4.9Nunc, patrēs cōnscrīptī, ego meā videō quid intersit.Now, members of the senate, I see what is to my own advantage.Note. mea interest: 'it is to my advantage'; meā is ablative singular feminine with interest. Cicero now weighs his own risk. 4.9Sī eritis secūtī sententiam C. Caesaris, quoniam hanc is in rē pūblicā viam quae populāris habētur secūtus est, fortasse minus erunt hōc auctōre et cognitōre huiusce sententiae mihi populārēs impetūs pertimēscendī;If you follow the proposal of Gaius Caesar, since he has followed the path in public life that is considered popular, I will perhaps have less to fear from popular attacks, with him as the author and sponsor of this proposal;Note. Caesar was known as a populāris, a politician who worked through the people rather than the senate. If the senate followed Caesar, Cicero would be shielded from popular anger later. hōc auctōre: ablative absolute, 'with him as proposer'. Cicero was in fact exiled in 58 BC for executing these men without trial. 4.9sīn illam alteram, nesciō an amplius mihi negōtī contrahātur.if you follow the other, I do not know whether more trouble may not come my way.Note. nesciō an: 'I do not know whether … not', that is, 'perhaps'. negōtī: partitive genitive with amplius. 4.9Sed tamen meōrum perīculōrum ratiōnēs ūtilitās reī pūblicae vincat.But even so, let the good of the republic outweigh any calculation of my own dangers. 4.9Habēmus enim ā Caesare, sīcut ipsīus dignitās et maiōrum eius amplitūdō postulābat, sententiam tamquam obsidem perpetuae in rem pūblicam voluntātis.For in Caesar's proposal, as his own standing and the greatness of his ancestors demanded, we have a kind of hostage for his lasting loyalty to the republic.Note. Caesar belonged to the old patrician Julian family. Cicero praises him as a hostage, a pledge, of loyalty to the republic.
4.9Intellēctum est quid interesset inter levitātem cōntiōnātōrum et animum vērē populārem salūtī populī cōnsulentem.It has become clear what the difference is between the shallowness of crowd-pleasers and a truly popular spirit that looks after the safety of the people. 4.10Videō dē istīs quī sē populārīs habērī volunt abesse nōn nēminem, nē dē capite vidēlicet cīvium Rōmānōrum sententiam ferat.I see that of those who want to be thought popular, a certain one is absent, evidently so as not to vote on the life of Roman citizens.Note. nōn nēminem: 'not no one', meaning 'a certain person'. The man is unnamed (often taken to be Crassus); he stayed away to avoid voting on the death of citizens. 4.10Is et nudius tertius in custōdiam cīvīs Rōmānōs dedit et supplicātiōnem mihi dēcrēvit et indicēs hesternō diē maximīs praemiīs adfēcit.Yet the day before yesterday he put Roman citizens in custody, voted me a thanksgiving, and yesterday gave the informers very large rewards.Note. nudius tertius: 'the day before yesterday' (literally 'it is now the third day'). 4.10Iam hoc nēminī dubium est quī reō custōdiam, quaesītōrī grātulātiōnem, indicī praemium dēcrērit, quid dē tōtā rē et causā iūdicārit.Now no one can doubt what a man who voted custody for the accused, congratulations for the investigator and a reward for the informer has decided about the whole affair and the case.Note. dēcrērit = dēcrēverit and iūdicārit = iūdicāverit, contracted perfect subjunctives.
4.10At vērō C. Caesar intellegit lēgem Semprōniam esse dē cīvibus Rōmānīs cōnstitūtam;But Gaius Caesar understands that the Sempronian law was established for Roman citizens;Note. The lēx Semprōnia of Gaius Gracchus (123 BC) forbade putting a Roman citizen to death without a vote of the people. Cicero's answer, given as Caesar's own reasoning, is that an enemy of the state is no longer a citizen. 4.10quī autem reī pūblicae sit hostis eum cīvem esse nūllō modō posse: dēnique ipsum lātōrem Semprōniae lēgis iussū populī poenās reī pūblicae dēpendisse.but that a man who is an enemy of the republic can in no way be a citizen; and finally that the very proposer of the Sempronian law paid the penalty to the republic by order of the people.Note. dēpendisse poenās: 'paid the penalty'. The lātor is Gaius Gracchus himself, killed in 121 BC. 4.10Īdem ipsum Lentulum, largītōrem et prōdigum, nōn putat, cum dē perniciē populī Rōmānī, exitiō huius urbis tam acerbē, tam crūdēliter cōgitārit, etiam appellārī posse populārem.He also does not think that Lentulus himself, a briber and a spendthrift, can even be called popular, since he has plotted the ruin of the Roman people and the destruction of this city so bitterly and so cruelly. 4.10Itaque homō mītissimus atque lēnissimus nōn dubitat P. Lentulum aeternīs tenebrīs vinculīsque mandāre et sancit in posterum nē quis huius suppliciō levandō sē iactāre et in perniciē populī Rōmānī posthāc populāris esse possit.And so this most gentle and mild of men does not hesitate to consign Publius Lentulus to everlasting darkness and chains, and he lays down for the future that no one may boast of lightening this man's punishment and so pose as a friend of the people to the ruin of the Roman people.Note. levandō: gerundive agreeing with suppliciō, 'by lightening the punishment'. Cicero calls Caesar mītissimus atque lēnissimus with some irony: even this gentle man proposes darkness and chains for ever.
4.10Adiungit etiam pūblicātiōnem bonōrum, ut omnis animī cruciātus et corporis etiam egestās ac mendīcitās cōnsequātur.He adds also the confiscation of their property, so that every torture of the mind and also poverty and beggary of the body may follow.