Mur. 38.1Atque ad haec mala, iūdicēs, quid accēdat aliud nōn vidētis?And do you not see, judges, what further thing is added to these evils? Mur. 38.1Tē, tē appellō, Catō;You, you I call upon, Cato; Mur. 38.1nōnne prōspicis tempestātem annī tuī?do you not foresee the storm of your year? Mur. 38.1Iam enim in hesternā contiōne intonuit vōx perniciōsa dēsignātī tribūnī, conlēgae tuī;For already at yesterday's public meeting there thundered the pernicious voice of a tribune-elect, your colleague; Mur. 38.1contrā quem multum tua mēns, multum omnēs bonī prōvīdērunt quī tē ad tribūnātūs petītiōnem vocāvērunt.against whom your mind, and all the good men who called you to stand for the tribunate, have taken many precautions. Mur. 38.1Omnia quae per hoc triennium agitāta sunt, iam ab eō tempore quō ā Catilīnā et Pīsōne initum cōnsilium senātūs interficiendī scītis esse, in hōs diēs, in hōs mēnsīs, in hoc tempus ērumpunt.All that has been stirred up over these three years, from the time when, as you know, the plan of murdering the senate was formed by Catiline and Piso, is bursting out in these days, these months, this moment. Mur. 38.82Quī locus est, iūdicēs, quod tempus, quī diēs, quae nox cum ego nōn ex istōrum īnsidiīs ac mūcrōnibus nōn sōlum meō sed multō etiam magis dīvīnō cōnsiliō ēripiar atque ēvolem?What place is there, judges, what time, what day, what night, when I am not rescued and do not escape from the plots and daggers of those men, not only by my own counsel but far more by divine counsel?
Mur. 38.82Neque istī mē meō nōmine interficī sed vigilantem cōnsulem dē reī pūblicae praesidiō dēmovērī volunt.Nor do they want me killed on my own account, but want a watchful consul removed from the defence of the state. Mur. 38.82Nec minus vellent, Catō, tē quoque aliquā ratiōne, sī possent, tollere;Nor would they any less wish, Cato, to get rid of you too somehow, if they could; Mur. 38.82id quod, mihi crēde, et agunt et mōliuntur.and that, believe me, is what they are working at and contriving. Mur. 38.82Vident quantum in tē sit animī, quantum ingenī, quantum auctōritātis, quantum reī pūblicae praesidī;They see how much spirit there is in you, how much talent, how much authority, how much protection for the state; Mur. 38.82sed, cum cōnsulārī auctōritāte et auxiliō spoliātam vim tribūniciam vīderint, tum sē facilius inermem et dēbilitātum tē oppressūrōs arbitrantur.but when they have seen the tribunician power stripped of the authority and help of a consul, then they think they will more easily crush you, unarmed and weakened. Mur. 38.82Nam nē sufficiātur cōnsul nōn timent.For they do not fear that a substitute consul will be elected.
Mur. 38.82Vident in tuōrum potestāte conlēgārum fore;They see that this will be in the power of your colleagues; Mur. 38.82spērant sibi D. Sīlānum, clārum virum, sine conlēgā, tē sine cōnsule, rem pūblicam sine praesidiō obicī posse.they hope that Decimus Silanus, a distinguished man, can be exposed to them without a colleague, you without a consul, the state without protection. Mur. 38.83Hīs tantīs in rēbus tantīsque in perīculīs est tuum, Catō, quī mihi nōn tibi, sed patriae nātus esse vidēris, vidēre quid agātur, retinēre adiūtōrem, dēfēnsōrem, socium in rē pūblicā, cōnsulem nōn cupidum, cōnsulem, quod maximē tempus hoc postulat, fortūnā cōnstitūtum ad amplexandum ōtium, scientia ad bellum gerendum, animō et ūsū ad quod velīs negōtium sustinendum.In these great affairs and these great dangers it is your duty, Cato, since you seem to me to have been born not for yourself but for your country, to see what is happening, to keep a helper, a defender, a partner in public affairs, a consul who is not self-seeking, a consul, as this time most demands, fitted by fortune to embrace peace, by knowledge to wage war, by spirit and experience to sustain whatever task you wish.