In Catilinam 1.1

1.1Quō usque tandem abūtēre, Catilīna, patientiā nostrā?

How far, then, Catiline, will you go on abusing our patience?

Note. Delivered in the senate on 8 November 63 B.C., when Catiline himself turned up. Cicero opens without any formal preface, straight at him. abūtēre: future, = abūtēris; abūtor takes the ablative (patientiā). quō ūsque: 'how far', with tandem adding impatience: 'how far, pray?'.

1.1quam diū etiam furor iste tuus nōs ēlūdet?

How long will that madness of yours still make fools of us?

Note. The first three sentences are a tricolon (a set of three) of questions, each a little longer, a favourite pattern of Cicero's. quam diū: 'how long'. ēlūdet: 'mock, make sport of'.

1.1quem ad fīnem sēsē effrēnāta iactābit audācia?

To what end will your unbridled recklessness keep flaunting itself?

1.1Nihilne tē nocturnum praesidium Palātī, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populī, nihil concursus bonōrum omnium, nihil hic mūnītissimus habendī senātūs locus, nihil hōrum ōra voltūsque mōvērunt?

Have you not been moved at all: not by the night garrison on the Palatine, not by the watches kept through the city, not by the people's fear, not by the gathering of all loyal men, not by this strongly guarded place where the senate is meeting, not by the faces and looks of these men here?

Note. Anaphora: nihil, 'not at all', is repeated six times at the head of each item. The subjects of mōvērunt are praesidium, vigiliae, timor, concursus, locus and ōra voltūsque, with tē as the object. Palātī: contracted genitive of Palātium; guards were posted on the Palatine, a wealthy quarter. hic … locus: the senate was meeting in the well-guarded temple of Jupiter Stator. habendī senātūs: gerundive, 'for holding the senate'. voltūs: older spelling of vultūs.

1.1Patēre tua cōnsilia nōn sentīs, cōnstrictam iam hōrum omnium scientiā tenērī coniūrātiōnem tuam nōn vidēs?

Do you not realise that your plans are exposed? Do you not see that your conspiracy is held fast, now that all these men know of it?

Note. Patēre … nōn sentīs: indirect statement, 'do you not realise that your plans lie open?'. horum omnium scientiā: 'by the knowledge of all these men'.

1.1Quid proxima, quid superiōre nocte ēgerīs, ubi fuerīs, quōs convocāverīs, quid cōnsilī cēperīs quem nostrum ignōrāre arbitrāris?

What you did last night, what you did the night before, where you were, whom you called together, what plan you made: which of us do you think does not know?

Note. Four indirect questions (ēgerīs, fuerīs, convocāverīs, cēperīs, all perfect subjunctive) depend on ignōrāre. proximā nocte: 6-7 November; superiōre nocte: the night before. quid cōnsilī: partitive genitive, 'what (of) plan'.

1.2Ō tempora, ō mōrēs!

What times! What morals!

Note. Ō tempora, ō mōrēs!: one of the most quoted lines in Latin. These are exclamations: 'what times we live in, what standards of behaviour!'.

1.2Senātus haec intellegit, cōnsul videt;

The senate understands these things, the consul sees them;

1.2hic tamen vīvit.

and yet this man lives.

1.2Vīvit?

Lives?

Note. Vīvit?: Cicero picks up his own word and answers it: 'Lives? Why, he even comes into the senate'.

1.2immō vērō etiam in senātum venit, fit pūblicī cōnsilī particeps, notat et dēsignat oculīs ad caedem ūnum quemque nostrum.

Why, he even comes into the senate, takes part in the state's deliberations, and with his eyes marks out and selects each one of us for slaughter.

Note. immō vērō: 'no, more than that'. ūnum quemque nostrum: 'each one of us'; nostrum is the partitive genitive of nōs.

1.2Nōs autem fortēs virī satis facere reī pūblicae vidēmur, sī istīus furōrem ac tēla vītāmus.

And we, brave men that we are, think we are doing our duty by the state if we keep out of the way of his madness and his weapons.

Note. fortēs virī: bitterly ironic. satis facere reī pūblicae: 'to do enough for the state, do our duty to it'.

1.2Ad mortem tē, Catilīna, dūcī iussū cōnsulis iam prīdem oportēbat, in tē cōnferrī pestem quam tū in nōs omnīs iam diū māchināris.

You ought long ago, Catiline, to have been led to your death on the consul's orders; the destruction you have long been plotting against us all ought to have been turned on you.

Note. oportēbat: 'it was right' (and still is, but was not done). The infinitives dūcī and cōnferrī depend on it. iussū cōnsulis: the consul could act under the senate's emergency decree (see 16-20).

1.3An vērō vir amplissimus, P. Scīpiō, pontifex maximus, Ti. Gracchum mediocriter labefactantem statum reī pūblicae prīvātus interfēcit: Catilīnam orbem terrae caede atque incendiīs vāstāre cupientem nōs cōnsulēs perferēmus?

Did that most distinguished man, Publius Scipio, the chief priest, acting as a private citizen, kill Tiberius Gracchus when he was only mildly undermining the stability of the state, and shall we consuls put up with Catiline, who longs to lay waste the whole world with slaughter and fire?

Note. An … perferēmus?: 'Or shall we really put up with…?' Cicero argues from the lesser to the greater: if Scipio, a private citizen (prīvātus), killed Tiberius Gracchus in 133 B.C. for a small threat, the consuls can surely act against Catiline's huge one. pontifex maximus: Rome's chief priest.

1.3Nam illa nimis antīqua praetereō, quod C. Servīlius Ahāla Sp. Maelium novīs rēbus studentem manū suā occīdit.

For I pass over precedents that are too old, such as the fact that Gaius Servilius Ahala killed Spurius Maelius with his own hand because he was eager for revolution.

Note. Gaius Servilius Ahala killed Spurius Maelius in 439 B.C. on suspicion of aiming at kingship. novīs rēbus studentem: res novae is 'revolution'; studeō takes the dative.

1.3Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hāc rē pūblicā virtūs ut virī fortēs ācriōribus suppliciīs cīvem perniciōsum quam acerbissimum hostem coercērent.

There was, there was once such courage in this republic that brave men would put down a dangerous citizen with harsher punishments than the bitterest enemy.

Note. Fuit, fuit: the repetition (geminatio) is emotional: 'there was, yes, there was once…'. ut … coercērent: result clause.

1.3Habēmus senātūs cōnsultum in tē, Catilīna, vehemēns et grave, nōn dēest reī pūblicae cōnsilium neque auctōritās huius ōrdinis: nōs, nōs, dīcō apertē, cōnsulēs dēsumus.

We have a decree of the senate against you, Catiline, forceful and stern; the state does not lack the advice and authority of this order: it is we, I say it openly, we the consuls who are failing.

Note. senātūs cōnsultum: Cicero means the 'final decree' (senātūs cōnsultum ultimum) passed on 21 October, telling the consuls to see that the state came to no harm. It gave them a free hand, but it was disputed whether it allowed killing citizens without trial. nōs, nōs … cōnsulēs dēsumus: Cicero takes the blame on himself and his colleague Antonius.