Bellum Catilinae 10

Cat. 10.1Sed ubi labōre atque iūstitiā rēs pūblica crēvit, rēgēs magnī bellō domitī, nātiōnēs ferae et populī ingentēs vī subāctī, Carthāgō aemula imperī Rōmānī ab stirpe interiit, cūncta maria terraeque patēbant, saevīre fortūna ac miscēre omnia coepit.

But when the state had grown through toil and justice, when great kings had been subdued in war, savage nations and mighty peoples brought under by force, when Carthage, the rival of the Roman empire, had perished root and branch, and all seas and lands lay open, fortune began to rage and to throw everything into confusion.

Note. Carthage was destroyed in 146 BC. For Sallust this removed the last fear that kept Rome disciplined, and the decline began.

Cat. 10.2Quī labōrēs, perīcula, dubiās atque asperās rēs facile tolerāverant, iīs ōtium dīvitiaeque, optanda aliās, onerī miseriaeque fuēre.

Those who had easily endured toil, dangers, and doubtful and harsh circumstances, found leisure and riches, desirable at other times, a burden and a misery.

Note. optanda aliās: 'at other times desirable'. onerī miseriaeque: double dative, 'a burden and misery'.

Cat. 10.3Igitur prīmō pecūniae, deinde imperī cupīdō crēvit: ea quasi māteriēs omnium malōrum fuēre.

So first the desire for money grew, then for power: these were, so to speak, the raw material of all evils.

Note. fuēre: plural because ea refers to both desires. māteriēs: 'the material, the stuff'.

Cat. 10.3Namque avāritia fidem probitātem cēterāsque artīs bonās subvortit;

For greed overthrew good faith, honesty and the other good qualities;

Cat. 10.4prō hīs superbiam, crūdēlitātem, deōs neglegere, omnia vēnālia habēre ēdocuit.

in their place it taught arrogance and cruelty, to neglect the gods, to hold everything for sale.

Note. Prō hīs: 'in their place'. The objects of ēdocuit mix nouns and infinitives.

Cat. 10.5Ambitiō multōs mortālīs falsōs fierī subēgit, aliud clausum in pectore aliud in linguā promptum habēre, amīcitiās inimīcitiāsque nōn ex rē sed ex commodō aestumāre, magisque voltum quam ingenium bonum habēre.

Ambition drove many mortals to become false, to keep one thing hidden in the heart and another ready on the tongue, to value friendships and enmities not by their worth but by advantage, and to have a good face rather than a good heart.

Note. subēgit + infinitive: 'forced to'. aliud clausum in pectore, aliud in linguā prōmptum: 'one thing shut up in the heart, another ready on the tongue'.

Cat. 10.6Haec prīmō paulātim crēscere, interdum vindicārī;

At first these grew little by little and were sometimes punished;

Note. Historical infinitives again: crēscere, vindicārī.

Cat. 10.6post ubi contāgiō quasi pestilentia invāsit, cīvitās inmūtāta, imperium ex iūstissumō atque optumō crūdēle intolerandumque factum.

later, when the infection had spread like a plague, the state was changed, and the government, from the most just and best, became cruel and unbearable.

Note. Supply est with immūtāta and factum: Sallust often leaves it out.