In Catilinam 3.5

3.10Ac nē longum sit, Quirītēs, tabellās prōferrī iussimus quae ā quōque dīcēbantur datae.

To be brief, citizens, we ordered the tablets to be brought out which were said to have been given by each man.

Note. nē longum sit: 'not to be long', i.e. to be brief. quae … dīcēbantur datae: supply esse, 'which were said to have been given'.

3.10Prīmō ostendimus Cethēgō: signum cognōvit.

First we showed Cethegus his: he recognised the seal.

3.10Nōs līnum incīdimus;

We cut the thread;

Note. To read a letter you cut the thread (līnum) that tied the tablets together; the seal sat on the knot.

3.10lēgimus.

we read it.

3.10Erat scrīptum ipsīus manū Allobrogum senātuī et populō sēsē quae eōrum lēgātīs cōnfirmāsset factūrum esse;

It was written in his own hand to the senate and people of the Allobroges that he would do what he had promised their envoys;

Note. Erat scrīptum: 'it was written', followed by indirect statement: sēsē … factūrum esse.

3.10ōrāre ut item illī facerent quae sibi eōrum lēgātī recēpissent.

he asked them likewise to do what their envoys had undertaken to him.

3.10Tum Cethēgus, quī paulō ante aliquid tamen dē gladiīs ac sīcīs quae apud ipsum erant dēprehēnsa respondisset dīxissetque sē semper bonōrum ferrāmentōrum studiōsum fuisse, recitātīs litterīs dēbilitātus atque abiectus cōnscientiā repente conticuit.

Then Cethegus, who a little earlier had still made some answer about the swords and daggers found at his house, and had said that he had always been a lover of fine steel, broke down when the letter was read out, and, crushed and dejected by his guilty conscience, suddenly fell silent.

Note. bonōrum ferrāmentōrum studiōsum: Cethegus' feeble excuse for the weapons in his house: he was simply a collector of fine blades.

3.10Intrōductus Statilius cognōvit et signum et manum suam.

Statilius was brought in and recognised both his seal and his handwriting.

3.10Recitātae sunt tabellae in eandem ferē sententiam;

His tablets were read out, to much the same effect;

3.10cōnfessus est.

he confessed.

3.10Tum ostendī tabellās Lentulō et quaesīvī cognōsceretne signum.

Then I showed the tablets to Lentulus and asked whether he recognised the seal.

Note. cognōsceretne: an indirect question, 'whether he recognised'. The -ne is attached to the verb.

3.10Adnuit.

He nodded.

3.10"Est vērō" inquam "nōtum quidem signum, imāgō avī tuī, clārissimī virī, quī amāvit ūnicē patriam et cīvīs suōs;

"Yes," I said, "it is indeed a well-known seal, the likeness of your grandfather, a most distinguished man, who loved his country and his fellow citizens above all;

Note. Lentulus' seal bore the portrait of his grandfather, P. Cornelius Lentulus, consul 162 BC and later leader of the senate. Cicero turns the seal against him.

3.10quae quidem tē ā tantō scelere etiam mūta revocāre dēbuit."

and even silent as it is, it ought to have called you back from such a crime."

Note. etiam mūta: 'even though silent'. The image could not speak, yet it should have warned him.

3.11Leguntur eādem ratiōne ad senātum Allobrogum populumque litterae.

His letter to the senate and people of the Allobroges is read in the same way.

3.11Sī quid dē hīs rēbus dīcere vellet, fēcī potestātem.

I gave him leave, if he wanted to say anything about these matters.

3.11Atque ille prīmō quidem negāvit;

And at first he denied everything;

3.11post autem aliquantō, tōtō iam indiciō expositō atque ēditō, surrēxit, quaesīvit ā Gallīs quid sibi esset cum eīs, quam ob rem domum suam vēnissent, itemque ā Volturciō.

but some time afterwards, when the whole evidence had been set out and made public, he got up and asked the Gauls what business he had with them and why they had come to his house, and asked Volturcius the same.

3.11Quī cum illī breviter cōnstanterque respondissent per quem ad eum quotiēnsque vēnissent, quaesīssentque ab eō nihilne sēcum esset dē fātīs Sibyllīnīs locūtus, tum ille subitō scelere dēmēns quanta cōnscientiae vīs esset ostendit.

When they had answered briefly and steadily, through whom they had come to him and how often, and had asked him whether he had said nothing to them about the Sibylline oracles, then he, suddenly out of his mind with guilt, showed how great is the power of conscience.

Note. quanta cōnscientiae vīs esset: indirect question, 'how great the power of conscience is'. dēmēns scelere: 'out of his mind because of his crime'.

3.11Nam, cum id posset īnfitiārī, repente praeter opīniōnem omnium cōnfessus est.

For though he could have denied it, he suddenly confessed, to everyone's surprise.

3.11Ita eum nōn modo ingenium illud et dīcendī exercitātiō quā semper valuit sed etiam propter vim sceleris manifestī atque dēprehēnsī impudentia quā superābat omnīs improbitāsque dēfēcit.

So not only his famous talent and practice in speaking, in which he had always been strong, failed him, but also, because of the force of a crime clear and caught in the act, his effrontery, in which he outdid everyone, and his shamelessness.

Note. ingenium illud: 'that famous talent of his'. ille often means 'famous'. The subjects of dēfēcit are ingenium, exercitātiō, impudentia and improbitās.

3.12Volturcius vērō subitō litterās prōferrī atque aperīrī iubet quās sibi ā Lentulō ad Catilīnam datās esse dīcēbat.

Volturcius, however, suddenly asks for the letter to be brought out and opened which he said had been given him by Lentulus for Catiline.

3.12Atque ibi vehementissimē perturbātus Lentulus tamen et signum et manum suam cognōvit.

And then Lentulus, though deeply shaken, still recognised both his seal and his handwriting.

3.12Erant autem sine nōmine, sed ita: "Quis sim sciēs ex eō quem ad tē mīsī.

The letter was unsigned, but ran thus: "Who I am you will learn from the man I have sent to you.

Note. The letter is unsigned so that it could not be traced, but the seal and the handwriting gave Lentulus away.

3.12Cūrā ut vir sīs et cōgitā quem in locum sīs prōgressus.

See that you are a man, and think how far you have gone.

Note. Cūrā ut … sīs: 'see that you are', a polite command with a subjunctive clause. quem in locum: 'to what position', an indirect question.

3.12Vidē ecquid tibi iam sit necesse et cūrā ut omnium tibi auxilia adiungās, etiam īnfimōrum."

Consider what you now need, and take care to win the help of everyone, even the lowest."

Note. etiam īnfimōrum: 'even the lowest', meaning slaves. Arming slaves was the most shocking part of the plan for a Roman audience.

3.12Gabīnius deinde intrōductus, cum prīmō impudenter respondēre coepisset, ad extrēmum nihil ex eīs quae Gallī īnsimulābant negāvit.

Then Gabinius was brought in, and though at first he began to answer shamelessly, in the end he denied none of the things the Gauls charged him with.

3.13Ac mihi quidem, Quirītēs, cum illa certissima vīsa sunt argūmenta atque indicia sceleris, tabellae, signa, manūs, dēnique ūnīus cuiusque cōnfessiō, tum multō certiōra illa, color, oculī, voltus, taciturnitās.

And to me, citizens, though those things seemed the surest proofs and signs of the crime, the tablets, the seals, the handwriting, and finally each man's confession, these seemed far surer: their colour, their eyes, their faces, their silence.

Note. Cicero uses a contrast: the documents were strong proof, but their faces were stronger. cum … tum: 'while … then (even more)'.

3.13Sīc enim obstupuerant, sīc terram intuēbantur, sīc fūrtim nōn numquam inter sēsē aspiciēbant ut nōn iam ab aliīs indicārī sed indicāre sē ipsī vidērentur.

For they were so dumbfounded, they so stared at the ground, they so stole glances at one another now and then, that they seemed no longer to be informed against by others but to be informing against themselves.

Note. sīc … sīc … sīc … ut: 'so … so … so … that', a result clause.