Bellum Catilinae 28

Cat. 28.1Igitur perterritīs ac dubitantibus cēterīs C. Cornēlius eques Rōmānus operam suam pollicitus et cum eō L. Vargunteius senātor cōnstituēre eā nocte paulō post cum armātīs hominibus sīcutī salūtātum introīre ad Cicerōnem ac dē inprōvīsō domī suae inparātum cōnfodere.

So, while the rest were terrified and hesitating, Gaius Cornelius, a Roman knight, offered his services, and with him Lucius Vargunteius, a senator; they decided to go in to Cicero that same night a little later with armed men, as if to pay their morning call, and to stab him unexpectedly in his own house while he was off his guard.

Note. salutatum: the supine in -um after a verb of motion (introire) expresses purpose: 'to pay a call'. Roman men of standing received callers (the salutatio) in the early morning, which is what made the trick plausible. The two would-be assassins were C. Cornelius and L. Vargunteius. Cicero tells the same story in In Catilinam I (sections 9-10).

Cat. 28.2Curius ubi intellegit, quantum perīculum cōnsulī inpendeat, properē per Fulviam Cicerōnī dolum quī parābātur ēnūntiat.

When Curius saw how great a danger hung over the consul, he quickly reported the plot that was being prepared to Cicero through Fulvia.

Note. intellegit, enuntiat: historic presents, used for vividness in narrative. quantum periculum ... inpendeat: an indirect question, hence the subjunctive.

Cat. 28.3Ita illī iānuā prohibitī tantum facinus frūstrā suscēperant.

So they were kept out at the door, and had undertaken so great a crime for nothing.

Cat. 28.4Intereā Mānlius in Etrūriā plēbem sollicitāre, egestāte simul ac dolōre iniūriae novārum rērum cupidam, quod Sullae dominātiōne agrōs bonaque omnia āmīserat, praetereā latrōnēs quoiusque generis, quōrum in eā regiōne magna cōpia erat, nōnnūllōs ex Sullānīs colōniīs, quibus lubīdō atque luxuria ex magnīs rapīnīs nihil reliquī fēcerant.

Meanwhile in Etruria Manlius was stirring up the common people, who were eager for revolution out of poverty and resentment at their wrongs, because under Sulla's rule they had lost their lands and all their goods; he was stirring up, besides, bandits of every kind, of whom there was a great number in that region, and some of the men of Sulla's colonies, for whom lust and extravagance had left nothing of their great plunder.

Note. Interea Manlius ... sollicitare: another historical infinitive. novarum rerum cupidam: res novae means 'revolution'. Sulla had confiscated land in Etruria to settle his veterans, so many local farmers had lost everything; some of the veterans in turn had squandered their windfall. nihil reliqui fecerant: 'had left nothing', with reliqui a partitive genitive.