Bellum Catilinae 59

Cat. 59.1Haec ubi dīxit, paululum conmorātus signa canere iubet atque īnstrūctōs ōrdinēs in locum aequom dēdūcit.

When he had said this, he waited a little, ordered the trumpets to sound, and led his troops in formation down onto level ground.

Cat. 59.1Dein remōtīs omnium equīs, quō mīlitibus exaequātō perīculō animus amplior esset, ipse pedes exercitum prō locō atque cōpiīs īnstruit.

Then, after sending away everyone's horses so that the soldiers' spirit might be greater with the danger made equal, he himself, on foot, drew up his army to suit the ground and his forces.

Note. remōtīs omnium equīs: sending away the horses showed that no one, officers included, meant to run. quō … amplior esset: quō with a comparative introduces a purpose clause. pedes: 'on foot' (pedes, peditis), not pēs.

Cat. 59.2Nam, utī plānitiēs erat inter sinistrōs montīs et ab dextrā rūpe asperā, octō cohortīs in fronte cōnstituit, reliquārum signa in subsidiō artius conlocat.

For, as there was a plain between the mountains on the left and a rugged cliff on the right, he placed eight cohorts in front and stationed the standards of the rest more closely in reserve.

Note. utī: 'as', describing the ground. Catiline used the narrow plain so his flanks were covered by the mountains on the left and the cliff on the right.

Cat. 59.3Ab iīs centuriōnēs, omnīs lēctōs et ēvocātōs, praetereā ex gregāriīs mīlitibus optumum quemque armātum in prīmam aciem subdūcit.

From these he brought up into the front line the centurions, all of them picked men and recalled veterans, and besides them the best-armed of the common soldiers.

Note. ēvocātōs: veterans recalled to service. optumum quemque armātum: 'all the best-armed'; quisque with a superlative, 'all the best'.

Cat. 59.3C. Mānlium in dextrā, Faesulānum quendam in sinistrā parte cūrāre iubet.

He ordered Gaius Manlius to take charge on the right, and a certain man of Faesulae on the left.

Cat. 59.3Ipse cum lībertīs et colōnīs propter aquilam adsistit, quam bellō Cimbricō C. Marius in exercitū habuisse dīcēbātur.

He himself, with freedmen and colonists, took his stand beside the eagle which Gaius Marius was said to have had in his army in the Cimbrian war.

Note. aquilam: the silver eagle-standard of a legion. Marius beat the Cimbri in 101 BC. Cicero (In Catilinam I.24) speaks of a silver eagle that Catiline kept at home like a shrine.

Cat. 59.4At ex alterā parte C. Antōnius, pedibus aeger quod proeliō adesse nequībat, M. Petrēiō lēgātō exercitum permittit.

On the other side Gaius Antonius, who was too ill with gout to be present at the battle, handed the army over to his legate Marcus Petreius.

Note. pedibus aeger: 'ill in the feet', i.e. suffering from gout. Cassius Dio later claimed the illness was a pretext, since Antonius had once been close to Catiline.

Cat. 59.5Ille cohortīs veterānās, quās tumultī causā cōnscrīpserat, in fronte, post eās cēterum exercitum in subsidiīs locat.

He placed the veteran cohorts, which he had enrolled because of the emergency, in the front, and behind them the rest of the army in reserve.

Note. tumultī: older genitive of tumultus. A tumultus was a sudden emergency in Italy, when the usual rules of enrolment were set aside.

Cat. 59.5Ipse equō circumiēns ūnum quemque nōmināns appellat, hortātur, rogat, ut meminerint sē contrā latrōnēs inermīs prō patriā, prō līberīs, prō ārīs atque focīs suīs certāre.

He himself, riding round on horseback, addressed each man by name, encouraged him, asked him to remember that they were fighting against unarmed bandits for their country, their children, their altars and their hearths.

Cat. 59.6Homō mīlitāris, quod amplius annōs trīgintā tribūnus aut praefectus aut lēgātus aut praetor cum magnā glōriā in exercitū fuerat, plērōsque ipsōs factaque eōrum fortia nōverat: ea conmemorandō mīlitum animōs accendēbat.

A military man, who for more than thirty years had served with great distinction in the army as tribune, prefect, legate or praetor, he knew most of the men themselves and their brave deeds: by recalling these he fired the soldiers' spirits.

Note. amplius annōs trīgintā: 'for more than thirty years', accusative of extent of time. cōnmemorandō: gerund in the ablative, 'by recalling'.