Lectitō › Sallust › The War with Catiline
Bellum Catilinae 15
A guilty conscience
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōCat. 15.1Iam prīmum adulēscēns Catilīna multa nefanda stupra fēcerat, cum virgine nōbilī, cum sacerdōte Vestae, alia huiusce modī contrā iūs fāsque.
To begin with, as a young man Catiline had committed many unspeakable debaucheries, with a girl of noble family, with a priestess of Vesta, and other things of the kind against law and religion.
Note. Vestal Virgins were bound to chastity on pain of death. The priestess here was Fabia, Cicero's sister-in-law, who was acquitted in 73 BC.
Cat. 15.2Postrēmō captus amōre Aurēliae Orestillae, quoius praeter fōrmam nihil umquam bonus laudāvit, quod ea nūbere illī dubitābat timēns prīvignum adultā aetāte, prō certō crēditur necātō fīliō vacuam domum scelestīs nūptiīs fēcisse.
At last, captured by love for Aurelia Orestilla, in whom no good man ever praised anything except her looks, it is held for certain that, because she hesitated to marry him for fear of a grown-up stepson, he killed his son and so cleared the house for a wicked marriage.
Note. A long, tangled sentence: captus … quod ea nūbere illī dubitābat … crēditur … fēcisse. The main verb is crēditur ('it is believed'), personal: 'he is believed to have …'. necātō fīliō: ablative absolute. Sallust reports this as a rumour (prō certō crēditur) without vouching for it.
Cat. 15.3Quae quidem rēs mihi in prīmīs vidētur causa fuisse facinus mātūrandī.
This deed, indeed, seems to me to have been one of the chief causes for hurrying on his crime.
Cat. 15.4Namque animus inpūrus, dīs hominibusque īnfestus, neque vigiliīs neque quiētibus sēdārī poterat: ita cōnscientia mentem excitam vāstābat.
For his foul mind, hostile to gods and men, could be calmed neither by waking nor by rest: so did his conscience lay waste his frenzied mind.
Note. dīs hominibusque īnfestus: dative with the adjective. excitam: from exciō, 'stirred up, frenzied'.
Cat. 15.5Igitur colos eī exanguis, foedī oculī, citus modo modo tardus incessus: prōrsus in faciē voltūque vēcordia inerat.
So his colour was bloodless, his eyes ugly, his walk now quick, now slow: in short, madness showed in his face and expression.
Note. Verbs are left out throughout (supply erat): a vivid portrait in short phrases. colōs: old form of color. modo … modo: 'now … now'. voltū: = vultū.
Vocabulary
| iam, adv. | now, already |
| prīmum, adv. | first, in the first place |
| adulēscēns, -entis, m. | youth, young man |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| nefandus, -a, -um | unspeakable, abominable |
| stuprum, -ī n. | debauchery, sexual crime |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| virgō, virginis, f. | maiden |
| nōbilis, -e | well-known, noble |
| sacerdōs, -dōtis, m. and f. | priest, priestess |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| contrā, prep, with acc. | against, contrary to |
| iūs, iūris, n. | right, justice, law; iūs dīcere, to pronounce judgment; iūs iūrandum, iūris iūrandī, oath |
| fās (indecl.) n. | what is right by divine law (fās est: it is allowed) |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| postrēmō (adv.) | finally, at last |
| capiō, capere, cēpī, captus | take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt |
| amor, -ōris, m. | love |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| praeter, prep. with acc. | before, past, by; besides, except |
| fōrma, -ae, f. | form, appearance; beauty |
| nihil, n., indecl. | nothing |
| umquam, adv. | ever |
| bonus, -a, -um | good |
| laudō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | praise |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| nūbō, -ere, nūpsī, nūptum (+ dat.) | marry (said of a woman) |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| dubitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | doubt, hesitate |
| timeō, -ēre, -uī | fear |
| prīvignus, -ī m. | stepson |
| adultus, -a, -um | grown up, full-grown, mature |
| aetās, -tātis, f. | age |
| prō, prep. with abl. | before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for |
| certus, -a, -um | determined, fixed, certain; certiōrem facere, to make more certain, inform |
| crēdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | believe |
| necō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | put to death, slay, kill |
| fīlius, -ī, m. | son |
| vacuus, -a, -um | empty |
| domus, -ūs, f. | house, home |
| scelestus, -a, -um | wicked, criminal |
| nūptiae, -ārum f. pl. | wedding, marriage |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| prīmus, -a, -um | first, foremost |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| facinus, facinoris, n. | deed, crime |
| mātūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | ripen; hasten |
| namque, conj. | for |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| impūrus, -a, -um | unclean, vile |
| deus, -ī, m. | god |
| homō, hominis, m. | man |
| īnfestus, -a, -um | unsafe, dangerous |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| vigilia, -ae, f. | watch |
| quiēs, quiētis, f. | rest, repose |
| sēdō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | settle, calm, put down |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| ita, adv. | in this manner, thus, so; ita ut, as |
| cōnscientia, -ae f. | awareness; consciousness of guilt, guilty conscience |
| mēns, mentis f. | mind, spirit |
| exciō, -īre, -cīvī, -citus | rouse, stir up; summon |
| vāstō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | lay waste |
| igitur, conj. | therefore |
| color, -ōris, m. | color |
| exsanguis, -e | bloodless, pale, deathly white |
| foedus, -a, -um | foul, loathsome, hideous |
| oculus, -ī, m. | eye |
| citus, -a, -um | quick, swift |
| modo, adv. | only |
| tardus, -a, -um | slow |
| incessus, -ūs m. | walk, gait |
| prōrsus (adv.) | in short, in a word; altogether |
| faciēs, -ēī f. | face; appearance |
| vultus, -ūs m. | face, expression |
| vēcordia, -ae f. | madness, frenzy |
| īnsum, inesse, īnfuī | be in, be present in (dat.) |