In Catilinam 2.2

2.3Ac sī quis est tālis quālis esse omnīs oportēbat, quī in hōc ipsō in quō exsultat et triumphat ōrātiō mea mē vehementer accūset, quod tam capitālem hostem nōn comprehenderim potius quam ēmīserim, nōn est ista mea culpa, Quirītēs, sed temporum.

And if there is anyone such as all men ought to be, who strongly blames me on the very point in which my speech exults and triumphs, because I did not arrest so deadly an enemy rather than let him go, that is not my fault, citizens, but the fault of the times.

Note. sī quis ... quī ... accūset: 'if there is anyone ... who would blame me'. The subjunctive gives the kind of person meant. nōn comprehenderim ... quam ēmīserim: 'that I did not arrest rather than let go'. Cicero answers the charge that he was too soft.

2.3Interfectum esse L. Catilīnam et gravissimō suppliciō adfectum iam prīdem oportēbat, idque ā mē et mōs maiōrum et huius imperī sevēritās et rēs pūblica postulābat.

Lucius Catiline ought to have been put to death long ago and visited with the severest punishment, and the custom of our ancestors, the strictness of my office, and the state all demanded this of me.

Note. Interfectum esse ... oportēbat: 'he ought to have been killed'. Latin uses the past of oportet with a present or perfect infinitive where English says 'ought to have'. mōs maiōrum, 'the custom of the ancestors', is the great appeal to Roman tradition.

2.3Sed quam multōs fuisse putātis quī quae ego dēferrem nōn crēderent, quam multōs quī propter stultitiam nōn putārent, quam multōs quī etiam dēfenderent, quam multōs quī propter improbitātem favērent?

But how many do you think there were who did not believe what I reported, how many who through folly did not think it so, how many who even defended him, how many who through wickedness supported him?

Note. Four parallel quam multōs quī ... clauses: anaphora. The relative clauses are subjunctive because they describe the kind of people, 'men who would not believe'.

2.3Ac sī illō sublātō dēpellī ā vōbīs omne perīculum iūdicārem, iam prīdem ego L. Catilīnam nōn modo invidiae meae vērum etiam vītae perīculō sustulissem.

And if I had judged that by removing him all danger would be driven away from you, I would long ago have removed Lucius Catiline, at the risk not only of my own unpopularity but even of my life.

Note. nōn modo invidiae meae vērum etiam vītae perīculō: 'at the risk not only of my unpopularity but of my life'. Cicero presents himself as ready to face anything for the state.

2.4Sed cum vidērem, nē vōbīs quidem omnibus etiam tum rē probātā sī illum, ut erat meritus, morte multāssem, fore ut eius sociōs invidiā oppressus persequī nōn possem, rem hūc dēdūxī ut tum palam pugnāre possētis cum hostem apertē vidērētis.

But since I saw that, as the matter was not yet proved even to all of you, if I had punished him with death as he deserved, I would be so overwhelmed by unpopularity that I could not pursue his associates, I brought the matter to the point where you could fight openly when you saw the enemy plainly.

Note. fore ut ... nōn possem: 'that it would turn out that I could not ...', a common way to express a future passive or a future result in indirect speech. ut erat meritus: 'as he deserved'.

2.4Quem quidem ego hostem, Quirītēs, quam vehementer forīs esse timendum putem, licet hinc intellegātis, quod etiam illud molestē ferō quod ex urbe parum comitātus exierit.

How strongly I think that this enemy is to be feared now that he is outside, citizens, you may understand from this: I am even annoyed that he left the city with too small an escort.

Note. licet ... intellegātis: 'you may understand'. licet takes a subjunctive without ut. parum comitātus: 'too little escorted', i.e. with too few followers.

2.4Utinam ille omnīs sēcum suās cōpiās ēdūxisset!

If only he had led out all his forces with him!

Note. Utinam with the pluperfect subjunctive expresses a wish about the past that cannot now be fulfilled: 'if only he had led out ...'.

2.4Tongilium mihi ēdūxit quem amāre in praetextā coeperat, Pūblicium et Minucium quōrum aes aliēnum contrāctum in popīnā nūllum reī pūblicae mōtum adferre poterat: relīquit quōs virōs, quantō aere aliēnō, quam valentīs, quam nōbilīs!

He led out Tongilius, whom he had begun to love while still a boy in the bordered toga, and Publicius and Minucius, whose debts, run up in cookshops, could cause no disturbance to the state; but what men he left behind, with what debts, how powerful, how well born!

Note. in praetextā: the toga praetexta was worn by freeborn boys until about sixteen, so 'while he was still a boy'. aes aliēnum, literally 'another's bronze', is the regular phrase for 'debt'. The exclamations quōs virōs ... quam valentīs, quam nōbilīs! are ironic: the dangerous men are the rich and well born ones who stayed.