In Catilinam 1.8

1.19Haec sī tēcum, ut dīxī, patria loquātur, nōnne impetrāre dēbeat, etiam sī vim adhibēre nōn possit?

If your country were to speak to you like this, as I have said, ought she not to get what she asks, even if she cannot use force?

Note. loquātur, dēbeat, possit: present subjunctives in a 'should-would' condition.

1.19Quid, quod tū tē in custōdiam dedistī, quod vītandae suspīciōnis causā ad M'. Lepidum tē habitāre velle dīxistī?

What of the fact that you gave yourself into custody, that to avoid suspicion you said you wanted to live at the house of Manius Lepidus?

Note. in custōdiam dedistī: after being charged under the law on violence, a defendant of rank could offer himself into the 'free custody' of a respected citizen. M'. is the abbreviation of Manius.

1.19Ā quō nōn receptus etiam ad mē venīre ausus es, atque ut domī meae tē adservārem rogāstī.

Not taken in by him, you even dared to come to me and asked me to keep you at my house.

1.19Cum ā mē quoque id respōnsum tulissēs, mē nūllō modō posse īsdem parietibus tūtō esse tēcum, quia magnō in perīculō essem quod īsdem moenibus continērēmur, ad Q. Metellum praetōrem vēnistī.

When you had received from me too the answer that I could by no means be safe within the same walls as you, since I was in great danger in being shut inside the same city walls, you went to the praetor Quintus Metellus.

Note. Cicero's answer: we could not safely live even within the same city walls, let alone the same house walls (parietibus … moenibus).

1.19Ā quō repudiātus ad sodālem tuum, virum optimum, M. Metellum dēmigrāstī, quem tū vidēlicet et ad custōdiendum tē dīligentissimum et ad suspicandum sagācissimum et ad vindicandum fortissimum fore putāstī.

Rejected by him, you moved to your comrade, that excellent man Marcus Metellus, who, you evidently thought, would be most careful in guarding you, most shrewd in suspecting you and most resolute in punishing you.

Note. Heavy irony: Marcus Metellus was Catiline's comrade, so he would be the least careful, least suspicious, least severe guardian. fore: = futūrum esse.

1.19Sed quam longē vidētur ā carcere atque ā vinculīs abesse dēbēre quī sē ipse iam dignum custōdiā iūdicārit?

But how far from prison and chains ought a man to be who has himself already judged himself to deserve custody?

Note. iūdicārit = iūdicāverit; the subjunctive is generic, 'a man who has judged'.

1.20Quae cum ita sint, Catilīna, dubitās, sī ēmorī aequō animō nōn potes, abīre in aliquās terrās et vītam istam multīs suppliciīs iūstīs dēbitīsque ēreptam fugae sōlitūdinīque mandāre?

Since this is so, Catiline, if you cannot die with a calm mind, do you hesitate to go off to some other land and commit to exile and solitude that life of yours, snatched from many just and well-deserved punishments?

Note. Quae cum ita sint: 'since this is so', a stock Ciceronian connective. ēmorī aequō animō: suicide was the honourable end Cicero ironically suggests.

1.20"Refer" inquis "ad senātum";

"Put the question to the senate," you say;

Note. Refer ad senātum: the formal motion; a consul 'referred' a question to the senate for a vote. Cicero refuses, since the senate could not legally exile a citizen.

1.20id enim postulās et, sī hic ōrdō placēre sibi dēcrēverit tē īre in exsilium, obtemperātūrum tē esse dīcis.

for that is what you demand, and you say that if this body decrees that it wishes you to go into exile, you will obey.

1.20Nōn referam, id quod abhorret ā meīs mōribus, et tamen faciam ut intellegās quid hī dē tē sentiant.

I shall not put the question, a thing that is contrary to my habits, and yet I shall make you understand what these men think about you.

Note. id quod abhorret ā meīs mōribus: Cicero claims it is not his way to force a vote; the real reason is that the senate had no power to banish.

1.20Ēgredere ex urbe, Catilīna, līberā rem pūblicam metū, in exsilium, sī hanc vōcem exspectās, proficīscere.

Leave the city, Catiline, free the republic from fear, go into exile, if that is the word you are waiting for.

Note. Cicero speaks the very words Catiline says he is waiting for, then points to the silence that follows.

1.20Quid est?

What is this?

1.20ecquid attendis, ecquid animadvertis hōrum silentium?

Are you paying attention at all, do you notice at all the silence of these men?

Note. ecquid: 'at all?', introducing an urgent question.

1.20Patiuntur, tacent.

They allow it; they are silent.

1.20Quid exspectās auctōritātem loquentium, quōrum voluntātem tacitōrum perspicis?

Why do you wait for the spoken authority of men whose wishes you see clearly in their silence?

1.21At sī hoc idem huic adulēscentī optimō P. Sēstiō, sī fortissimō virō M. Mārcellō dīxissem, iam mihi cōnsulī hōc ipsō in templō senātūs iūre optimō vim et manūs intulisset.

But if I had said this same thing to this excellent young man Publius Sestius, or to that very brave man Marcus Marcellus, the senate would by now have laid violent hands on me, the consul, in this very temple, and with every right.

Note. P. Sestius and M. Marcellus were respectable younger men; if Cicero had told them to leave, the senate would have attacked him. The temple of Jupiter Stator was the meeting place, so in templō.

1.21Dē tē autem, Catilīna, cum quiēscunt, probant, cum patiuntur, dēcernunt, cum tacent, clāmant, neque hī sōlum quōrum tibi auctōritās est vidēlicet cāra, vīta vīlissima, sed etiam illī equitēs Rōmānī, honestissimī atque optimī virī, cēterīque fortissimī cīvēs quī circumstant senātum, quōrum tū et frequentiam vidēre et studia perspicere et vōcēs paulō ante exaudīre potuistī.

But about you, Catiline, when they are quiet they approve, when they allow it they decree, when they are silent they shout aloud; and not only these men, whose authority is evidently dear to you while their lives are worth very little, but also those Roman knights, most honourable and excellent men, and the other very brave citizens who stand around the senate, whose numbers you could see, whose feelings you could recognise and whose shouts you could hear a little while ago.

Note. cum quiēscunt, probant …: three paradoxes in a row: silence means approval, toleration means a decree, saying nothing means shouting. equitēs Rōmānī: the knights had gathered outside the temple under arms to protect Cicero.

1.21Quōrum ego vix abs tē iam diū manūs ac tēla contineō, eōsdem facile addūcam ut tē haec quae vāstāre iam prīdem studēs relinquentem usque ad portās prōsequantur.

Their hands and weapons I have long been barely holding back from you, and I shall easily persuade the same men to escort you all the way to the gates as you leave the city that you have long been eager to lay waste.

Note. Quōrum … manūs ac tēla: the relative connects to the knights and citizens of the previous sentence. tē … relinquentem: 'you as you leave'.