 pervenerunt, atque ibi in
proximis villis 18 ita bipartito fuemnt, ut Tiberis inter eos et
pons interesset. Eodem autem et ipsi sine cujusquam sus-
picione, multos fortes viros eduxerunt, et ego ex pr^fectum 1 ' 1
Reatina complures delectos adolescentes, quorum opera in
republica assidue utor, pra?sidio cum gladiis miseram. In-
' gravius,' why object to its appli-
cation to Antony 1 The distinction,
therefore, as a general one, appears
quite unfounded.
11. P. Lentulo] Inf. 6. n. 8.
12. Cives] For the whole country
was called ' civitas.' Sail. Cat. 41.
' Cujus patrocinio civitas, &c.'
13. Eodem. itinere] For returning
into Gaul, they would take Etruria
on their way, and the Mallian camp.
14. Vulturcium] A native of Cro-
to. Sail. Cat. 44.
15. Hesterno die] Late in the
evening. Flacc. 40. ' O nox ilia,
quae pcene ae tern as huic urbi tenebras
attulisti !'
16. Fortissim. amant.] The former
shows the ability, the latter the will,
to serve their country. Flaccus after
this service was made governor of
Asia ; and owed his acquittal, on a
charge of extortion in that office, to
the eloquence of Cicero. Pomptinus
was promoted to the government of
Gaul j and procured a triumph for
reducing these very Allobrogians to
subjection.
17. Pontem Mulvium] Now ' Pon-
te Molle' about three miles from the
Roman forum. At this bridge the
Via Flaminia commenced. Alt. iii.
33.
18. Villis] Not ' villages* as Dun-
can, but * country-houses.' And
bipartito fuerunt,' were in two par-
ties ; i. e. the praetors had each a de-
tachment of soldiers, and took post on
opposite sides of the river. ' Eos'
then must not be restricted to the
praetors alone ; and lest it should,
Cic. adds ' Eodem autem et ipsi et
ego, &c.' But, lest you may think
this strange, both the praetors them-
selves brought out, &c. and I had
sent. This use of ' autem' in sup-
plying a link in a chain of reasoning,
is common. Top. 2.
19. Prafectura] So called from the
prefects that came annually from
Rome to administer justice. Reate
was a town of the Sabines, on- the
IN L. CATILINAM, Cap. 3. 281
tarim tertia fere vigilia exacta, 20 quum jam pontem Mulviimi
magno comitatu legati Allobrogum ingredi inciperent, una-
que Vulturcius, fit in eos impetus : educuntur et ab illis
gladii, et a nostris. Res erat praetoribus nota solis : 21 igno-
rabatiir a ceteris.
III. Turn, interventu Pomptini atque Flacci, pugna, qua?
erat commissa, sedatur. Literae, quaecunque erant in eo co-
mitatu, integris signis, praetoribus traduntur : ipsi compre-
hensi, ad me, quum jam dilucesceret, 1 deducuntur. Atque
horum omnium scelerum improbissimum machinatorem Cim -
brum 2 Gabinium statim ad me, nihil dum suspicantem, vo-
cavi. Deinde item arcessitur L. Statilius, et post eum C.
Cethegus. Tardissime autem Lentulus venit, credo quod
literis dandis, praeter consuetudinem, 3 proxima nocte vigi-
larat. 4 Quum vero summis ac clarissimis hujus civitatis vi-
ris, qui, audita re, frequentes ad me mane convenerant, lite-
rasa me prius aperiri, quam ad senatum deferri, placeret ! ne,
si nihil esset inveutum, temere a me tantus tumultus injec-
tus civitati videretur : negavi me esse facturum, ut de periculo
publico non ad consilium 5 publicum rem integram 6 deferrem.
Etenim, Quirites, si ea, quae erant ad me delata, reperta non
essent : 7 tamen ego non arbitrabar in tantis reipublicae peri-