Lectitō › Sallust › The War with Catiline
Bellum Catilinae 32
Catiline leaves Rome
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōCat. 32.1incendium meum ruīnā restinguam."
I will put out the fire that burns me by bringing everything down."
Note. The image is of putting out a fire by pulling down the buildings around it: if he goes down, he will take the state with him. The edition marks a new chapter (32) here, in the middle of the sentence; other editions begin chapter 32 with Deinde.
Cat. 32.1Deinde sē ex cūriā domum prōripuit.
Then he rushed from the senate house to his home.
Cat. 32.1Ibi multa ipse sēcum volvēns, quod neque īnsidiae cōnsulī prōcēdēbant et ab incendiō intellegēbat urbem vigiliīs mūnītam, optumum factū crēdēns exercitum augēre ac, prius quam legiōnēs scrīberentur, multa antecapere, quae bellō ūsuī forent, nocte intempestā cum paucīs in Mānliāna castra profectus est.
There, turning many things over in his mind, since his plots against the consul were not succeeding and he saw that the city was protected against fire by the watches, he thought it best to strengthen his army and, before legions were enrolled, to secure in advance many things that would be useful for war; so in the dead of night he set out with a few men for Manlius' camp.
Note. volvens: present participle, 'turning over'. optumum factu: supine in -u after an adjective, 'best to do'. prius quam ... scriberentur: subjunctive because Catiline anticipates the levy. quae bello usui forent: double dative, 'which would be of use for war'.
Cat. 32.2Sed Cethēgō atque Lentulō cēterīsque, quōrum cognōverat promptam audāciam, mandat, quibus rēbus possent, opēs factiōnis cōnfirment, īnsidiās cōnsulī mātūrent, caedem incendia aliaque bellī facinora parent: sēsē propediem cum magnō exercitū ad urbem accessūrum.
But he instructed Cethegus and Lentulus and the others whose ready daring he knew to strengthen the resources of their faction by whatever means they could, to hasten the attack on the consul, and to prepare slaughter, fires and the other crimes of war: he himself would soon come to the city with a large army.
Note. mandat ... confirment ... maturent ... parent: the commands are reported in the subjunctive without ut. quibus rebus possent: 'by whatever means they could'. sese ... accessurum (esse): indirect statement after the idea of telling in mandat.
Cat. 32.3Dum haec Rōmae geruntur, C. Mānlius ex suō numerō lēgātōs ad Mārcium Rēgem mittit cum mandātīs huiusce modī:
While this was going on at Rome, Gaius Manlius sent envoys from among his followers to Marcius Rex with a message of this kind:
Note. huiusce modi: 'of this kind'; -ce is an emphatic particle added to hic.
Vocabulary
| incendium, -ī n. | fire, burning |
| meus, -a, -um | my, mine |
| ruīna, -ae f. | fall, collapse, ruin |
| restinguō, -ere, -stīnxī, -stīnctus | put out, extinguish |
| deinde, adv. | then, next |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| cūria, -ae f. | senate house |
| domus, -ūs, f. | house, home |
| prōripiō, -ere, -ripuī, -reptus | drag forth; sē prōripere: rush out, dash off |
| ibi, adv. | in that place, there |
| multus, -a, -um | much, great; plur., many |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| volvō, -ere, volvī, volūtus | roll, turn over; ponder (multa sēcum volvere) |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| īnsidiae, -ārum, f. plur. | ambush; plot, stratagem |
| cōnsul, -ulis m. | consul (one of Rome's two chief magistrates) |
| prōcēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessum | go forward, advance |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| intellegō, -legere, -lēxī, -lēctus | perceive, understand |
| urbs, urbis, f. | city |
| vigilia, -ae, f. | watch |
| mūniō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus | fortify |
| bonus, -a, -um | good |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| crēdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | believe |
| exercitus, -ūs, m. | army |
| augeō, -ēre, auxī, auctum | increase, enlarge |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| prius, adv. | before, first |
| quam, adv. | how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible |
| legiō, -ōnis f. | legion |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| antecapiō, -ere, -cēpī, -captum | seize beforehand, act before (something) can happen |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| bellum, -ī, n. | war |
| ūsus, -ūs, m. | use; experience |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| nox, noctis, f. | night |
| intempestus, -a, -um | unseasonable; nox intempesta: the dead of night |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | few |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| Mānliānus, -a, -um | of Manlius, Manlian (Catiline's general Gaius Manlius) |
| castra, -ōrum, n. plur. | camp |
| proficīscor, -ficīscī, -fectus sum | set out, depart, march |
| sed, conj. | but |
| cēterī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | the other, the remaining, the rest of |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| cognōscō, -gnōscere, -gnōvī, -gnitus | find out, learn; in tenses of completed action, have found out, know |
| promptus, -a, -um | ready, eager |
| audācia, -ae, f. | boldness, audacity |
| mandō, -dāre, -dāvī, -dātus | put in hand, intrust, commit; charge, command |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| ops, opis f.; pl. opēs, -um | help; (pl.) resources, wealth, power |
| factiō, -ōnis f. | party, faction |
| cōnfirmō, -firmāre, -firmāvī, -firmātus | strengthen, establish; declare, assert |
| mātūrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | ripen; hasten |
| caedēs, -is, f. | cutting down, killing, slaughter |
| alius, -a, -ud | another, other; aliī ... aliī, some ... others |
| facinus, facinoris, n. | deed, crime |
| parō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | make ready, prepare |
| propediem (adv.) | very soon, in a few days |
| magnus, -a, -um | large, big, great, mighty; loud |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| accēdō, -ere, accessī, accessum | come near, approach; be added |
| dum, conj. | while, as; as long as; until |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| gerō, gerere, gessī, gestus | carry, wear; carry on, do |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| numerus, -ī, m. | number |
| lēgātus, -ī, m. | ambassador |
| rēx, rēgis, m. | king |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
| mandātum, -ī n. | order, instruction, message |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |