Cat. 3.1Pulchrum est bene facere reī pūblicae, etiam bene dīcere haud absurdum est;It is a fine thing to do good service to the state; even to speak well is not without merit;Note. The preface turns to history-writing itself. bene facere reī pūblicae: 'to do good to the state' (dative). Cat. 3.1vel pāce vel bellō clārum fierī licet;one may become famous either in peace or in war; Cat. 3.1et quī fēcēre et quī facta aliōrum scrīpsēre, multī laudantur.both those who have done deeds and those who have written of the deeds of others are praised in great numbers.Note. fēcēre … scrīpsēre: -ēre perfects again. multī laudantur: 'many (of them) are praised'. Cat. 3.2Ac mihi quidem, tametsī haudquāquam pār glōria sequitur scrīptōrem et auctōrem rērum, tamen in prīmīs arduom vidētur rēs gestās scrībere: prīmum quod facta dictīs exaequanda sunt;And to me at least, although by no means equal glory attends the writer and the doer of deeds, it still seems especially hard to write history: first, because the deeds must be matched by the words;Note. arduom = arduum: old ending -om for -um after u. exaequanda sunt: gerundive of obligation, 'must be made equal'. The historian's style must rise to the level of the events. Cat. 3.2dehinc quia plērīque quae dēlicta reprehenderīs malevolentiā et invidiā dicta putant, ubi dē magnā virtūte atque glōriā bonōrum memorēs, quae sibi quisque facilia factū putat, aequō animō accipit, suprā ea velutī ficta prō falsīs dūcit.next, because most people think that whatever faults you censure have been spoken out of ill will and envy, while when you recall the great merit and glory of good men, each person accepts calmly what he thinks easy for himself to do, but anything beyond that he regards as invented, as if false.Note. reprehenderis: perfect subjunctive with a general 'you'. factū: supine in -ū with an adjective, 'easy to do'. A long, uneven sentence: Sallust deliberately avoids Cicero's smooth balance.
Cat. 3.3Sed ego adulēscentulus initiō sīcutī plērīque studiō ad rem pūblicam lātus sum, ibique mihi multa advorsa fuēre.But I myself, as a young man, was at first carried, like most, by eagerness into public life, and there many things went against me.Note. Sallust turns to his own life. He entered politics in the 50s BC, was tribune in 52, was expelled from the senate in 50 and later governed Africa under Caesar. Cat. 3.3Nam prō pudōre, prō abstinentiā, prō virtūte audācia largītiō avāritia vigēbant.For in place of modesty, of self-restraint, of merit, it was boldness, bribery and greed that flourished. Cat. 3.4Quae tametsī animus aspernābātur īnsolēns malārum artium, tamen inter tanta vitia imbēcilla aetās ambitiōne corrupta tenēbātur;And although my mind, unused to evil ways, rejected these things, yet amid such great vices my weak youth was corrupted by ambition and held fast;Note. īnsolēns + genitive: 'unused to'. ambitiōne corrupta tenēbātur: 'was held fast, corrupted by ambition'. ambitiō is at root 'going around' to canvass votes. Cat. 3.4ac mē, quom ab reliquōrum malīs mōribus dissentīrem, nihilō minus honōris cupīdō eādem quā cēterōs fāmā atque invidiā vexābat.and although I disagreed with the bad character of the rest, nonetheless the desire for office troubled me with the same ill repute and envy as the others.Note. quom = cum ('although' here, with subjunctive). nihilō minus: 'none the less'. cupīdō is masculine in Sallust; eādem goes with fāmā.