In Catilinam 3.9

3.21Hīc quis potest esse tam āversus ā vērō, tam praeceps, tam mente captus quī neget haec omnia quae vidēmus praecipuēque hanc urbem deōrum immortālium nūtū ac potestāte administrārī?

Who could be so turned against the truth, so headlong, so out of his mind as to deny that all that we see, and this city above all, is governed by the will and power of the immortal gods?

Note. Hīc: adverb, 'at this point'. quī neget: relative clause of characteristic after tam … , 'so … as to deny'.

3.21Etenim cum esset ita respōnsum, caedīs, incendia, interitum reī pūblicae comparārī, et ea per cīvīs, quae tum propter magnitūdinem scelerum nōn nūllīs incrēdibilia vidēbantur, ea nōn modo cōgitāta ā nefāriīs cīvibus vērum etiam suscepta esse sēnsistis.

For when the answer was given that slaughter, fires and the ruin of the state were being prepared, and that by citizens, things which then seemed unbelievable to some because of the size of the crimes, you have found that these things were not only planned by wicked citizens but actually undertaken.

3.21Illud vērō nōnne ita praesēns est ut nūtū Iovis Optimī Maximī factum esse videātur, ut, cum hodiernō diē māne per forum meō iussū et coniūrātī et eōrum indicēs in aedem Concordiae dūcerentur, eō ipsō tempore signum statuerētur?

And is not this so plain that it seems to have been done by the will of Jupiter Best and Greatest, that at the very time this morning when the conspirators and their informers were being led on my orders through the forum to the temple of Concord, at that very moment the statue was being set up?

Note. Iuppiter Optimus Maximus: the title of Jupiter of the Capitol, the chief god of the Roman state. The temple of Concord, at the foot of the Capitol, was where Cicero had the senate meet that day to question the conspirators. That the new statue was set up at that very hour was, for Cicero, the gods' own sign.

3.21Quō conlocātō atque ad vōs senātumque conversō omnia et senātus et vōs quae erant contrā salūtem omnium cōgitāta inlūstrāta et patefacta vīdistis.

When it had been set up and turned towards you and the senate, both the senate and you saw everything that had been planned against the safety of all brought to light and laid open.

Note. Quō conlocātō atque … conversō: ablative absolute with a connecting relative, 'when it had been set up and turned'.

3.22Quō etiam maiōre sunt istī odiō suppliciōque dignī quī nōn sōlum vestrīs domiciliīs atque tēctīs sed etiam deōrum templīs atque dēlūbrīs sunt fūnestōs ac nefāriōs ignīs īnferre cōnātī.

For that reason these men deserve all the greater hatred and punishment, who tried to carry deadly and wicked fire not only into your homes and houses but into the temples and shrines of the gods.

Note. Quō … maiōre … odiō: 'all the greater hatred for this reason'; quō is an ablative of degree with the comparative.

3.22Quibus ego sī mē restitisse dīcam, nimium mihi sūmam et nōn sim ferendus: ille, ille Iuppiter restitit;

If I were to say that it was I who stood against them, I would claim too much for myself and would not be bearable: it was he, Jupiter himself, who stood against them;

Note. A future-less-vivid condition: sī … dīcam, … sūmam et nōn sim ferendus, 'if I should say … I would claim … and would not be bearable'. The repeated ille (anaphora) points to the statue of Jupiter, visible from where the people stood.

3.22ille Capitōlium, ille haec templa, ille cūnctam urbem, ille vōs omnīs salvōs esse voluit.

it was he who willed that the Capitol, these temples, the whole city and all of you should be safe.

Note. salvōs esse voluit: 'he willed you to be safe'; the accusatives are subjects of the infinitive.

3.22Dīs ego immortālibus ducibus hanc mentem voluntātemque suscēpī atque ad haec tanta indicia pervēnī.

With the immortal gods as my guides I took up this purpose and resolve, and arrived at these great proofs.

3.22Iam vērō illa Allobrogum sollicitātiō, iam ab Lentulō cēterīsque domesticīs hostibus tam dēmenter tantae rēs crēditae et ignōtīs et barbarīs commissaeque litterae numquam essent profectō, nisi ab dīs immortālibus huic tantae audāciae cōnsilium esset ēreptum.

And then the tampering with the Allobroges, and things of such importance entrusted so madly by Lentulus and the rest of the enemies within to strangers and barbarians, and letters handed over to them: these things surely would never have happened unless the immortal gods had robbed such great boldness of its wits.

Note. The Allobroges, a Gallic people from the Rhône valley, had envoys in Rome; Lentulus tried to win them over, and their letters, carrying the conspirators' seals, were seized at the Mulvian bridge. cōnsilium … ēreptum: 'their good sense had been snatched away'; Roman thought held that the gods first take away the wits of those they mean to destroy.

3.22Quid vērō?

And what of this?

Note. Quid vērō?: 'And what of this?', a rhetorical turn introducing a new point.

3.22ut hominēs Gallī ex cīvitāte male pācātā, quae gēns ūna restat quae bellum populō Rōmānō facere posse et nōn nōlle videātur, spem imperī ac rērum maximārum ultrō sibi ā patriciīs hominibus oblātam neglegerent vestramque salūtem suīs opibus antepōnerent, id nōn dīvīnitus esse factum putātis, praesertim quī nōs nōn pugnandō sed tacendō superāre potuērunt?

That Gauls, from a state barely pacified, the one nation left that seems able to make war on the Roman people and not unwilling to, should disregard the hope of power and of great gains offered them unasked by men of patrician birth, and put your safety before their own advantage: do you not think that this was done by the gods, especially as they could have beaten us not by fighting but by keeping silent?

Note. The ut-clause is a noun clause, the subject of id … factum esse: 'that Gauls should disregard … do you think this happened without the gods?'. The Allobroges, conquered in 121 BC, were restless under Roman rule and deep in debt, so their loyalty seemed all the more remarkable. nōn pugnandō sed tacendō: ablative gerunds, 'not by fighting but by keeping silent'.