Bellum Catilinae 47

Cat. 47.1Volturcius interrogātus dē itinere, dē litterīs, postrēmō quid aut quā dē causā cōnsilī habuisset, prīmō fingere alia, dissimulāre dē coniūrātiōne;

Volturcius, questioned about his journey, about the letters, and finally about what plan he had had and for what reason, at first made up other stories and pretended to know nothing of the conspiracy;

Note. fingere alia, dissimulāre: historical infinitives. quid aut quā dē causā cōnsilī habuisset: indirect question; cōnsilī is a partitive genitive with quid.

Cat. 47.1post ubi fidē pūblicā dīcere iussus est, omnia, utī gesta erant, aperit docetque sē paucīs ante diēbus ā Gabīniō et Caepāriō socium adscītum nihil amplius scīre quam lēgātōs, tantummodo audīre solitum ex Gabīniō P. Autrōnium, Ser. Sullam, L. Vargunteium, multōs praetereā in eā coniūrātiōne esse.

later, when he was told to speak under a public pledge of safety, he reveals everything as it had happened, and explains that he had been taken on as an ally by Gabinius and Caeparius only a few days before and knew nothing more than the envoys; he had only been used to hearing from Gabinius that Publius Autronius, Servius Sulla, Lucius Vargunteius and many others besides were in that conspiracy.

Note. fidē pūblicā: a promise of immunity from the state. paucīs ante diēbus 'a few days before'. P. Autronius and Servius Sulla had been involved in an earlier plot; Sallust names men Volturcius knew only by hearsay.

Cat. 47.2Eadem Gallī fatentur ac Lentulum dissimulantem coarguunt praeter litterās sermōnibus, quōs ille habēre solitus erat: ex librīs Sibyllīnīs regnum Rōmae tribus Cornēliīs portendī;

The Gauls admit the same, and when Lentulus feigned ignorance they convict him, besides the letter, by the talk he had been in the habit of holding: that the Sibylline books foretold the rule of Rome for three Cornelii;

Note. The Sibylline books were collections of oracles kept by a college of priests at Rome. tribus Cornēliīs: L. Cornelius Cinna and L. Cornelius Sulla had already held absolute power; Lentulus, also a Cornelius, claimed to be the third. Cicero repeats this charge in the Third Catilinarian (9).

Cat. 47.2Cinnam atque Sullam anteā, sē tertium esse, quoi fātum foret urbis potīrī;

Cinna and Sulla before, and he himself the third, whose fate it was to be master of the city;

Note. quoi = cui. quoi fātum foret urbis potīrī: 'whose destiny it was to become master of the city'; potior takes the genitive here. foret = esset.

Cat. 47.2praetereā ab incēnsō Capitōliō illum esse vīgēsumum annum, quem saepe ex prōdigiīs haruspicēs respondissent bellō cīvīlī cruentum fore.

moreover, that this was the twentieth year since the burning of the Capitol, a year which soothsayers, on the basis of portents, had often declared would be bloody with civil war.

Note. The Capitol had burned in 83 BC, so 63 BC was the twentieth year counting inclusively. haruspicēs were Etruscan diviners who read portents.

Cat. 47.3Igitur perlēctīs litterīs, quom prius omnēs signa sua cognōvissent, senātus dēcernit, utī abdicātō magistrātū Lentulus itemque cēterī in līberīs custōdiīs habeantur.

So when the letters had been read through, after all had first recognised their seals, the senate decrees that Lentulus should resign his office and that he and the others likewise should be held in free custody.

Note. abdicātō magistrātū: Lentulus was forced to resign his praetorship, since a serving magistrate could not be put in custody. in līberīs custōdiīs: 'in free custody', that is, held under guard in the houses of leading men rather than in prison.

Cat. 47.4Itaque Lentulus P. Lentulō Spinthērī, quī tum aedīlis erat, Cethēgus Q. Cornificiō, Statilius C. Caesarī, Gabīnius M. Crassō, Caepārius— nam is paulō ante ex fugā retractus erat— Cn. Terentiō senātōrī trāduntur.

And so Lentulus is handed over to Publius Lentulus Spinther, who was then aedile, Cethegus to Quintus Cornificius, Statilius to Gaius Caesar, Gabinius to Marcus Crassus, and Caeparius (for he had been brought back from his flight a little before) to Gnaeus Terentius, a senator.

Note. Each conspirator went to a prominent senator. It was striking that Caesar and Crassus, both later suspected of sympathy with Catiline, were made guardians.