Bellum Catilinae 27

Cat. 27.1Igitur C. Mānlium Faesulās atque in eam partem Etrūriae, Septimium quendam Camertem in agrum Pīcēnum, C. Iūlium in Āpūliam dīmīsit, praetereā alium aliō, quem ubīque opportūnum sibi fore crēdēbat.

So he sent Gaius Manlius to Faesulae and that part of Etruria, a certain Septimius of Camerinum into the Picene territory, Gaius Iulius into Apulia, and besides these, others to other places, wherever he believed each would be useful to him.

Note. Faesulas: accusative of place to which, without a preposition, as with names of towns. alium alio: 'one man to one place, another to another'. quem ubique ... fore credebat: 'wherever he believed each would be useful' (fore = futurum esse).

Cat. 27.2Intereā Rōmae multa simul mōlīrī: cōnsulibus īnsidiās tendere, parāre incendia, opportūna loca armātīs hominibus obsidēre;

Meanwhile at Rome he was busy with many things at once: setting traps for the consuls, preparing fires, occupying strategic places with armed men;

Note. moliri, tendere, parare, obsidere: historical infinitives. Instead of a finite verb (moliebatur ...), Sallust uses the present infinitive with a subject in the nominative to give a rapid, vivid list of actions. This is one of the hallmarks of his style; this chapter has a run of them.

Cat. 27.2ipse cum tēlō esse, item aliōs iubēre, hortārī utī semper intentī parātīque essent;

he himself went about armed, and ordered others to do the same; he urged them to be always alert and ready;

Note. cum telo esse: 'to be armed', literally 'to be with a weapon'. uti = ut, Sallust's preferred form.

Cat. 27.2diēs noctīsque festīnāre, vigilāre, neque īnsomniīs neque labōre fatīgārī.

day and night he hurried, kept watch, and was worn out neither by sleeplessness nor by toil.

Note. Dies noctisque: accusatives of duration of time; noctis is an accusative plural in -is (= noctes), a spelling the edition keeps throughout (civis, omnis, mortalis).

Cat. 27.3Postrēmō, ubi multa agitantī nihil prōcēdit, rūrsus intempestā nocte coniūrātiōnis prīncipēs convocat per M. Porcium Laecam, ibique multa dē ignāviā eōrum questus docet sē Mānlium praemīsisse ad eam multitūdinem, quam ad capiunda arma parāverat, item aliōs in alia loca opportūna, quī initium bellī facerent, sēque ad exercitum proficīscī cupere, sī prius Cicerōnem oppressisset: eum suīs cōnsiliīs multum officere.

At last, when for all his schemes nothing was going forward, he again called together the leaders of the conspiracy in the dead of night, at the house of Marcus Porcius Laeca, and there, after complaining at length about their slackness, he told them that he had sent Manlius ahead to the force he had got ready for taking up arms, and likewise others to other strategic places to begin the war, and that he himself wanted to set out for the army, if he could first crush Cicero: Cicero was a great obstacle to his plans.

Note. ubi multa agitanti nihil procedit: 'when, for one attempting many things, nothing went forward'; agitanti is a dative of reference. intempesta nocte: 'at dead of night'. ad capiunda arma: gerundive of purpose; capiunda is the old form of capienda. se ... proficisci cupere, si ... oppressisset: indirect statement; the pluperfect subjunctive stands for a future perfect in direct speech.