In Catilinam 3.8

3.18Quamquam haec omnia, Quirītēs, ita sunt ā mē administrāta ut deōrum immortālium nūtū atque cōnsiliō et gesta et prōvīsa esse videantur.

And yet all this, citizens, has been managed by me in such a way that it seems to have been done and foreseen by the will and wisdom of the immortal gods.

Note. From here Cicero gives the credit to the gods, a theme that fills the rest of the speech. nūtū: literally 'nod', the sign of a god's will.

3.18Idque cum coniectūrā cōnsequī possumus, quod vix vidētur hūmānī cōnsilī tantārum rērum gubernātiō esse potuisse, tum vērō ita praesentēs hīs temporibus opem et auxilium nōbīs tulērunt ut eōs paene oculīs vidēre possīmus.

We can reach this conclusion by reasoning, since the steering of such great affairs hardly seems to have been within human wisdom, but above all the gods have stood by us and brought us help and aid in these days so plainly that we can almost see them with our eyes.

Note. cum … tum: 'both … and especially', 'not only … but above all'. quod … vidētur … potuisse: 'since it seems that (it) could hardly have been (a matter) of human wisdom'; hūmānī cōnsilī is a predicate genitive.

3.18Nam ut illa omittam, vīsās nocturnō tempore ab occidente facēs ardōremque caelī, ut fulminum iactūs, ut terrae mōtūs relinquam, ut omittam cētera quae tam multa nōbīs cōnsulibus facta sunt ut haec quae nunc fīunt canere dī immortālēs vidērentur, hoc certē, Quirītēs, quod sum dictūrus neque praetermittendum neque relinquendum est.

For to pass over those things, the torches seen in the west at night and the glow in the sky, to leave aside the strokes of lightning and the earthquakes, to pass over all the other things that have happened in such numbers in our consulship that the immortal gods seemed to be foretelling what is happening now, this at least, citizens, which I am about to tell you, must be neither passed over nor left out.

Note. The portents of 65-63 BC: lights in the sky, lightning, earthquakes. The Romans treated such prodigies as public signs from the gods, reported to the senate and explained by priests. canere: 'to foretell', of oracles and prophets. dictūrus: future participle with sum, 'I am about to say'.

3.19Nam profectō memoriā tenētis Cottā et Torquātō cōnsulibus complūrīs in Capitōliō rēs dē caelō esse percussās, cum et simulācra deōrum dēpulsa sunt et statuae veterum hominum dēiectae et lēgum aera liquefacta et tāctus etiam ille quī hanc urbem condidit Rōmulus, quem inaurātum in Capitōliō, parvum atque lactantem, ūberibus lupīnīs inhiantem fuisse meministis.

For surely you remember that in the consulship of Cotta and Torquatus a number of things on the Capitol were struck from the sky: the images of the gods were thrown down, statues of men of old were overturned, the bronze tablets of the laws were melted, and even he who founded this city was struck, Romulus, whom you remember standing gilded on the Capitol, a little child at the breast, gaping at the wolf's teats.

Note. Cotta et Torquātō cōnsulibus: ablative absolute giving the year, 65 BC, the usual Roman way of dating. Lightning striking the Capitol was a grave omen. The gilded statue of Romulus as a baby suckled by the she-wolf (ūberibus lupīnīs) stood on the Capitol.

3.19Quō quidem tempore cum haruspicēs ex tōtā Etrūriā convēnissent, caedīs atque incendia et lēgum interitum et bellum cīvīle ac domesticum et tōtīus urbis atque imperī occāsum appropinquāre dīxērunt, nisi dī immortālēs omnī ratiōne plācātī suō nūmine prope fāta ipsa flexissent.

At that time, when soothsayers had gathered from all Etruria, they said that slaughter and fires, the destruction of the laws, civil war at home and the fall of the whole city and empire were drawing near, unless the immortal gods were appeased by every means and by their power turned aside, so to speak, fate itself.

Note. haruspicēs: Etruscan diviners, called to Rome to interpret prodigies; they read signs in entrails and lightning. caedīs: accusative plural (= caedēs). The predicted disasters are reported in indirect statement after dīxērunt; nisi … flexissent keeps the condition in the subjunctive.

3.20Itaque illōrum respōnsīs tum et lūdī per decem diēs factī sunt neque rēs ūlla quae ad plācandōs deōs pertinēret praetermissa est.

So, on their answer, games were held for ten days, and nothing that bore on appeasing the gods was left undone.

Note. lūdī: games given as part of a religious act to appease the gods. ad plācandōs deōs: gerundive of purpose.

3.20Īdemque iussērunt simulācrum Iovis facere maius et in excelsō conlocāre et contrā atque anteā fuerat ad orientem convertere;

They also ordered that a larger statue of Jupiter be made and set up on a high place, and, unlike before, turned to face the east;

Note. contrā atque anteā fuerat: 'the opposite of how it had been before'; atque after words of difference means 'than' or 'as'. The old statue faced west; the new one was to face east, towards the Forum and the senate house.

3.20ac sē spērāre dīxērunt, sī illud signum quod vidētis sōlis ortum et forum cūriamque cōnspiceret, fore ut ea cōnsilia quae clam essent inita contrā salūtem urbis atque imperī inlūstrārentur ut ā senātū populōque Rōmānō perspicī possent.

and they said they hoped that if the statue you see looked towards the sunrise, the forum and the senate house, then the plans secretly formed against the safety of the city and empire would be brought to light, so that the senate and the Roman people could see them plainly.

Note. fore ut … inlūstrārentur: a common substitute for a future passive infinitive, 'that it would happen that … would be brought to light'. The second ut-clause expresses result.

3.20Atque illud signum conlocandum cōnsulēs illī locāvērunt;

And those consuls let out the contract for placing that statue;

Note. locāvērunt: locāre in the sense of letting out a public contract; the consuls of 65 had the work put out to contractors.

3.20sed tanta fuit operis tarditās ut neque superiōribus cōnsulibus neque nōbīs ante hodiernum diem conlocārētur.

but the work went so slowly that it was not set up under the previous consuls, nor under us before today.