In Catilinam 1.2

1.4Dēcrēvit quondam senātus utī L. Opīmius cōnsul vidēret nē quid rēs pūblica dētrīmentī caperet: nox nūlla intercessit: interfectus est propter quāsdam sēditiōnum suspīciōnēs C. Gracchus, clārissimō patre, avō, maiōribus, occīsus est cum līberīs M. Fulvius cōnsulāris.

The senate once decreed that the consul Lucius Opimius should see to it that the state came to no harm: not a single night passed; Gaius Gracchus, whose father, grandfather and ancestors were most distinguished, was killed on suspicion of stirring up unrest, and the ex-consul Marcus Fulvius was killed together with his children.

Note. The formula of the 'final decree': videret nē quid rēs pūblica dētrīmentī caperet, 'see that the state suffer no harm'. Lucius Opimius used it in 121 B.C. against Gaius Gracchus and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, both killed. nox nūlla intercessit: 'not one night passed' before action was taken. clārissimō patre, avō, maiōribus: ablative of description, 'of most distinguished father, grandfather, ancestors'.

1.4Similī senātūs cōnsultō C. Mariō et L. Valeriō cōnsulibus est permissa rēs pūblica: num ūnum diem posteā L. Sāturnīnum tribūnum plēbis et C. Servīlium praetōrem mors ac reī pūblicae poena remorāta est?

By a similar decree of the senate the state was entrusted to the consuls Gaius Marius and Lucius Valerius: did death, the state's punishment, keep the tribune of the people Lucius Saturninus and the praetor Gaius Servilius waiting a single day after that?

Note. In 100 B.C. Marius and Valerius Flaccus, as consuls, used the same decree against the tribune Saturninus and the praetor Glaucia (Gaius Servilius Glaucia). C. Mariō et L. Valeriō cōnsulibus: here the names are not a date but the men to whom the state was entrusted. num … remorāta est?: num expects the answer 'no'.

1.4At vērō nōs vīcēsimum iam diem patimur hebēscere aciem hōrum auctōritātis.

But we have now for twenty days been letting the edge of these men's authority grow blunt.

Note. vīcēsimum iam diem: the decree had been passed on 21 October, about twenty days before. aciem: the 'edge' of a blade; the metaphor of a sword continues in the next sentence.

1.4Habēmus enim eius modī senātūs cōnsultum, vērum inclūsum in tabulīs, tamquam in vāgīnā reconditum, quō ex senātūs cōnsultō cōnfestim tē interfectum esse, Catilīna, convenit.

For we have a decree of the senate of just this kind, but it is shut up in the records, like a sword hidden away in its sheath; and by that decree, Catiline, it would have been right for you to be put to death at once.

Note. tamquam in vāgīnā reconditum: 'like a sword hidden in its sheath'. quō ex senātūs cōnsultō: the relative is attached to the repeated noun, 'from which decree'. convenit: 'it was fitting'; Latin often uses the present or perfect indicative where English says 'it would have been right'.

1.4Vīvis, et vīvis nōn ad dēpōnendam, sed ad cōnfirmandam audāciam.

You live, and you live not to lay aside your recklessness but to strengthen it.

Note. ad dēpōnendam … ad cōnfirmandam audāciam: gerundives of purpose with ad, 'for laying aside … for strengthening'.

1.4Cupiō, patrēs cōnscrīptī, mē esse clēmentem, cupiō in tantīs reī pūblicae perīculīs nōn dissolūtum vidērī, sed iam mē ipse inertiae nēquitiaeque condemnō.

I want, members of the senate, to be merciful; I want not to seem lax in such great dangers to the state; but now I find myself guilty of idleness and neglect.

Note. patrēs cōnscrīptī: the formal way to address the senate, 'enrolled fathers'. mē ipse … condemnō: 'I myself convict myself'; inertiae and nēquitiae are genitives of the charge, as in a lawsuit.

1.5Castra sunt in Ītaliā contrā populum Rōmānum in Etrūriae faucibus conlocāta, crēscit in diēs singulōs hostium numerus;

There is a camp in Italy, set up in the passes of Etruria against the Roman people; the number of the enemy grows day by day;

Note. castra: Manlius' camp at Faesulae (Fiesole) in Etruria, where Catiline's army was gathering. in diēs singulōs: 'day by day'.

1.5eōrum autem castrōrum imperātōrem ducemque hostium intrā moenia atque adeō in senātū vidētis intestīnam aliquam cōtīdiē perniciem reī pūblicae mōlientem.

and yet the commander of that camp and leader of the enemy you see inside the walls, in the very senate, plotting some ruin for the state from within every day.

Note. eōrum castrōrum imperātōrem: Catiline himself, the accusative object of vidētis, with mōlientem agreeing. Cicero sets the danger outside (castra in Ītaliā) against the danger inside (intrā moenia).

1.5Sī tē iam, Catilīna, comprehendī, sī interficī iusserō, crēdō, erit verendum mihi nē nōn hoc potius omnēs bonī sērius ā mē quam quisquam crūdēlius factum esse dīcat.

If I order you to be seized, Catiline, if I order you to be killed, I shall have to fear, I suppose, not that all loyal men will say I acted too late, but that someone will say I acted too cruelly.

Note. Sī … iusserō: future perfect in the 'if' clause where English uses the present. crēdō is ironic: Cicero pretends his worry is being called cruel, when everyone will really say he acted too late. erit verendum mihi: passive periphrastic, 'I shall have to fear'. After a verb of fearing, nē means 'that' and nē nōn 'that not'. serius: comparative adverb, 'too late'.

1.5Vērum ego hoc quod iam prīdem factum esse oportuit certā dē causā nōndum addūcor ut faciam.

But for a definite reason I am not yet brought to do what ought to have been done long ago.

Note. certā dē causā: Cicero does not yet say what the reason is; he reveals it in 75-76: killing Catiline would leave his followers in the city.

1.5Tum dēnique interficiēre, cum iam nēmō tam improbus, tam perditus, tam tuī similis invenīrī poterit quī id nōn iūre factum esse fateātur.

You will be put to death only when no one can be found so wicked, so abandoned, so like yourself, as not to admit that it was rightly done.

Note. interficiēre: future passive, = interficiēris. quī … fateātur: relative clause of result after tam improbus etc., 'so wicked that he would not admit'. iūre: 'rightly'.

1.6Quam diū quisquam erit quī tē dēfendere audeat, vīvēs, et vīvēs ita ut nunc vīvis, multīs meīs et firmīs praesidiīs obsessus nē commovēre tē contrā rem pūblicam possīs.

As long as there is anyone who dares to defend you, you will live; and you will live as you live now, hemmed in by my many strong guards, so that you cannot make a move against the state.

Note. obsessus nē … possīs: 'hemmed in so that you cannot'; nē introduces a negative purpose clause.

1.6Multōrum tē etiam oculī et aurēs nōn sentientem, sīcut adhūc fēcērunt, speculābuntur atque custōdient.

The eyes and ears of many will also be watching and guarding you without your knowing it, as they have done up to now.