In Catilinam 1.11

1.27Nunc, ut ā mē, patrēs cōnscrīptī, quandam prope iūstam patriae querimōniam dētester ac dēprecer, percipite, quaesō, dīligenter quae dīcam, et ea penitus animīs vestrīs mentibusque mandāte.

Now, senators, so that I may avert and turn aside from myself a somewhat justified complaint of our country, listen carefully, I beg you, to what I shall say, and commit it deep in your hearts and minds.

Note. patrēs cōnscrīptī: the formal address to the senate. Cicero now makes the fatherland speak again, this time to him: why does he not put Catiline to death?

1.27Etenim sī mēcum patria, quae mihi vītā meā multō est cārior, sī cūncta Ītalia, sī omnis rēs pūblica loquātur: "M. Tullī, quid agis?

For if our country, which is far dearer to me than my life, if all Italy, if the whole republic were to speak to me: "Marcus Tullius, what are you doing?

Note. M. Tullī: Cicero's own name, Marcus Tullius Cicero, in the vocative.

1.27Tūne eum quem esse hostem comperistī, quem ducem bellī futūrum vidēs, quem exspectārī imperātōrem in castrīs hostium sentīs, auctōrem sceleris, prīncipem coniūrātiōnis, ēvocātōrem servōrum et cīvium perditōrum, exīre patiēre, ut abs tē nōn ēmissus ex urbe, sed immissus in urbem esse videātur?

Will you allow the man you have found to be an enemy, whom you see will be a leader of war, who you feel is awaited as commander in the enemy camp, the instigator of crime, the head of the conspiracy, the man who calls up slaves and desperate citizens, to leave, so that he seems not to have been sent out of the city by you but let loose upon it?

Note. Tūne: tū with the question particle -ne. ēvocātōrem servōrum: Catiline was accused of planning to arm slaves. nōn ēmissus … sed immissus: wordplay, 'not sent out but sent in'.

1.27Nōnne hunc in vincla dūcī, nōn ad mortem rapī, nōn summō suppliciō mactārī imperābis?

Will you not order him to be put in chains, to be hurried off to death, to be punished with the ultimate penalty?

Note. summō suppliciō mactārī: 'to be punished with the ultimate penalty'; mactō is a word from sacrifice.

1.27Quid tandem tē impedit?

What, pray, stops you?

1.27mōsne maiōrum?"

The custom of our ancestors?

1.28"At persaepe etiam prīvātī in hāc rē pūblicā perniciōsōs cīvīs morte multārunt.

"But in this republic even private citizens have very often punished dangerous citizens with death.

Note. privātī: private citizens such as Scipio Nasica, who killed Tiberius Gracchus without holding office (Cicero mentioned him in chapter 1).

1.28An lēgēs quae dē cīvium Rōmānōrum suppliciō rogātae sunt?

Or the laws that were passed about the punishment of Roman citizens?

Note. lēgēs … dē cīvium Rōmānōrum suppliciō: laws such as the Porcian laws and Gaius Gracchus' law protected a citizen from execution without trial by the people.

1.28At numquam in hāc urbe quī ā rē pūblicā dēfēcērunt cīvium iūra tenuērunt.

But never in this city have those who have rebelled against the republic kept the rights of citizens.

Note. The patria answers its own objection: traitors lose the rights of citizens, so these laws do not protect them.

1.28An invidiam posteritātis timēs?

Or are you afraid of the hatred of later generations?

1.28Praeclāram vērō populō Rōmānō refers grātiam quī tē, hominem per tē cognitum, nūllā commendātiōne maiōrum tam mātūrē ad summum imperium per omnīs honōrum gradūs extulit, sī propter invidiam aut alicuius perīculī metum salūtem cīvium tuōrum neglegis."

A fine way to thank the Roman people, who raised you, a man known only by your own merits and with no backing from ancestors, so early to the highest office through every step of rank, if through fear of hatred or of some danger you neglect the safety of your fellow citizens.

Note. hominem per tē cognitum: Cicero was a novus homō, the first of his family to reach the consulship; he rose with no help from ancestors (nūllā commendātiōne maiōrum). mātūrē: he held every office at the earliest legal age.

1.29"Sed sī quis est invidiae metus, nōn est vehementius sevēritātis ac fortitūdinis invidia quam inertiae ac nēquitiae pertimēscenda.

"But if there is any fear of hatred, the hatred earned by sternness and courage is not to be feared more than that earned by idleness and worthlessness.

Note. sevēritātis ac fortitūdinis invidia: 'unpopularity for sternness and courage', set against unpopularity for laziness and worthlessness.

1.29An, cum bellō vāstābitur Ītalia, vexābuntur urbēs, tēcta ārdēbunt, tum tē nōn exīstimās invidiae incendiō cōnflagrātūrum?"

Or when Italy is laid waste by war, cities are harried and houses are burning, do you not think that then you will be consumed by a blaze of hatred?"