2.14Ō condiciōnem miseram nōn modo administrandae vērum etiam cōnservandae reī pūblicae!What a wretched position, not only of governing the state but even of saving it! 2.14Nunc sī L. Catilīna cōnsiliīs, labōribus, perīculīs meīs circumclūsus ac dēbilitātus subitō pertimuerit, sententiam mūtāverit, dēseruerit suōs, cōnsilium bellī faciendī abiēcerit, et ex hōc cursū sceleris ac bellī iter ad fugam atque in exsilium converterit, nōn ille ā mē spoliātus armīs audāciae, nōn obstupefactus ac perterritus meā dīligentiā, nōn dē spē cōnātūque dēpulsus, sed indemnātus innocēns in exsilium ēiectus ā cōnsule vī et minīs esse dīcētur: et erunt quī illum, sī hoc fēcerit, nōn improbum sed miserum, mē nōn dīligentissimum cōnsulem sed crūdēlissimum tyrannum exīstimārī velint!Now if Lucius Catiline, hemmed in and weakened by my plans, my efforts and my risks, should suddenly take fright, change his mind, desert his followers, abandon his plan of making war, and turn from this course of crime and war to flight and exile, it will be said that he was not stripped by me of the weapons of his recklessness, not stunned and terrified by my vigilance, not driven from his hopes and attempts, but that, uncondemned and innocent, he was driven into exile by the consul with violence and threats; and there will be those who will want him to be thought, if he does this, not wicked but pitiable, and me not a most conscientious consul but a most cruel tyrant!Note. A long future condition: sī ... pertimuerit, mūtāverit ... (future perfects), then the main verb dīcētur. The nōn ... nōn ... nōn ... sed series gives what people will not say and what they will say instead.
2.15Est mihi tantī, Quirītēs, huius invidiae falsae atque inīquae tempestātem subīre, dum modo ā vōbīs huius horribilis bellī ac nefāriī perīculum dēpellātur.It is worth it to me, citizens, to endure the storm of this false and unjust unpopularity, provided that the danger of this horrible and wicked war is warded off from you.Note. Est mihi tantī: 'it is worth so much to me', genitive of value. dum modo: 'provided that', with the subjunctive. 2.15Dīcātur sānē ēiectus esse ā mē, dum modo eat in exsilium.Let it be said by all means that he was driven out by me, provided he goes into exile. 2.15Sed mihi crēdite, nōn est itūrus.But believe me, he is not going to go. 2.15Numquam ego ab dīs immortālibus optābō, Quirītēs, invidiae meae relevandae causā ut L. Catilīnam dūcere exercitum hostium atque in armīs volitāre audiātis, sed trīduō tamen audiētis;I shall never pray to the immortal gods, citizens, for the sake of relieving my unpopularity, that you hear that Lucius Catiline is leading an army of enemies and swaggering about in arms; but in three days you will hear it all the same;Note. invidiae meae relevandae causā: causā with a gerundive phrase, 'for the sake of relieving my unpopularity'. trīduō: 'within three days'. Catiline did in fact join Manlius soon after. 2.15multōque magis illud timeō nē mihi sit invidiōsum aliquandō quod illum ēmīserim potius quam quod ēiēcerim.and I am much more afraid that it will some day be held against me that I let him go rather than that I drove him out.Note. timeō nē ... sit: 'I fear that it may be'. After verbs of fearing, nē means 'that' and ut means 'that ... not'.
2.15Sed cum sint hominēs quī illum, cum profectus sit, ēiectum esse dīcant, īdem, sī interfectus esset, quid dīcerent?But when there are people who say that he was driven out when in fact he left, what would these same people say if he had been killed? 2.16Quamquam istī quī Catilīnam Massiliam īre dictitant nōn tam hoc queruntur quam verentur.And yet those men who keep saying that Catiline is going to Massilia are not so much complaining of this as afraid of it. 2.16Nēmō est istōrum tam misericors quī illum nōn ad Mānlium quam ad Massiliēnsīs īre mālit.None of them is so tender-hearted that he would not rather have him go to Manlius than to the Massiliots.Note. Massiliēnsīs: the people of Massilia, an old Greek ally of Rome and a usual place of exile. The joke is that Catiline's sympathizers would rather he joined the rebels than went quietly into exile. 2.16Ille autem, sī mē hercule hoc quod agit numquam anteā cōgitāsset, tamen latrōcinantem sē interficī māllet quam exsulem vīvere.But he, by Hercules, even if he had never before thought of what he is doing, would still rather be killed as a bandit than live as an exile.Note. latrōcinantem ... interficī: 'to be killed as a bandit'. Catiline would rather die fighting than live in exile. 2.16Nunc vērō, cum eī nihil adhūc praeter ipsīus voluntātem cōgitātiōnemque acciderit, nisi quod vīvīs nōbīs Rōmā profectus est, optēmus potius ut eat in exsilium quam querāmur.As it is, since nothing has yet happened to him contrary to his own wish and intention, except that he left Rome while we were still alive, let us rather pray that he goes into exile than complain of it.