Bellum Catilinae 16

Cat. 16.1Sed iuventūtem, quam, ut suprā dīximus, illexerat, multīs modīs mala facinora ēdocēbat.

But the young men whom, as I said above, he had lured in he taught evil deeds in many ways.

Note. Sallust now shows how Catiline corrupted his followers, again in historical infinitives (commodāre, habēre).

Cat. 16.2Ex illīs testīs signātōrēsque falsōs commodāre;

From their number he supplied false witnesses and forgers of seals;

Note. testīs: accusative plural in -īs, Sallust's usual form for third-declension i-stems (also omnīs, fortīs).

Cat. 16.2fidem fortūnās perīcula vīlia habēre;

he told them to treat honour, fortunes and dangers as cheap;

Cat. 16.2post ubi eōrum fāmam atque pudōrem adtrīverat, maiōra alia imperābat.

later, when he had worn away their reputation and their sense of shame, he ordered other, greater crimes.

Cat. 16.3Sī causa peccandī in praesēns minus suppetēbat, nihilō minus īnsontīs sīcutī sontīs circumvenīre iugulāre: scīlicet nē per ōtium torpēscerent manūs aut animus, grātuītō potius malus atque crūdēlis erat.

If for the moment there was too little reason for wrongdoing, he would none the less trap and butcher the innocent as if they were guilty: plainly, so that hand or mind should not grow numb through idleness, he was wicked and cruel for no reason at all.

Note. nihilō minus: 'none the less'. īnsontīs sīcutī sontīs: 'the innocent as though they were guilty'. grātuītō: 'for nothing', i.e. with no motive. A bitter little character sketch.

Cat. 16.4Hīs amīcīs sociīsque cōnfīsus Catilīna, simul quod aes aliēnum per omnīs terrās ingēns erat et quod plērīque Sullānī mīlitēs, lārgius suō ūsī, rapīnārum et victōriae veteris memorēs cīvīle bellum exoptābant, opprimundae reī pūblicae cōnsilium cēpit.

Relying on these friends and allies, and also because debt was huge throughout the world and because most of Sulla's soldiers, having squandered their own property and remembering their plunder and their old victory, longed for civil war, Catiline formed the plan of crushing the Republic.

Note. His amīcīs … cōnfīsus: cōnfīdō takes the dative. Sullānī mīlitēs: veterans of Sulla's armies, settled on land in Italy in the 80s; many had run through it and longed for a new war. opprimundae reī pūblicae: gerundive, old spelling of opprimendae, 'of crushing the Republic'.

Cat. 16.5In Ītaliā nūllus exercitus, Cn. Pompēius in extrēmīs terrīs bellum gerēbat;

In Italy there was no army; Gnaeus Pompey was waging war at the ends of the earth;

Note. Pompey was fighting Mithridates in the East (66-62 BC), so there was no large army in Italy.

Cat. 16.5ipsī cōnsulātum petentī magna spēs, senātus nihil sānē intentus: tūtae tranquillaeque rēs omnēs, sed ea prōrsus opportūna Catilīnae.

he himself, standing for the consulship, had great hopes; the senate was not at all on the alert: everything was safe and calm, but that was exactly what suited Catiline.

Note. Asyndeton again, with no verbs (supply erat, erant). ea prōrsus opportūna: 'but that was just what suited Catiline'.