Bellum Catilinae 31

Cat. 31.1Quīs rēbus permōta cīvitās atque inmūtāta urbis faciēs erat.

By these events the community was shaken, and the face of the city was changed.

Note. Quis = quibus, an old dative/ablative plural form used by Sallust; here a connecting relative: 'by these things'.

Cat. 31.1Ex summā laetitiā atque lascīviā, quae diūturna quiēs pepererat, repente omnis trīstitia invāsit: festīnāre, trepidāre, neque locō neque hominī quoiquam satis crēdere, neque bellum gerere neque pācem habēre, suō quisque metū perīcula mētīrī.

Instead of the highest gaiety and licence, which long peace had produced, sudden gloom came over everyone: they hurried, they trembled, they trusted no place and no person enough, they were neither waging war nor at peace, each measured the dangers by his own fear.

Note. festinare, trepidare ... metiri: a burst of historical infinitives to show the panic. suo quisque metu: 'each by his own fear'; quisque often stands next to the reflexive.

Cat. 31.3Ad hoc mulierēs, quibus reī pūblicae magnitūdine bellī timor īnsolitus incesserat, adflīctāre sēsē, manūs supplicēs ad caelum tendere, miserārī parvōs līberōs, rogitāre omnia, omnī rūmōre pavēre, adripere omnia superbiā atque dēliciīs omissīs, sibi patriaeque diffīdere.

Besides, the women, who had been seized by a fear of war unusual in so great a state, beat their breasts, stretched out suppliant hands to heaven, pitied their little children, asked about everything, took fright at every rumour, snatched at everything, and setting aside their pride and pleasures, despaired of themselves and their country.

Note. Another list of historical infinitives, now for the women. quibus ... timor ... incesserat: incedo with the dative, 'fear had come upon them'. rei publicae magnitudine: ablative of cause, 'because of the greatness of the state', i.e. Rome had long been too strong to fear war at home.

Cat. 31.4At Catilīnae crūdēlis animus eadem illa movēbat, tametsī praesidia parābantur et ipse lēge Plautiā interrogātus erat ab L. Paulō.

But Catiline's cruel spirit kept up those same plans, even though defences were being prepared and he himself had been charged under the Plautian law by Lucius Paulus.

Note. lege Plautia: the Plautian law on public violence (de vi). L. Aemilius Paulus, a young noble, had charged Catiline under it; trials de vi could be held even on holidays.

Cat. 31.5Postrēmō dissimulandī causā aut suī expūrgandī, sīcut iūrgiō lacessītus foret, in senātum vēnit.

Finally, to hide his intentions or to clear himself, as if he had been provoked by a quarrel, he came into the senate.

Note. dissimulandi causa aut sui expurgandi: causa with genitive gerund and gerundive expresses purpose; with sui the gerundive is used (expurgandi agrees with sui). sicut ... foret: 'as if he had been provoked'.

Cat. 31.6Tum M. Tullius cōnsul, sīve praesentiam eius timēns sīve īrā conmōtus, ōrātiōnem habuit lūculentam atque ūtilem reī pūblicae, quam posteā scrīptam ēdidit.

Then Marcus Tullius the consul, either fearing his presence or moved by anger, delivered a brilliant speech, useful to the state, which he later wrote out and published.

Note. This is the speech we know as the First Catilinarian, delivered on 8 November 63 BC. Note Sallust's cool tone: he allows that Cicero may have spoken out of fear or anger, and praises the speech in two adjectives only.

Cat. 31.7Sed ubi ille adsēdit, Catilīna, ut erat parātus ad dissimulanda omnia, dēmissō voltū, vōce supplicī postulāre ā patribus coepit, nē quid dē sē temerē crēderent: eā familiā ortum, ita sē ab adulēscentiā vītam īnstituisse, ut omnia bona in spē habēret;

But when he sat down, Catiline, ready as he was to conceal everything, with downcast face and pleading voice began to beg the senators not to believe anything rashly about him: he came from such a family, he said, and had so ordered his life from his youth, that he had every good thing to hope for;

Note. ea familia ortum: Catiline belonged to the old patrician gens Sergia. The indirect speech continues: ortum (esse) and instituisse depend on the idea of saying in postulare.

Cat. 31.7nē exīstumārent sibi, patriciō hominī, quoius ipsīus atque maiōrum plūruma beneficia in plēbem Rōmānam essent, perditā rē pūblicā opus esse, quom eam servāret M. Tullius, inquilīnus cīvis urbis Rōmae.

they should not think that he, a patrician, whose own and whose ancestors' services to the Roman people were very many, needed the ruin of the state, while Marcus Tullius, a lodger in the city of Rome, was saving it.

Note. Ne existumarent: a prohibition in indirect speech (direct: ne existimaveritis). opus esse with the ablative: 'that he needed the ruin of the state'. inquilinus civis: 'a lodger-citizen'; Cicero was a novus homo from Arpinum, so Catiline sneers that he is only a tenant in Rome, not a native. quom = cum.

Cat. 31.8Ad hoc male dicta alia quom adderet, obstrepere omnēs, hostem atque parricīdam vocāre.

When he added other insults to this, everyone shouted him down and called him an enemy and a parricide.

Note. male dicta: 'insults', more often written as one word, maledicta. obstrepere, vocare: historical infinitives with omnes as subject.

Cat. 31.9Tum ille furibundus "quoniam quidem circumventus" inquit "ab inimīcīs praeceps agor,

Then he, in a fury, said: "Since I am surrounded by my enemies and driven headlong,

Note. inquit is placed inside the quotation, as usual. praeceps agor: 'I am being driven headlong'. The sentence continues in the next unit.