In Catilinam 2.1

2.1Tandem aliquandō, Quirītēs, L. Catilīnam, furentem audāciā, scelus anhēlantem, pestem patriae nefāriē mōlientem, vōbīs atque huic urbī ferrō flammāque minitantem ex urbe vel ēiēcimus vel ēmīsimus vel ipsum ēgredientem verbīs prōsecūtī sumus.

At long last, citizens, we have driven out of the city, or let go, or followed with our words as he left of his own accord, Lucius Catiline, raging with recklessness, panting out crime, wickedly plotting the ruin of his country, threatening you and this city with sword and flame.

Note. The speech was given to the people in the Forum on 9 November 63 BC, the day after the First Catilinarian drove Catiline from the senate. Quirītēs is the formal address to Roman citizens. Notice the three participle phrases (furentem, anhēlantem, mōlientem) piled on Catilīnam, and the threefold vel ... vel ... vel: Cicero lets his audience choose how to describe what he did.

2.1Abiit, excessit, ēvāsit, ērūpit.

He has gone, departed, slipped away, broken out.

Note. Four verbs, no conjunctions: asyndeton. Each verb is a little more violent than the last, from 'went away' to 'broke out'.

2.1Nūlla iam perniciēs ā mōnstrō illō atque prōdigiō moenibus ipsīs intrā moenia comparābitur.

No destruction will now be plotted against the walls themselves within the walls by that monster and freak.

Note. moenibus ipsīs intrā moenia: a play on the walls. The danger used to be inside the walls and aimed at them; now Catiline is outside. comparābitur here means 'will be contrived'.

2.1Atque hunc quidem ūnum huius bellī domesticī ducem sine contrōversiā vīcimus.

And this one leader of this civil war, at any rate, we have beaten beyond dispute.

2.1Nōn enim iam inter latera nostra sīca illa versābitur, nōn in campō, nōn in forō, nōn in cūriā, nōn dēnique intrā domesticōs parietēs pertimēscēmus.

For that dagger will no longer be twisting between our ribs; we shall not be afraid in the Campus, in the Forum, in the senate house, or even within the walls of our own homes.

Note. sīca illa: 'that dagger of his', Catiline's assassin's knife. ille often means 'that notorious'. inter latera nostra: 'between our ribs', i.e. in our very midst. The Campus Martius, the Forum and the Curia were where public life happened.

2.1Locō ille mōtus est, cum est ex urbe dēpulsus.

He was dislodged from his position when he was driven out of the city.

Note. Locō ... mōtus est: a military metaphor, 'he has been dislodged from his position', as a soldier is driven from his post.

2.1Palam iam cum hoste nūllō impediente bellum iūstum gerēmus.

Now we shall wage a just war openly against an enemy, with no one to stop us.

Note. nūllō impediente: ablative absolute, 'with no one hindering'. A bellum iūstum was a properly declared war against a foreign enemy; Cicero now treats Catiline as exactly that.

2.1Sine dubiō perdidimus hominem magnificēque vīcimus, cum illum ex occultīs īnsidiīs in apertum latrōcinium coniēcimus.

Beyond doubt we have ruined the man and won a splendid victory, when we drove him from secret plotting into open banditry.

2.2Quod vērō nōn cruentum mūcrōnem, ut voluit, extulit, quod vīvīs nōbīs ēgressus est, quod eī ferrum ē manibus extorsimus, quod incolumīs cīvīs, quod stantem urbem relīquit, quantō tandem illum maerōre esse adflīctum et prōflīgātum putātis?

But as for the fact that he did not carry off a bloodstained sword, as he wished, that he left while we were still alive, that we wrenched the weapon out of his hands, that he left the citizens unharmed and the city standing: how great, do you think, is the grief that has struck him down and crushed him?

Note. The four quod clauses mean 'the fact that ...'; they pile up the reasons for Catiline's grief before the question quantō ... putātis. vīvīs nōbīs: ablative absolute, 'with us still alive'.

2.2Iacet ille nunc prōstrātus, Quirītēs, et sē perculsum atque abiectum esse sentit et retorquet oculōs profectō saepe ad hanc urbem quam ē suīs faucibus ēreptam esse lūget: quae quidem mihi laetārī vidētur, quod tantam pestem ēvomuerit forāsque prōiēcerit.

He lies there now, citizens, laid low; he feels that he has been struck down and cast aside, and no doubt he often turns his eyes back to this city, which he mourns has been snatched from his jaws; and the city, it seems to me, rejoices that it has spewed out so great a plague and thrown it out of doors.

Note. The city is personified: it 'rejoices' that it has 'vomited out' the plague. quae quidem: 'and it (the city)', a connecting relative. ēvomuerit and prōiēcerit are subjunctive because Cicero gives the city's reason for rejoicing.