Cat. 11.1Sed prīmō magis ambitiō quam avāritia animōs hominum exercēbat, quod tamen vitium propius virtūtem erat.But at first it was ambition rather than greed that drove men's minds, a vice which was nevertheless nearer to virtue.Note. propius virtūtem: 'nearer to virtue'; propius here works like a preposition with the accusative. Cat. 11.2Nam glōriam honōrem imperium bonus et ignāvos aequē sibi exoptant;For the good man and the coward alike long for glory, office and power;Note. ignāvos = ignāvus: old nominative ending -os after v. Cat. 11.2sed ille vērā viā nītitur, huic quia bonae artēs dēsunt, dolīs atque fallāciīs contendit.but the one strives by the true road, the other, since he lacks good qualities, contends by tricks and deceit.Note. ille … huic: 'the former' (the good man) … 'the latter' (the coward). Cat. 11.3Avāritia pecūniae studium habet, quam nēmō sapiēns concupīvit: ea quasi venēnīs malīs inbūta corpus animumque virīlem effēminat, semper īnfīnīta et īnsatiābilis est, neque cōpiā neque inopiā minuitur.Greed has a passion for money, which no wise man has desired: as if steeped in evil poisons, it makes a manly body and mind effeminate; it is always boundless and insatiable, and is lessened neither by plenty nor by want.Note. quasi venēnīs malīs inbūta: 'as if steeped in harmful poisons'. inbūta is the older spelling of imbūta. Cat. 11.4Sed postquam L. Sulla armīs receptā rē pūblicā bonīs initiīs malōs ēventūs habuit, rapere omnēs omnēs trahere, domum alius alius agrōs cupere, neque modum neque modestiam victōrēs habēre, foeda crūdēliaque in cīvīs facinora facere.But after Lucius Sulla, having recovered the state by arms, brought good beginnings to bad ends, all men began to rob and plunder: one wanted a house, another lands; the victors showed neither limit nor restraint, and committed foul and cruel crimes against citizens.Note. Sulla won the civil war in 82 BC and followed it with proscriptions: lists of enemies whose killing was rewarded and whose property was sold. rapere, trahere, cupere, habēre, facere: historical infinitives.
Cat. 11.5Hūc adcēdēbat quod L. Sulla exercitum, quem in Asiā ductāverat, quō sibi fīdum faceret, contrā mōrem maiōrum luxuriōsē nimisque līberāliter habuerat.Added to this was the fact that Lucius Sulla, to make the army he had led in Asia loyal to himself, had treated it luxuriously and too generously, against the custom of our ancestors.Note. quō … faceret: quō introduces a purpose clause, 'in order to make'. Sulla's eastern army had fought Mithridates in Asia Minor in the 80s. Cat. 11.5Loca amoena voluptāria facile in ōtiō ferōcīs mīlitum animōs mollīverant: ibi prīmum īnsuēvit exercitus populī Rōmānī amāre pōtāre, signa tabulās pictās vāsa caelāta mīrārī, ea prīvātim et pūblicē rapere, dēlūbra spoliāre, sacra profānaque omnia polluere.Pleasant and pleasure-giving places had easily softened the soldiers' fierce spirits in their idleness: there for the first time the army of the Roman people grew used to making love and drinking, to admiring statues, paintings and engraved vessels, to stealing them privately and publicly, to robbing shrines, and to defiling everything, sacred and profane.Note. Asia here stands for the luxurious Greek East. signa: statues; tabulās pictās: paintings; vāsa caelāta: embossed silver plate. Cat. 11.7Igitur iī mīlitēs, postquam victōriam adeptī sunt, nihil reliquī victīs fēcēre.So these soldiers, once they had won the victory, left nothing to the conquered.Note. nihil reliquī … fēcēre: 'left nothing over', a set phrase with the genitive reliquī. Cat. 11.8Quippe secundae rēs sapientium animōs fatīgant: nē illī corruptīs mōribus victōriae temperārent.Indeed, prosperity wears down the minds even of the wise: much less would those men, their morals corrupted, show restraint in victory.Note. nē illī … temperārent: nē here is the affirmative particle nē (also written nae), 'truly': 'much less, surely, would those men have shown restraint'.