Lectitō › Sallust › The War with Catiline
Bellum Catilinae 34
Catiline's letters
Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōCat. 34.1Ad haec Q. Mārcius respondit, sī quid ab senātū petere vellent, ab armīs discēdant, Rōmam supplicēs proficīscantur: eā mānsuētūdine atque misericordiā senātum populī Rōmānī semper fuisse, ut nēmō umquam ab eō frūstrā auxilium petīverit.
To this Quintus Marcius replied that if they wished to ask anything of the senate, they should lay down their arms and go to Rome as suppliants: the senate and people of Rome had always been so gentle and merciful that no one had ever asked it for help in vain.
Note. si quid ... vellent, ... discedant, ... proficiscantur: the reply is in indirect speech; the commands keep the present subjunctive (repraesentatio). petiverit: perfect subjunctive in a result clause in secondary sequence, stressing a fact.
Cat. 34.2At Catilīna ex itinere plērīsque cōnsulāribus, praetereā optumō quoique litterās mittit: sē falsīs crīminibus circumventum, quoniam factiōnī inimīcōrum resistere nequīverit, fortūnae cēdere, Massiliam in exilium proficīscī, nōn quō sibi tantī sceleris cōnscius esset, sed utī rēs pūblica quiēta foret nēve ex suā contentiōne sēditiō orerētur.
But Catiline, while on the road, sent letters to most of the ex-consuls and also to all the best men: he said that, surrounded by false charges, since he had been unable to resist the faction of his enemies, he was yielding to fortune and going into exile at Massilia, not because he was conscious of so great a crime, but so that the state might be at peace and no civil strife might arise from his struggle.
Note. optumo quoique: 'to all the best men', quisque with a superlative. quoniam ... nequiverit: subjunctive because it gives Catiline's own reason, in reported form. non quo ... esset: 'not because he was conscious', rejected reason in the subjunctive. Massilia (Marseille) was a common place of exile for Romans.
Cat. 34.3Ab hīs longē dīvorsās litterās Q. Catulus in senātū recitāvit, quās sibi nōmine Catilīnae redditās dīcēbat.
Quintus Catulus read out in the senate a very different letter, which he said had been delivered to him in Catiline's name.
Note. Q. Lutatius Catulus, consul in 78 BC, was a leader of the conservative nobles. divorsas = diversas.
Cat. 34.3Eārum exemplum īnfrā scrīptum est.
A copy of it is written below.
Vocabulary
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| quīntus, -a, -um | fifth |
| respondeō, -spondēre, -spondī, -spōnsus | reply, answer |
| sī, conj. | if |
| quis, qua, quid, indef. pron. | any one, anybody, anything, some one, somebody, something |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| senātus, -ūs m. | senate |
| petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus | seek, ask; attack |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| arma, -ōrum, n. plur. | arms, weapons |
| discēdō, -cēdere, -cessī, -cessus | go apart, withdraw, depart |
| supplex, -icis | begging, as a suppliant |
| proficīscor, -ficīscī, -fectus sum | set out, depart, march |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| mānsuētūdō, -inis f. | gentleness, mercy |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| misericordia, -ae, f; | pity, compassion |
| populus, -ī m. | people, nation |
| Rōmānus, -a, -um | Roman |
| semper, adv. | always |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| nēmō, nēminis, m. and f. | no one, nobody |
| umquam, adv. | ever |
| frūstrā, adv. | in vain |
| auxilium, -ī, n. | help, aid |
| at, conj. | but |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| iter, itineris, n. | a going, journey, march; iter facere, to journey, march |
| plērīque, plēraeque, plēraque | most, very many |
| cōnsulāris, -e | of a consul, consular; as noun: ex-consul; comitia cōnsulāria: the consular elections |
| praetereā, adv. | besides this, besides, moreover |
| bonus, -a, -um | good |
| quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron. | each |
| litterae, -ārum f. pl. | letters (of the alphabet); a letter, dispatch |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| falsus, -a, -um | feigned, pretended, false |
| crīmen, -inis n. | charge, accusation; crime |
| circumveniō, -īre, -vēnī, -ventum | surround |
| quoniam, conj. | since now, since |
| factiō, -ōnis f. | party, faction |
| inimīcus, -a, -um | unfriendly, hostile |
| resistō, -sistere, -stitī | stand back, resist |
| nequeō, -īre, -īvī | be unable, cannot |
| fortūna, -ae, f. | fortune |
| cēdō, -ere, cessī, cessum | go, withdraw, give way |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| exsilium, -ī, n. | exile |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| quō, adv. | to what place? whither? to which place, whither; for which reason, wherefore, therefore; quō ūsque, till when? how long? |
| tantus, -a, -um | so great or much |
| scelus, sceleris, n. | wickedness, crime |
| cōnscius, -a, -um | aware, conscious (of) |
| sed, conj. | but |
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| pūblicus, -a, -um | public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state) |
| quiētus, -a, -um | quiet, at peace, calm |
| nēve or neu, conj. | and that not, and not, nor |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| contentiō, -ōnis f. | struggle, dispute |
| sēditiō, -ōnis f. | riot, mutiny, discord |
| orior, -īrī, -tus | arise, come forth, spring up; ortā lūce, at dawn |
| longē, adv. | far |
| dīversus, -a, -um | turned different ways, opposite, contrary, different |
| catulus, -ī m. | young animal, cub, whelp |
| recitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | read aloud |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| nōmen, -minis, n. | name (that by which one is known) |
| reddō, -dere, -didī, -ditus | give back, return, restore; render |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus | say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day |
| exemplum, -ī n. | example, precedent |
| īnfrā (adv. and prep. + acc.) | below, further down |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |