4.16Operae pretium est, patrēs cōnscrīptī, lībertīnōrum hominum studia cognōscere quī, suā virtūte fortūnam huius cīvitātis cōnsecūtī, vērē hanc suam patriam esse iūdicant quam quīdam hīc nātī, et summō nātī locō, nōn patriam suam sed urbem hostium esse iūdicāvērunt.It is worthwhile, members of the senate, to learn the feelings of the freedmen, who, having won the citizenship of this state by their own merit, truly judge this to be their fatherland, while certain men born here, and born in the highest rank, have judged it to be not their fatherland but a city of enemies.Note. Operae pretium est: 'it is worth the effort'. Freedmen became citizens on manumission. The contrast is with nobles like Lentulus and Cethegus (summō nātī locō) who treat Rome as an enemy city. 4.16Sed quid ego hōsce ōrdinēs atque hominēs commemorō quōs prīvātae fortūnae, quōs commūnis rēs pūblica, quōs dēnique lībertās ea quae dulcissima est ad salūtem patriae dēfendendam excitāvit?But why do I mention these orders and men, whom their private fortunes, whom the common state, whom, finally, liberty, that sweetest of things, have roused to defend the safety of the fatherland?Note. Cicero again uses praeteritiō. libertās ea quae dulcissima est: 'liberty, which is the sweetest thing'. 4.16Servus est nēmō, quī modo tolerābilī condiciōne sit servitūtis, quī nōn audāciam cīvium perhorrēscat, quī nōn haec stāre cupiat, quī nōn quantum audet et quantum potest cōnferat ad salūtem voluntātis.There is no slave, provided he lives in a bearable condition of slavery, who does not shudder at the recklessness of citizens, who does not want these things to stand, who does not contribute as much goodwill towards our safety as he dares and as he can.Note. quī modo …: 'provided that he …', a restrictive relative clause with the subjunctive. The series of quī nōn clauses is a relative clause of characteristic after nēmō est.
4.17Quā rē sī quem vestrum forte commovet hoc quod audītum est, lēnōnem quendam Lentulī concursāre circum tabernās, pretiō spērāre sollicitārī posse animōs egentium atque imperītōrum, est id quidem coeptum atque temptātum, sed nūllī sunt inventī tam aut fortūnā miserī aut voluntāte perditī quī nōn illum ipsum sellae atque operis et quaestūs cōtīdiānī locum, quī nōn cubīle ac lectulum suum, quī dēnique nōn cursum hunc ōtiōsum vītae suae salvum esse velint.So if any of you is disturbed by what has been heard, that a certain go-between of Lentulus is running round the shops hoping that the minds of the needy and ignorant can be tempted with money, that was indeed begun and attempted; but none were found either so wretched in fortune or so ruined in will that they did not want their very place of work, the stool and the daily earnings, their bed and couch, and finally this quiet course of their life, to be safe.Note. lēnōnem: 'a go-between' (literally a pimp), contemptuous. The infinitives concursāre and spērāre are in indirect statement after hoc quod audītum est. sellae: the shopkeeper's stool or workbench. 4.17Multō vērō maxima pars eōrum quī in tabernīs sunt, immō vērō— id enim potius est dīcendum— genus hoc ūniversum amantissimum est ōtī.By far the greatest part of those who are in the shops, or rather (for this is more truly said) this whole class, is most devoted to peace.Note. immō vērō: Cicero corrects himself to a stronger claim. ōtī = ōtiī, genitive with amantissimum, 'most fond of peace'.
4.17Etenim omne īnstrūmentum, omnis opera atque quaestus frequentiā cīvium sustentātur, alitur ōtiō;For all their stock and all their work and earnings are sustained by a crowd of citizens and nourished by peace;Note. Shopkeepers live from peace and a full city; a riot or fire ruins them. This is Cicero's answer to the rumor in sentence 38. 4.17quōrum sī quaestus occlūsīs tabernīs minuī solet, quid tandem incēnsīs futūrum fuit?if their earnings usually drop when the shops are closed, what would have happened if they had been burned?Note. futūrum fuit: 'what would have happened', the indicative used where English uses a conditional. 4.18Quae cum ita sint, patrēs cōnscrīptī, vōbīs populī Rōmānī praesidia nōn dēsunt: vōs nē populō Rōmānō dēesse videāminī prōvidēte.Since this is so, members of the senate, the Roman people's protection does not fail you: see to it that you do not seem to fail the Roman people.Note. Quae cum ita sint: a common transition, 'since this is so'. nē … deesse videāminī: a purpose clause that depends on prōvidēte.