In Catilinam 4.4

4.7Videō duās adhūc esse sententiās, ūnam D. Sīlānī quī cēnset eōs quī haec dēlēre cōnātī sunt morte esse multandōs, alteram C. Caesaris quī mortis poenam removet, cēterōrum suppliciōrum omnīs acerbitātēs amplectitur.

I see that there are so far two proposals: one of Decimus Silanus, who proposes that those who tried to destroy all this should be punished with death; the other of Gaius Caesar, who rejects the penalty of death but embraces all the bitterness of the other punishments.

Note. The two proposals: D. Iunius Silanus, consul-elect, spoke first and proposed death; Julius Caesar, praetor-elect, proposed confiscation of property and life imprisonment in Italian towns. Cicero sets them out side by side before giving his own view. multandōs: from multō, -āre, 'punish', not the adverb multō.

4.7Uterque et prō suā dignitāte et prō rērum magnitūdine in summā sevēritāte versātur.

Each of them, in keeping both with his own standing and with the importance of the matter, takes the strictest line.

Note. Cicero is careful to present both men as equally severe, although in fact Caesar's proposal was the more lenient one.

4.7Alter eōs quī nōs omnīs, quī populum Rōmānum vītā prīvāre cōnātī sunt, quī dēlēre imperium, quī populī Rōmānī nōmen exstinguere, punctum temporis fruī vītā et hōc commūnī spīritū nōn putat oportēre atque hoc genus poenae saepe in improbōs cīvīs in hāc rē pūblicā esse ūsurpātum recordātur.

The one does not think that men who have tried to rob us all, and the Roman people, of life, to destroy the empire, to blot out the name of the Roman people, should enjoy life and this air we all breathe for a single moment, and he recalls that this kind of penalty has often been used against wicked citizens in this republic.

Note. Silanus' case: men who would destroy the state forfeit any right to live. punctum temporis: accusative of duration, 'for a moment'. fruor takes the ablative (vītā, spīritū).

4.7Alter intellegit mortem ā dīs immortālibus nōn esse supplicī causā cōnstitūtam, sed aut necessitātem nātūrae aut labōrum ac miseriārum quiētem.

The other understands that death was not established by the immortal gods as a punishment, but either as a necessity of nature or as rest from toils and miseries.

Note. Caesar's argument, as Cicero reports it: death is not a punishment but either nature's necessity or a rest from suffering, an Epicurean view. supplicī causā: 'for the sake of punishment'.

4.7Itaque eam sapientēs numquam invītī, fortēs saepe etiam libenter oppetīvērunt.

And so wise men have never met it unwillingly, and brave men have often met it even gladly.

4.7Vincula vērō et ea sempiterna certē ad singulārem poenam nefāriī sceleris inventa sunt.

But imprisonment, and life imprisonment at that, was surely devised as the special penalty for a monstrous crime.

Note. Romans rarely used imprisonment as a punishment; prisons held people awaiting trial or execution. So lifelong imprisonment would be something new.

4.7Mūnicipiīs dispertīrī iubet.

He proposes that they be distributed among the towns of Italy.

Note. mūnicipia: Italian towns whose people were Roman citizens. Caesar wanted the prisoners shared out among them.

4.7Habēre vidētur ista rēs inīquitātem, sī imperāre velīs, difficultātem, sī rogāre.

This seems to involve unfairness if you want to command it, and difficulty if you want to request it.

Note. Cicero's objection: the senate could not easily order free towns to keep prisoners (inīquitās), and asking them might be refused (difficultās).

4.8Dēcernātur tamen, sī placet.

Let it be decreed, however, if you so wish.

4.8Ego enim suscipiam et, ut spērō, reperiam quī id quod salūtis omnium causā statueritis nōn putent esse suae dignitātis recūsāre.

For I will undertake it and, as I hope, I will find towns that will not think it beneath their dignity to refuse what you have decided for the safety of all.

Note. reperiam quī … nōn putent: 'I will find (towns) that do not think', a relative clause of characteristic. esse suae dignitātis: 'to be fitting for their dignity'.

4.8Adiungit gravem poenam mūnicipiīs, sī quis eōrum vincula rūperit;

He adds a heavy penalty for the towns if any of them breaks the prisoners' chains;

4.8horribilīs custōdiās circumdat et dignās scelere hominum perditōrum;

he surrounds them with dreadful guards, worthy of the crime of these desperate men;

4.8sancit nē quis eōrum poenam quōs condemnat aut per senātum aut per populum levāre possit;

he lays down that no one may lighten the punishment of those he condemns, either through the senate or through the people;

Note. sancit: 'he lays down', used of a law or binding provision. Caesar's proposal would forbid anyone to bring the case back before the senate or the people.

4.8ēripit etiam spem quae sōla hominem in miseriīs cōnsōlārī solet.

he even takes away hope, which alone usually comforts a man in his misery.

4.8Bona praetereā pūblicārī iubet;

Further, he orders their property to be confiscated;

Note. bona pūblicārī: 'their property to be confiscated', literally 'made public'.

4.8vītam sōlam relinquit nefāriīs hominibus: quam sī ēripuisset, multās ūnō dolōre animī atque corporis miseriās et omnīs scelerum poenās adēmisset.

he leaves those wicked men only their life: if he had taken that away, he would have removed at one stroke of pain many miseries of mind and body and all the punishments for their crimes.

Note. quam sī ēripuisset … adēmisset: a past contrary-to-fact condition, 'if he had taken it away, he would have removed'.

4.8Itaque ut aliqua in vītā formīdō improbīs esset prōposita, apud īnferōs eius modī quaedam illī antīquī supplicia impiīs cōnstitūta esse voluērunt, quod vidēlicet intellegēbant hīs remōtīs nōn esse mortem ipsam pertimēscendam.

That is why the men of old, so that the wicked should have something to fear in life, wanted certain punishments of this kind to be laid down for the impious in the underworld, because evidently they understood that if these were removed, death itself was nothing to be afraid of.

Note. The old belief in punishments in the underworld; Cicero suggests it was invented so that death would still be feared. hīs remōtīs: ablative absolute, 'if these are removed'.