In Catilinam 3.6

3.13Indiciīs expositīs atque ēditīs, Quirītēs, senātum cōnsuluī dē summā rē pūblicā quid fierī placēret.

When the evidence had been set out and published, citizens, I consulted the senate on the highest interest of the republic, what it wished to be done.

Note. dē summā rē pūblicā: 'on the highest interest of the state', the formula for an emergency debate.

3.13Dictae sunt ā prīncipibus ācerrimae ac fortissimae sententiae, quās senātus sine ūllā varietāte est secūtus.

The leading men proposed very severe and very firm motions, which the senate followed without any dissent.

3.13Et quoniam nōndum est perscrīptum senātūs cōnsultum, ex memoriā vōbīs, Quirītēs, quid senātus cēnsuerit expōnam.

And since the decree of the senate has not yet been written out, I shall tell you from memory, citizens, what the senate decided.

3.14Prīmum mihi grātiae verbīs amplissimīs aguntur, quod virtūte, cōnsiliō, prōvidentiā meā rēs pūblica maximīs perīculīs sit līberāta.

First, thanks are given to me in the most generous terms, because by my courage, wisdom and foresight the republic has been freed from the greatest dangers.

3.14Deinde L. Flaccus et C. Pomptīnus praetōrēs, quod eōrum operā fortī fidēlīque ūsus essem, meritō ac iūre laudantur.

Next the praetors Lucius Flaccus and Gaius Pomptinus are praised, deservedly and rightly, because I had had their brave and loyal help.

Note. The senate's decree is reported in the present tense: laudantur, impertītur.

3.14Atque etiam virō fortī, conlēgae meō, laus impertītur, quod eōs quī huius coniūrātiōnis participēs fuissent ā suīs et ā reī pūblicae cōnsiliīs remōvisset.

And praise is also given to my colleague, a brave man, because he had kept those who had been partners in this conspiracy away from his own counsels and from those of the republic.

Note. Cicero's colleague as consul was C. Antonius, who was suspected of sympathy with Catiline. The senate praises him for keeping away from the conspirators, a diplomatic way of keeping him on side.

3.14Atque ita cēnsuērunt ut P. Lentulus, cum sē praetūrā abdicāsset, in custōdiam trāderētur;

And they decreed that Publius Lentulus, after he had resigned his praetorship, should be handed over into custody;

Note. A magistrate in office could not easily be arrested or punished, so Lentulus was made to resign his praetorship first.

3.14itemque utī C. Cethēgus, L. Statilius, P. Gabīnius quī omnēs praesentēs erant in custōdiam trāderentur;

and likewise that Gaius Cethegus, Lucius Statilius and Publius Gabinius, who were all present, should be handed over into custody;

3.14atque idem hoc dēcrētum est in L. Cassium quī sibi prōcūrātiōnem incendendae urbis dēpoposcerat, in M. Cēpārium cui ad sollicitandōs pāstōrēs Āpūliam attribūtam esse erat indicātum, in P. Fūrium quī est ex eīs colōnīs quōs Faesulās L. Sulla dēdūxit, in Q. Annium Chīlōnem quī ūnā cum hōc Fūriō semper erat in hāc Allobrogum sollicitātiōne versātus, in P. Umbrēnum, lībertīnum hominem, ā quō prīmum Gallōs ad Gabīnium perductōs esse cōnstābat.

and the same was decreed against Lucius Cassius, who had demanded for himself the task of burning the city; against Marcus Ceparius, to whom, it had been reported, Apulia had been assigned for stirring up the shepherds; against Publius Furius, one of the colonists whom Lucius Sulla settled at Faesulae; against Quintus Annius Chilo, who together with this Furius had always been engaged in this tampering with the Allobroges; and against Publius Umbrenus, a freedman, by whom it was established that the Gauls had first been brought to Gabinius.

Note. Nine men are named in this sentence and the one before. Some were in custody already; others, like Cassius and Ceparius, had fled.

3.14Atque eā lēnitāte senātūs est ūsus, Quirītēs, ut ex tantā coniūrātiōne tantāque hāc multitūdine domesticōrum hostium novem hominum perditissimōrum poenā rē pūblicā cōnservātā reliquōrum mentīs sānārī posse arbitrārētur.

And the senate showed such mildness, citizens, as to judge that, out of so great a conspiracy and this so great a crowd of enemies at home, the republic could be saved by the punishment of nine utterly lost men, and the minds of the rest could be healed.

3.15Atque etiam supplicātiō dīs immortālibus prō singulārī eōrum meritō meō nōmine dēcrēta est, quod mihi prīmum post hanc urbem conditam togātō contigit, et hīs dēcrēta verbīs est: "quod urbem incendiīs, caede cīvīs, Ītaliam bellō līberāssem."

And a thanksgiving to the immortal gods for their extraordinary kindness has also been decreed in my name, which has happened to me first of all civilians since the founding of this city, and it was decreed in these words: "because I had freed the city from burning, the citizens from slaughter, and Italy from war."

Note. A supplicātiō was a public thanksgiving to the gods, normally granted only to victorious generals. Cicero is proud to be the first togātus, a civilian in the toga, to receive one.

3.15Quae supplicātiō sī cum cēterīs supplicātiōnibus cōnferātur, hoc interest, quod cēterae bene gestā, haec ūna cōnservātā rē pūblicā cōnstitūta est.

If this thanksgiving is compared with the others, there is this difference: the others were decreed for the republic well governed, this one alone for the republic saved.

Note. bene gestā … cōnservātā rē pūblicā: ablative absolutes, 'for the state well governed … for the state saved'.

3.15Atque illud quod faciendum prīmum fuit factum atque trānsāctum est.

And the thing that had to be done first has been done and finished.

3.15Nam P. Lentulus, quamquam patefactīs indiciīs, cōnfessiōnibus suīs, iūdiciō senātūs nōn modo praetōris iūs vērum etiam cīvis āmīserat, tamen magistrātū sē abdicāvit, ut quae religiō C. Mariō, clārissimō virō, nōn fuerat quō minus C. Glauciam dē quō nihil nōminātim erat dēcrētum praetōrem occīderet, eā nōs religiōne in prīvātō P. Lentulō pūniendō līberārēmur.

For Publius Lentulus, although by the evidence laid bare, by his own confessions and by the judgement of the senate he had lost not only the rights of a praetor but also those of a citizen, nevertheless resigned his magistracy, so that the scruple which had not stopped Gaius Marius, a most distinguished man, from killing the praetor Gaius Glaucia, against whom nothing had been decreed by name, should not trouble us in punishing Publius Lentulus as a private citizen.

Note. In 100 BC the consul Marius had the praetor Glaucia killed while still in office. Lentulus' resignation spared the senate that kind of religious scruple: they could now punish him as a private citizen. quō minus … occīderet: 'to prevent him from killing'.